Quick Hitters

"If at all possible, dodging complexity is far better than cleverly responding to complexity."

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:26:21 -0500

“If at all possible, dodging complexity is far better than cleverly responding to complexity.”

- Ian Bicking: a blog :: Throw out your frameworks! (forms included)

"Let’s suppose that back in the 1980s,” Lanier remarks, “I had said, ‘In a..."

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:21:11 -0500

“Let’s suppose that back in the 1980s,” Lanier remarks, “I had said, ‘In a quarter century, when the digital revolution has made great progress and computer chips are millions of times faster than they are now, humanity will finally win the prize of being able to write a new encyclopedia and a new version of UNIX!’ It would have sounded utterly pathetic.”

- assertTrue( ): You are not a gadget, progress is not a widget

This is a picture taken about a block from where I live of a...

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:15:31 -0500

This is a picture taken about a block from where I live of a policeman enforcing the curfews put into effect shortly after Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968.

"Despite the fact that the four Bushmen come from neighbouring parts of the Kalahari, their genetic..."

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:51:56 -0500

“Despite the fact that the four Bushmen come from neighbouring parts of the Kalahari, their genetic diversity is astounding. Pick any two and peer into their genomes and you’d see more variety than you would between a European and an Asian.”

- Africa’s genetic diversity revealed by full genomes of a Bushman and a Tutu : Not Exactly Rocket Science

Neat stuff.

"The whole American food system, from farm to fork, accounts for about 10% of the energy we use in..."

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:22:28 -0500

“The whole American food system, from farm to fork, accounts for about 10% of the energy we use in this country. Of that, the largest single portion, 32%, is the energy involved in household food storage and cooking. Put it another way: If we reduced agricultural energy use by 5%, nationwide, we’d save about 20 trillion British Thermal Units of energy a year. Them’s no small potatoes. But if just 5% of American households got a more efficient refrigerator, we’d save 54 trillion BTU.”

- Energy use and your food Boing Boing

Doing the big things are more important, well, because they are bigger.

"[Sarah Palin]’s playing exactly the same game she’s been playing since her big debut at the..."

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:20:33 -0500

“[Sarah Palin]’s playing exactly the same game she’s been playing since her big debut at the Republican National Convention: Making herself an irresistible target of “elite” scorn so that everyone who identifies with her feels equally attacked. This is not exactly a subtle strategy, but for some reason, high-level Dems who are supposed to be deeply media savvy keep getting suckered.”

- Please Don’t Throw Me in the Briar Patch!

So she’s either a genius or a moron. I’m not convinced it’s not the latter.

"One smart person is a useful open-source library. Ten smart people is a successful startup. Twenty..."

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:24:23 -0500

“One smart person is a useful open-source library. Ten smart people is a successful startup. Twenty thousand smart people is Google.”

- Hacker News | Things I’ve learned at Google so far

I think Durham needs a fire festival. Fiery European Festivals -...

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:28:48 -0500

I think Durham needs a fire festival.

Fiery European Festivals - The Big Picture - Boston.com

"At Google, when it comes to web analytics, we believe in the 10/90 rule. This means, that for every..."

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:07:51 -0500

“At Google, when it comes to web analytics, we believe in the 10/90 rule. This means, that for every $10 invested in a web analytics package, you should invest a further $90 in the people that deliver the insight. Google Analytics is free so that our users can invest more in deriving business insight and leverage our partners if they need help.”

- Google Analytics | Official Website

I agree!

Members of Willie Nelson's band cited for moonshine, drugs :: WRAL.com

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:00:19 -0500

Members of Willie Nelson's band cited for moonshine, drugs :: WRAL.com:

Doing it Big Willie Style.

"I know what the objection will be: but this computer isn’t “for” people like me. But that’s the..."

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:30:00 -0500

“I know what the objection will be: but this computer isn’t “for” people like me. But that’s the whole problem. Apple threatens to split computing into two markets, one for “traditional,” “real” computers, and another for passive consumption devices that try to play games without physical controls and let you read books, watch movies, play music, and run apps so long as you’re willing to go through the conduit of a single company.”

- Create Digital Music » How A Great Product Can Be Bad News: Apple, iPad, and the Closed Mac

"Just yesterday I was looking at my iPhone thinking “Hmmm, I wish this thing didn’t fit..."

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:56:57 -0500

“Just yesterday I was looking at my iPhone thinking “Hmmm, I wish this thing didn’t fit in my pocket.” Then I looked over to my netbook and couldn’t help but feel it would benefit from losing the keyboard and being made of 50% glass.
Finally apple gives me what I wish.”

- The iPad sucks (there I said it!) : reddit.com

Ignore the Content

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:45:55 -0500

Say a well-known site, say, redesigns their homepage. The new version could be better in every objective way, but users will still freak out. Why? It’s not the content – it’s something deeper.

The freakouts mean, “I love this site, I feel ownership of it, and you changed it, and that makes me mad.” When you look at it that way, you can see why a reasonable, factual response on why the new design is better will not work. Instead, you have to address the feelings behind the complaint. For example:

“You’re a valuable member, and we really appreciate how much time and energy you’ve put into the site. We know change can be hard, and we appreciate you writing to tell us your feelings. We think the new version is better, but you don’t have to agree. All we ask is that you give it a little time. See how you feel about it next week, and write us again. We’re grateful for your participation, and sincerely thank you for your feedback.”

See what I did there? No selling the new site. Instead, praise the user for giving a shit (and you should – trust me, I’ve run sites that nobody cared about and it’s much worse), try to make them feel important, show that you take it seriously, and ask for a little time.

With most redesigns, within a week, all the bitching is over (or, at least, moved on to something new). If there are major themes in the members’ complains, maybe there really is something wrong. They’re doing you a favor by pointing out the problems. Take them seriously and implement changes. The complainers will become your most dedicated fans if they see that their input results in positive changes.

The next time someone complains to you, try to ignore the content of the complaint and address the emotion behind it instead. You’ll be amazed how quickly you can convert the haters to lovers and make your site better at the same time.

— http://powazek.com/posts/1646

"We’re trained as volunteer ministers; we use a process called ‘assist’ to follow the nervous system..."

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:00:36 -0500

“We’re trained as volunteer ministers; we use a process called ‘assist’ to follow the nervous system to reconnect the main points, to bring back communication,” she said. “When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes, and asking people to feel the touch.”

- Travolta Flies More Scientologists to Haiti - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com

"If IE6 was a human, it would be starting the 3rd grade soon. To put it in web terms, this was 4..."

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:11:13 -0500

“If IE6 was a human, it would be starting the 3rd grade soon. To put it in web terms, this was 4 years before the first video was uploaded to YouTube, 2.5 years before anyone Facebooked anyone, and even 3 years before Google went public. The browser’s been out awhile.”

- nolancaudill.com - IE6 will never go away (it seems)

Money Jungle - Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:23:47 -0500

Money Jungle - Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach

I now I want a chimp.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:44:19 -0500

I now I want a chimp.

Ezra Klein - America spends way, way, way more on health care

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:21:22 -0500

Ezra Klein - America spends way, way, way more on health care

"A couple years ago, I was talking the Institute’s Bob Johansen about wisdom, and he explained that –..."

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:57:14 -0500

“A couple years ago, I was talking the Institute’s Bob Johansen about wisdom, and he explained that – to deal with an uncertain future and still move forward – they advise people to have “strong opinions, which are weakly held.””

- Bob Sutton: Strong Opinions, Weakly Held

(via hewhocannotbenamed)

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:22:51 -0500

(via hewhocannotbenamed)