Nottamun Town

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Workers of the world, level up!

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:35:42 -0400

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Workers of the world, level up!:

“Blissful productivity: that sounds nice, doesn’t it? I mean, given the choice between bliss and a paycheck, I would go with bliss every time.”

Some links: May 31, 2012

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:30:30 -0400

If we blow you up, by definition, you deserve it.

The Obama Administration has defined any male of military age killed by a drone bombing to be a combatant. This is morally bankrupt and is a cheap way to justify the huge number of collateral casualties from drone strikes and other imprecise military actions.
Workers of the world, level up!

“Blissful productivity: that sounds nice, doesn’t it? I mean, given the choice between bliss and a paycheck, I would go with bliss every time.”

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It neverdid. It never will."

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:40:54 -0400

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It neverdid. It never will.”

- Frederick Douglass

Some links: May 30, 2012

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:30:30 -0400

It’s watching you right now. So stop doing that.

Welcome to the new frontier of cyber-espionage, and remember this name: “Flame” — a mysterious new cyber spy tool that hit the headlines on Monday, May 28. Its code is 20 times larger than Stuxnet, the mysterious computer worm that temporarily crippled Iran’s Siemens nuclear centrifuges, and it “might be the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed” according to Kaspersky Lab, a Russian-based cybersecurity firm. Kaspersky published the findings of its analysis on Monday in addition to the Iranian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Budapest University. Most of the infected systems are located in the Middle East, with Iran, Israel, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, and Hungary topping the list. Flame stands out in the various ways through which it “exfiltrates” data, including surreptitiously recorded audio data captured by internal microphones. However, unlike Stuxnet, Flame was designed to spy — not destroy.
“Look At How Big The President’s Dick Is.”

"High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 18:21:41 -0400

“

High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered; they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.

”

- Henry Kissinger

"[H]e who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been..."

Sun, 27 May 2012 18:23:41 -0400

“[H]e who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him a spinal cord will suffice.”

- Albert Einstein

"Let all Men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly: Men freely ford that see the shallows."

Sat, 26 May 2012 20:35:38 -0400

“

Let all Men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly: Men freely ford that see the shallows.

”

- Benjamin Franklin

"Everything which results in something beautiful is itself beautiful and is complete in itself, with..."

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:14:17 -0400

“Everything which results in something beautiful is itself beautiful and is complete in itself, with praise holding no essential role. Therefore, whatever is praised becomes neither better nor worse because it is or is not praised.”

- Marcus Aurelius (translated by Jacob Needleman & John P. Piazza)

Dummy Discards a Heart

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:30:26 -0400

Dummy Discards a Heart:

“Gamification is awful for many reasons…”

I so want a print of this.

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:06:10 -0400

I so want a print of this.

"are there young people trying to make it in new york? i hope i get to hear about them from every..."

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:55:27 -0400

“are there young people trying to make it in new york? i hope i get to hear about them from every possible form of media”

- John Campbell (@itsjohncampbell)

That’s way #5 happiness can hurt you.

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:41:01 -0400

That’s way #5 happiness can hurt you.

Some links: May 22, 2012

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:30:21 -0400

Teach for America: The Hidden Curriculum of Liberal Do-Gooders

“The more exclusive TFA becomes, the more ordinary regular teachers seem.”
I, Robot?

In experiments at six public universities, students assigned randomly to statistics courses that relied heavily on “machine-guided learning” software — with reduced face time with instructors — did just as well, in less time, as their counterparts in traditional, instructor-centric versions of the courses.
What to give the person who has everything?

“A Channel Islands auction house says it’s selling a vial that allegedly contains blood residue from Ronald Reagan - a move denounced Tuesday by the late U.S. president’s family and his foundation.”
5 Signs Your Child Is a Psychopath, According To The NYT

The New York Times Magazine has a story describing a 9 year old boy who has been diagnosed as a psychopath. “Oh my God, that was such a moving article.” Shut it.

Strangely/not strangely, they spend very little time describing the kid’s psychopathy, and a lot of time on describing everything else from which you are to infer his psychopathy. It’s like badly written female erotica, which is exactly what the New York Times Magazine is, penis never goes in vagina, it’s all innuendo and mood and words words words words…

The Philanthropic Complex

Mon, 21 May 2012 21:22:30 -0400

The Philanthropic Complex:

The great paradox of environmental philanthropy is this: How do institutions founded on property, wealth, and privilege (in short, plutocrats) seek to address the root source of environmental destruction if that source is essentially the unbridled use of property, wealth, and privilege? And yet when we ask that foundations abandon their privileges and simply provide funding so that we activists can do our work without hindrance, what the foundation hears is a request that they will their own destruction. Not unreasonably, they are bewildered by the suggestion and unwilling to do so.

"If we cheer for big money simply as big money, we’re simply never going to get right again."

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:40:52 -0400

“If we cheer for big money simply as big money, we’re simply never going to get right again.”

- Charles Pierce

The Rayne Independent regrets the error.

Sun, 20 May 2012 13:10:48 -0400

The Rayne Independent regrets the error.

A scarecrow keeps sea birds away from a “pond”...

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:21:38 -0400

A scarecrow keeps sea birds away from a “pond” filled with toxic oil sand slurry. More at Business Insider.

(via Naked Capitalism.)

"I wouldn’t believe anything I tell you."

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:22:11 -0400

““I wouldn’t believe anything I tell you.””

- Roy Lichtenstein

Photo

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:41:47 -0400

"The salvation of human life is in this: seeing what each thing is in its entirety, both its material..."

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:55:58 -0400

“The salvation of human life is in this: seeing what each thing is in its entirety, both its material and its cause; also in performing just actions and speaking the truth with one’s entire soul. What is left but to enjoy the benefits of such a life, joining one good action to another without leaving the smallest interval between them?”

- Marcus Aurelius (translated by Jacob Needleman & John P. Piazza)