July 2011
59 posts
Goes around and comes around
(via Circular reference. | Criggo)
Harry Potter vs. Twilight
There are many differences between the successes of the Harry Potter series and the successes of the Twilight series. However, I think Stephen King point out, most succinctly, the difference in their themes.
(via Harry Potter vs. Twilight « Bits Of Wisdom)
Find the SPF for you
fakescience
No, economists are not psychic
Below is a quote from John Gray’s review of David Brooks’ book, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement. He’s talking about how the recent economic crisis was supposed to be impossible because of the psychic ability of quantitative models to predict the future of the economy.
[M]any economists refused to accept that such a crisis was...
“It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be...”
– John Adams
The Purpose of Universities
Tim Black write in the Sp!ked Review of Books about how universities are deviating from their primary purpose: the pursuit of knowledge. However, universities now have the expectation to be economic engines, churning out smarter workers and economic producers.
An increase in the quantity of graduates will neither create a dynamic, wealth-producing economy nor will it create the conditions...
Body Hackers
Can applying the principles of computer hacking to the human body make for a better life?
Much as an engineer will analyse data and tweak specifications in order to optimise a software program, people are collecting and correlating data on the “inputs and outputs” of their bodies to optimize physical and mental performance. “We like to hack hardware and software, why not hack our bodies?” says...
Books vs the Internet
Will the internet ever replace books? Only if they’re able to replace a key and unique factor that up until now only books have successfuly been able to supply — linear concentration. Johann Hari has an article about the function of the book and how it will continue to persist in an age of distraction:
And here’s the function that the book – the paper book that doesn’t...
Hunch vs. Gut Feeling
This passage from the David Means’ story “Tree Line, Kansas, 1934” has a fun explanation of the difference between a hunch and a gut feeling.
A gut feeling finally becomes a hunch when it is transmuted into the form of clear, precise, verbal statements uttered aloud to a receptive listener—internal or external—who responds in kind. A hunch twists inside the sinews and bones, integrating...
The Very, Very Many Varieties of Beer, via Pop... →
The most comprehensive beer taxonomy.
Feedback Loops Are Changing What People Do
Wired Magazine’s article on Feedback loops explore what they are and how we can harness them to modify and improve our behavior.
[T]he simplicity of feedback loops is deceptive. They are in fact powerful tools that can help people change bad behavior patterns, even those that seem intractable. Just as important, they can be used to encourage good habits, turning progress itself into a...
Twitter Whom to follow - Chrome Web Store →
This Chrome extension for grammar snobs corrects Twitter’s “Who to follow” to “Whom to follow.”
Twitter Whom to follow - Chrome Web Store
“You don’t work on an assembly line any more. You work in project world,...”
– Seth’s Blog: When is it due?
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The World's Best Commercials, 2010-11 | Adweek →
Adweek has an impressive collection of the best ads of the year from the winners of the Gold Lion awards at teh Cannes festival.
