May 2009
68 posts
The Importance of Being Politically Correct
Powerhouse piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates on how tolerance as a stalwart of the left in the country is a strength, not a stance.
“It’s about practicing Tolerance. It’s about attempting to understand people who are radically different from you, and saying to them you want their voice in the process. Tolerance isn’t just a value you hold, so much as it’s something you do...
Until Logic Did Them Apart
Not sure if people can link through to this without a subscription, but it’s a nice piece by Jon Chait in The New Republic today about the vacuity of opposition to gay marriage. My favorite line:
Good ideas don’t always defeat bad ideas, but they usually, over time, defeat non-ideas.
Google's Economist
Cool piece in Wired about Google’s Ad auctions, and how the bidding for them works.
His talk quickly becomes technical. There’s the difference between the Generalized Second Price auction model and the Vickrey-Clark-Groves alternative. Game theory takes a turn; so does the Nash Equilibrium. Terms involving the c-word—as in clicks—get tossed around like beach balls at a summer rock...
What a fascinating time to be alive
From the New York Times:
Human Language Gene Changes How Mice Squeak
“Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have now genetically engineered a strain of mice whose FOXP2 gene has been swapped out for the human version. Svante Paabo, in whose laboratory the mouse was engineered, promised several years ago that when the project was...
“Fuck the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my...”
– David Simon (via wireporn) (via gnomechomsky) (via upsider)
The funniest thing about this to me is that each season of the The Wire had a deeper, longer, and fuller exposition than any other show I have ever seen.
Phenway Apprehensions
Wow. Typical Yankees fan.
1) Dude, you’re seeing Phish, not Sox-Yankees. There isn’t going to be anyone sober enough to get into a fight with you if you wear your hat.
2) Since your team decided to abandon it’s own historical stadium (which I was happy to have been to in its last season), the Sox and the Cubs are the only teams left with a tangible link to baseball’s...
Illusion: The Break Of The Curveball →
mrcookieface:
simko:
I’m (still) fascinated by anything that has the power to tickle my brain.
I can’t stop looking at this. Amazing.
this was so funny, i had to post it on two... →
(via whininginstereo)
a must read
These are my friends, con't
Jess: i might inflict physical harm on at least two children
me: always nice to hear from my closest friends
Jess: and that's just this week
Is it okay that I don’t like Modest Mouse? Half of the modern bands I like cite them as having been helpful/influential. I find them incredibly dull. Thoughts?
You're 25, time to grow up. →
emilyposts:
(via lesbenjamin & frangry)
I disagree about booking a hotel when you travel. I only travel to visit friends - why would I blow an extra several hundred bucks on a hotel? I think if your friends don’t invite you to stay with them, they are assholes. If they have a small place and you only get the couch then it’s up to you if you want to stay or not.
Note: This is null and void...
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is...”
– George Saunders
(via crazyonyou)
Anyone who has not read at least one collection of George Saunders shorts is doing themselves a disservice.
thephenthouse:
Weezer - The World Has Turned And...
A Personal Credit Crisis
My Personal Credit Crisis, an essay from New York Times writer Ed Andrews. I’ve been reading Ed’s work for years, he’s one of the best in the business. This piece is, for lack of a better word, gut-wrenching. And it does an amazing job of explaining just how the mortgage crisis got completely out of control.
From the piece:
“If there was anybody who should have...
son of a bitch
Note to self. Do NOT ever watch Gone Baby Gone while already in a mediocre mood. Bad bad bad idea.
Watchscience:
A huge ocean wave has been filmed from beneath the surface, revealing features never before captured on camera.
The remarkable video, which will be shown as part of the BBC Natural History Unit’s new series South Pacific, was filmed in super slow motion using a high-definition camera. It reveals the hidden power of a four-metre-tall monster barrel wave and shows the first images of...
Tumblarity goes against the whole reason I started...
upsider:
I don’t want to be part of some game to become more popular. I’m on here to share my views and opinions and discoveries and learn about other people’s fascinating finds. Some of my favorite tumblrs probably have a very low “score” because they don’t kowtow to the lowest common denominator, but instead are frank, intelligent, funny and incredibly unique. They are niche blogs,...
Sportspocalypse recap
2 runs against Pavano? OT loss to the Whalers? Not cool.
Kicking the hell out of the Magic now that the starters have had a chance to rest? Pretty cool.
Sportspocalypse
GIDP. Double Damnit.
Sportspocalypse
Damnit. Bases loaded, no outs, and the Bruins game is now starting. Best laid plans of men…
Sportspocalypse
The clothes: Yastrzemski j-shirt, Paul Pierce Jersey, Bruins hat.
The food: Victory steak. Teriyaki steak with mushrooms and rice, cooked by yours truly.
The viewing plan: Obviously starting now with Red Sox at 7:10. Masterson against Pavano at Fenway. I would trust my grandma against Pavano at home. So, since that one’s looking like a win, at 7:30 I’ll switch the main focus...
