July 2010
19 posts
Gym Motivation
Having recently finished Dan Pink’s latest book, ‘Drive’, I’ve been thinking a bit about the science of motivation. I’m not sure if this is an entirely original idea or if something like this exists, but as I was walking out of the gym I wondered how cool it would be if a gym existed that — for example:
Cost $30/month.
Gave you a sticker each time you...
The day after US Air Flight 1549 landed safely in the Hudson, so many people played the number 1549 in the lottery that some states shut their lotteries down out of fear that if the number hit, they would lose millions.
The New York Pick 4 number that day turned out to be 1548.
(via rickyv)
10 Rules for Raising a Child on the Internet
I used to be slightly against parents policing their kids on the Internet, but I’ve reconsidered after watching and tracking this incident. It’s the worst of what can happen when parents either ignorantly or willfully let an eleven year old freely roam around the Internet and pretty tragic for everyone involved.
With that said, it’s hard not to miss the great benefits of the...
“What signal are we sending young people? Trim your nails, be politically...”
– Can We Talk? - NYTimes.com
On the firing of Octavia Nasr over her now infamous tweet.
(via devindra)
Rupert Murdoch, Neel Shah, and the Short Pants →
(via rickyv) Last month, my friend Neel Shah left his job at the New York Post’s “Page Six” and moved to LA to write for a network sitcom. Neel’s new gig marked not only the end of his time in New York, but the end of a year-long fascination with the management style of his boss’ boss’ boss, Rupert Murdoch….
Epic.
“When you’re 20, you care what people think about you. When you’re...”
– Bob Hope
“Were it not for the intelligent, fresh sense of humor of individuals like Mr....”
– Kal Penn: The “Hilarious” Xenophobia of Time’s Joel Stein
(And just incase you were thinking of skipping Kal Penn’s rebuttal piece from the last post.)
Joel Stein on Immigration, New Jersey's Indian... →
What the hell is wrong with Joel Stein? Perhaps the bigger question is, what the hell is wrong with TIME-FREAKING-MAGAZINE? If you have any interest in xenophobia in journalism at all, I urge you to take a look at this column that is creating waves in the Indian American community, and ponder the same.
He makes the point, in the most xenophobic — sorry, embarrassingly backward — way...
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent...”
– Bertrand Russell
“Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate...”
– Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4
I love the tone that Apple PR uses in this letter. I really had to double check the URL to make sure The Onion wasn’t going 2 steps further to dupe us these days.
“Most people are so worried about looking good that they never do anything great....”
– I assume I’m below average | Derek Sivers
An interesting look into the psychological cognitive bias of illusory superiority. If everybody thinks they’re above average, then who ends up being below average?
June 2010
12 posts
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to...”
– Plato
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don’t mind...”
– One of the many awesome Dr. Seuss quotes.
“You ever watch Toy Story 2, where the lesbian cowgirl is abandoned by her...”
– Dear Pixar: Stop Making Me Cry Like A Bitch
I remember watching Toy Story 2 at least 20 times as a younger person. It was when DVD players first came out, and that DVD was probably the first we ever owned. I bet you I could story board nearly every plot-point of the movie, even now, 10 years having...
Buy iPad circa August.
Buy iPhone 4 circa September.
Declare bankruptcy circa October.
???
Profit!
WatchMichael Sandel: The lost art of democratic debate | Video on TED.com
Finally, a non-pretentious, standing-ovation worthy TEDTalk which doesn’t make a bone about saving the world or curing cancer or feeding the poor, and is equally as important.
I am a huge proponent of philosophy. I think if it were to replace religion, or at the very least be the building blocks of our lives, our world...
Become a morning person. How to end insomnia for... →
So, it turns out getting good sleep is all about the lights you expose your body to.
New 2010 resolution: cure insomnia, become a ‘morning person’. (I swear this to me seems like a harder resolution than ‘get fit’ or ‘eat vegetarian’.)
What kind of girl do you think I am? →
I love these kinds of useless/profound morality discussions on things that don’t matter but they really do. I need to try this one out some day.
“Nothing makes my day more than getting a random email from someone talking about...”
– Steve Jobs at D
Unless you’ve been involved with deploying a product to the world, you can’t appreciate this sentiment enough. Much more valuable than any amount of press you can get for what you do is when someone personally takes the time to e-mail you to tell you about how great your...
May 2010
29 posts
“PLAYBOY: Ever take LSD?
GATES: My errant youth ended a long time ago.
...”
– Bill Gates 1994 Interview with Playboy
“West delivers a tongue-in-cheek lyrical narrative within “Gold...”
– Gold Digger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New hobby: looking up rap songs on Wikipedia and chuckling at proper English descriptions of their subtexts, while quietly thinking to self, ‘Ohh, so that’s what he refers to in that third verse lyric!’
WatchSTEPHEN FRY: WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN WHEN I WAS 18
Watching this 30 minute video will make your life better for the next 30 years.
Everything I’ve ever believed in seems to be incapsulated articulately and magically in these few minutes. Infact, it’s so wonderful that it’s a little difficult to absorb all at once. I need to make a habit of watching it every once in a while.
“Only after grasping an immense amount of complexity can one appreciate...”
Watch48HR Magazine - a pocket documentary
An Inside Look At Facebook Questions, The Next... →
For the last month or so, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a secret beta for Facebook Questions. I sent TechCrunch a report of my experience, and this post is the result.
Trendsmap: Real-time local Twitter trends →
Whatever you do today, spend 10 minutes using this. It’s the most fascinating look at Twitter’s usage around the world.
“I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. I’ve viewed myself as...”
– Will Smith
“By executive order of President Harry S. Truman the U.S. dropped the nuclear...”
– Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Only today did it struck me that the U.S. was the country which deployed the only Nuclear bombs ever used in war; no other country has done it since. It’s funny to think that the only country to have ever used a...
Why: A Tale Of A Post-Modern Genius - Smashing... →
“The difference between a vision and a hallucination is that other people can see...”
– Marc Andreessen
Caring for Your Introvert →
WatchSal Khan at Gel 2010. This is what the world’s smartest guy sounds like.
“More than 4 billion mobile handsets are now in use worldwide, three-quarters of...”
– The Economist (Google Internet Stats)
We Need a General Theory of Individuality - The... →
The greatest paradox of science is that while we ourselves are convinced we are different from everyone else in this world, and thrive on our individuality, all research ever conducted has focused on generalizing us in a way that is meant to make us believe that in our large groups, we are all the same.
To take it a step further, what about rats, birds, and everything else that is studied in a...
The Big Game, Zuckerberg and Overplaying your Hand →
I love epic pieces, and most of the time, Jason Calacanis’ write-ups satisfy my thirst for them. Reading this, you will be convinced Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are the root of all evil and could lead to the downfall of the Internet.
I hesitantly concur. If only ‘everyone else wasn’t doing it’, I’d delete my profile in an instant.