February 2011
31 posts
- Amy Farrah Fowler: Prepare to be terrified. If your friends are unconvincing, this year's donations might go to, say, the geology department.
- Sheldon Cooper: *gasp* Oh dear G... No, not the dirt people!
- Me: ...
- Jason: ...
- Me: ...
- Jason: For the record, we call it "sediment."
Play
“More important, perhaps, the government told Americans, “Enjoy your food, but eat less.” Many Americans eat too many calories every day, expanding their waistlines and imperiling their health.”
—
The NYTimes writes about the government’s new dietary guidelines, wherein we learn that, at long last, the authorities have grown a pair on the subject of portions.
Starbucks’ timing is impeccable.
— From SF.
“A happy love is full of quarrels, you know.”
—
Jean Anouilh, in Antigone.
***
En français: “C’est plein de disputes, un bonheur.”
***
— From SF.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mentor, Or, Why Modernist Designers Are Superior →
observatory.designobserver.com
“Here are some things I was not allowed to do as I began my first job:
- Use any typeface other than Helvetica, Century, Times, Futura, Garamond No. 3, or Bodoni.
- Use more than two typefaces on any project.
- Use more than three sizes of typefaces on any project.
- Begin any layout without a modular grid in place, including a letterhead or a business card.
- Make visual references to any examples of historic graphic design predating Josef Muller-Brockmann or Armin Hoffman.
- Incorporate any graphic devices that could not be defended on the basis of pure function.”
Michael Bierut in The Design Observer.
The first of what I expect will be a long line of parodies of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.
— From SF.
January 2011
43 posts
“People who describe themselves as both Asian and American, or see themselves as a female engineer (and not just an engineer), consistently display higher levels of creativity.”
—
This is “according to a study led by Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, a psychologist at the University of Michigan,” quoted by Jonah Lehrer in a post about the notion of dual identity in the case of novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov (who, for those of you who live under a rock, predicted evolution patterns in the butterfly species he studied that have just been proven correct).
As it turns out, if you cultivate two or more identities, you’ll be more likely to draw ideas from all backgrounds to solve problems.
— From SF.
For better or for worse
Fascinating data on interracial or interethnic marriages in the U.S.
White men and women are least likely to wed anyone else but each other while American Indians prefer to mix more than staying among themselves. Would love to see that for Europe, especially Britain and France!
— From London.
Dealing With Assange and the Secrets He Spilled →
nytimes.com
The New York Times’ executive editor tells of his toilings with J.A. and of a mock Christmas card:
“Dear kids,
Santa is Mum & Dad.
Love,
WikiLeaks.”
— From London.
Gadget panic
One of my colleagues tells me he went to a restaurant last night that asks guests to punch in their orders directly into a little electronic device. Sounds great except that the system had just broken down and panic among staff had broken out. It turned out in the age of iphones and blackberries no one had a pen or paper. Finally, after a long delay they were able to collect adequate equipment from guests.
“I’m sure that if pen and notepad would have been invented after blackberries everyone would go ‘oh look, how great! You can write everything down so clearly and you can rip out pages and give them to friends!’,” he said.
— From London.
