January 2009
70 posts
December 2008
96 posts
Outliers
karmcity:
I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s fairly disappointing Outliers.
The thesis in Outliers is that, in order to be successful in life, being lucky and being privileged matter. Nobody truly goes ‘from rags to riches’ — that every exceedingly successful person (Bill Gates, Bill Joy, etc.) was given a rare opportunity to achieve beyond their peers at some early stage in their lives.
As is...
IHardlyKnowHer.com →
jstn:
IHardlyKnowHer.com
Last side project of 2008. Put your Flickr URL name after the slash (e.g., ihardlyknowher.com/abain). Big pictures, little distractions.
If you use Flickr, check this out. You won’t believe how much better your pics look.
“Repetition blinds us to just how odd certain rituals of tradition are.”
– Quote from Gruber (via merlin)
This is a great quote from a thoughtful article with a unique perspective on Apple.
EVERY 30 gig Zune died last night →
marco:
(via jeffbaum)
This is hilarious. A software bug made every 30GB-model Zune crash last night at 2 AM, and they won’t reboot properly.
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Who vs. Which vs. That →
Here’s a grammar mistake I’ve been making my whole life. Going by what “sounds right” is right 99% of the time if you’re a native English speaker, but this rule can be broken without sounding wrong.
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Favre's shoulder pain from biceps tear →
I’d like to be on the record, while it’s still 2008, as saying that Favre may be juicing.
Before you decide this is ridiculous, note that:
He’s the same height and weight as Barry Bonds (Favre vs. Bonds). I know that the weights athletes are listed at are meaningless, but at least they’re both listed at the same weight, and it’s hard to believe one is exaggerating...
Cleveland Browns to talk with Eric Mangini about... →
This is hard to believe. Firing one Belichick castoff to replace him with another? Both coaches seemed like studs when they were coordinators for the Pats, but why would anyone believe Mangini will succeed in Cleveland when he failed for the Jets? Belichick didn’t even do well when he ran the show in Cleveland.
Running bandit in the Boston Marathon →
Right around now, a lot of folks are making New Year’s Resolutions that involve running, and some are deciding to run a marathon.
Apparently, many of them know 5 months in advance that they have no interest in paying the entrance fee into Boston’s race, because they’re Googling boston marathon bandit and finding a post on my old blog on the subject.
The great thing about this...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-12-21) →
Eels (6)
Bobby Helms & The Anita Kerr Singers (4)
Barenaked Ladies (4)
Eartha Kitt & Henri René (4)
Frank Sinatra (4)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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copycats:
“Just A Friend” by Adam Green &...
Importing my TripIt feed
I figured I’d do a little experiment where I imported my TripIt activity feed into this site.
It will mean a bunch of quizzical posts like “Alex is now connected to Zach. T”, which won’t make sense, but it will also show when/where I’m coming and going, which might be interesting to people.
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Jake and Amir Podcast
jakeandamir:
If all you want for Christmas/Hanukkah is to watch our videos on your iPod/iPhone well then you’re in luck!
The Jake and Amir podcast is officially open for business — and 100% free. Just click here to subscribe. (the link will open your iTunes)
This comedy duo is fantastic, and they get even funnier the more of them you see. I’m psyched to have their stuff just...
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“Making a sale is like making love: the faster the better.”
– Dwight Schrute (of Dunder Mifflin), Jan 09 Esquire (via luvvbugg)
3 broken systems and how I fixed them
I love routines, but I’ve got a problem: I’ve been using three systems for great personal gain for several years, and they’ve each broken in the last few months.
Marathon training: I decided in 2006 to run a 1/2 marathon despite the fact that I couldn’t run for +20 straight minutes at the time. Training was grueling for me, but it helped that I had a training partner in...
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“The Inuit do not have a large number of words for snow. One Eskimo-Aleut...”
– I feel badly posting this link without attribution, but I’ve forgotten who pointed me to it. Any, check out the Wikipedia List of common misconceptions. It’s a great way to kill 10-15 minutes.
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-12-21) →
Eels (6)
Frank Sinatra (4)
Eartha Kitt & Henri René (4)
Bobby Helms & The Anita Kerr Singers (4)
Barenaked Ladies (4)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
1 tag
Mr. Heat Miser, by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
I like...
New Memiary feature: Tagging
memiary:
I’ve been working on a lot of stuff under the radar, but today I’m happy to release a couple major(ish) new features and upgrades to Memiary.
Say hello to #hashtags. #You #use #them #with #Twitter, #and #now #you #can #use #them #with #Memiary.
Why would you ever want to use them? For a lot of reasons. Categorizing (“#work”), remembering and bookmarking (“#specialday”), moods and...
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“Christmas is Going to the Dogs” -...
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Another Christmas tune by Satchmo.
Everyone...
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Louis Armstrong - “Zat You, Santa...
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Lessons in customer service from a visit by the... →
I don’t mean to be a broken record, pushing Bonobos, but this is an ideal example of a company using their blog effectively.
The story is an appropriate length, very well written, and connected to the company’s mission.
This is “show, don’t tell” at it’s best. They’re not begging you to buy their pants, and they’re not merely stating that they...