March 2010
50 posts
A brief, yet helpful, lesson on elementary... →
Nerd humor from The Reinvigorated Programmer.
How I make a living: in detail →
Scott Berkun’s radically honest post his finances and work
Letters of Note: The trouble with Chinese... →
E.B. White responds to an editor who thinks he should not use the word “Chinaman” because it’s derogatory.
A Chinaman is a man of China, just as a Frenchman is a man of France. … I guess Chinaman came to have a vaguely derogatory connotation because virtually every mention of the Chinese people, a generation ago, was patronizing.
“We originally wrote this article in Word, but then we converted it to Latex to...”
– “How many zombies do you know?” Using indirect survey methods to measure alien attacks and outbreaks of the undead by Gelman and Romero. PDF link. Via Marginal Revolution
School fakes shooting to teach kids "how to... →
Several kids were in tears after the fake shooting of a school teacher. One girl had a panic attack. Parents are appalled.
Oddly, the school officials quoted only apologize for timing:
Head teacher Terry Holland said: “The problem with a small minority of the pupils was that there was a slight delay in getting them back into the hall to explain what had just happened.” In a letter to...
List of oldest companies - Wikipedia →
Interesting.
UnofficialCensus.org - Submit your census... →
Trying to shame the US Census Bureau into allowing submissions via the web. Via Freakonomics.
Whenever I think of the census I’m reminded of the “Mr. Willis of Ohio” episode of The West Wing. I favor sampling to a direct count.
University of Chicago graffiti book reveals how... →
The book is available on Amazon.com
Dudebro, My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to... →
A videogame based on a flamewar about videogames. Via waxy.org
The Comment-Box Poets of The New York Times « The... →
“The phrase ‘I don’t have time for’ should never be said. We all get the same...”
– Scott Berkun: The cult of busy (via marco)
“an experienced entrepreneur just told me my blogging specialty is saying things...”
– Chris Dixon (@cdixon)
This is true of a lot of startup blogs that bootstrap their brand with a strong point of view.
Opinion Space →
The Department of State has an interesting visualization/social app of foreign policy opinions. Via Information Aesthetics.
“The best camera is the one you have with you. Now that our media is available in...”
– Jason Kottke, The new rules for reviewing media
That's What Bea Said →
Bea Arthur quotes, with the “that’s what she said” joke, make even non-sexual dialogue from Golden Girls feel icky. Via kottke.
Formal vs informal education - Joi Ito's Web →
My attitude is that we needn’t tailor our education system to motivated, curious students. They’ll succeed regardless of the system. The system should focus on equipping median and lower performing students to be productive citizens.
“It took us just over 60 takes…The machine was designed to get more and...”
– Damian Kulash from OK Go, on creating the video for this Too Shall Pass
First Draft Propaganda Posters →
Neven Mrgan's tumbl: What's next for Google Maps... →
What about random walking directions?
Segway directions
Shriner go-kart directions
Walking and chewing gum directions
Angry-walking directions
Clowncar directions, with an algorithm that maximizes your ability to unload fourteen clowns at your destination
Heartbroken moping to a sad indie song directions
Just-got-laid…
An Omnipotent Enemy Comforts Us →
“We fixate on enemies, and inflate their power, as a defense mechanism against generalized anxiety.” In the Mille-McCune Online Magazine. Via Marginal Revolution.
“All programmers are lazy. That’s why they program: because they don’t want to do...”
– Matt Haughey, on The Pipeline.
The discovery, loss, and rediscovery of the cure... →
Wonderful essay on the accidents, coincidences, and eventual scientific rigor that lead to a modern understanding of scurvy as a vitamin C deficiency. Via waxy.org
Colin Marshall: What I can tell you about... →
Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days →
By about 1.26 microseconds.
Five and the melancholy of good fortune
Apparently, numbers can be regular, safe, happy, good, lucky, fortunate, and sexy.
Five appears to have it all: he’s regular, safe, good, lucky, and fortunate! Eleven even thinks he’s sexy. Despite it all, he is still unhappy.
Anthropomorphize your own numbers with Wikipedia’s List of prime numbers.
Refreshing The Ubuntu Brand →
Boy, did it need a refresh.
“The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s...”
– Eric Von Hippel, in What Apple vs. HTC Could Mean - NYTimes.com. Via Daring Fireball
Chile earthquake tsunami visualization →
Quicktime movie from the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, via @KentBeck