Olifante *'s Public Library

30 Nov 09

What a mess our military has made | Dan Plesch | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

"Today, the idea that a political adversary might lay a military trap is incomprehensible to an ostensibly rational military establishment"

www.guardian.co.uk/...ess-military-1914-1918-failure - Preview

afghanistan war US al-Qaida trap naivete 911

al-Qaida probably lured the US into Afghanistan with the 9/11 attacks, envisaging that the resulting war with the Pashtun areas would enable them to repeat the empire-destroying victory over the Soviets.
among the Arab diplomatic corps the idea is almost a given, while in the west it cannot even be discussed.
2 more annotations...
- Today, the idea that a political adversary might lay a military trap is incomprehensible to an ostensibly rational military establishment
- On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, by Norman Dixon, provides an insight into the problems of authoritarian personalities in authoritarian institutions being unable to "see" the obvious.

29 Nov 09

think pink: You'll never get what you want.

"money is useful, but ultimately it’s bullshit. I’ve been wealthy and miserable, and I’ve been broke and happy. Key words here: Shared accommodation."

blog.elliottkember.com/...7-Youllnevergetwhatyouwant - Preview

money programming growth learning apprenticeship

money is useful, but ultimately it’s bullshit. I’ve been wealthy and miserable, and I’ve been broke and happy. Key words here: “Shared accommodation.”

23 Nov 09

Why experts are morons: a recipe for academic success « Finite Attention Span

finiteattentionspan.wordpress.com/...-a-recipe-for-academic-success - Preview

if the world were made of custard, global warming might lead to major dessertification

18 Oct 09

Turner Lost CNN, Fonda, Fortune, Feels ‘Like a Dummy’ (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

"if you economize and don’t buy new airplanes or long-range jets, or that sort of thing, you can get by on a billion or two."

www.bloomberg.com/...news - Preview

Ted Turner cnn Time Warner

“War is obsolete,” Turner said. “The last time someone
surrendered was Japan and that was 60 years ago. The Afghans
will never surrender. We will just get tired and come home.
We’ve already given up on Iraq and there’s oil in Iraq, there’s
no oil in Afghanistan.”
if
you economize and don’t buy new airplanes or long-range jets, or
that sort of thing, you can get by on a billion or two.

16 Oct 09

danieltenner.com — What problems does Google Wave solve?

"The way Google should have advertised Wave is: it solves the problems with email”

danieltenner.com/...0012-google-wave.html - Preview

google wave overview corporate collaboration

The way Google should have advertised Wave is: “it solves the problems with email”

Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn - Telegraph

"unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else."

www.telegraph.co.uk/...ts-an-easy-skill-to-learn.html - Preview

luck psychology

unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people's ability to notice the unexpected.
unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else.
1 more annotations...
- lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

14 Sep 09

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

"there are two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism."

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/...paradox-of-libertarianism.html - Preview

libertarianism choice freedom goal means politics ideology

there are two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism.
there are two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism
7 more annotations...
- two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism
- there are two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism.
- there are two strands of libertarian thought. In somewhat cartoon terms, one strand takes liberty to be a (or in extreme cases, the) fundamental human good in and of itself; the other takes liberty to be a means to the end of discovery of methods of social organization that create other benefits. I’ll call the first “liberty-as-goal” libertarianism and the second “liberty-as-means” libertarianism.
- What the liberty-as-means libertarian calls for is the freedom to experiment: let different localities try different things, and learn from this experience.
- This leads then to a call for “states as laboratories of democracy” federalism in matters of social policy; or in a more formal sense, a call for subsidiarity
- The freedom to experiment needs to include freedom to experiment with different governmental (i.e., coercive) rules.
- a liberty-as-means libertarian ought to argue, in some cases, for local autonomy to restrict some personal freedoms.

