Holy crap, Stewart and Caterina are on
Holy crap, Stewart and Caterina are on the cover of Newsweek this week!
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Entries for March 2006
The schedule
Today I’m starting (and hopefully completing) Operation Empty My Inbox and Operation Close All My Browser Tabs.1 Over the past month and a half, I’ve barely replied to any email I’ve gotten, so if you sent me something during that time period, I hope to get to it today and perhaps send you a reply. I’ve also got about 20 33 tabs open in my browser, waiting to be read, so expect some output from that as well.
Update: Ok! With the exception of 6 messages that need my attention in the next day or after I get back from my trip, my inbox is completely empty. And it only took 5 solid hours of writing, dragging, dropping, applying rules, and eye strain. Still no progress on the browser tabs glut. In fact, the inbox clear-out resulted in 6 or 8 more tabs being opened. One step forward, two steps back.
[1] I’m also starting two smaller projects, Project Learn How To Type Again (jeez, five days of almost no computer use and I’ve completely dogrhottem hiw tp typw) and Project Steal Footnote Technique From John Gruber, Who I Met At SXSW And Is Completely Delightful. Both of these are in lieu of what I really want to be doing right now, Project Save The Princess. Some friends lent us their GameCube with the Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition, which contains the original Zelda game which is still as fun as ever. Octoroks, Tektites, and Leevers too! ↩
“It’s a bad time to start a
“It’s a bad time to start a company”. Amen. It’s kinda what I was getting at in this post…”if you’re buying low and selling high, the time to buy optimism was two to four years ago, not now”.
Sociology study indicates that atheists are the
Sociology study indicates that atheists are the least trusted group of people in America. “Researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, homosexuals and other groups as ‘sharing their vision of American society.’ Americans are also least willing to let their children marry atheists.” Also, “those surveyed tended to view people who don’t believe in a god as the ‘ultimate self-interested actor who doesn’t care about anyone but themselves.’” (via dg)
A moving mass has been shown to
A moving mass has been shown to generate a gravitomagnetic field (just like a moving electrical charge creates a magnetic field) and “the measured field is a surprising one hundred million trillion times larger than Einstein’s General Relativity predicts”. (via rw)
Planned Parenthood clinic on Indian lands
President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, says:
I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.
(via bb)
The Edge has a transcript and an
The Edge has a transcript and an mp3 recording of an event called The Selfish Gene: Thirty Years On. The speakers include Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins.
Influential wine critic Robert Parker gave 90 to 91
Influential wine critic Robert Parker gave 90 to 91 points (out of 100) to a wine made by porn star Savanna Samson, denoting it as “an outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character”. I’ll leave you to make your own jokes about the wine’s “great body” and “long legs”.
Early review of Pixar’s Cars. The author
Early review of Pixar’s Cars. The author caught the first public showing of the film in Las Vegas.
There appears to be a bit of
There appears to be a bit of a problem with Yahoo’s text ad program: you aren’t allowed to show pages with Yahoo’s ads on them to people outside of the US.
“Office spouses are colleagues who must spend
“Office spouses are colleagues who must spend most of their workday together so that they seem married. Their relationships are often filled with the same kind of electrical charge that marriages sometimes lose. They are intimate in an intellectual way and beyond.”
Franz Ferdinand frontman shot by Gavrilo Princip
Franz Ferdinand frontman shot by Gavrilo Princip bassist. Interpol and British Sea Power are on the case.
America’s Stone Age Explorers
Watched America’s Stone Age Explorers on PBS this evening, a summary of recent findings about who the first Americans were, where they came from, and when they arrived. Recent genetic and archeological evidence suggests they arrived earlier than generally accepted and may have originated from Europe rather than Asia.
Findings indicate that behavior in online worlds
Findings indicate that behavior in online worlds mirrors that of the real world, namely than men stand further away from each other than women, men maintain less eye contact with each other than women, and the amount of eye contact decreases when people stand close together.
Here’s a line of pre-pixelated clothes suitable
Here’s a line of pre-pixelated clothes suitable for wearing on television shows where the producers don’t want to worry about clearing the rights to clothing logos. Fun idea.
A list of the most-linked blogs from
A list of the most-linked blogs from September 2000 (scroll for the notes at the end). Metalog and Metalog Ratings comprised the first weblog tracking/ranking system, predating most of the current crop by at least a year or two.
Zach Klein reports on Riya, a photo
Zach Klein reports on Riya, a photo service that does face recognition…you tag people’s faces and over time the system recognizes them without input. TechCrunch says that Riya can recognize text and other objects (like the Eiffel Tower) in photos as well. Cool.
Somewhat related to this, parallels between my
Somewhat related to this, parallels between my living through two years of middle school and the two terms of the Bush presidency.
Opening day at Shake Shack
I did some important investigatory journalism today: burgers at the Shake Shack on opening day. Journalism has never been so delicious.
20-year-long study shows that children who were
20-year-long study shows that children who were whiny and insecure tend to grow up to be conservatives and “confident, resilient, self-reliant” children tend to grow up to be liberals. “He reasons that insecure kids look for the reassurance provided by tradition and authority, and find it in conservative politics. The more confident kids are eager to explore alternatives to the way things are, and find liberal politics more congenial.”
