May 2012
The $144,146,165 Button
unwieldy:
The average New York City taxi cab driver makes $90,747 in revenue per year. There are roughly 13,267 cabs in the city. In 2007, NYC forced cab drivers to begin taking credit cards, which involved installing a touch screen system for payment.
During payment, the user is presented with three default buttons for tipping: 20%, 25%, and 30%. When cabs were cash only, the average tip was...
April 2012
“Each ad skipped costs the viewer $.10, which is automatically deducted from...”
– New SkipIt Service Asks: “Would You Pay to Avoid Online Video Ads?”
I applaud SpotXchange for trying to come up with creative solutions for preroll. But they are solving for the wrong problem here. As is anyone jumping into the “skip this preroll” game.
We should be figuring out how to make...
March 2012
Health Care Mandate Thought.
spiegelman:
If Congress has the power to force people to buy insurance, then doesn’t Congress also have the power to force people to invest in Goldman Sachs?
The rationale would be the same. More people buying into the insurance pool results in economic benefits for everyone, and Goldman is too big to fail so preventing it’s failure results in economic benefits for everyone.
I don’t like the...
Knight News Challenge: Alive.in/ Video Journalism... →
newschallenge:
1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]
Develop alive.in/ as a social network for content from international video journalists, using our mobile app, and youtube directly.
2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]
GlobalVoices is…
“Frankly, the professional experience I have had with TSA has frightened me....”
– gmancasefile: TSA: Fail (via auerbach)
Caroline McCarthy: A Response to Julia Allison's... →
katespencer:
[Warning: TLDR]
Tonight on Twitter I stumbled upon Julia Allison’s NY Post op-ed titled “A warning to a new generation of women — don’t let ‘Sex and the City’ ruin your life.” (Co-written with her friend Julia Price.) At first I was like “huh,” and then I skimmed it and was…
Want To Make An Android Phone? That'll Be $15 To... →
parislemon:
This is where things start to get really interesting. Reports Ian Sherr for Dow Jones Newswire:
The consumer-electronics company [Apple] has put forth proposals to Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. to settle some pending litigation in exchange for royalty payments to license its patents, among other terms, these people said.
But:
Apple isn’t attempting...
The "Inflected Right"
wiesen:
You know how, like, pretty much everyone, like makes fun of teenage girls for like, always talking like this?
Have you noticed that people in tech do almost the exact same thing, but with a different linguistic crutch? Consider the following made-up exchange:
A: So you know, right, there’s no way that Google can catch us. They just don’t get product, right?
B: Yep! Think about Google...
My thoughts today are with the Russians, the...
Shit Mitt Loves →
spiegelman:
This is funny.
Amazing.
February 2012
“After we sat down, we asked the waitress for a coffee. She thanked us for our...”
– Note from Athens: Feeling on the ground has palpably changed « Euro Area Debt Crisis by Megan Greene
I realize that the conventional Wisdom is that the Greek welfare state is dooming them. But that isn’t really true. The loose of economic output from the insane regulatory processes combined...
I'm staying at the Ace in New York. They have...
“The question, “If I were President I’d…” implies that if you swap out one...”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson New York, August 21, 2011
(quote from Hayden Planetarium Blog, the unedited version of a quote given to the New York Times as part of a series they did called, “If I Were President, I’d…”)
Smartest man in the room.
(via helms-deep)
“We cannot wash our hands of this.”
– The Pakistani Ambassador speaking at the Security Council, saying that the draft resolution veto doesn’t release the international community of its continued obligation. (via thepoliticalnotebook)
AMA with George Pelecanos, a writer and producer... →
maxistentialist:
George Pelecanos:
We worked it out together in the writers room. A lot of discussion and sometimes arguments. When it got heated, it came from a place of passion, and I think it was reflected in the final product. Yes, often times I had to fight for what I thought was right in a script. And sometimes David stood firm and saved me from my own worst instincts. I was given the...
January 2012
“Based on data from hundreds of programs, policy analyst John D. Graham and his...”
– How Much Is an Astronaut’s Life Worth? - Reason Magazine (via zachrose)
Fascinating, although I don’t think “lives saved” is necessarily the correct metric for environmental regulation.
sparkyinfla asked: I just read that you're leaving Blip at the same time millions are being raised for the company. What gives? Are you starting something new? Thanks. (re: story on venturebeat)
“We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What...”
– Tim Cook responding to the NYT piece about awful working conditions in Chinese factories where many Apple products are assembled.
It’s not a response to the press, it’s a response to the Apple team, which Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac was able to get ahold of.
It’s a good response, and the right one....
