http://www.atavist.net The home of Evan Ratliff Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:15:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My story from this week's New York magazine, in which Mr. Lewis helms the squad in a tense late-inning affair, and I draw the ire of parents in the Berkeley-Albany Softball League for nine and ten-year-olds. http://www.atavist.net/2009/06/01/in-the-dugout-with-michael-lewis/ [If you are a New Yorker subscriber, you can read it here. For a PDF copy, click here.] THE NEW YORKER February 23, 2009 Shoot! An Appalachian gunsmith's robot army. BY EVAN RATLIFF At the age of seventy-four, Jerry Baber has winnowed his primary interests in life to four subjects: shotguns, robots, women, and cars. When ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/04/24/shoot-full-story/ UPDATE 2: Thanks to everyone who attended, and also to all the contributors for their truly fantastic pieces. The whole thing surpassed our wildest expectations. If you couldn't make it, you can check out the Chronicle's write-up here. And for those curious about the final lineup, here was the Table ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/04/15/popup-magazine-live/ It's difficult to say for certain, but if you look closely at the illustration immediately to the left, you might conclude that it is a rendering of a man, in silhouette, bent over and having just vomited (and quite possibly standing in the results). That man is me. The ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/04/14/on-becoming-violently-ill-in-a-foreign-land-and-other-joys/ On the heels of the stunning success of Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog and Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, comes a new tale of an animal connection, a gossamer love, and a lesson you thought you'd never have to ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/04/09/now-available-latest-pet-saga-blockbuster/ Update: You can listen to the segment here. I'll be on NPR's "Day to Day" tomorrow, discussing Jerry Baber's vision for an armed robotic army. http://www.atavist.net/2009/03/09/npr-tomorrow/ In my recent New Yorker story (still just an abstract online), about Jerry Baber's shotgun-toting robots, I describe a few of Baber's demonstration videos -- some of which have been viewed a couple million times on YouTube. But it's hard for a paragraph to do them justice, so I'm including ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/02/19/watch-babers-back-yard-arsenal-in-action/ Obama's signature on the stimulus bill yesterday brought with it further complaints that the new administration isn't living up to its transparency pledges. It seems that the White House is having trouble squaring the need for emergency legislation with their explicit promise to post bills for five days before the ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/02/18/recoverygov-free-the-data-but-are-they-actually-gathering-it/ "Shoot!," my latest piece for The New Yorker, hit the streets today. It's available to subscribers on the Web, but everyone else will have to shell out for a copy, retro-style. It's a profile of one Jerry Baber, an engineer from Piney Flats, Tennessee, and his work. That work being ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/02/17/bullets-and-batteries/ At yesterday's press conference describing the administration's new "financial stability plan" for the banking system, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner offered what seems to be the obligatory new Web site for any Obama administration proposal: Our work begins with a new framework of oversight and governance of all aspects of our Financial ... http://www.atavist.net/2009/02/11/new-administration-web-sites-appear-to-be-shovel-ready/