Saturday, 28 January 2012
'Wait, Did I Just Hear a webOS Alert Tone in the Background?'
Josh Topolsky interviews Jon Rubinstein now that he’s left HP.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Reading on the Web Needs Its iPhone
Wherein Rian Van Der Merwe disparages, or rather describes how advertising is disparaging, the current state of reading on the Web. These certainly aren’t new thoughts to web designers, developers, or just plain-old lovers, but they remain as important as ever.
'Exact Nonsense'
Penn Jillette, in his book God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales:
There is no god and that’s the simple truth. If every trace of any single religion died out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.
(Via Kottke.)
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
'How Much Do Music and Movie Piracy Really Hurt the U.S. Economy?'
Answer: No one has any idea.
That PIPA and SOPA can get as much traction as they did without an answer to this, the most basic question, is frightening.
'Perspective'
Farhad Manjoo:
Apple’s profits ($13 billion) exceeded Google’s entire revenue ($10.6 billion).
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Yep
Jonathan Coulton:
Make good stuff, then make it easy for people to buy it. There’s your anti-piracy plan.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
'Don't Cry. Disney Owns The Right to That Emotion.'
Hitler reacts to SOPA.
Monday, 16 January 2012
EFF's 2011 in Review: The Year Secrecy Jumped the Shark
This is my concerned face.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Nothing Good Gets Away
Such a beautiful letter from John Steinbeck to his son Thom, who needed advice when he believed himself to have fallen in love with a young girl named Susan at his boarding school.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Does Culture Matter for Product Design?
Don Norman ruminates on Human-Centered Design vs. (what he calls) Activity-Centered design and the value/quantity of instilling culture when designing products. Classic, thought-provoking Norman.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Fred Wilson: 'Pseudonyms Drive Community'
Fred Wilson was kind enough to write up a little summary on our recently-released pseudonym research. A lot of people have raised valid points since we published the data and we’re keeping in that in mind as we continue our newfound love for research.
In the meantime though, the value of pseudonyms remains personified on Fred’s blog, A VC. A top-notch community filled with classy, quirky, witty personalities (using both “real” identities and otherwise), if you’re interested in this whole debate you can do no better than at least glance through the conversation on this post.
Monday, 9 January 2012
61 Percent Of Disqus Comments Are Made With Pseudonyms
Fun fact of the day.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Just Because Something Is The Way It Is Doesn't Mean That's The Way It Should Be
Clay Johnson, on SOPA and how/why Internet defenders should also take the time to get to know how Congress works:
Right now, if you want effective legislation around your industry, then you need to pay the right lobbyists, make the right campaign contributions, and write the right legislation at the right time in order to get it out of Washington. If you had to objectively pick the winning team in Washington, pick the team with deep pockets and great lobbyists, not the team with community organizers and signed petitions. It’s a gross system that needs change. It’s a cancer on our democracy.
Couldn’t agree more. And priorities in doing so:
But looking for a specific innovation to try and change the way Washington works by the time Congress votes on SOPA is about as foolish as Steve Jobs trying to diet his way out of having pancreatic cancer. With billions of dollars in the bank, and not a lot of time left, isn’t it worth going for the sure bet? Just spend the money. Then, after you’re sure you beat cancer, worry about disrupting the system that caused it.
We’ll see how that goes.
Sickening.
Lakhdar Boumediene on his wrongful arrest and incarceration in Guantánamo:
The fact that the United States had made a mistake was clear from the beginning. Bosnia’s highest court investigated the American claim, found that there was no evidence against me and ordered my release. But instead, the moment I was released American agents seized me and the five others. We were tied up like animals and flown to Guantánamo, the American naval base in Cuba. I arrived on Jan. 20, 2002. […]
And on his stay:
I went on a hunger strike for two years because no one would tell me why I was being imprisoned. Twice each day my captors would shove a tube up my nose, down my throat and into my stomach so they could pour food into me. It was excruciating, but I was innocent and so I kept up my protest.
And on those who “can” leave:
About 90 prisoners have been cleared for transfer out of Guantánamo. Some of them are from countries like Syria or China — where they would face torture if sent home — or Yemen, which the United States considers unstable. And so they sit as captives, with no end in sight — not because they are dangerous, not because they attacked America, but because the stigma of Guantánamo means they have no place to go, and America will not give a home to even one of them.
I am an American. My house has room; I will give a home to at least one of them.
If you can stomach it, here’s another similar story.
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