Why journalists misquote everyone.
Penelope Trunk explains why you think reporters are always misquoting you: Why journalists misquote everyone — or do they?
We Are Getting Tired of Prying Your Guns out of Your Cold Dead Hands
Headline of the week: We Are Getting Tired of Prying Your Guns out of Your Cold Dead Hands
Party in a NASA Hangar Gives a Glimpse of Space Culture
MOFFETT FIELD, California — Twenty-year Jet Propulsion Laboratory veteran Charles White drove 350 miles from Pasadena to attend what amounted to a rave in Hangar 211 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View on Friday night. It was worth it, he said. At Yuri’s Night Bay Area, rocket scientis
2 min read
Kathy Sierra Case: Few Clues, Little Evidence, Much Controversy
In the mountain of commentary that has been published about the Kathy Sierra affair on blogs and in mainstream publications, one fact has so far remained obstinately unconfirmed: Who was it that posted threatening messages and images on Sierra’s website and on two other blogs? Wired News interviewed
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Office insanity.
Imagine you had a roommate who you’d known for ten years as a somewhat annoying, slightly compulsive, very finicky but ultimately very talented and capable individual. Now, suppose that one day this person showed up wearing completely new, very trendy clothes. A new hairstyle, sort of a New Wave fli
1 min read
My new favorite word.
“Asshat,” which perfectly combines aspects of stupidity or clownishness and assholism. I say this knowing that Gadget Lab blogger Rob Beschizza has outed me as someone who says “Oh my goodness” with no apparent trace of irony. Guilty as charged. Hey, I’ve got a young child. You want to hear a kinder
Tim O’Reilly: Web 2.0 Is About Controlling Data
It’s not too late to get on the “web 2.0” bandwagon, says publishing magnate Tim O’Reilly, who coined the term. And if you’re wondering what it takes to build a web 2.0 startup, O’Reilly has just the conference for you — the Web 2.0 Expo. O’Reilly Media and CMP are co-hosting the conference, which r
6 min read
What I Learned From Friendster: Jonathan Abrams’ New Startup
Jonathan Abrams’ last startup, Friendster, was one of the first social-networking companies to attract an audience of users numbering in the millions. Launched in 2003, the site grew quickly through word of mouth, as people rushed to connect with their friends online. Abrams became one of the most v
8 min read
The Art of the Pitch: Be Direct
At Microsoft’s Silicon Valley headquarters Monday evening, a couple hundred entrepreneurs and investors gathered to schmooze, eat mashed-potato-and-roast-beef hors-d’oeuvres from martini glasses, and spend a few desultory moments looking over the eight companies on display in the middle of the meeti
2 min read
Content management system.
Content management system. n. A device for moving information from one computer to another computer by means of human manual labor. (My current working definition.)
Gmail Mobile.
Damn you, Google. As if my email addiction weren’t bad enough already, you have to go and create Google Mobile, a Java app for my cellphone that lets me read my Gmail messages, even on my crappy but stylish Razr V3. Message threading, easy scanning, and most importantly, quick message deletion–all t
1 min read
I did it in my head!
Last night Clara was working on her homework, part of which involved math problems — simple addition. (Math homework! In kindergarten! But that’s another post.) 2+2, 2+3, 6+0, etc. Karen set her up with a handful of clementines on the table and her homework folder. For 2+3, Clara put two clementines
1 min read