Las Vegas is testing out some high-tech
Las Vegas is testing out some high-tech gadgets, including fully-automated gaming tables with no chips, cards, or dealer. Doesn’t sound like much fun…
Interview with Amy Franceschini, founder of Futurefarmers.
Interview with Amy Franceschini, founder of Futurefarmers. Franceschini also had a hand in Atlas Magazine (blast from the past!), which was one of my favorite sites back in the day.
Gallery of counterfeit cigars, most of them Cuban.
Gallery of counterfeit cigars, most of them Cuban.
Why is bread in Paris better than
Why is bread in Paris better than that in the US? Good discussion in the comments.
Michael Crichton on the sad state of
Michael Crichton on the sad state of patents in the US, particularly those related to medicine. “Any doctor who reads a patient’s test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the [homocysteine/B-12] patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent.”
New Yorker piece on Bill O’Reilly. “It’s
New Yorker piece on Bill O’Reilly. “It’s hard to be straight-ahead if you’re essentially oppositional and the people you like are in power, if the guests you most want will not appear on your show, and if it’s nearly impossible to demonstrate the existence of the trends you have made it your mission to oppose.”
High-end SUVs aren’t selling as well as
High-end SUVs aren’t selling as well as they used to and people are even trading them in for vehicles that get better gas mileage. “For Janna Jensen, it was the dirty looks and nasty gestures from other drivers that finally persuaded her to give up the family’s $55,000 Hummer H2.” I have an irrational and nearly irresistable urge to key the hell out of a Hummer everytime I see one. See also Gladwell on the SUV.
This is a bit old (from March
This is a bit old (from March last year), but the most photographed city on Flickr at the time was London followed by New York, but when you take population into account, Vancouver, Amsterdam, and Las Vegas win for photos per capita.
The pace of razor development is staggering;
The pace of razor development is staggering; we could be at 14 blades by 2011. (via airbag)
Bruce Sterling: “if you can explain what
Bruce Sterling: “if you can explain what you are doing with any conventional terminology, you’ve already been outsourced to India”.
“In aviation, the Big Sky Theory is
“In aviation, the Big Sky Theory is that two randomly flying bodies will likely never collide, as the three dimensional space is so large relative to the bodies.” (via rir)
Short interview with Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos.
Short interview with Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos.
Michael Bierut: “the great thing about graphic
Michael Bierut: “the great thing about graphic design is that it is almost always about something else”.
Because of the Eolas patent crap, Microsoft
Because of the Eolas patent crap, Microsoft is updating Internet Explorer so that you need to click to “activate” any Flash or Quicktime applet. There’s a workaround that involves replacing all your
Nothing says hardcore more than replacing your
Nothing says hardcore more than replacing your eyebrows with tattoos reading “fuck” and “you”. This guy needs a hug. (via bo)
The Project for Excellence in Journalism has
The Project for Excellence in Journalism has released its annual report on American journalism: The State of the News Media 2006.
PDF of the 2006 James Beard Award Nominees.
PDF of the 2006 James Beard Award Nominees. Dan Barber is up for best NYC chef.
Most comments
After linking to a particularly active thread on a politics blog, Chris asks:
What is the record for the most amount of comments left on a blog?
The Matrix Reloaded thread (it actually spans two threads because MT was beginning to buckle under the pressure) got 1767 comments in six months. MetaFilter’s longest thread has 1729 comments. I’ve seen 1000+ comment threads on Dooce and political blogs like Daily Kos probably have 1000+ comments threads all the time. This Engadget thread has 3324 comments. Slashdot’s thread on the end of the 2004 Presidential election garnered 5687 comments. (This SpyMac forum thread seems to have about 167,000 comments, but it’s not a blog and seems like cheating because it was an attempt at the longest thread ever.)
Any other contenders? Digg? Huffington Post?
The folks who do the Oxford Dictionaries
The folks who do the Oxford Dictionaries have a list of frequently asked questions about language, grammar, and usage. Nice resource.
It’s so easy for people to get
It’s so easy for people to get all ranty and unbalanced about the MPAA, movie piracy, and copyright issues…Derek has a refreshingly clear and steady take on the issues involved and how the industry middlemen are making things hard for everyone but themselves.
On The Steve Jobs on Magazine Covers
On The Steve Jobs on Magazine Covers page, you’ll find, uh, … See also the curl commands for sucking down all the images automagically.
Top 1000 publications owned by US libraries. The
Top 1000 publications owned by US libraries. The Holy Bible, the 2000 US Census, and Mother Goose top the list. (via o’r)
I was recently wondering if any of
I was recently wondering if any of the Creative Commons licenses had been upheld in court; a CC license was recently upheld in a Dutch courtroom.
This Onion story is right on the
This Onion story is right on the edge between humor and tasteless: Kent State Basketball Team Massacred By Ohio National Guard In Repeat Of Classic 1970 Matchup. I laughed, but I felt bad about it.
Speaking of wine blogs, Wine Library has
Speaking of wine blogs, Wine Library has a video blog about wine. Not sure about the spit bucket thing on camera tho… (thx, erik)
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