Reading Assignment for Next Week

Here are the changes in the syllabus:

For next week: Be sure to have read through Chapter 36 of Twain; also review the Lyotard and read Bill Joy's "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us," originally scheduled for two weeks from today. Joy's essay is incorrectly listed on the syllabus as a handout. Here's the link:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

For two weeks from today: Read the Taylor book (it's a short book) and finish the Twain.

Our discussions for the next couple weeks will need to be moderately compressed, but it won't be the end of the world. As usual, I'll have the assignment for next week posted by Saturday. I have no idea when I'll have your posts commented and graded, but hopefully I'll manage it over the weekend.

Reminder: take this opportunity (namely, the absence of class today) to start doing some informal blogging if you haven't.

Finally, here's what a fever-driven Ph.D's nightmare is like: right before I woke up to cancel class this morning, I dreamed that I was about to teach my first Arabic class. The reason it's a nightmare, of course, is that I don't know any Arabic, nor did I in the dream.