April 2011
54 posts
“It’s not that we were trying to be cruel or vindictive, it’s just...”
– Maniac Mansion Memories
Philip Greenspun's Weblog » How did the New York... →
I built a pay wall back in 1995 for the MIT Press, restricting access to some of their journals, e.g., Cell, to individual subscribers and people whose IP addresses indicated that they were at institutions with site-wide subscriptions. I can’t remember exactly what I charged the Press, but it was only a few days of work and I think the invoice worked out to approximately $40 million less...
McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Review: The Mead... →
The display is a bleached white post-recycled paper, which isn’t as bright and welcoming to the eye as higher end acid-free displays, but is acceptable for everyday use. Some users reported performance issues in low-light conditions. The tablet can be held vertically or horizontally, and receives high marks for producing a noticeable lack of heat or fan noise, even after many hours of...
barthel: →
It’s fun to think of cities as video game levels: New York would be the underground level, Miami would be the ocean level, LA would be the giant level, Chicago would be the pipes level, Phoenix would be the desert level, and Seattle would be the forest level. The things that will kill you in Seattle aren’t extra-human mutants like in New York, or all-American parodies like in LA - they’re coated...
March 2011
83 posts
xkcd Radiation Dose Chart →
“I’m sure I’ve added in lots of mistakes; it’s for general education only. If you’re basing radiation safety procedures on an internet PNG image and things go wrong, you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Always Open with Dave Koechner (featuring Jason... →
“Did you want a hug now?” “Nope.” “You got one earlier, that’s enough? ‘Cause I’ll hug you right now.” “We’re all set.”
Pitchfork: Director's Cut: Hot Chip: "I Feel... →
Why did you have lasers coming out the bald guy’s mouth as opposed to, you know, his eyes? “That was my original idea but it’s kind of like route one when it comes to lasers coming out of someone’s body [laughs]. I hadn’t seen them coming out of the mouth before.”
DJ STV SLV [B.G. vs. edIT]: “Back 2 Da...
Wilco: “Far, Far Away”
10 years of the iPod →
Apple’s MP3 player was neither the first nor the cheapest nor the largest capacity device on the market. At that point it was only compatible with Macs – the majority of people used PCs. What’s more, it had a silly name. Technology bloggers soon decided iPod must stand for “Idiots Price Our Devices”, “I Pretend It’s An Original Device” or...
“Well, Mike is dead and I’m alive. What do you expect me to do? Sleep alone?”
– Elizabeth Taylor, on beginning anew after the death of her husband, Mike Todd, in a plane crash. (via bythepeople)
ShockHound - Features - Das Racist: At The... →
SHOCKHOUND: What project do you have on the horizon?
HEEMS: We’re currently working on Relax, which is both an album, a mixtape, and an emerging markets credit hedge fund.
KOOL A.D.: Relax is an album, a mixtape, an emerging markets credit hedge fund, a movie, a private military corporation, and a non-profit organization for inner city youth.
[via @crumbler]
Why Rebecca Black is a Demon-Wizard Child Piper →
I love the part when she’s kicking it in the back seat between two friends and she sings, “My friend is by my right!” Friend on the left? Totally dissed. Life is cold, friend on the left.
[via perpetua]
The Decemberists: “June Hymn”
Good...
In Which I Wanna Live In Los Angeles But Not The... →
Because they took skeptics and converted them into believers. Because everyone loves a good trick. Because we all anticipated in advance an artwork’s potential to be embarrassing and then it laughed at us with art. “I told you, I know what I’m doing.”
In Which Your Ballroom Days Are Over Baby They Got... →
The problem that has no name is not just a women’s problem. It is a problem for anyone who defines their identity primarily through their relationships, which is also an issue for a lot of men.
That to define yourself primarily through taking care of others is to lose track of yourself. That the desire to take care of others can sometimes get in the way of taking appropriate care of...
Just North of Something Important - The big... →
The problem with infrastructure is that we take it for granted. And of course we do - it’s always there. But its existence is not a neutral or natural event. It happens because we pay taxes and employ public workers and don’t go around tearing it all down and don’t have it overwhelmed by environmental destruction. But if we only appreciate infrastructure when it goes away, we’re kinda...
