Dope pic.
All posts filed under: Essays
“Psychic Benefits” and the NBA Lockout
Malcolm Gladwell does one of his more stirring and incisive pieces about the NBA situation in a while. Definitely worth the read. Money quote (of many): [Tom] Yawkey [owner of the Red Sox] was not just a racist, in other words. He was a racist who put his hatred of black people ahead of his desire to make money. Economists have a special term they use to describe this kind of attitude. They would say that […]
apieceofmierdadegato: Elephant orphans form intense bonds with their caregivers and vice versa. “It’s not for the wages,” explains one veteran keeper. “The more you’re with them, the more you satisfy yourself. You just love them.” Photograph by Michael Nichols.
Why Arabic Is Terrific
Arabic twists healthy minds in eleven ways: 1. The Root/Pattern System2. Broken Plurals 3. The Writing System 4. Dual 5. Plural Lite 6. The Feminine Plural 7. Crazy Agreement Rules 8. Phonetics 9. Funky Numbers 10. Diglossia 11. Learning Materials Read more about all of them here: Why Arabic Is Terrific
This just about sums up London’s finest this year.
I Am Nothing
Brilliant Essay by Paul Buchheit. By returning to zero expectations, by accepting that I am nothing, it is easier to see the truth. Fear, jealousy, insecurity, unfairness, embarrassment – these feelings cloud our ability to see what is. The truth is often threatening, and once our defenses are up, it’s difficult to be completely honest with anyone, even ourselves. But when I am nothing, when I have no image or identity or ego to protect, I can […]
boston: World-class cliff divers soar eight stories above harbor – Eight stories above the waters of Boston Harbor and a few strides from the safety of the Institute of Contemporary Art’s roof, 26-year-old Steven LoBue balanced on the edge.
jjasinski: Cosby & Sammy Davis Jr.
There’s a huge divide between the consumer space and the public sector. Why? The reason is that in government there isn’t a Darwinian pressure to innovate that’s in the consumer space. Consumer companies are one click away from extinction, so they have to innovate constantly. Yet in enterprise IT, which is far inferior to consumer IT, victory is considered winning that contract. Once companies win that contract, the incentives are to optimize their margins, not […]
Rope-A-Dope, Indeed
parislemon: Sometimes you want so badly to say “I told you so!” after months of getting kicked in the ass, that you do so without really looking into what you’re writing about. Or even thinking, really. Such is the predicament Dan Lyons finds himself in today. The artist formerly known as Fake Steve Jobs wrote the following this morning immediately after hearing about Google buying Motorola: Read More Fascinating.
Musings 