December 2009
19 posts
3 tags
“The single best tech idea of 2009, though, the real life-changer, has got to be...”
– David Pogue: The 5th Annual Pogie Awards for the Year’s Best Tech Ideas I completely agree. I use it dozens of times a day.
Dec 30th
2 tags
Dec 23rd
2 notes
2 tags
“If you don’t have employer-based coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, or anything...”
– Ezra Klein
Dec 23rd
2 notes
50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice →
The Elements of Style does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students’ grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it. Via givemesomethingtoread.
Dec 22nd
21 notes
Who Can Name the Bigger Number? →
givemesomethingtoread: The key to the biggest number contest is not swift penmanship, but rather a potent paradigm for concisely capturing the gargantuan. (Thanks, Tristan!) This is a computer science theory/history, logic, number theory beauty. My favorite paragraph: Indeed, one could define science as reason’s attempt to compensate for our inability to perceive big numbers. If we could...
Dec 21st
3 notes
Dec 19th
1 note
2 tags
Dec 18th
Dec 18th
52 notes
Reverse Lake Wobegon Effect
cdixon: Bill Gates walks into a bar, suddenly the average wealth of people in the bar goes from thousands to millions.   And also now everyone in the bar except Bill has below average wealth.  Similarly, contributors to user generated websites like Wikipedia are almost all below average.  There are a few people who contribute a ton, and a whole lot of people who contribute very little.  This is...
Dec 16th
16 notes
1 tag
Vimeo Sued By Capitol Records Over Lip Dubs  →
zachklein: I roared with a belly laugh when I read this headline in bed earlier today. Could Capitol Records truly be this misguided? Do they not realize that if you were to sort Internet brands by those most emblematic of creativity — not piracy — that Vimeo would line up at the top? Lip-dubbing is harmless and perfectly fun, and ultimately will define the aesthetic of an Internet generation....
Dec 16th
453 notes
3 tags
“The cumulative devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar was such that a stack of...”
– John Williams: Prepare For The Hyperinflationary Great Depression
Dec 16th
4 notes
WatchWatch
In The Know: Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?
Dec 16th
2 notes
2 tags
Potty Training Pigs Helps Cut Water Use by 50%,... →
Dec 15th
1 note
4 tags
Apple is supposedly planning to use its... →
Dec 11th
3 notes
Dec 8th
57 notes
2 tags
Dec 8th
31 notes
Dec 7th
62 notes
4 tags
“Americans want our country to be secure. Most want Obama to succeed. And so we...”
– Frank Rich
Dec 6th
“Through a mix of documents unearthed by Freedom of Information Act requests and...”
– Sprint fed customer GPS data to cops over 8 million times
Dec 2nd
1 note