The Magical Spirit of St. Patrick's Day • Chris... →
I was reminded recently of when I used to live on the UES adjacent to Brady’s which is a sad but acceptable old man bar most of the year, but on St. Patrick’s Day gets filled up with firemen drinking in uniform. This has a pro-alcohol ripple (or Ripple) effect on the immediate environs, I guess because drunk Irish firemen are as close as we’ll ever get to seeing a real live leprechaun, so other...
gifparty:
The Young Man's Guide to Wearing and Shopping for... →
Go home. Particularly if you are in a mall, any security guard watching you will think you are casing the joint, and not only that, doing an awful job of it. Dig through the cupboard for some noodles and a jar of Prego Alfredo sauce. Lift the jar up and put it back down. Decide you will never fit into the clothes you desire with habits like these. Take out some whiskey instead. Pour a double...
Money Sleeps Just Fine →
Both of her children were adults before my mother splurged on the occasional pedicure. To this day she cuts my father’s hair in the kitchen. We had quality possessions, but everything was bought on sale, everything was used within an inch of its life before being disposed of. Raising kids, maintaining a home, going to work, helping your neighbors—these weren’t burdens, they were...
Upgrade to iSpouse 4 →
The Clive With Benefits
Minutes: Call anytime Tuesdays between 2 – 4 pm, unlimited non-religious holiday minutes.
Length of Contract: Pay dutch as you go.
Service: Unlimited foot massages during CSI: Miami, talk sexting option available, keep the phone number you already have.
Cancellation Penalties: Loss of IMAX theater guest passes and Cheesecake Factory freebies.
“The Origin of Love” from Hedwig and...
In Which Players Always Love You When... →
Tess and I are both obsessed with Tony Soprano because we identify with him so deeply, although I identify slightly more with Christopher Moltisanti. Tess finds Tony Soprano attractive, but I do not. I think Don Draper is attractive, but Tess thinks his legs are too short (I have literally no idea what she is talking about).
WatchThe United Kingdom Explained (by C. G. P. Grey)
The Crown [is] a complicated legal entity best thought of as a one-man corporation. Who created this corporation? God did.
[via Kyle]
Working at Microsoft →
Most people in Windows have a private office – with a door. Not just mangers, not just developers – everyone. Even our intern has a private office. The only reason someone might share an office is because the building is crowded. Every so often we’ll move people around, one goal being to give everyone their own office, the other being to co-locate teams. I’m in one of our older buildings, but...
In Which We Teach You How To Be A Woman In Any... →
If you dig too deep with some people it will come out that they genuinely do believe that women are less interested in things than men are. That women who have interests are outliers or unusual cases, This is part of a larger heterosexual male narcissism wherein it is assumed that all of women’s interests are related to men: that if a woman is a record nerd, it is because she learned about...
Target Mouthwash →
tensexyladies:
Then I’m struck, again, as usual, by total genius. I’ll decant this mouthwash. I’ll put it in a nice fancy bottle. It’ll be easy to chug and it’ll look like some kind of sick-ass mana potion.
Revised scenario: Ladyfriend of legal age makes a break for the john and spies this seductive elixir by the Q-tips. Ooh la la, she thinks. This guy is classy as shit. I will let him destroy...
Anatomy of a Crushing →
On December 16th Yahoo held an all-hands meeting to rally the troops after a big round of layoffs. Around 11 AM someone at this meeting showed a slide with a couple of Yahoo properties grouped into three categories, one of which was ominously called “sunset”. The most prominent logo in the group belonged to Delicious, our main competitor. Milliseconds later, the slide was on the web,...
Bowerbirds: “Northern Lights”
Said the Gramophone: The Only Sounds →
“Surely you must be joking,” his piercing blue eyes were now worn with age, no longer a boy but too beautiful to be a man, “I just travelled two days to get here.” “Well, that was your decision, I didn’t ask it of you,” her bottom lip, the back of her shoulders, hell, her entire being quivered beneath his gaze, as she steeled herself for his reply....
