November 2011
1 post
“We don’t just like computers, we love them. We have an emotional connection to...”
– http://blog.serverfault.com/post/why-stack-exchange-isn%E2%80%99t-in-the-cloud/
May 2010
7 posts
“The construction of a security fence will begin on June 7 and will continue 24...”
– http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/05/28/g20-security-zone684.html
“No “friending” is needed to gain access [to the web]; no company is in sole...”
– World’s Largest Social Network: The Open Web
NYT: ‘Attorney General Eric Holder Backs Miranda... →
Today’s entry in the Department of What the Fuck, brought to you by Eric Holder.
“David Stone, who planned to shoot a policeman, bomb his funeral, then retreat to...”
– Justice Removes Her Blindfold?
“[The automotive sector bailouts were] sheer political theater, and incredibly...”
– Department of … Huh?
April 2010
9 posts
“Abramović is seated in [the atrium] for the duration of the exhibition,...”
– The art of sitting
“When we look at technology we tend to see pipes and blinking lights. But in the...”
– The Evolution of Evolution’s Evolution
Who judges your work? →
Here’s the mistake we make in high school:
We let anyone, just anyone, judge our work (and by extension, judge us.)
Sue, the airheaded but long-legged girl in Spanish class gets the right to judge our appearance.
Bill, the bitter former-poet English teacher gets the power to tell us if we’re good at writing.
And on and on.
The cheerleaders are deputized as the Supreme Court of...
“We’re fully aware that not everyone is in agreement with our views on copyright...”
– Lawyer Claims TorrentFreak Abused Canadian Democracy
The Long Tail of Life →
Census research suggests that, within a particular size interval, more than 20 million types of bacteria live in sea water. However, Dr. Baross notes: “The total number of species of marine microbes, including both bacteria and archaea, based on molecular characterization, is likely closer to a billion.”
HTML5 Presentation →
Slideshow-style presentation on HTML5 made using HTML5.
February 2010
7 posts
“The net is growing exponentially fast. If current rates continue, by early in...”
– To prosper, feed the web first.
Man allegedly pretends to be U.S. Marshall,... →
According to local Hemet, CA police, Gregory R. Denny arrived at the doorstep of a local woman, “arrested” her, and drove her to a local border patrol station asking them to take her into custody. He apparently did all of this while dressed as a U.S. Marshall wearing a law enforcement uniform, badge and a handgun. When the border patrol post could not verify the existence of a...
I'm proud of myself.
johnkoziar:
Today I played four Mazurken by Chopin at the “coffee house.” Almost everybody liked the first three, especially the third which was the loudest. The fourth divided the audience. Why.
Chopin wrote fifty mazurken. I think it was the form in which he found his truest expression. The fourth mazurka I played was the last piece Chopin ever wrote, found on the piano with wet ink when he...
Eventually technical standards will become as... →
Laws are codified social standards; but in the future, codified technical standards will be just as important as laws. Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig says, “Law is becoming irrelevant. The real locus of regulation is going to be (computer) code.” As networks mature, and make the transition from ad hoc prestandard free-for-alls to fluid hot spots of innovation, and then into...
January 2010
8 posts
Game Theories →
Why the Walrus titled this essay so poorly is beyond me. Nonetheless, it is a fantastic read.
Then he performed one final analysis: the Gross National Product of EverQuest, measured by how much wealth all the players together created in a single year inside the game. It turned out to be $2,266 per capita. By World Bank rankings, that made EverQuest richer than India, Bulgaria, or China, and...
Can you build a nation without a government? →
There is going to be a clear tradeoff between getting aid delivered quickly and establishing any meaningful role for the government of Haiti in the crisis mitigation and recovery process. Can you build a nation without a government?
How people spend their day →
Would be fascinating to compare the graph with a day in the life of a caveman – the hunting & gathering type. Surely there would be less time watching TV & movies back then, but how about household activities? Traveling and Socializing? We wonder how the border between work and leisure worked for them and whether they were active during the same ‘office hours‘.
American Idol Killed the Newspaper
I don’t agree with the dumbing down hypothesis, but this reflection strikes a chord:
We will end up with one and a half cities in America — Washington, D.C., and American Idol. We will all live in Washington, D.C., where the conversation is a droning, never advancing, debate between “conservatives” and “liberals.” We will not read about newlyweds. We will not...
Web App Business Models: User Needs and What... →
“Even in someone else’s society the American is the chosen one. He’s going to...”
– Lauren Ban’s review of Avatar
Advice for your children: 2010-2020 →
I am encouraging of learning languages, driving modest Japanese cars, and ordering the most unappealing-sounding dish on the menu of a good restaurant. The reality is that I hardly have any useful advice.
December 2009
10 posts
The Tablet →
Do I think The Tablet is an e-reader? A video player? A web browser? A document viewer? It’s not a matter of orbut rather and. I say it is all of these things. It’s a computer.
And so in answer to my central question, regarding why buy The Tablet if you already have an iPhone and a MacBook, my best guess is that ultimately, The Tablet is something you’ll buy instead of a MacBook.
I say they’re...
Retreat From Reality: Some Obvious Observations →
“American tolerance for “terrorism” at home is almost zero. The US government will bomb temporary hideouts and these will move. The fear will more and more conquer us. I am reminded of the brilliant article by William Graham Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain” (1899). He argued that although the US won the Spanish-American War militarily, we lost it to Spain...
It’s How They Succeed →
The chief talent of successful politicians:
their power to impress and enchant the intellectually underprivileged.
Critique of The Phantom Menace →
In case the three of you who haven’t seen it yet, you should seriously watch this review of The Phantom Menace. It’s the first time I’ve ever watched a review that was actually better than the film itself.
Learning from bad graphs and weak analysis →
“Amazon reviews never reflect the product, they reflect the passion people have for the product. As Jeff Bezos has pointed out again and again, most great products get 5 star and 1 star reviews. That makes sense… why would you be passionate enough about something that’s sort of ‘meh’ to bother writing a three star review?”
Gladwell’s Tipping Point is Bullshit →
“If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one–and if it isn’t, then almost no one can,” Watts concludes. To succeed with a new product, it’s less a matter of finding the perfect hipster to infect and more a matter of gauging the public’s mood. Sure, there’ll always be a first mover in a trend. But since she generally stumbles into that role by chance, she is, in Watts’s...
Happy Holidays from Information Age 2.0 →
The Modernist agenda uncovered →
Subvert, assimilate, redefine.
Trillions →
Fascinating work from Maya.
November 2008
1 post
“Nature does not like to be observed, and likes that we should be her fools and...”
– Emerson, Experience