Opinion: The unspoken truth about managing geeks

"IT pros always and without fail, quietly self-organize around those who make the work easier, while shunning those who make the work harder, independent of the organizational chart."

www.computerworld.com/...ken_truth_about_managing_geeks - Preview

IT psychology management developers

for IT groups respect is the currency of the realm.
IT pros always and without fail, quietly self-organize around those who make the work easier, while shunning those who make the work harder, independent of the organizational chart.
13 more annotations...
- work in both fields requires a technical expertise that can't be faked and a proficiency that can only be measured by qualified peers.
- Capacity for technical reasoning trumps all other professional factors
- I believe you can predict success or failure of an IT group simply by assessing the amount of mutual respect within it.
- in IT, colleagues can significantly influence the careers of the entire team.
- IT pros can come to be seen as whiny or as having a victim mentality. Presuming this is a trait that must be disciplined out of them is a huge management mistake.
- Good IT pros are not anti-bureaucracy, as many observers think. They are anti-stupidity.
- The primary task of any IT group is to teach people how to work.
- IT's job at the most fundamental level is to build, maintain and improve frameworks within which to accomplish tasks.
- if the people who represent IT to the organization at large aren't cognizant of how the technology works, can't communicate it in the manner the IT group needs it communicated, can't maintain consistency, take credit for the work of the group members
- Who decides if a doctor is a doctor? Other doctors! So, if your IT group isn't at the table for the hiring process of their bosses and peers, this already does a disservice to the process.
- Standard managerial processes are nearly useless in an IT group.
- the fight in most IT groups is in how to get things done, not how to avoid work.
- What IT pros want in a manager is a technical sounding board and a source of general direction.

29 Aug 09

Views: Criminal Incompetence - Inside Higher Ed

"A woman in Canada learned that there was a business in the American Southwest called Guns for Hire. She did not realize that it was a theatrical group that specialized in reenactments of Old Western shoot-outs and the like. She called its office to try to arrange the disposal of her husband."

www.insidehighered.com/...mclemee256 - Preview

crime criminals tattoos reputation signaling

Facial tattoos are the ultimate abandonment of all hope of a life outside.
In some lines of work, the forehead is a perfectly good place for one's CV. It may even qualify as proof of ambition.
5 more annotations...
- A woman in Canada learned that there was a business in the American Southwest called Guns for Hire. She did not realize that it was a theatrical group that specialized in reenactments of Old Western shoot-outs and the like. She called its office to try to arrange the disposal of her husband.
- mafiosi are quite incompetent at doing anything" other than shaking down legitimate businesses and enforcing trade agreements among smaller-scale hoodlums
- If [mobsters] showed any competence at it, their clients would fear that they might just take over.
- The most powerful figures in this system, says Gambetta, tend to be the least intellectually distinguished.
- In a corrupt academic market, being good at and interested in one's own research, by contrast, signal a potential for a career independent of corrupt reciprocity

23 Aug 09

Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire | Arto Bendiken

"the Roman people, the mass of the population, had but one wish after being captured by the barbarians: that they would never again fall under the rule of the Roman bureaucracy"

ar.to/...d-the-fall-of-the-roman-empire - Preview

rome romans bureaucracy fall empire inflation taxation

the Roman people, the mass of the population, had but one wish after being captured by the barbarians: that they would never again fall under the rule of the Roman bureaucracy

The Mediocre Returns of Extraordinary Technologies | Frontier Economy

"technological advance quickly turns the cutting-edge into the well-known. Today’s closely guarded trade secret is tomorrow’s boring line of work, their basic principles described in an introductory physics text, and as the universe seems to provide many different ways to achieve the same effect, patents are of little use."

www.frontiereconomy.com/...-of-extraordinary-technologies - Preview

technology economy progress business

technological advance quickly turns the cutting-edge into the well-known. Today’s closely guarded trade secret is tomorrow’s boring line of work, their basic principles described in an introductory physics text, and as the universe seems to provide many different ways to achieve the same effect, patents are of little use.
in a world that generally has few truly sustainable entry barriers — most of them being specific natural resources like fissionable material or fossil fuels — prices are driven by costs, not utility.

19 Aug 09

Behind the music: The real reason why the major labels love Spotify | Music | guardian.co.uk

"On Spotify, it seems, artists are not equal. There are indie labels that, as opposed to the majors and Merlin members, receive no advance, receive no minimum per stream and only get a 50% share of ad revenue"

www.guardian.co.uk/...major-labels-spotify - Preview

spotify revenue artists criticism

On Spotify, it seems, artists are not equal. There are indie labels that, as opposed to the majors and Merlin members, receive no advance, receive no minimum per stream and only get a 50% share of ad revenue

Majikthise : Protesters tote semi-automatic assault rifles at Obama event

"Taking a loaded assault rifle to a protest is naked intimidation. Whoever is organizing these militia mental midgets needs to call them off right now. They may be within their legal rights, but their behavior is profoundly anti-democratic."

majikthise.typepad.com/...lt-rifles-at-obama-event-.html - Preview

Taking a loaded assault rifle to a protest is naked intimidation. Whoever is organizing these militia mental midgets needs to call them off right now. They may be within their legal rights, but their behavior is profoundly anti-democratic.

