malvasian links

DiversityImbalance

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:36:06 -0800

Flipping the day - (37signals)

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:34:30 -0800

Interesting thoughts on the effects of working hours. I doubt his specific solution would work for me, but I like the idea of thinking more about possible options.

What you need to know about Twitter’s new filters

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:32:51 -0800

What you need to know about Twitter’s new filters:

Good post on international filtering laws.

Michael Wolfe's answer to Engineering Management: Why are software development task estimations regularly off by a factor of 2-3? - Quora

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:29:39 -0800

Michael Wolfe's answer to Engineering Management: Why are software development task estimations regularly off by a factor of 2-3? - Quora:

Wow.

Two phase release planning - Exploration Through Example

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:32:00 -0800

Two phase release planning - Exploration Through Example:

Seems sensible enough. I also like the final paragraph: “My success selling this approach has been mixed. People really like the feeling of certainty, even if it’s based on nothing more than a grand collective pretending.”

The Internet needs BrowserID - a plea to developers

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:29:00 -0800

The Internet needs BrowserID - a plea to developers:

Is enough better than OpenID to succeed? Not at all clear to me.

America, Found and Lost - National Geographic - May 2007

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:53:10 -0800

America, Found and Lost - National Geographic - May 2007:

North America didn’t have earthworms before Europeans arrived? That’s quite a change.

Japanese Fart Scrolls

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:50:32 -0800

Japanese Fart Scrolls

"The point is, I’ve realized I would much rather talk at length with one person who loved — or even..."

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:20:16 -0800

“The point is, I’ve realized I would much rather talk at length with one person who loved — or even hated — any of these things listed, rather than have the satisfaction of knowing I turned 100 new people on to any one of them. The discussion, the analysis, the extrapolation, these are all way more valuable to me as a human being than convincing a bunch more people to enjoy what I enjoyed, before immediately moving on to the next shiny thing.”

- under culture » side notes » The A.V. Club Problem: On Lists, Fandom and Mortality

Skyrim achievement completion - Nelson's Weblog

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:19:10 -0800

Skyrim achievement completion - Nelson's Weblog

Gameplay and Story Are Exactly Like Music and Lyrics

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:18:29 -0800

Gameplay and Story Are Exactly Like Music and Lyrics:

Pretty reasonable parallel; see also his followup post.

Fresh Impressions on Brandmarks (from my 5-year-old). As Daring...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:17:38 -0800

Fresh Impressions on Brandmarks (from my 5-year-old). As Daring Fireball says: astute and adorable.

More Evidence that Exposure to Economic Theory Breeds Greed - Bob Sutton

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:39:00 -0800

More Evidence that Exposure to Economic Theory Breeds Greed - Bob Sutton

A One Man Board Game Buyer’s Guide (Part II) | DESIGNER NOTES

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:32:00 -0800

A One Man Board Game Buyer’s Guide (Part II) | DESIGNER NOTES:

Good set of recommendations.

"“I remember getting my first banjo, and reading the book saying ‘this is how you play the C chord,’..."

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:29:07 -0800

“

“I remember getting my first banjo, and reading the book saying ‘this is how you play the C chord,’ and I put my fingers down to play the C chord and I couldn’t tell the difference.”

“But I told myself,” he continued, “just stick with this, just keep playing, and one day you’ll have been playing for 40 years, and at this point, you’ll know how to play.”

”

- Steve Martin, quoted in Closing Your Interests Opens More Interesting Opportunities: The Power of Diligence in Creating a Remarkable Life | Study Hacks

draqul: (via I shall be the fruit which will leave eternal...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:05:27 -0800

draqul:

(via I shall be the fruit which will leave eternal vitality behind even… - but does it float)

"John Cage doesn’t work more hours than you. Neither does Carole Greider. Work/life balance is..."

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:53:04 -0800

“John Cage doesn’t work more hours than you. Neither does Carole Greider. Work/life balance is a silly question, just as work/food balance or work/breathing balance is. It’s not really up to you after a point. Instead of sneaking around the edges, it might pay to cut your hours in half but take the intellectual risks and do the emotional labor you’re capable of.”

- Seth’s Blog: Time doesn’t scale

"I think he is right about these kids being comfortable with the “formal process” of applying to..."

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:52:00 -0800

“

I think he is right about these kids being comfortable with the “formal process” of applying to investment banks etc., but I don’t think he dives deep enough into why this is true. The fact is, the kids who get into Harvard nowadays are, generally speaking, professional test takers. They are moreover dependent on outside metrics for evaluating themselves. If you took away tests and grading systems, these kids would be desperately unhappy, because that’s how they’ve been trained all their lives to think about their self-worth.

When I was a tutor at one of the undergrad houses at grad school, I was incredibly impressed with the international group of undergrads I was in charge of; their credentials, even at the age of 20, were amazing, and their knowledge and self-possession were stunning. Same with the high school kids I taught at math camp last summer. But one thing I saw time and time again was how much they needed to please some outside authority. It’s like they never decided whether they themselves liked their major or whether it was a good fit- it was instead about whether they’d be successful and whether it would be an impressive path for them. So, external metrics of success.

”

- How Harvard is failing its students « mathbabe

"Supply Side assumes that the rich have a zillion other uses for their cash and thus have to be lured..."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:42:01 -0800

“

Supply Side assumes that the rich have a zillion other uses for their cash and thus have to be lured into investing it! Now ponder that nonsense statement. Roll it around and try to imagine it making a scintilla of sense! Try actually asking a very rich person. Once you have a few mansions and their contents and cars and boats and such, actually spending it all holds little attraction. Rather, the next step is using the extra to become even richer. Naturally, you invest it. Whatever the tax rates, you invest it, seeking maximum return.

Instead of enticing the rich to invest, these super low dividend and capital gains rates simply used money taxed from middle class wage earners to give bonuses for speculations wealthy folks were doing anyway. If anything, the only major effect, other than budget deficits, was a pumping up of asset value bubbles.

”

- Contrary Brin: Must the Rich be Lured into Investing? Who are the Real “Job Creators?”

Kapustin’s Etude No.1 Op.68 from ‘5 Etudes in...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:40:26 -0800

Kapustin’s Etude No.1 Op.68 from ‘5 Etudes in Different Intervals’ Audio + Sheet Music