2015.07.14 Paper Piranha Plant Flowers

My wife has some paper flowers in a vase, and I'd love to add a couple of these to it. Still artsy, but oh-so-awesome at the same time. Simple DIY for a pest from the Mushroom Kingdom. #

2015.07.14 John Ruskin - Tool vs Man

I love this:

You must either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him. You cannot make both. Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect in all their actions. If you will have that precision out of them, and make their fingers measure degrees like cog-wheels, and their arms strike curves like compasses, you must unhumanize them. All the energy of their spirits must be given to make cogs and compasses of themselves….On the other hand, if you will make a man of the working creature, you cannot make him a tool. Let him but begin to imagine, to think, to try to do anything worth doing; and the engine-turned precision is lost at once. Out come all his roughness, all his dulness, all his incapability; shame upon shame, failure upon failure, pause after pause: but out comes the whole majesty of him also; and we know the height of it only when we see the clouds settling upon him.

Management advice, boiled down to one quote. #

2015.02.21 QLMarkdown

If you use OS X, and a lot of markdown files, you'll probably benefit from this handy quick look extension. Don't just see the markdown as a text file, but see it as the nicely formatted document your markdown turns into. I've had it on my computer for a couple years, but I never thought to link to it (and feared that I'd forget it if I ever changed computers). #

2014.09.10 Policing By Consent

I've had this tab open since the events in Ferguson. I feel like I need to repost them here, just to make sure they're seen and kept. Originally created as the basic rules or principles upon which the Metropolitan Police should act and behave:

1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.

2. To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

3. To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.

4. To recognise always that the extent to which the co-operation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.

5. To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.

6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.

7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

8. To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.

9. To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them. #

2014.09.10 The Brazilian Bus Magnate Who’s Buying Up All the World’s Vinyl Records

It's hard to fathom the number of records being bought by Zero Freitas, a wealthy Brazilian business man. He's doing it all in the name of preservation. I own more music than the average person, but what I own would be a drop in the bucket for him. I think it's an admirable effort, and one I'll be curious to follow over time. #

2014.09.10 Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain

You're probably reading this at the wrong time. You're distracted, or more likely, you're too focused on consumption. Focus on something for a bit longer. Unplug at other times. All of this multi-tasking (quickly switching between tasks and events) is destroying your brain - you just weren't built for this. #

2014.08.31 How To Be Polite

I'd prefer to title this "How to be Considerate", but even with its title as-is, it's worth reading.

People silently struggle from all kinds of terrible things. They suffer from depression, ambition, substance abuse, and pretension. They suffer from family tragedy, Ivy-League educations, and self-loathing. They suffer from failing marriages, physical pain, and publishing. The good thing about politeness is that you can treat these people exactly the same.

...

This is not a world where you can simply express love for other people, where you can praise them. Perhaps it should be. But it’s not. I’ve found that people will fear your enthusiasm and warmth, and wait to hear the price. Which is fair. We’ve all been drawn into someone’s love only to find out that we couldn’t afford it. A little distance buys everyone time.

He goes on to list empathy as an effect of this "politeness". I'm not sure if it's a result of it, or a cause for it. We can all be a bit nicer. A bit more patient. A bit more understanding. A little slower to pass judgement. A bit more thoughtful. A bit more considerate. #

2014.08.31 Abandonauts - Adam Atomic

Adam "Atomic" Satlsman (of Canabalt fame) put these files out the other day for any/all to use. I'm not a game developer, nor do I ever intend to be, but some part of me wants to hang on to these files... just in case I might need them for something. #

2014.08.30 Master of Play - The New Yorker

What an interesting view into Shigeru Miyamoto - a man to whom I owe many thanks for taking my imagination to great places. I've had this sitting on my to-read list for a while, but once I actually started, I felt like I couldn't stop. I'm not sure I could go so far as to read a whole novel about him (yet), but this certainly filled my need for now. #

2014.08.22 The Last True Hermit - GQ.com

What a fascinating story. I have displayed anti-social tendencies at times, but obviously nothing to this extent. Additionally, I doubt I could keep away from people that long, nor survive one winter in Maine in a tent - let alone 27.

Get enough sleep.

Sound advice for any of us. #