May 2012
13 posts
“Kids play T-ball, then baseball; they play games and have practice every week...”
– Meira Levinson talking about her new book No Citizen Left Behind. (via bostonreview)
Wow. Just, wow. Quote of the week. (via motherjones)
I used to think that the future would feel...
GameFront nails it again →
They were on point for the Mass Effect 3 controversy, and they’re just as right again for Diablo 3.
I don’t know how prevalent this opinion is, but I’m voting with my wallet — I haven’t bought StarCraft 2, and I won’t be buying Diablo 3.
Hooray for Poirot
Hercule Poirot: Hastings, there are two reasons why I should never become the millionaire. Captain Hastings: What are they, Poirot? Hercule Poirot: The first: that I should never make the detestable pork pies, hein? And the second: I am too understanding towards my employees. Captain Hastings: Quite.
Probably one of my favorite exchanges ever.
ClearChannel to dismantle WFNX; replaced with talk →
There goes one of the few things the Boston area had left going for it. To add insult to injury, they’ll be reusing the spectrum for right-wing ‘talk’ radio.
Calendar is one of those words that always looks like a proper name to me. Like the name of an angry, vengeful spirit — the wrathful god of missed appointments, perhaps. “Cower before Calendar, mortal, knowing that you have missed your meeting at 9!” Office-workers could sacrifice the last donut on a pyre to appease Calendar for his magnanimity in allowing meetings to start on...
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
– Chekhov (via wwnorton)
SUPER. MOON. (via laphamsquarterly)
April 2012
3 posts
“Those at the top of the pecking order have the least stressful and most healthy...”
– Low social status is bad for your health. Biologists are starting to understand why. (via theeconomist)
It took a study to figure this out?
March 2012
7 posts
“Let me get this straight. Millions of outraged Americans are just credulous...”
– Jesse Curtis (via azspot)
February 2012
8 posts
Hey gamers, this is why we can't have nice things →
One Town's War On Gay Teens →
This is probably one of the most heartbreaking articles I’ve ever read.
who else is uncomfortable with women in tech?...
Case in point: the strange, sad case of Violet Blue at Mac World, wherein a developer showcasing her work is dismissed as The Saddest Booth Babe In The World.
Violet who? She’s a sex columnist like Dan Savage, except neither funny nor relevant. So not at all like Dan Savage. Anyway, after getting called out on her shit, it just gets better:
“I put the woman in a social category based on...
2012 is going to be a dumb year
sadsquatch:
Pennsylvania names the bible as the most important book of the year.
Indiana decides creationism is just as valid as evolution.
A teen wins her lawsuit to have a prayer banner removed from her school, only to face death threats by armchair crusaders.
An Oklahoma senator is worried about fetuses being used in food.
HOLY SHIT WE ONLY JUST FINISHED JANUARY HOLD ONTO YOUR ASSES...
January 2012
13 posts
an excellent allegory about tech interviews →
This is why I often feel that I dislike the industry. Bogging down in minutiae versus getting shit done. Too many of Rands’ Got’cha Gregs hanging around, flaunting their superiority complexes.
Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice... →
There’s no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.
I hear it also causes cancer in lab animals.
1 tag
parislemon: This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things →
parislemon:
A lot of people have asked for my take on The New York Times piece yesterday about the true cost of making Apple products in China. Let me first just say that it’s an important piece full of good reporting by Charles Duhigg and David Barboza. Parts of it are very sad — sickening, really.
But…
There’s now an egregiously hyperbolic tag-along linkbait article on Mother...
Conspiracy of the day: Was Megaupload Targeted... →
Personally, I still think the timing was more of a big F U to the anti-SOPA/PIPA activists, but this seems a compelling argument as well. As an added bonus (for supporters of draconian control of the internet), it distracted everyone from ACTA.
Like robots? Like Jim Henson?
You’ll probably like this, then.
Richard Stallman makes some good points about... →
Kill Hollywood, Not Movies
parislemon:
The fallout from the failure of SOPA and PIPA is just as interesting as the main topics themselves. First, many on the web with loud voices are finally waking up to how corrupt the lobbying/political system is in this country. Second, directly-related, there’s a quickly growing anti-Hollywood sentiment.
The most forceful stance has to be Y Combinator putting out a new RFS (Request...
Don't Be Evil* →
parislemon:
*except if evilness is good for business.
The basics: Google, by way of their Getting Kenyan Business Online initiative, stole customers (and data) from rival Mocality.
Mocality uncovered as much in a clever sting operation, not unlike the one Google itself used to catch Bing “borrowing” search results last year.
What a fucked up situation. Google has fessed up to it, but is...
“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t...”
– Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
December 2011
15 posts
Interesting article over at the Atlantic about Finnish school success. Though really, the bottom line is .. well, the bottom line:
Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.
Why this continues to surprise anyone is beyond me.
I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...
”[..] theaters are losing their charm”
From Roger Ebert’s usually excellent1 column. Anecdotally, this is spot-on. My mother, whose usual modus operandi is to see at least a movie every month, whether or not my father wants to, no matter what is actually playing, has been opining more of late about how much she doesn’t like going out to the theater anymore. When...
“How did a nation that, aside from its mussels and chips, renowned chocolate and...”
– Belgium, a small, unremarkable country, brews world-reknowned beer. The country also makes a bigger range than any other—1,131 at the last count. Its hybrid history and culture are part of the reason why. (via theeconomist)