December 2011
57 posts
Weird interview questions →
I’ve seen a lot of these in different forms before, but some of them are new to me:
“How would you cure world hunger?” — I like Sam Kinison’s answer — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN7ehccspao
Should I make 401(k) contributions pre- or... →
I always assumed, contrary to all of the companies pushing Roth IRAs, that the answer was pre-tax — solely because most people, myself included, expect to earn less money (and thus be in a lower tax bracket) at retirement than now. Especially with all of the flat-tax and consumption-tax (VAT) proposals floating around which, if any of them ever gets enacted, will push the retirement tax...
Verizon online payment fee →
Fortunately, this does not apply if you use automatic payments - just for one-time payments.
Engadget: Japanese vending machine doubles as WiFi... →
streakmachine:
A lovely initiative by Asahi! Judging from the limitations and specifications given, they have really used their noggins to come up with a clever solution too. 50m radius of WiFi signal, 30 minutes of usage per session, no strings attached.
Best of all, in my humble opinion, is that they actually have taken security fairly seriously and will make a WPA2-PSK option available....
Robert Reich: My Political Prediction for 2012:... →
robertreich:
My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.
So the Democratic ticket for 2012 is Obama-Clinton.
Why…
“We are just fed up with the two-party system. The Democratic Party, I think, has...”
– Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson • Giving a mission statement of sorts as he makes it official — former Republican candidate and governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson has leapt over to the Libertarian Party to mount a third-party candidacy for president. Johnson was a popular governor...
Johns Hopkins Univ researchers propose new... →
Looks interesting, but I think they need to look at corporate payroll — how will they deal with the extra week every 5-6 years? For most companies, the easiest way to deal with it would be to shut down for that week. For those companies that have to stay open (retail, public safety, tourism, etc), people would either get an extra mini-paycheck or the company could stagger employees to take...
Cloak →
onethingwell:
A VPN service with clients for OS X and iOS. On the former the app attempts to detect insecure networks and connect automatically.
Unusually, there’s a free tier—1 GB or 2 hours per month—so you can take Cloak for a spin without committing to a monthly plan.
Republicans
evangotlib:
barelysarcasm:
ryanpurtill:
It was rumored this week that Rachel Maddow said that the “Republican Party is the cancer of America.”
Rachel, this is totally not true. If the Republican party was cancerous, Newt Gingrich would have left it for a younger party.
This is a good joke.
Yes. Yes it is.
“A strange thing happened Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill. As Rep. Stenny Hoyer...”
– Boehner’s office cuts off C-SPAN cameras as GOP takes verbal beating | The Raw Story (via wreckandsalvage)
Sunlight is the disinfectant of the Republican party - it cannot exist in an environment of transparency and truth. The GOP requires a commitment to fantasy, and a willingness to suspend all...
TheStreet: 5 Big Apple Releases to Expect in 2012 →
streakmachine:
I like when people make summaries about what we can expect in the future for many reasons. This particular summary focuses on what we can expect Apple to release in 2012, which is appropriate given that 2012 is right around the corner.
There are just a few, small, things that kind of hurt my eyes when I read this article. Besides the horrible toolbar thingy that latches on to the...
Macworld: Apple reportedly buys Israeli SSD-maker... →
streakmachine:
Yet another company with some very interesting technology got gobbled up by Apple. From what I can tell this could indeed lead to better and more reliable storage as well as larger storages spaces in future Apple products. Not a bad thing exactly. Do go read the article from Macworld for more of the nitty gritty stuff, but be prepared for a bit of a read.
Robert Reich: Why the Republican Crackup is Bad... →
robertreich:
Two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the Republican crackup threatens the future of the Grand Old Party more profoundly than at any time since the GOP’s eclipse in 1932. That’s bad for America.
The crackup isn’t just Romney the smooth versus Gingrich the bomb-thrower.
Not just House Republicans…
Pax Americana: There Were Some Who Saw This Coming →
vulgartrader:
Senator Byron Dorgan on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, the act that repealed Glass–Steagall. Hedge Funds, bailouts, “too big to fail,” (remember that term he says) all of it, right there in 1999 and yet no one listened.
“I’ll bet we’ll look back one day and say, ‘How on…
Listen to both videos (16 minutes split into two pieces).
