January 2012
2 posts
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making...”
– Neil Gaiman (via thoughtsdetained)
Concentration of Power
dihard:
According to recent financial data from the 3rd quarter of 2010, six banks represent 64% of GDP. These are JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. In 2006, before the financial crisis, that number was 55%. And fifteen years ago, it was 17%.
February 2010
1 post
January 2010
4 posts
James Petterson Inc
justine:
Since 2006, one out of every 17 novels bought in the United States was written by James Patterson.
This article covers how Patterson has profited from challenging many of his publisher’s assumptions about how to advertise and release novels and being intimately involved with the production of his books. More stats to go with the one above:
“He is listed in the latest...
“What we witnessed was truly a perverse form of competition,” said Ronald...”
– The Card Game - How Visa, Using Fees Behind Its Debit Card, Dominates a Market - Series - NYTimes.com
Technology Trends for 2010 →
December 2009
4 posts
Restaurants Use Menu Psychology to Entice Diners →
Code That Protects Most Cellphone Calls Is... →
November 2009
3 posts
Scaling in Games & Virtual Worlds →
May 2008
2 posts
WatchClay Shirky at Web 2.0 Expo in SF talking about, among other things, the “cognitive surplus” we are only beginning to make use of. He had a great response to a TV producer that heard a story about Wikipedians dealing with Pluto’s loss of “planet status” a couple years ago and who wondered where they “find the time” (that story starts at 03:45): “No...
April 2008
6 posts
Retired NY cops are able to connect murder to... →
livejamie: This is insane. Crazy. The detectives make the case that there is a nation-wide criminal enterprise that’s been responsible for at least 40 college student deaths in 25 cities across 11 states over the last 11 years. They go as far as deliberately leaving evidence for search teams leading in the wrong direction, and they leave a “signature” when they dump the...
“I also think that my party can be smug, detached, and dogmatic at times. I...”
– Barack Obama (via azspot) (via marco) (via jakoblodwick)
“Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts....”
– Ken Burns, “A Vanguard Against this New Separatism”
Reblog Notes Display Fixed
After flying to S.F. and back yesterday (uhg), I slept in and stayed inside today to recoup. I got a Google App Engine account a couple days ago and decided today that I was going to learn some Python and fix the reblog notes that were only partially working. I replaced the Yahoo Pipe and the (crappy) Dapper dependency, and now it works like a charm (during all my tests, at least). It only...
“If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each...”
– Aldous Huxley (via micahbaldwin) That could be true, but we could also work on changing our perspectives and personalities to allow for all of those things. Implying that we need a miracle drug belittles the tremendous capacity for change that we all have within us.
March 2008
10 posts
“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never...”
– John Wooden
Iraq By The Numbers →
Civilian Deaths, US Troop Deaths, Daily Crude Oil Production, Electricity Generated, Number of Phone Subscribers, and Iraqi Detainees in US Custody over the last 5 years. Note the “prewar level” and “stated goal” markers, too. If those numbers are accurate, then we’re seeing the lowest number of civilian and troop deaths since the war began. Regardless of what you...
New primary system for Washington State →
“Under a surprise 7-2 ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, the state is allowed to begin using a primary that would put all candidates on the same ballot and advance the top two finishers to the general election, regardless of party… Analysts said the system should favor centrists with crossover appeal over hard-edged partisans. The new method also offers the...
Senator Clinton's "Million Little Pieces" moment →
“Senator Clinton’s campaign has launched one of the oddest bits of political propaganda in the history of modern politics. Called DelegateHub.com, it is a web site that does nothing less than lay out, in glorious policy-wonk detail, their rationale for stealing the Democratic nomination… Gore’s Electoral College loss in 2000 was a calamity, and the idea that that sort of...
WatchImagining The Tenth Dimension I know this is older, but it came up again over a dinner discussion. I had to find it to send to someone after dinner, so I figured I’d post it here, too.
Added Tumblr Notes / Rebloggers To Each Post
UPDATED (4/11/2008): The problems described in this post have been fixed. I also decided to leave the reblog comments instead of requiring you to hover over some text to see them. UPDATE: Like with most version 1.0 solutions, I got feedback and made changes. On permalink posts, there’s a link in the sidebar for posts with reblog notes, and the notes will slide down. On index pages, if...
QQ: What is the fastest "0 to global" brand?
dihard:Basically, what brand (company, product, person, any entity that holds a brand identity) do you think gained awareness the fastest. Reblog your answer, if you’re so inclined. TBC Monday (taking a snowboard trip to Stowe this weekend). Osama Bin Laden / Al Qaeda after 9/11. Update: Winner!
February 2008
10 posts
The Race to Save the Cougar Ace →
A well-written, somewhat lengthy story about the rescue of the boat that started the “FAILBOAT” meme.
The Pirate Game →
Imagine you’re Pirate A in the following scenario. How would you propose to distribute the coins? Keep in mind the second factor in decision making (below); proposing that each pirate take 20 gold coins would surely let you live, but it would not be maximizing your own gold. Click the link for the answer. I found the answer to be counter-intuitive. — There are five rational...
The Audacity of Hopelessness →
“As for countering what she sees as the empty Obama brand of hope, she offers only a chilly void: Abandon hope all ye who enter here. This must be the first presidential candidate in history to devote so much energy to preaching against optimism, against inspiring language and — talk about bizarre — against democracy itself.”
WatchShed A Tear For Humanity: Why People Believe Americans Are Stupid (via) (previous Shed A Tear For Humanity)
“Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask...”
– Roz Savage (via)
Watch“20 minutes or so on why I am 4Barak” (via Lawrence Lessig) Definitely worth watching, IMO.
Kevin Kelly -- The Technium →
fred-wilson: a great essay on what is free online and what is not “When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied… Immediacy… Personalization… Interpretation… Authenticity… Accessibility… Embodiment… Patronage… Findability… These… apply to all digital copies, but also to any kind of copy where the marginal...
Watchlivejamie:“Frozen Grand Central” is the latest brilliance from Improv Everywhere where 207 “agents” all froze in place at the exact same time for five minutes in the middle of Grand Central Station I’ve liked a number of things from Improv Everywhere, but I believe this is my favorite so far.
January 2008
16 posts
Dumbing Us Down: The American Tragedy
livejamie: “40 Years of dumbing down is the only effective thing our educational system has accomplished! My kids are 21 and 17, and I basically ‘deprogrammed’ them every day after school, talking about the unbelievable things they were being taught! My kids were always one of only one or two ‘critical thinkers’ in each class, who actually questioned some of the...
Stranded at the airport? Don't forget Rule 240 →
livejamie: An explanation of the unwritten rule that can get you on your way when your flight is canceled or delayed.
WatchWill somebody get me a Monome so I can make crazy MIDI live preformances like this? Or this? — livejamie This looks neat. They sold out of their latest (and cheapest, so far, at $450) product in 2 minutes. The people behind Monome seem like a cool group of people, too.
