January 2012
3 posts
1 tag
A Piece of Cake
Interesting article in Wired on willpower:
The reason our resolutions end in such dismal fashion returns us to the single most important fact about human willpower — it’s incredibly feeble. Consider this experiment, led by Baba Shiv, a behavioral economist at Stanford University. He recruited several dozen undergraduates and divided them into two groups. One group was given a two-digit...
“Still, in spite of this dedicated activism, the Obama administration seems blind...”
– Act for Sudan Co-Founder Susan Morgan in The Huffington Post - “U.S. Sudan Policy Is Killing Us”
http://www.wordnik.com →
New favorite: Wordnik. Well executed. Beautiful layouts. See myself using this a lot.
October 2011
1 post
August 2011
1 post
1 tag
Do the Work
Came across this gem on Ask MetaFilter:
The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the...
July 2011
1 post
Let Facts be submitted to a candid world. →
Great Metafilter thread on the Declaration of Independence.
May 2011
1 post
1 tag
Hell yes, America.
That is all.
March 2011
2 posts
Quora: "What are the best metrics for measuring... →
Good thread. In particular, like Joel Lewenstein’s argument for prioritizing visitor recency.
Cutting U.S. Funding for International Family... →
23,000 more children losing their mothers; 600,000 more unsafe abortions; increased maternal mortality. Someone should ask House Republicans why they think all of this amounts to an acceptable cut.
February 2011
1 post
"Working Backwards"
Wonderful product development idea from Amazon (as described by Ian McAllister): write your ideal press release (make sure to be precise) for your product and service, and then work backwards to make the actual stuff match the press release description to the fullest extent possible.
I can see why this would work better than drafting a functional spec. Writing a press release forces you to think...
January 2011
1 post
Moving. →
Paul Farmer’s moving eulogy for PIH co-founder Tom White.
November 2010
1 post
1 tag
“OBAMA’S MAP — WSJ A4, “Wisconsin Evokes Democrats’ Dilemma:...”
– via Mike Allen’s Playbook, November 8, 2010. (Feingold’s loss still stings.)
September 2010
1 post
A Democracy or a Republic It Ain't
That same day, Mr. Putin confirmed our point more eloquently than any editorial could. “What does the current law say about marches?” he asked in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant. “You must receive permission from local authorities. If you received it, go and demonstrate. If not, you don’t have the right. If you come out without the right, you will be beaten on...
August 2010
3 posts
StatCounter Browser Share Stats (July 2010) →
Praying for the day that Internet Explorer 6 is no more.
“Because they had the NFL pay Partners in Health for the right to play the song...”
– Wonderful. Another reason to love Arcade Fire. (via)
NYU's Journalism Institute picks the top 10 works... →
Can’t argue with its #1.
July 2010
2 posts
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life:...”
– via (so true!)
June 2010
1 post
iPhone Idea
Allow me to save attachments to my desktop (or perhaps even better, Dropbox) via Mail on the iPhone. That would be wonderful.
May 2010
1 post
“Design for the system, not for the individual…it’s not about any...”
– Facebook’s Julie Zhuo (via LukeW)
April 2010
3 posts
Digging Tumblr.
“Yet, as president, Mr. Obama and his aides have caved, leaving Sudan gloating at...”
– Nicholas Kristof, “Obama Backs Down on Sudan” (April 21, 2010)
“If you do know that here is one hand, we’ll grant you all the rest.”
– Wittgenstein, On Certainty