fun

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Think Differently about Facetime and your college years

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At about 1:20 in the iPhone4 video Scott Forstall imagines a Facetime call with his (future) college-age kids. Really?

Really?  It was cool when i could email my parents from my dorm room, and ok, I can see the appeal for being able to call them from the lawn where I'm studying.  But havging them video-call me?  Whenever they wanted? 

If there are iPhones in 2017, I'm guessing that most calls to college students after 10pm on weekends go straight to voicemail.

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Sunday Linkfest- Tornado Watch Edition

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If you go crazy for Bravo's reality TV, you likely fit into one of three targets of theirs: “Wills and Graces” “P.T.A. Trendsetters,” “Metrocompetitors” or “Newborn Grown-Ups” Fascinating analysis of the power of deep research and over-serving a small and passionate target in We’ll Make You a Star (if the Web Agrees)

 I usually enjoy Corner Office, but this one point really resonated with me: company culture is that power of thinking you can win when the odds say you're going to lose big: Corner Office with Jen-Hsun Huang of Nvidia

Harvard Economist Gregory Mankiw lays out a very sound analysis of the things we tax, and why we tax them in Can a Soda Tax Save Us From Ourselves?

For further study, an infographic Health Spending vs. Results

Happy tornado watch!

Spy Social Networking: Top Ten

The inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report on the failure of the ODNI to improve US Intelligence gathering by breaking down territorial/divisive behavior among the 14 US intelligence agencies.  I wonder what they've tried?  How about "A-Space?". What's A-Space?

 American officials in recent years have unveiled a series of initiatives intended to improve intelligence analysis in the wake of a botched 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which concluded that Saddam Hussein’s regime was stockpiling unconventional weapons.

One such initiative is “A-Space” — modeled after the popular social networking site MySpace — intended to allow analysts from different intelligence agencies to better communicate and share information.

Oy.  I can't even imagine what happens on A-Space.  Or can I?...Here's my top 10 in progress. (Updated with help from my friend Cy)

10. ZOMG check this out: 2 Syrians 1 Cup
9.  Bob, that was really mean for you to Ollie-North-roll me during the NSC briefing
8.  2 tix to sell 4 briefing on trans-border shipments in Afghanistan - cheep! 
7.  Error 007: profile not found.  Ha!  Try to find me!  Just Try.
6.  Tx 4 the add!  Check out my band here: a-space.mil/secretmonkees
5.  Spring break pics of a CIA analyst doing a bodyshot...off an actual body.
4.  The White House will respond to a 'poke' by a covert CIA agent by revealing her identity to the New York Times.
3.
2.
1. 

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CBS Scores Again with NotaFathersDay.com

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This week's episode of How I met Your Mother mentions another online tie-in related to the show: www.notafathersday.com. Perennial womanizer and keeper of the Bro-Code Barney Stinson proposes a holiday for single men: Not a Father's Day.  

As soon as I saw the episode I went to the web site, and sure enough, you can buy all the outrageous merchandise showcased in the episode from the store on the site.  Made me smile that the show followed up so well on slapcountdown.com and The Robin Sparkles video (this is to say nothing of Barney's Blog on CBS.com which is also fantastic).  These are very smart plays which are written into the universe of the show without being heavy-handed- it doesn't have to be increadibly complex webisodes and adventuires to give fans a little better chance to engage with the  show and its characters.

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A moving skyscraper makes me scared

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Accoding to a BBC story:

The world's first moving building, an 80-storey tower with revolving floors giving a shifting shape, will be built in Dubai, its architect says.  The Dynamic Tower design is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments which will spin independently of one another.   

I am immediately horrified by this idea, but perhaps that is because I saw this really weird movie called Cube.  7 strangers wake up in an “endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps” (excellent imdb plot summary.) They are in a cube made up of dozens of smaller cubes, and at random intervals the cubes shift around.  They have to find their way out, like solving Rubik’s cube from the inside as it tries to kill you. In case you were wondering Cube 2 was awful, not nearly as entertaining as the first.

The McKibbiners...keeping the NY art scene alive?

And I thought I'd lived in some small apartments.  Some young (and even some OLD) artists are living in converted factories in "cubbies" as small as  4 people in 25 square feet.  Yikes.

Brian Belukha, a 23-year-old musician who describes his look as “intergalactic space castaway,” decided to leave after someone threw a 40-ounce beer bottle at his head. “It’s a dorm, and it’s insane. It’s just insane,” said Mr. Belukha

That sound slike a good time to leave.  Apparently I'm late to the party on lambasting the culture of theft/parties/urination which some of these residents seem proud of, but I will say that ready buyers and sellers of housing services- of all walks of life and price ranges do seem to be meeting in this sketchy neighborhood. 

I'm probably not cool enough to visit, but may all of the residents live to see their next birthday, critical recognition, a paycheck of some variety...or at least the occasional night's sleep.

Link: Young Artists Find a Private Space, Only Without the Privacy - New York Times.

My mom and Tractors

So my mom asked me if I would get her a lawn tractor.  Like, buy her a lawn tractor.  Here's how that conversation went:

Me: You really want a lawn tractor?
My Mom: Yeah, can you get me one so I can ride around on it?  Just for a day?
Me: I'm sure we could rent you one...
My Mom: No!  I don't want to rent one.  I want to have it all to myself, for a day!
Me: [pause] Isn't that what renting is?

then we LOLed.  My mom is awesome.

How to Handle an Invasive Species? Eat it

This article- How to Handle an Invasive Species? Eat it- was pretty interesting- and an eye opener on the problems of biodiversity when ships bring some really nasty species across the globe.  I like the idea of eating them- I mean, why can't we just overfish these populations that are stealing our lunch ion the Illinois river?

But also, EAT IT is a great Weird Al video.  Here you go


A Professor Explains How to Negotiate — FiLife

I'd list this as essential reading for anyone who has been though the stress of a complicated negotiation and been unsatisfied with the result.  I believe that I have improved my skills of negotiation in the last several years, though I am sure I have a ways to go.  The article below is an excellent set of tips and rules of thumb- don;t leave home without them.

Link: A Professor Explains How to Negotiate — FiLife.