90WPM: Seeing It →
90wpm:
In case you missed it, or you don’t read tech blogs, there’s a bit of a row going on at the moment regarding MG Siegler’s lukewarm review of the new Galaxy Nexus. Josh Topolsky at The Verge wrote a scathing editorial critiquing this bit from MG’s review:
Unfortunately, the system still…
Gallery: how the surveillance industry markets... →
A collection of documents recently published by Wikileaks casts a light on surveillance vendors who sell intrusive monitoring technology to governments and law enforcement agencies. This growing industry—which serves countries around the world—offers the ability to monitor entire populations and circumvent the privacy and security safeguards built into conventional consumer technology.
“People do not buy products. They buy benefits.”
– Brian Tracy in The Psychology of Selling. (via gbattle)
Hitchen's brother's eulogy, just posted on the... →
climateadaptation:
Peter Hitchens, conservative British columnist, is the polar opposite of his brother, Christopher. Peter has struggled for most of his adult life to escape the long dark shadow of his famous brother. Peter’s been quite successful. His “In Memoriam,” just posted on the Daily Mail, a conservative tab in the UK, is strikingly raw and unpolished - much unlike the majority of...
“MG Siegler on the Galaxy Nexus (Google’s newest android phone):
Unfortunately,...”
– from Daring Fireball
that something that is hard to describe, that polish that all apple products have is called good design. Its the difference between Arial and Helvetica…To the untrained eye, they look very similar, but only one of them really hits the human soul in a way that resonates and...
Volon Bolon: Werror or GTFO →
volonbolon:
There are a few useful warnings that should be set in any Xcode project. Here them, and why you should care:
Mismatched Return Type Warns if a function does not declare a return type, or if the return type is not void, but a return statement is found without a return value.
Sign Comparison…
“This is the thing: When you hit 28 or 30, everything begins to divide. You can...”
– Relevant magazine
(via Diana : megburns : haygirlhay : luciwithani)
“In a very small area, less than 10,000 square miles, we have counted more than...”
– Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas - Climate Change - Environment - The Independent
Methane is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. This is really bad. Possibly “short-term” really bad.
(via thememegeneration)
ZDNet: Internet BitTorrent Spies →
streakmachine:
Regarding the YouHaveDownloaded site that popped up the other day, Steven J. Vaughan-Nicols does some really good explaining of the whole situation. Do go read it!
Many of us already understand this, but it never hurts to be reminded.
Practically Efficient: Why I still use paper and... →
streakmachine:
A very interesting read on how some quite old methods and devices can still be relevant today. Don’t underestimate the paper and the pen! I’m sure they will be around for quite some time to come.
Jimmy Wales, on his Wikipedia talk page, recently... →
shortformblog:
A few months ago, the Italian Wikipedia community made a decision to blank all of Italian Wikipedia for a short period in order to protest a law which would infringe on their editorial independence. The Italian Parliament backed down immediately. As Wikipedians may or may not be aware, a much worse law going under the misleading title of “Stop Online Piracy Act’ is working its...
More shell, less egg - All this →
gaelicwizard:
tr -cs A-Za-z '\n' | tr A-Z a-z | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | sed ${1}q
(via Instapaper)
The gdgt 2011 Holiday Guide →
9-bits:
If you’re considering any sort of gadget for a loved one this holiday season, here’s a good place to start.
Don't Be A Free User - Pinboard Blog →
chartier:
Maciej Ceglowski, calling the “start a free web service, refuse to implement a business model, and eventually get bought” shenanigans for what they are:
Whether or not this is done in good faith, in practice this kind of ‘exit event’ is a pump-and-dump scheme. The very popularity that attracts a buyer also makes the project financially unsustainable. The owners cash out, the acquirer...
Harry McCracken: How the iPad 2 Became My Favorite... →
streakmachine:
Mr. McCracken has been featured here not too long ago, but now he has put out a whole article about what he really likes about the iPad. One of the more interesting pieces on the iPad that I have stumbled across lately. Definitely worth a read and there are some brilliant examples of when the device shines like nothing else. Do go check it out, it’s time well spent!
[Via:...
Easier Is Better Than Better →
9-bits:
While Paul makes a powerful commentary on the balance of choice and simplicity, and its role in your success, his evaluation of In ‘N Out vs. Wendy’s burgers is downright deplorable.
