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A Visit from Saint Nicholas (as by Ernest Hemingway) | The New Yorker

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 17:21:46 +0000

I love these kinds of mashups, one work redone in the style of another author.

The game is the game

Thu, 28 May 2015 23:11:50 +0000

I had no idea there were so many of these tautologies in The Wire

How to lose weight in 4 steps

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 03:56:04 +0000

The puddles on the floor, lights in office buildings imagery, and simplicity and habit remind me of Fight Club.

The Gap Between What The Public Thinks And What Scientists Know

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 19:28:14 +0000

These gaps are a bit disconcerting. Not sure if it's good marketing on one side, or bad on the other.

The biggest gap between scientists and the public came on issues that may elicit fear: the safety of genetically modified (or GMO) foods (37 percent of the public said GMOs were safe, compared to 88 percent of scientists) and the use of pesticides in agriculture (28 percent of the public said foods grown with pesticides were safe to eat, versus 68 percent of scientists).

An odd Late Late Show

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 19:12:57 +0000

This stars two of my favorite comedy actors, Adam Pally (Happy Endings, The Mindy Project) andBen Schwartz (Parks & Rec, House of Lies), and special guest Martellus Bennett (TE for Chicago Bears, Texas A&M), and feels much more like something shot in someone's basement than an actual network show.

I'm an Anti-Braker

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 19:05:28 +0000

This fantastic satire is great, but it doesn't get at the heart of why people think this way. As evidence mounts, a conspiracy theorist only believes that the conspiracy is larger.

Museum of Selfies

Sun, 30 Nov 2014 14:07:08 +0000

A new way to modernize art, and a way to have some fun at a museum.

Kanye West on what's Cool

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:25:00 +0000

The results may surprise you.

Better than First Class

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:22:13 +0000

Derek Low takes a flight in suites class and documents the whole thing for the rest us.

Entangled - Short Film

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 16:45:55 +0000

I really like this short film.

The Tale of Two Charts

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 02:29:19 +0000

Here is a snapshot of my github public profile. This was taken July 22, 2014. Though it is not visible, the highest single day (dark green) was 9 contributions.

201 total, with a long streak of 9 days. Looks like I fell off the face of the earth in December. That's not actually what happened.

Below is a chart that mixes my public and private github contributions. This was taken July 22, 2014, same as the other. The highest single day (dark green) was 25.

A whopping 1,459 total contributions, with a high streak of 34 days (almost the entire month of March). This chart includes both public and private contributions, so only private was a total of 1,258. The public contributions from July 2013 to December are a much lighter shade of green (less by comparison), but the data is unchanged.

What does this prove? That "open always wins" is wrong? That closed source increases productivity 6x? That 2014 is the year of coding? That I don't (or no longer) believe in Open?

No, this doesn't prove any of that. Commits are a very poor way to measure productivity, though they are easy to count. Days-in-a-row streaks might highlight too little work, or too much, but again, it only measures the number of contributions and is easily gamed. And what someone believes in is not reflected in a graph of contributions from the last 365 days.

The only thing these charts prove is that in the last 6 months, I've made about 6 times as many contributions as the 6 months before.

While the first chart includes only public, and the second public and private, I should note that all but 25 of these contributions were paid. The rest were for small side projects of mine. I use and encourage the use of open source software every day, but I don't claim to be a free contributor to it.

50 Cent Is My Life Coach

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 00:00:31 +0000

50's life coaching recommendations are on point, and the writer only seems to realize this near the end.

Monopoly: Debt and Equity

Sat, 24 May 2014 19:33:38 +0000

I love the game monopoly. One of my favorite parts about it is the negotiating and trading. The part I like least is the luck of the dice.

This Re-Thinking the Game article aims to make monopoly more of a modern look at banking, and I am inspired by it to produce my own rule changes.

1. Players may borrow money from the bank

The money must be borrowed in units of $500. The "interest" on this money is 1% per roll, without compounding. This means, if you borrow $1,000 at roll #4, by roll #22 you will owe $1,000 + 18 * $10 = $1,180. The only catch is that the interest on the loan is on the initial amount, so even if you pay off part of the principle, the interest is still 1%/roll. A player can pay off their debt on any of their turns, and from jail if necessary.

As long as the players keep track of what roll they are on, and the banker has a ledger of amounts borrowed and the roll they were borrowed, this should be pretty easy.

2. Debt is capped at 3x owned property face value

As you keep acquiring property, your debt cap increases. This only affects unpaid debts. For monopolies, count the full value even if the monopoly has outside investors.

3. Players may invest in each others monopolies

Terms are negotiable for each monopoly. A player may only sell 49% (~50%) so that they retain control. Players may also use this "stock" in monopolies in trade with another player for owed rent.

4. Knocking someone out gets you their property and debt

When knocking someone out, you get their owned property, their share of other monopolies (which may include your own), as well as their debt. And the interest keeps growing.

5. No mortgaging properties

This will hopefully simplify things. Has anyone every mortgaged a property and ended up winning, anyway?

I have no idea how this would all play out. Is taking on debt a good idea? Is getting investors good even though you forgo future income? Is it all to complicated to keep track of? I don't know, but I'd love to find out some time.

Hipsterbait Jay-Z edition

Sat, 24 May 2014 18:06:13 +0000

I would wear this shirt:

The Foodroom

Sat, 24 May 2014 17:58:38 +0000

Josh Charles in one of his greatest single episode roles:

"Political Views"

Sat, 24 May 2014 17:56:14 +0000

I agree with this:

"Beliefs" and "views" deserve no inherent protection, validity, or value to the rest of society simply because they’re political or religious. They’re just opinions, and just as many opinions are worth considering and discussing, many others are offensive, crazy, ignorant, or bigoted.

I think it's easier to hide behind things when you can push them off as political or religious. We're founded on the notion that you can't be arrested for your ideas on these topics, but you can still be judged for them.

I hope in the future we have the strength to stand behind our beliefs because they are ours, not just because we subscribe to the beliefs of someone else.

Why I Don't Drink by Neal O'Grady

Sat, 24 May 2014 17:47:51 +0000

I haven't had a drink in a few months, and while I don't feel the same on all points of Neal's list, I agree with the health and money aspects. I also agree with the commenters about the importance of alcohol in some business settings. That said, while I don't think I've given up alcohol for life, I have found it very easy to night have drinks with meals or every weekend (or night).

The Antifragile Person by Taylor Pearson

Sat, 24 May 2014 17:44:44 +0000

I really like the notion of being Antifragile, given how much chaos exists in our society. The idea of being this type of person is different and might be abrasive to some, but I think it's the foundation of solid friendships.

Ryan Gosling and Macaulay Culkin

Sat, 24 May 2014 17:42:38 +0000

It's two guys wearing t-shirts of the other one wearing a t-shirt of themselves. T-shirt inception.

Ronald McDonald loves Taco Bell

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 20:39:20 +0000

Such a great ad concept. I'm surprised no one has done this before.