February 2012
8 posts
“Wasserman says the Justice Department is saving its legal firepower to challenge...”
– How the GOP Is Resegregating the South | The Nation. Sounds like the Justice Department is fighting the wrong battle: does it really matter whether minorities can vote if they’ve already been packed into a few majority-minority districts? Also, since most people see gerrymandering as...
“The author mentions the rise of for-profit businesses increasingly running...”
– Schneier on Security: Prisons in the U.S.
“The style system matches rules by starting with the key selector, then moving to...”
– Writing efficient CSS for use in the Mozilla UI - MDN. Ho-ly shit. I did not know this, and knowing it now makes me want to revisit every bit of CSS I’ve written in the last 10 years. It embarrasses me to post this, but I feel obliged to share for the sake of any other web devs who may not yet...
Turning the ‘Buffett Rule’ Into Law - NYTimes.com →
The “Buffett Rule” bill is good marketing but bad legislation. Let’s focus on actual fixes to the tax code, such as restoring capital gains taxes and removing special interest deductions, rather than being distracted by a band-aid bill with a cute name.
Rhode Island City Enraged Over School Prayer... →
Kudos to Ms Ahlquist for standing up for what’s right. The Times also has a follow-up editorial.
January 2012
20 posts
“When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t...”
– Do you have the paperback or the hardcover? – Marco.org. I agree only insofar as the interface is rendered well enough for it to disappear and let you focus on the content. I cannot read ebooks comfortably on my Kindle Fire or Kindle for Mac, whereas reading on an e-Ink Kindle or Kindle on iOS I can...
“In descending order, the most popular fonts from the Typekit library, based on...”
– Favorite fonts at Typekit. I was going to post this with a snarky remark about how it’s sure to be a great list of crappy fonts to avoid, but it turns out they’re mostly excellent. I guess Typekit users have discerning taste!
WatchKathleen Sebelius - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 01/23/12
“According to a press release from the VSP, Trooper Paul Dean was assisting a...”
– Police respond to multiple crashes Monday - Brattleboro Reformer. Wait, let me get this straight: the Subaru and tractor trailer were both driving too fast for the conditions, but the Volkswagen is the one who will be ticketed. WTF?!?
“Google has just announced its earnings for Q4 2011, reporting $10.58...”
– “Google Q4 revenue breaks $10 billion”. That sure sounds like Groupon-style accounting there.
“As contentious as it is to quote Obama these days, he got one thing right:...”
– Congress Should Use the Internet - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com. Brilliant: “a policy designed to lose the future” sums it up nicely.
The Content Industry Should Focus on Innovation... →
Sanchez explains the crux of the PIPA/SOPA matter more lucidly and succinctly than any other summary I’ve seen.
In Piracy Bill Fight, New Economy Rises Against... →
We could’ve used a truth vigilante in this article: I see a lot of apology for the entertainment industry, and no coverage of the legitimate concerns of the technology sector.
4moms Origami is the highest tech stroller yet... →
How telling is it that this stroller is the only interesting thing to come out of CES this year?
Should Vanity Fair Be a Spelling Vigilante? →
I love this so much it hurts.
The Clutter Didn’t Kill the Love →
Well, the clutter actually did kill the love. But the irrelevance threatens to kill the whole damn relationship. God forbid we flee into the open arms of Bing, though.
“The administration had told the justices that their analysis of Ms. Perich’s...”
– Justices Recognize ‘Ministerial Exception’ to Job Bias Laws - NYTimes.com. What version of the First Amendment is Justice Roberts reading? Mine says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. It denies the very notion of special rights for religious...
“At some time in Apple’s history it was decided to put the...”
– Apple Keyboard Home Keys: Position of “Bumps”. Having learned typing on an Apple IIe, this one still gets me all the time. When I place my hands on the keyboard without looking, my right hand is almost always off by one key. And if I happen to be in vim in command mode, the results can...
“You can turn off the personalization, but in doing so you’ll also remove...”
