12/17 A little more about “Outliers” — Since I wrote a somewhat negative post mentioning Outliers and Malcolm Gladwell the other day, I thought this was a worthwhile follow-up,[“Lost in the Crowd” from the New York Times,](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/op...

12/16 Back Channels May Add, But They Also Subtract — I totally agree. Is it just part of the tendency of those people to always want to be the center of attention? Check this post Back Channels May Add, But They Also Subtract from McToonish: > [“...

12/15 How come are these two swindlers also huge philanthropists? — The irony and paradox confounds: > “[…] Mr. Dreier, who grew up on Long Island, the son of a refugee from Poland who owned movie theaters, evolved into a bon vivant who belonged to the Harmonie Club and was a staple of high-wattage charity events[…].” (from NYT, “[Lawyer Seen as Bold Enough to Cheat...

12/14 How are the New England Patriots like the United States Post Office? — I’ve gotten more interested in logos and graphic design lately so I guess I am noticing stuff like this more than before…

12/08 VRM and Iammoving.com — VRM is a concept that’s been floating around for a while. Evangelized (and perhaps coined) by Doc Searls, it has developed a strong following. In their words: > “VRM, or Vendor Relationship Management, is the reciprocal of CRM or [Customer Relationship Management...

12/07 Joel on Software talks about Malcolm Gladwell and Tom Friedman — There have been a number of articles taking shots at some of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, “Outliers”. No doubt Mr. Gladwell is really good at getting visibility for his books and has hit upon a formula with The Tipping Point and Blink which are fascinating reads, with profound insights, that happ...

12/06 Warning: Email Sabbatical is Imminent .. and other random thoughts — I really like this approach to vacation. I think I will try it: Check out this post Warning: Email Sabbatical is Imminent .. and other random thoughts: > "For those who are unaware of my approach to vacation… I bel...

12/05 XConomy’s Battle of the bands — As a favor I am posting this notice about an event that looks like it might be fun: Battle of the Bands > The requirement is that at least one member o...

12/05 Ideas are still cheap, right? — From XConomy Seattle, this article covers ‘an inspiring talk by Nick Hanauer of Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners‘. It’s a good read with lots of useful insights. Here’s his formu...

12/03 Watch out for the ‘Nigerian Scam — Yes, some people do fall for it > “So how did this otherwise lucid, intelligent woman end up sending nearly half a million dollars to a bunch of con artists running what has to be one of the best-known Internet scams in the world?” (from TimesOnline Tech Central) Read all about the Woman Who Fell For the Nigerian Scam, in TimesOnline Tech Central. Amazing!

12/02 Are magazines committing suicide? — I was traveling this weekend and as I am wont to do, spent too much time at bookstores and magazine stands. I came across the current issue of the New Yorker, where this article caught my eye: “[A reporter at Large: Anatomy of a Meltdown”](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/01/081201fa_fact_...

11/29 What I am reading this morning — A few really quick links: - Responsible Tweeting, about the role of Twitter ‘news’ in influencing real world events. - What to do, by Paul Krugman, about how to rescue the world economy - About [Robert Ru...

11/28 OpenStreetMap – Let’s map the whole planet, one person at a time — Another crazy-brilliant site, OpenStreetMap.org, is aiming to get all of us to annotate maps of all places on the planet. In other words, I know my neighborhood, let me log in and indicate what streets are called what, which ones are one way, where the inte...

11/27 It’s the cars, stupid — Robert X. Cringely’s  prescription for Detroit automakers: > “So the trick to turning around the U.S. auto industry is to make car buyers adopt the values of bicycle buyers, which implies the willingness to pay $20 per pound of final product. The way to achieve that goal is by building cars that are both affordable at $20 per pound and EXCITING TO DRIVE.” (from I Cringely, Saving Detroit)

11/26 How many sources of video signal? — Netflix has a box to stream video into my living room. TIVO has a deal with Amazon to do the same. [Blockbuster is just coming out with their set-top](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/3527388/Blockbuster-launches-set-top-...

11/25 Clean up your Amazon Wishlist! — If you are anything like me, you are constantly coming across books and other goodies that look interesting but not interesting enough to actually get. In my house, there are several shelves that contain books purchased but not yet read. It’s my queue. I love them . It’s like having a personal book...

11/25 Very unscientific survey of online survey tools — Because of a couple of projects that I am working on, I thought I might be able to use some tool for an online survey. I have two particular requirements: - respondents can be anonymous - respondents are allowed to complete the survey in multiple sittings. In other words, they can go back to a for...

11/24 Ask the pilot how hard it is to fly a plane — Ask The Pilot is a regular Salon column. Recently there was a good one, essentially about how hard or easy it is to fly and land a plane nowadays: > “But wait, he goes on. “Most of the time,” says heyja, “pilots will push th...

11/20 Bummer for Whole Foods — Not than anyone is buying any stocks these days (are you?) but I happened to have a very small number of Whole Foods shares, so this bit of news explains why Whole Foods have been tanking (other than the general lowering...

11/18 Ever hear of teratomas? — Here’s a truly weird article, which a sticks in my mind a week after reading it: > “Clark had seen teratomas. They were common in the reproductive tract, often found accidentally in the course of an operation or on a ...