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| There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. |
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| Topic: Business |
2:12 am EDT, Jun 29, 2005 |
Classic! (Classically Canadian, that is!) Also: don't miss the excellent comics on this site, which are very Barbara Kruger-meets-Jack Handey. Looking for work is an exercise in selling yourself. You write cover letter after cover letter, listing the parts of you that you respect the least, listing the selling points that make you valuable in a buyer's market. You leave out the little details that you tell yourself in the morning to make things okay. You don't mention the way your heart flutters when you meet your lover's eyes across the table, the way your feet felt like lead at your aunt's funeral. You write cover letter after cover letter, listing the same store bought traits in the same wording, day after day, hoping to find another job. And then maybe one day you just snap a little. You sit down to write a cover letter, and something entirely new comes out. And you send it anyway.
Each one is different in its own way. And we love them all. Overqualified |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
1:07 am EDT, Apr 14, 2005 |
The Long Tail is about the shift from hits to niches. Several readers have asked what this means for the future of mass (hit-driven, mainstream) culture in America. The short answer is that it will not only get less mass, but that this is a trend that's already well underway. This Long Tail Blog could be a big hit! Stay tuned! The Long Tail Blog |
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| Topic: Computers |
8:02 pm EST, Jan 26, 2005 |
This is an ad for the Macintosh around 1989. k wrote:
] Kind of a neat blast from the past.
] Sometimes we forget that there was a time when "Copy" and "Paste" were brand new concepts. Matt Groening Apple Ad |
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Skunkworks At Apple -- The Graphing Calculator Story |
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| Topic: Technology |
5:03 pm EST, Dec 25, 2004 |
The secret to programming is not intelligence, though of course that helps. It is not hard work or experience, though they help, too. The secret to programming is having smart friends. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent to the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked. Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work. Skunkworks At Apple -- The Graphing Calculator Story |
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| Topic: Technology |
2:54 pm EST, Nov 25, 2004 |
Research under way at ORNL could lead to entirely new, highly energy-efficient ways of lighting buildings using the power of sunlight. In addition to providing light, the technology would convert sunlight to electricity much more efficiently than conventional solar technologies. In commercial buildings, lighting consumes more electric energy than any other building end-use. It accounts for more than a third of all electricity consumed for commercial use in the United States. Way cool. I remember, back in high school, thinking about how to do something like this. These "large-diameter" optical fibers are just the ticket. Hybrid Lighting |
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| Topic: Society |
8:16 pm EDT, Jul 28, 2004 |
Another type of time-challenged employee who can appear at first glance to be a dream come true is the people pleaser. While the vast majority of us want to be helpfuland let's face it, anyone who constantly says no will quickly be shown the doorthis doesn't alter the fact that saying yes all the time is highly dysfunctional. When a person chronically takes on more and more responsibilities out of a fear of confronting authority, he will inevitably commit too much of his time to unproductive projectsfor instance, he will sit on a project that he should have passed on to someone else much earlier. In the workplace, the people pleaser often resorts to time abuse to vent her anger. For example, she agrees to take on a task she doesn't want and then devotes obsessive attention to its minutest details. Although this form of overcompliance can win approval from others, unchecked it can lead to conflicts with the very authority figures she is endeavoring to please. People pleasers are the worst! The Time Abusers |
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