Today's News: Colbert, Frogs, Chinese Names, Chinese Floods

In in-house news:

1) I will be on the Colbert Report tonight, talking about my book (at right) -- which, just in case you've forgotten, uses China's current all-fronts rush to become an aerospace power as a model for asking whether the Chinese system as a whole is going to "make it."

I assume that the questions from Colbert's character will be more on the lines of, Why did we let these Chicoms learn to fly in the first place?  But fyi that is my plan for the evening.

2) Thanks to many, many, many readers who have alerted me to the latest boiled-frog outbreak. It's in the New York Times, and it contains this gem of insight:

Stuart Crabb, a director in the executive offices of Facebook, naturally likes to extol the extraordinary benefits of computers and smartphones. But like a growing number of technology leaders, he offers a warning: log off once in a while, and put them down....

"If you put a frog in cold water and slowly turn up the heat, it'll boil to death -- it's a nice analogy," said Mr. Crabb, who oversees learning and development at Facebook. People "need to notice the effect that time online has on your performance and relationships."

The person in charge of learning at Facebook believes the boiled frog myth? Boy, I tell you, kids today. On the other hand, it has happened even to a Nobel Prize winner. I'm way behind on the boiled-frog patrol and have many interesting nuggets to share. For now I'll just say that the next thing they might want to "learn" over there at Facebook is that a frog will indeed sit still while you turn up the heat -- as long as it is a frog whose brain has been surgically removed. More on the analogy from Joe Romm of Climate Progress.

3) Thanks to many, many entrants in the "give this book a Chinese title" contest. Some great suggestions; more on this in a day or two. 

4) China itself has been through a tumultuous past week or so of news, most notably the recent disastrous flooding in Beijing. Thanks to many people who have sent fascinating leads on this front. More on that this afternoon, from the train.