March 31, 2008
Paul Graham has an extremely minimalist site that I kind of dig. Lots of content in a really short amount of space on the left.
He also has a neat essay titled “You Weren’t Meant to Have a Boss,” describing the dangers of programmers working at a large company.
March 23, 2008
The Boston Globe recently published an interesting article on the benefits of boredom as a prelude to creativity and introspection.
Boredom’s doldrums were unavoidable, yet also a primordial soup for some of life’s most quintessentially human moments. Jostled by a stranger’s cart in the express checkout line, thoughts of a loved one might come to mind. A long drive home after a frustrating day could force ruminations. A pang of homesickness at the start of a plane ride might put a journey in perspective…
Paradoxically, as cures for boredom have proliferated, people do not seem to feel less bored; they simply flee it with more energy, flitting from one activity to the next. Ralley has noticed a kind of placid look among his students over the past few years, a “laptop culture” that he finds perplexing. They have more channels to be social; there are always things to do. And yet people seem oddly numb. They are not quite bored, but not really interested either.
More at the article: The Joy of Boredom.
And on that note, I plan to finish a few more e-mails and then go finish reading War and Peace.
November 24, 2007
Today’s Globe has an update on the seemingly endless reconstruction at Kenmore Square in Boston. Delays are blamed on the Red Sox and unplanned utility lines:
Problems had started almost immediately. When contractors began work, they ran into scores of undocumented utility lines that had to be moved or worked around, which delayed work, said Charlie O’Reilly, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for design and construction.
MBTA officials also didn’t take into account the complications that come with having a winning baseball team; the work zones were flooded with people well into October. “They had the good fortune to get into the playoffs,” O’Reilly said. “When the Red Sox are home, we’re inhibited with what we can do.”
September 25, 2007
Before I go to bed I’d like to showcase these clever Lego advertisements, which manage to encapsulate everything a child should love about Legos.
Found via Metafilter, which linked to FFFound, which linked to AdGoodness.
