http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:18:16 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/07/22/141816.php Dawn DiMareThe Backpacker is a true story about an English office worker named John Harris who, near the end of a three-week holiday in India, decides to chuck a life of security and monotony and begin a life on the backroads of Asia. In this tale, John takes the reader on a wild ride through the islands of Thailand, down Malaysia to Singapore, to Indonesia on a stolen ship and finally to Hong Kong via Australia. Along the way, John and his band of merry adventurers drink, smoke, meet tons of girls and basically get themselves involved in all sorts of quagmires and skirmishes.I picked up this book at an airport in Thailand, and I have to admit, if this story were fiction, it wouldn't have worked as well. But knowing that it was true made it a lot of fun to read. I think any person who has dreamed of leaving a life of cubicles, stale coffee and inertia behind for something different would love this book. It would also appeal to anyone who has traveled in Asia, or backpacked anywhere in the world. He definitely captures some of the quirks and traits that one can find in backpackers all over the world. Books7133@blogcritics.org Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:18:16 EDT