The following correction was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday 7 November 2010 The BBC's motto is "Nation shall speak peace unto nation", not just "Nation shall speak unto nation". Last week I received an email from an organisation called 38 Degrees. I don't like emails from…

I n France, they are already rioting on the streets. An estimated 3.5 million of them, according to one trade union estimate , from Lyon to Paris to Nanterre, either striking, marching or taking direct action in fury at changes to their pensions. Within hours, they had closed down schools, disrupted…

What do you do when you are green, broke and connected? You share WHY buy when you can rent? This simple question is the foundation stone of a growing number of businesses. Why buy a car (and pay for parking) when you can rent one whenever you need to load up at IKEA? Why buy a bike (and risk having…

version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"? totalAldo via Flickr Every business person with a dollar and a dream these days thinks they’re a technical co-founder away from interweb stardom. It’s great if you can find one—but even if you can, I’m not sure it’s always the best move. That’s counter to what I used…

Home Opinion The Big Idea 22 September 2010 By David Eagleman When it comes to the big questions, why should we have to either deny God or believe? Surely good science doesn’t so restrict us, says David Eagleman I HAVE devoted my life to scientific pursuit. After all, if we want to crack the…

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., SEPT. 25 The reception, was held in a tent at the home, below, of the bride’s father, the architect Richard Meier. Ira Lippke for The New York Times WHEN she was a child, Ana Meier once announced to her family that she wanted to paint her bedroom pink, a radical idea in her…

It is said that only exceptional politicians are able to make their own weather. The same is true of writers. Roger Deakin, the writer, environmentalist film-maker and broadcaster who has died aged 63, changed the climate of opinion about access to the countryside, its rivers and waterways, with his…

Last Wednesday, my life changed forever. I got an iPhone. I consider it the greatest thing to happen to the blind for a very long time, possibly ever. It offers unparalleled access to properly made applications, and changed my life in twenty-four hours. The iPhone only has one thing holding it back:…

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Image 1 of 20 French Laundry waiters and food runners line up in front of Chef de Cuisine, Timothy Hollingsworth who is plating up one of the thirteen courses offered on the nightly dinner serving. For many this is an…

VOW OF PROPERTY Father Arsenios at the Vatopaidi monastery, overlooking the Aegean Sea, in Mount Athos, Greece. He is considered by many to be Vatopaidi’s C.F.O., “the real brains of the operation.” After an hour on a plane, two in a taxi, three on a decrepit ferry, and then four more on buses…

Another 'little bit of heaven' . . . the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Y ou don't get many casual visitors where I live. Home is down a dirt track, three kilometres from the ­nearest village. The ­neighbours are five ­minutes' walk away, and when the woods are in leaf…

Home Opinion Life Comment 7 July 2010 By Metin Basoglu THE past two decades have seen an increase in mass violence around the world, including wars, armed conflicts, human rights abuses and terrorism. Effectively dealing with these problems requires an understanding of the motivations that drive…

David De Lossy/Getty Images In 1982, researchers affiliated with the Cooper Institute in Dallas surveyed a large group of well-educated, affluent men. The researchers were interested in the men’s exercise habits, but they also asked, almost incidentally, about their indolence. Specifically, they…

Kenji Aoki for The New York Times In the international waters south of Malta, the Greenpeace vessels Rainbow Warrior and Arctic Sunrise deployed eight inflatable Zodiacs and skiffs into the azure surface of the Mediterranean. Protesters aboard donned helmets and took up DayGlo flags and plywood…

T here are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is…

The author’s first and most powerful obsession was music. Credit COURTESY TIM PAGE My second-grade teacher never liked me much, and one assignment I turned in annoyed her so extravagantly that the red pencil with which she scrawled “See me!” broke through the lined paper. Our class had been asked to…