January 2011
41 posts
Soup: Revolution Porn →
spiegelman:
I get a sense that there’s a lot of rah-rah revolution going on by American observers of the Egyptian protests and the Tunisian overthrow, with a lot of knee-jerk criticism of the United States for supporting the “wrong” side in the conflict. It all seems very Tea Partyesque to…
Ways to Retain Learning →
In today’s Academic Minute, Landmark College’s Jim Baucom suggests specific study methods that are firmly based in research on cognitive improvement. Baucom is a professor of education and social sciences at Landmark. Learn more about him here.
Watch“Things Rules Do” - Tom Armitage of Berg London. Presented at Interesting North.
The Education Reform Roadblock: American Identity →
fek:
Education reform is doomed to fail, because it offers no concrete roadmap and fails to address the underlying reasons why so many Americans are opposed to reform in the first place: the expectation of membership, the expectation of safety. Immigration, and being shut out in our own country. Guns, and being unable to protect ourselves from our countrymen and government. It all amounts to a...
NYC Fills Chief Digital Officer Position →
Already taking suggestions on Quora
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As a broke bartender in Pennsylvania, my friends...
Frank Chimero: When I first started blogging, I... →
When I first started blogging, I told myself it was ok to post half-formed thoughts; a blog was ephemeral, reactive—the medium cared not so much about completeness as about timeliness. I still believe that to be true, but with one important modification: it’s not that a blog post has permission…
Two Roads To Courage
americandrink:
Self-proclaimed champion arm wrestler and professional Bounty Hunter, Tyler Riewer, received an extraordinary gift from his friends. Yes, that’s a vintage suitcase inlaid with a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon and brass knuckles. The top of the case reads, Sack Up: Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. America, we can give better gifts.
Fluxtumblr: Destroyer - There's A World... →
perpetua:
DOWNLOAD IT!
2011 looks to be Dan Bejar’s year. After 15 years of recording as Destroyer and contributing songs to the New Pornographers, Kaputt is on track to become his breakthrough success, at the very least in terms of critical consensus. This collection is a primer on Bejar’s…
1 tag
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A practical plan for when you feel overwhelmed -... →
First, spend a few minutes writing down everything you have to do on a piece of paper. Resist the urge to use technology for this task. Why? I’m not sure, but somehow writing on paper — and then crossing things out — creates momentum.
Second, spend 15 minutes — no more — knocking out as many of the easiest, fastest tasks as you can. Make your quick phone calls. Send your short emails....
4 tags
If You Didn't Blog It, It Didn't Happen - Anil... →
Now, while I’d like to self-servingly pretend that everything I say here is “big” in the sense of being important, really what I meant is that some ideas are just bigger than 140 characters. In fact, most good ideas are. More importantly, our ideas often need to gain traction and meaning over time. Blog posts often age into something more substantial than they are at their...
“In any event…it seems that the “death of journalism and journalists” meme was a...”
– Henry Blodget (via pegobry)
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“But the issue of reading is only one dimension of the question, and not...”
– The Surprising Potential of a Prison Library - The Boston Globe Ideas blog
The Path of the Doer →
mrstsk:
An 18-minute podcast in which Momus...
Watch3rdmartini:
the816:
Angry Birds - Letters From the Front Lines: A Ken Burns-style documentary film.
In case you were wondering, no, I am not a professional voice actor. And yes, all Angry Birds have dopey southern accents.
Fantastic job here by my pal Chris. We need more things like this.
Lapham's Quarterly: The Space Between Us →
laphamsquarterly:
Oh the number of people who have told me this is proper typing technique… I would really like to make a chant à la Animal Farm, “One space good! Two spaces bad!”
motherjones:
“In the middle of the last century, a now-outmoded technology—the manual typewriter—invaded the American workplace….
ARCHIVE AND CONQUER: I understand the importance... →
culled:
I understand the importance of “digital executors” and “digital estate planning,” at least for people who are producing or posting stuff of worth or enduring value on the internet. But really though, we have to draw a line somewhere. Most of the crap that people have created over the past few…
seedy: Walter Benjamin - The Arcades Project →
c-d:
Download [PDF, 180 mb], no password
The Passagenwerk or Arcades Project was an unfinished lifelong project of philosopher Walter Benjamin, an enormous collection of writings on the city life of Paris in the 19th century, especially concerned with the iron-and-glass covered “arcades” (known…
Watchdailybunch:
Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions? The short answer: not really. Especially when the amount of noise increases.
(Thanks to Jeremy for the link.)
Facebook is less like a nightclub and more like... →
jayparkinsonmd:
No code will ever be written by anyone that emotionally replicates the value we gain from having real relationships with our real friends and family.
Facebook jumped the shark a long time ago…
brycedotvc:
Doug Rushkoff had an interesting piece the other day that touched on something I’ve…
Frank Chimero: Clichés →
viafrank:
From Alain de Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life:
The problem with clichés is not that they contain false ideas, but rather that they are superficial articulations of very good ones. The sun is often on fire at sunset and the moon discreet, but if we keep saying this every time we…
andrewromano:
“There Must Be A Someone (I Can...
cause momus says so
mrstsk:
Why not stream the new album from Wire, Red Barked Tree, here while reading the three group members’ observations on each track here and recalling, if you’re me, the exact moment at which (in Drummond Place, Edinburgh, in 1978, craned over a JVC radio cassette machine playing the John Peel programme) you first noticed this group had it: “Up in my bedroom I’ve got Sarah Bernhard’s...
“I propose we abandon the Internet, or at least accept the fact that it has been...”
– Douglas Rushkoff (via ayjay)
Watchbrycedotvc:
There was a lot of noise made several weeks back about the record breaking project on Kickstarter that raised nearly $1M in their quest to build a series of watch kits based on the iPod nano. I didn’t pledge any cash to it; in fact, I never even clicked through to see what it was about. I saw pictures of it plastered all over the web and that’s all I needed to know. Or so I thought.
...
Why are the East of Cities usually Poorer? →
dailybunch:
Fascinating read on the impact of weather patterns on socioeconomic conditions. (H/T Noah)
“The present becomes intelligible as it is aligned with a past moment with which...”
– John Durham Peters, Speaking Into the Air (pg. 3)
A suitable quote for New Years Eve. Very excited to be starting this book on the “history of the idea of communication.”
(via caseyagollan)