Brandt's Tumblr

"Wasserman says the Justice Department is saving its legal firepower to challenge restrictive voting..."

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:54:35 -0500

“Wasserman says the Justice Department is saving its legal firepower to challenge restrictive voting laws passed by Republicans in half a dozen Southern states since 2010. The laws require proof of citizenship to register to vote, cut back on early voting, curtailed voter registration drives and required voters to produce a government-issued ID before casting a ballot. The department has already objected to South Carolina’s voter ID law, since blacks are more likely than whites to lack the necessary ID.”

- 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 bald-faced corruption, but public opinion also think it’s reasonable to require a government ID when voting, it turns out Justice is picking a more difficult political battle, and in an election year at that. WTF?

"The author mentions the rise of for-profit businesses increasingly running prisons in the U.S., but..."

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:29:13 -0500

“The author mentions the rise of for-profit businesses increasingly running prisons in the U.S., but I don’t think he makes the point strongly enough. There is now a corporate interest in the U.S. lobbying for such things as mandatory minimum sentencing.”

- Schneier on Security: Prisons in the U.S.

"The style system matches rules by starting with the key selector, then moving to the left (looking..."

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:10:43 -0500

“The style system matches rules by starting with the key selector, then moving to the left (looking for any ancestors in the rule’s selector). As long as the selector’s subtree continues to check out, the style system continues moving to the left until it either matches the rule, or abandons because of a mismatch.”

- 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 be aware of this fundamental issue.

“My eyes feel like they’re dirty” (via Mind-Blowing Installation...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:30:53 -0500

“My eyes feel like they’re dirty” (via Mind-Blowing Installation Makes You Feel Like You’re Walking On A Cloud | Co.Design: business innovation design)

Spent Musket Oil. Yeah, I’m sure the ladies will start...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:39:58 -0500

Spent Musket Oil. Yeah, I’m sure the ladies will start lining up once you put a dab of this on.

Turning the ‘Buffett Rule’ Into Law - NYTimes.com

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:35:25 -0500

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 Lawsuit - NYTimes.com

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:30:27 -0500

Rhode Island City Enraged Over School Prayer Lawsuit - NYTimes.com:

Kudos to Ms Ahlquist for standing up for what’s right. The Times also has a follow-up editorial.

Digitals by Chris Crutchfield: “One day I got an email, an...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:06:21 -0500

Digitals by Chris Crutchfield: “One day I got an email, an sms, a phone call, a Facebook message and two tweets all within about 5 seconds of one another. This video is a re-manifestation of my brain’s interpretation of that event.”

"When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t notice the individual..."

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:41:00 -0500

“When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t notice the individual letters in each word, I stop noticing the layout, the font, the paper, the binding, and every other physical artifact because I’m focused on the writing.”

- 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 ignore the medium and just read. Similarly, I have paper books I just couldn’t get into because the typesetting was so poor that it kept distracting me from the content.

And are of course there are some (rare) exceptions to Marco’s conclusion. For example, I don’t think reading House of Leaves on any current e-reader would be remotely the same as reading it on paper.

"In descending order, the most popular fonts from the Typekit library, based on the number of people..."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:11:49 -0500

“In descending order, the most popular fonts from the Typekit library, based on the number of people who have marked them as a favorite.”

- 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!

Kathleen Sebelius - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 01/23/12

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:33:43 -0500

Kathleen Sebelius - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 01/23/12

"According to a press release from the VSP, Trooper Paul Dean was assisting a vehicle that slid onto..."

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:39:55 -0500

“

According to a press release from the VSP, Trooper Paul Dean was assisting a vehicle that slid onto the median, when Gregory Stefurak, 54, of Rochester, stopped in the travel portion of the road to alert him of an accident to the south
.
As soon as Stefurak stopped his 2004 Volkswagen the operator behind him, Kyle Skinner, 32, of Putney, was able to stop his Mini Cooper to avoid hitting the Volkswagen, but a 2006 Subaru, operated by Loriann Madden, 49, of Longmeadow, Mass., was not able to stop and struck the Mini Cooper pushing it into Stefurak’s Volkswagen.

A tractor trailer operated by Thomas Miller, 58, of Franklin, was able to swerve but struck Madden’s Subaru from the rear and side.

There were no injuries and the Mini Cooper and Subaru had to be removed by a wrecker. Investigation is pending but Stefurak may be issued a ticket for stopping in the roadway.

”

- 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?!?

If you haven’t yet turned off Search Plus Your World, then...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:16:48 -0500

If you haven’t yet turned off Search Plus Your World, then you might find Focus on the User interesting. But really, unless you’re a social media junkie, you probably just want to turn it off.

"Google has just announced its earnings for Q4 2011, reporting $10.58 billion in revenue —..."

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:54:58 -0500

“Google has just announced its earnings for Q4 2011, reporting $10.58 billion in revenue — although that number doesn’t include traffic acquisition costs. When you factor those in, actual net revenue was $8.13 billion.”

- “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: “To win the future,..."

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:17:09 -0500

“As contentious as it is to quote Obama these days, he got one thing right: “To win the future, we have to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world, tapping the creativity and imagination of our people.” It’s beyond baffling for the government to even consider a policy that thwarts the very creativity and imagination at the heart of true innovation — a policy designed to lose the future.”

- 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 Instead - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:12:26 -0500

The Content Industry Should Focus on Innovation Instead - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com:

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 Old - NYTimes.com

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:14:37 -0500

In Piracy Bill Fight, New Economy Rises Against Old - NYTimes.com:

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.

Wow, look at all those swashes in Bookmania! Another home run by...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:13:05 -0500

Wow, look at all those swashes in Bookmania! Another home run by Mark Simonson. (via FontShop Newsletter | January 18, 2012)

4moms Origami is the highest tech stroller yet (hands-on video)

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:02:32 -0500

4moms Origami is the highest tech stroller yet (hands-on video):

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?

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:02:17 -0500

Should Vanity Fair Be a Spelling Vigilante?:

I love this so much it hurts.