Author Archives: Robert Basil

The Work of Molly Crabapple

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Robert Basil

Molly Crabapple‘s only peer as an illustrator / artist / journalist is the great Joe Sacco. The tone of their work is very different, though. Whereas Sacco’s reporting is dispassionate and ironic, Crabapple’s is emotional and argumentative. Sacco’s art – black … Continue reading →

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“No Fireworks on the Fourth of July?”

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Robert Basil

Virginia Postrel‘s book The Future and Its Enemies: The Growing Conflict over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress, published in 1999, has long been one of my favourite libertarian works: smart, funny, level-headed (that is, not dogmatic). Her more recent work has focused on … Continue reading →

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Where are the women in the high-tech industry?

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Robert Basil

Vivek Wadhwa crowd-funded the publication of his new book, Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology (cowritten with Farai Chedey). He also “crowd-created” it with the help of more than 500 women who contributed research and writing. In this podcast with … Continue reading →

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Acting Together

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Robert Basil

For its first two and a half years I was the “knowledge dissemination adviser” for the Acting Together research project. Based at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and funded by a federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research grant, the project’s goal was … Continue reading →

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Really good, free online technical communications text

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Robert Basil

A couple years ago Dave McMurrey’s online technical-writing textbook vanished from the Internet – not sure why. But *it is back*, and I suggest you bookmark it. A wonderful resource.

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When judging others is necessary

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Robert Basil

I teach my students that, by and large, the purpose of social and workplace communications is to “foster and maintain relationships” (and “to not screw up”). Blogger realsocialskills (Twitter handle: @rsocialskills) notes that this rule does *not* carry the day … Continue reading →

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Copyright protections trump oil pipeline

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Robert Basil

Cantech News explains an Alberta land-owner’s ingenious use of copyright law: Alberta artist Peter van Tiesenhausen has provided an interesting legal precedent in his long-running battle with oil companies seeking to run a pipeline through his 800 acre territory. He … Continue reading →

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“The Franklin Effect”

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Robert Basil

Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography, “Enemies who do you one favor will want to do more.” He illustrated the maxim with a story: A political adversary had been lambasting Franklin in public speeches. Franklin knew that this person was very proud … Continue reading →

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Damned, lying lawyers

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Robert Basil

On Twitter recently I noted that, oddly enough, no word rhymes with doggerel. My friend Jonathan Mayhew tweeted back, “pettifogger hell, though it would rime with doggerel only in doggerel.” I had never even heard the word “pettifogger” before, so … Continue reading →

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Copyright protections trump new TV-streaming technology

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Robert Basil

This is good news, from my publisher’s point of view. From The Globe and Mail: Canadian content producers are breathing a sigh of relief after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that online streaming service Aereo Inc. violates U.S. copyright laws, … Continue reading →

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