Dan Markham

Two reviews, one popular source. One offers praise for, the other pans, Malcolm Gladwell’s new book: “Outliers”. You. Make. The call: Chance & Circimstance, by David Leonhardt or It’s True: Success Succeeds, and Advantages Can Help by Michiko Kakutani. Both of the New York Times. I wonder if these two get along very well at work.

Rest assured, hard-core computer fans, we’re not going to suggest that you abandon your dual-core screamer and take up knitting. This is an online tech journal, after all.

Were we meant to sit at a computer for hours on end with slouching backs and blood-shot eyes? No, probably not. Maybe sometime in the future humans will have adapted to such a lifestyle — and that is an ugly thought — but until then, it’s either take care of yourself or suffer the consequences. Information Week, way back in 2006, offered up ten ways they thought the keyboard jockey lifestyle could hurt you and added, at least, a corresponding number of ways to keep the hurt from happening. This is timeless advice.

Speaking of Gladwell, the validity of one of the theories he went into depth about in his first hit book, The Tipping Point, has been put to the test by a researcher in the Netherlands from University of Groningen. Short version: the “broken windows theory” still holds. via Gruber

Malcolm Gladwell, in a typically wide-ranging talk, spoke at, of all places, an AIGA sponsored design conference on the lessons, in creativity, one can glean from the music careers of Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles. Oh yeah, he also has a new book out.

This crappy little picture from my cell phone stands as further proof that Four Barrel is on it’s way to roasting it’s own. Can’t wait to taste it, guys/gals and can’t wait to get a whiff of the sweet aroma of roasting beans wafting out of the door.

Hell, yes! That’s what I thought when I saw that someone had been so lucky as to come across stills of the very cool, hand crafted location cards for the new Bond film, Quantum of solace. I thought they were really a classy touch.

After a ten year hiatus, Kvetch! is back. And not a moment too soon: there’s more to bitch about than ever (except for one thing, of course)

The theory of Learned Helplessness fits perfectly — on a macro, more social level — with the sentiment I intended to express in “A Period of Adjustment”. Here’s to serendipitous discovery.

In response to a former post on a new public bathroom database site …

This is true love, people.

New York Times’ wall of expression

After a long, arduous wait, finally, a President I can believe in. Congratulations, Preseident-elect Obama. Congratulations, America. You’ve made the right choice.

Tonight, I love my country more than, I think, I ever have before.

Off. To your polling places. That is all.

It’s a pre-boarding miracle!

File under cultural anthroplogy: it is hypothesized that one of the major factors contributing to slow sales of the iPhone in Japan is the lack of picture icons called “emoji” that have, apparently, become an incredibly popular form of cell phone communication. Rumor is that they are coming in the next update to Apple’s iPhone/iPod touch software.

Derek Powazek is closing the doors at Pixish, “[...] a way to engage creative people online to submit, judge, and source amazing images.” Along with said pronouncement, Mr. Powazek is nice enough to offer up some lessons, learned in the process of creating and maintaining a community based art market.

The naturalistic and the moralistic: “Two Logical Fallacies we Must Avoid”. Wherin one thinks either that one ought because there is or that there is because one ought. Good comments as well.

Sweet, sweet WordPress 2.7 eye candy. I dare say, from where I sit, more drool-worthy than a new MacBook. I can’t wait to use it.