May 2012
1 post
2 tags
April 2012
2 posts
March 2012
1 post
In New Office Designs, Room to Roam and to Think →
I would love to work in an open office space like this one day:
These are the main [design] concepts: Buzz — conversational noise and commotion — is good. Private offices and expressions of hierarchy are of debatable value. Less space per worker may be inevitable for cost-effectiveness, but it can enhance the working environment, not degrade it. Daylight, lots of it, is indispensable. Chance...
June 2011
2 posts
Are email disclaimers necessary? →
From The Economist:
Company lawyers often insist on them because they see others using them. As with Latin vocabulary and judges’ robes, once something has become a legal habit it has a tendency to stick. Might they at least remind people to behave sensibly? Michael Overly, a lawyer for Foley & Lardner in Los Angeles, thinks not: the proliferation of predictable yada-yada at the bottom of...
May 2011
1 post
What I Learned In Joplin
Must read from NYT’s Brian Stelter’s tumblr, thedeadline:
I’m going to write this in a stream of consciousness, the same way I experienced Joplin.
It was my first time covering — more accurately, trying to cover — a disaster. The National desk knows I am a weather geek, so I came close to covering the tornadoes in North Carolina in April, and then the tornadoes in Alabama earlier...
January 2011
1 post
WatchKatie Couric and Bryant Gumbel discuss what the Internet is on NBC’s Today Show in January 1994. I imagine this is similar to conversations people had about “electricity” before it became.
November 2010
2 posts
“Is there anything good to be said about the partisan mindset? On an individual...”
– Ross Douthat, “The Partisan Mind,” New York Times, Nov. 29, 2010.
I don’t usually read Ross Douthat’s columns, but he makes an excellent point about how absurd and inconsistent partisan politics can be.
“Every election, regardless of who wins and who loses, is a reminder that in our...”
– - President Obama, 11/3/2010
Politics sucks, more often than not. But what’s awesome about elections in our country is not that people vote — it’s that our government accepts the result and continues forward. Midterm elections are the best reminder of that.
October 2010
6 posts
Oh, great.
NYTimes: Sunnis in Iraq Allied With U.S. Quitting to Rejoin Rebels
http://nyti.ms/a75dgJ
Frank Chi: The Social Network is About Social... →
Agree with frankchi on how “The Social Network” is the “zeitgeist of our generation”:
Crossposted on The Huffington Post
There is a wide backlash from new media professionals about The Social Network. Jose Antonio Vargas says that the movie shows how much Hollywood doesn’t understand Silicon Valley. Jeff Jarvis thinks it vilifies nerds and is the new “anti-geek...
Joe Biden: The Salesman - The Atlantic →
Great profile on VP Joe Biden that lists all the reasons why he’s awesome.
September 2010
1 post
Three Faces of the New China [NYT] →
A senior administration official who often deals with the Chinese leadership said: “As they begin to manage their many constituencies, their politics is looking more like ours.”
August 2010
13 posts
“Traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice” can be as readily...”
– Justice Marshall wrote that in 1977 about “personal jurisdiction” issues, but his words could probably be applied to many situations.
“This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. ...”
– President of the United States, 8/13/10.
WatchFive years since Peter Jennings died. He still tops my list of people I want to be when I grow up.
WatchI was already obsessed with this song before this video premiered with Charlie Pace and Megan Fox in it. Well-done video for an awesome song.
“Washington has funded mosques, schools, institutes, and community centers that...”
– Fareed Zakaria in “Build the Ground Zero Mosque” on Newsweek.com.
“Now, to win new clients and take on more sophisticated work, legal outsourcing...”
– Interesting article from the New York Times on a new trend: outsourcing “grunt” legal work to Indian lawyers. On the one hand, this could partially explain why young law school grads are having trouble finding work. But on the other hand, it’s a cool emerging market for...
High-tech companies volunteer to digitize... →
“The companies, all members of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, will meet with cemetery officials next week to create an assessment of the type of technology needed to create an automated system, a process that [Sen. Mark Warner] said ‘should not be that big of a challenge.’”
The Music-Copyright Enforcers - NYTimes.com →
Interesting article on enforcing copyright law in the Internet age and the challenges of getting businesses to pay for the music they play.
WatchJon Stewart gives up on Congress. After watching this, you can’t blame him. At all.
1 tag
California judge rules same-sex marriage ban is...
Big news coming out of California today: a federal judge has ruled that the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
A majority of Californians voted to approve the ban, known as Proposition 8, in November 2008.
Specifically, the judge found “overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 violates (the plaintiffs’) due process and equal protection rights...
July 2010
2 posts
WatchDay 2 of our road trip takes us to Memphis, TN. Highlights include the Loveless Cafe for breakfast (biscuits=amazing), Lorraine Motel, Beale Street, and the Mississippi.
WatchHighlights from the first day of my roadtrip out to Denver, Colorado. First stop: Nashville, TN. Among the sites: Jack’s BBQ, Wildhorse Saloon, and Carrie Underwood.
May 2010
10 posts
“Keep going. Keep giving. Keep engaging.” →
“More than any other generation, yours is fully convinced that you’re uniquely equipped to solve those challenges. You believe that you can change your communities and change the world. And you know what, I think you’re right. Yes, you can.”
- First Lady Michelle Obama, May 16, 2010
WatchThis actually looks pretty good. Hopefully it want fizzle out, like “FlashForward.”
WatchMy second favorite Rick Sanchez moment — after the tasing, of course.
ABC expands 'Lost' finale by extra half-hour! |... →
This is gonna be one helluva finale weekend
WTF CNN? →
I concur.
WatchReally interesting “60 Minutes” story on the All-American Canal along the Mexican-California border, where over 550 people, mostly illegal immigrants, have drowned trying to make it to America. Provides and interesting and tangible story as the immigration debate begins again.
The Pipe Labyrinth Behind "Lost" - Hypertext -... →
A geeky examination into the “hypertext narrative” of “LOST,” and how it probably wouldn’t have worked if the show was on 10 years ago.
February 2010
3 posts
“Indeed, this period of economic weakness may reinforce class divides, and...”
– From “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America,” by Don Peck in this month’s edition of The Atlantic. A pretty depressing article on the long-term effects of the recession on our generation.
How Christian Were the Founders? →
NYT Magazine article on the rewriting of history through local social studies curricula.