– Google’s ‘Search, plus Your World’ personalizes search results using Google. Finally an easy way to turn off search personalization!
IBM Snags Patent On Half-Day Off of Work... →
WJW
“That membership will be important, as the company looks to make revenue and...”
– Instagram photo app for Android is under way. And this is why I never started using Instagram: it was free, so obviously ads were going to be added at some point. Count me out, I’ll stick with flickr pro.
“An actress acquaintance of mine—let’s call her Esmerelda—once said,...”
– Rob Pike
“Coates writes primarily on social and political issues, and utilizes a...”
– On conversation and moderation. Amen. Just as my right to swing my fist ends at your nose, your right to be a jackass on the Internet ends at my web page (or Facebook page, as it were).
December 2011
15 posts
“Every time you use an infographic from creditloan dot com, you’re helping...”
– Ending the Infographic Plague - The Atlantic
“Nowadays, a candidate must believe not just some but all of the following...”
– The right Republican - The Economist. LOL.
Proposed headline for The Onion: Resetting SMC on...
[UPDATED Jan 1 2012: Nevermind. After two problem-free weeks, the issue is back, and this time resetting the SMC doesn’t fix it.]
I know, it sounds like a joke, right? Whenever you have a problem with a Mac the first thing anyone suggests (including Apple) is resetting the SMC, and of course it never fixes anything. Well I’m here to reveal that an SMC reset finally fixed...
Free!
Comcast: Great news! We can offer you cable TV and Internet for the same price you're paying now just for Internet.
Me: No thanks, I don't have a TV in my house.
Comcast: But… but… the service will be free!
Me: I. Don't. Own. A. Television.
Comcast: Oh. Um, well, maybe you'll get one for Christmas!
*click*
“The chilling takeaway of this whole debacle was the irrefutable air of...”
– Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works. Read it and weep.
Internet Explorer to start automatically updating...
Much like Firefox and Chrome before it, the feature will ensure that consumers and business users alike will be up-to-date with the current version of IE, without the hassle of updating manually.
Yes!!!
Microsoft will also offer IE8 and IE9 Automatic Update Blocker toolkits which will allow enterprise admins to make the leap on their own schedule.
No!!! The same people who kept most of the world...
“That explains a lot.”
– Daring Fireball Linked List: Daniel Craig on ‘Quantum of Solace’. Indeed it does.
NTSB recommends full nationwide ban on cellphone... →
Yes yes yes yes yes!
Seven Bar Jokes Involving Grammar and... →
(via nytimes)
“No DRM, no regional restrictions, no crap. You can download this file, play it...”
– Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater. Awesome.
“Numbers alone don’t explain iOS’s developer support. As Anil Dash pointed out...”
– Daring Fireball Linked List: What Eric Schmidt Actually Said About Developing for Android First
“Toto’s ‘Africa’” by Ernest Hemingway →
“Discovering that the revered British actor Mr Nighy is a man of stylistic...”
– Mr Bill Nighy | MR PORTER
November 2011
12 posts
“A federal judge in New York on Monday threw out a settlement between the...”
– Judge Blocks Citigroup Settlement With S.E.C. - NYTimes.com. YES YES YES! What you call “activist judges”, I call “checks and balances”.
WatchQuit the bitching on your blog, and stop pretending art is hard. (I ♥ AFP) (via)
“2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon
1/4 ounce Grade B maple syrup
2 dashes...”
– Bacon-Infused Old Fashioned. Yes! Bacon is on the menu for breakfast tomorrow, so I’ll have bacon-infused bourbon ready at tomorrow’s cocktail hour!
WTF Mobile Web →
Every time that I encounter a “mobile” website, I’m dumbfounded by how unusable it is. I’m fairly certain that everybody who’s implemented one of these doesn’t actually use a decent mobile web browser on a regular basis.
“Nor are all required purchases stupid. It is not stupid to require us to buy air...”
– Health Insurance and the Broccoli Test - NYTimes.com. Try citing that example for anyone who wants to buy a Land Rover Defender and see if they agree with you.