February 2012
9 posts
Who The Devil Should One Vote For In The Venezuela... →
Miguel Octavio:
I have many friends who are involved in Capriles’ campaign. They are all competent, devoted, hard working and I am sure many of them will occupy positions in a Capriles administration. That alone gives me some comfort in the future of a possible Capriles presidency.
+1.
This insignificant blog doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I’m voting for Capriles in the...
Reading Along the Way
Before moving to Norway, my pal @FedericoA gave me a book called Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson. Although hardly my style of novel, it was surprisingly enlightening in helping me grok aspects of norwegians that I would most likely have missed otherwise.
Since then I have always tried to read something about places I’m visiting. While I’d love for this to be an intellectual...
Spectacle for Mac →
Spectacle is a simple utility that allows you to easily organize your windows without using a mouse.
I’ve been using Cinch for some time, but its mouse based and the animations sometimes get in the way.
Spectacle is similar to Divvy, but free and much simpler to set-up.
The Ihnatko Almanac #17: Proof of Life
Andy...
Top Five Regrets of the Dying →
Susie Steiner, Guardian.co.uk:
There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps.
Anecdote is not evidence, but these are some good anecdotes.
/via @DoLectures
The Two Things →
For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.
As flawed a concept as probably true. Insightful Two Things for many topics.
/via swissmiss
Blinded by Lack of Light
Sometimes people get lost. Not in the where am I? Google Maps sense, more like in a where do I fit? Google Zeitgeist scale.
Giving advise to lost people is great. They are already lost, so basically anything mildly coherent you put together would make a lot sense. Clichés come in very handy: early bird always gets the worm, don’t count your chickens until they hatch, it’s always...
January 2012
45 posts
How Hulu's Andy Forssell Will Spend $500 Million →
Andy Forssell, on the The Hollywood Reporter:
In our world, we’d much rather have Community than Two and a Half Men, and I don’t mean that as a criticism of Two and a Half Men.
[…]
But for us, we’re much more excited about Community because while it’s a smaller audience, it’s an audience that self-organizes online. They’ll not only tell their friends to...
The Png Project →
Download .png from The Noun Project.
This just saved me probably hours in my workflow. Extensions for for Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
“The to-do list is the “what”, the schedule is the “when”.”
– Excellent point by Shawn Blanc regarding yesterday’s HBR article.
Simplified Google Policies & Principles →
We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read.
It’s very readable and easyish to understand, they deserve some credit.
I once spent two weeks trying to translate the Opera Privacy Statement from lawyer-speak to human, the results were less than stellar1. It’s difficult to explain...
42 Things You Shouldn't Say on a First Date
Wow, you look really different from your profile picture.
That reminds me of something my ex used to say…
That’s just like last week’s episode of Cougar Town…
Turns out it was contagious.
Sorry I’m late, but my other date ran long.
That reminds me of something your ex used to say…
What’s your name again?
So, I thought it said lobster instead of rabbit, but enough...
To-Do Lists Don't Work →
Daniel Markovitz , Harvard Business Review:
Stop making to-do lists. They’re simply setting you up for failure and frustration.
Oh, shut up. But of course he doesn’t:
The alternative to the feckless to-do list is what I call “living in your calendar.” That means taking your tasks off the to-do list, estimating how much time each of them will consume, and...
(Beta) Markdown Text Chrome Extensions →
Just finished polishing the Chrome extensions of my Markdown bookmarklets.
If you use Chrome and Markdown, please give them a try and let me know what you think.
Depending on the feedback —and them not blowing up a nuclear power plant— I’ll probably upload them to the Chrome Web Store next week.
Embark – Mass Transit Made Simple →
We make free, fast, and simple mobile apps for mass transit riders worldwide.
Most of the metro apps I used on the trip were crap. These ones from Embark make me want to take a subway somewhere.
/via @gesteves
Our Time is Now →
Stephen Hackett:
In this new world, we are not the weird hippies holding on to our obscure computers and even more obscure software titles. Talking about iPad apps in line at Starbucks isn’t weird anymore.
I knew this was going to happen. At least I hoped it did. Not so much the Apple angle, as the geek part.
Dancing for the Non-Believers
Two things can happen at this moment, you can grab your smartphone again and check for more non-existing messages, or step forward and… dance.
