Technology Invention Snap happy Advertising has a new gimmick. Kodak in Rochester, New York, wants to encourage people to take pictures of adverts in return for free photo prints. The idea is that Kodak sells more film, customers get a freebie, and the advertiser gets the exposure they crave. The company proposes running the slogan "Shoot me … News
Life Scooping genes from the seas DURING my tour of duty as a navy medic in Vietnam, back in 1967, I sometimes escaped the danger, boredom, and the sick and wounded by taking out a small sailboat from the beach in Da Nang. Back on land, I would hold onto the sensation of freedom and peace that sailing afforded me, and … Opinion
Earth Histories: When the helm wind blows The world's great seasonal winds have names and international reputations. Think of the chinook, the mistral, the bora. But the UK's only wind with a name is little known and strangely exclusive. Called "the helm", it blastsjust one strip of land in north-west England – desiccating crops, knockingsheep off theirfeetand drivingfarmingfamilies into depression. The deafening … Features
The Watch on the Heath by Keith Thomson HIDDEN behind the title, not one that sends my blood racing or my wallet gaping, is a book of sheer pleasure. Beautifully written and epigrammatic, it is full of characters of talent, disputatious skill and wit. The "watch" represents William Paley's famous argument for the existence of God: if you stumbled on a watch, abandoned … Books & Arts
Feedback The first (and only) Time Traveler Convention NOW is the time for Feedback to announce the first and only Time Traveler Convention. (There'd be no point in repeating the event. You'd simply issue a past-tense imperative, as used in an email to someone you suspect has already left for their holiday: have-had a good time! … Regulars