18 Aug 09

Falkenblog: Review of Taleb's The Black Swan

"Legislators and personal-injury lawyers eagerly hype risks with negligible real impact, like secondhand smoke, or getting cancer from trace amounts of chemicals. Sometimes they create considerable public concern about risks that don't exist, like that of contracting anti-immune disease from breast implants, or cell phones causing cancer."

falkenblog.blogspot.com/...view-of-talebs-black-swan.html - Preview

taleb black swann critique debunking finance statistics

Legislators and personal-injury lawyers eagerly hype risks with negligible real impact, like secondhand smoke, or getting cancer from trace amounts of chemicals. Sometimes they create considerable public concern about risks that don't exist, like that of contracting anti-immune disease from breast implants, or cell phones causing cancer.

The Technium: The Most Powerful Force in the World

"by tapping the [fuels of the] Carboniferous Formation and spewing it up into the sky, we've become a volcano that hasn't stopped erupting since the 1700s."

www.kk.org/...the_most_powerf.php - Preview

technium kevin kelly

"by tapping the [fuels of the] Carboniferous Formation and spewing it up into the sky, we've become a volcano that hasn't stopped erupting since the 1700s."

31 Jul 09

Daring Fireball: Microsoft's Long, Slow Decline

"Car enthusiasts lost interest in GM’s cars long before regular people did; the same is happening with Windows."

daringfireball.net/...microsofts_long_slow_decline - Preview

gruber daringfireball microsoft windows apple vista windows7

Car enthusiasts lost interest in GM’s cars long before regular people did; the same is happening with Windows.
It seems clear that Microsoft’s stance on the Mac’s sales growth
is that there’s nothing wrong with Windows or right with the
Mac, but rather that there’s something wrong with Mac users.
1 more annotations...
- in mobile software, the fastest-growing segment of the computer industry, Microsoft’s platform is both inferior and unpopular. Their plan to address this is to change its name.

Culture Is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew

"if we did not have the good points of the West to guide us, we wouldn't have got out of our backwardness. We would have been a backward economy with a backward society. But we do not want all of the West."

www.fareedzakaria.com/...culture.html - Preview

singapore interview lee_kuan_yew east west

if we did not have the good points of the West to guide us, we wouldn't
have got out of our backwardness. We would have been a backward economy
with a backward society. But we do not want all of the West.

23 Jul 09

Author of Torture Memos Pranked in Classroom | Threat Level | Wired.com

“Actually, professor, I’ve got one question. Uhm, how long can I be required to stand here ’til it counts as torture?”

www.wired.com/...yooprank - Preview

yoo torture prank standing

“Actually, professor, I’ve got one question. Uhm, how long can I be required to stand here ’til it counts as torture?”
“If this is awkward for you, it’s very uncomfortable for me, I can tell you…. I’d love to move but every time I do my balls get buzzed.”
1 more annotations...
- “OK. I’ll just go to the human rights class down the road, professor. I think you probably won’t be teaching there.”

20 Jul 09

FT.com | Tech Blog | App stores are not the future, says Google

"We believe the web has won and over the next several years, the browser, for economic reasons almost, will become the platform that matters"

blogs.ft.com/...are-not-the-future-says-google - Preview

google web mobile appstore

We believe the web has won and over the next several years, the browser, for economic reasons almost, will become the platform that matters

18 Jul 09

Firedoglake » Where David Cameron Is Now, the GOP Wants To Go in 2012

"conservatism is nothing of the sort. All that matters is to be anti-technocratic. Decentralization goes hand in hand with corporatism, in that with no government there is nothing to stop the corporation from taking what it wants"

firedoglake.com/41768 - Preview

conservatism technocracy corporatism anti-technocracy

conservatism is nothing of the sort. All that matters is to be anti-technocratic. Decentralization goes hand in hand with corporatism, in that with no government there is nothing to stop the corporation from taking what it wants
conservatism is nothing of the sort. All that matters is to be anti-technocratic. Decentralization goes hand in hand with corporatism, in that with no government there is nothing to stop the corporation from taking what it wants, and then demanding multi-trillion dollar bailouts on command.