We can all dance. At least our bodies can. Our brain, doesn’t always agree.
If this wasn’t the case, then 47% of the population1 wouldn’t prefer jumping out of an airplane rather than stepping in front a group of people to… dance.
...
Don’t Say Oh Well, Grouplove.
Some songs...
25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore →
Jlsathre (couldn’t find her real name):
If someone comes in and asks where to find the historical fiction, they’re not looking for classics, they want the romance section.
Laughed out loud with a few, and also reconsidering my dream of opening a bookstore.
Hidden Habits of Ineffective People →
Chris Wake:
Effective people tend to create a lot of content. Content can mean a lot of things - but the rule is always the same, create more than you consume. Ineffective people, on the other hand, spend the majority of their time consuming the fruits of others’ labor.
New morning mantra.
Dear Student: I Don't Lie Awake At Night Thinking... →
Art Carden, on Forbes:
First, I do not “take off” points. You earn them. The difference is not merely rhetorical, nor is it trivial. In other words, you start with zero points and earn your way to a grade.
Great article. Anybody who’s a professor should share some version of this with their students. It would have helped me understand earlier.
On Beijing, Shanghai, and a Train in Between
We sat on the fancy bar and looked around. Modern design, with a live band playing in the center and some cool looking electronic candles that when lifted flashed intensely to call the attention of the waiter.
I ordered a whiskey on the rocks and Jose Luis vodka-something (such a communist). There was a cigar menu. Imagine that, to drink and smoke a cigar in the Beijing, the capital of the...
Watch
What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto — a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume.
How to Travel Around the World for a Year. →
I’ll show you how affordable traveling actually is, and how to plan your own adventure.
Much better job than anything I could have written. Also, beautiful pictures (edit: photos by Trey Ratcliff, not that I feel any better).
Do Economists Recognize an Opportunity Cost When... →
Joel Potter and Shane Sanders:
Ferraro and Taylor (2005) asked 199 professional economists a multiple-choice question about opportunity cost. Given that only 21.6 percent answered “correctly,” they conclude that professional understanding of the concept is “dismal.” We challenge this critique of the profession.
Thank goodness somebody is defending us, because I basically spent 5 years in...
Kerris Dorsey - The Show.
Loved this song from...
Docracy - Free Legal Documents →
Docracy is a social repository of legal documents. Our mission is to make useful legal documents freely available to the public.
Surprisingly good variety and quality. Almost incorporated and then hired myself just to have a reason to use it.
Lullatone Alarms & Ringers →
We made some new free alarms and ringtones for smart phones. Some are soft for waking up smoothly, some are harsher and some are just funny.
I’m always looking for clean alarms and ringtones, these are childishly good.
“If you were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, the people who call...”
– Noah Stokes.
/via @viticci
A Girl You Should Date →
Nona Merah:
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants.
The last line of the post had me smiling like an idiot.
/via Bookshelf Porn
Louis C.K. Reflects On ‘Louie,’ Loss,...
Bookshelf Porn →
Porn for book lovers. A photo blog collection of all the best bookshelf photos from around the world for people who heart bookshelves.
Do not visit if you have things to do.
Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't really make $378 million... →
Philip Elmer-DeWitt:
His salary was $900,017. His 401(K) grew by $14,700. To get the rest he has to stick around.
Seems understanding financial statements is not a requirement for writing news about them.
4sqwifi →
4sqwifi enables you to find nearby venues which offer WiFi — and their password. Worldwide.
Could be very useful on a trip.
Crowd Dynamics: The Wisdom of Crowds →
The Economist:
There is no simple correlation with the side of the road on which people drive: Londoners funnel to the right on pavements, for example.
I ran into this1 on the trip. On the four countries I visited that drove on the left, I made a mental note to turn in that direction. A few bumps later, I returned to my old ways.
I crack myself up. ↩
Moleskine Luggage Tags →
Now people that don’t even see me with my bag can know I’m a hipster.
Internet Access Is Not a Human Right →
Vinton G. Cerf, one of the fathers of the internet, on the NYTimes.com:
Loosely put, it must be among the things we as humans need in order to lead healthy, meaningful lives, like freedom from torture or freedom of conscience. It is a mistake to place any particular technology in this exalted category, since over time we will end up valuing the wrong things.