I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows

thebluthcompany: Previously on Arrested Development | NPR’s...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:55:59 +0800

Previously on Arrested Development | NPR’s guide to the running gags from the show

This is dedication.

This is also how comedy can be structured.

Pitchfork Cover Story - Daft Punk - Machines for Life

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:33:21 +0800

Pitchfork Cover Story - Daft Punk - Machines for Life:

After 20 years, the world has finally caught up with Daft Punk, so the helmet-clad retro-futurists are embarking on a new mission: to make music breathe again

There are cover stories and then there are cover stories.

G R I M E S: I don't want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:11:45 +0800

G R I M E S: I don't want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living :

actuallygrimes:

i dont want my words to be taken out of context

i dont want to be infantilized because i refuse to be sexualized

i dont want to be molested at shows or on the street by people who perceive me as an object that exists for their personal satisfaction

i dont want to live in a world where…

"We have all these books, records, and art and are getting it all assessed; that’s what is taking so..."

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:50:00 +0800

““We have all these books, records, and art and are getting it all assessed; that’s what is taking so long,” she says after ordering a glass of rosé. But both have moved on. Among her suitors are a restaurateur, an architect, and an actor. “It’s just weird,” Gordon says of navigating new romance. “I can’t tell what’s normal.” And Moore has regularly been seen with the same woman, fueling the rumor that his affair helped doom their marriage. “We seemed to have a normal relationship inside of a crazy world,” Gordon says of her marriage. “And in fact, it ended in a kind of normal way—midlife crisis, starstruck woman.””

- Kim Gordon Sounds Off

"Jennifer Paige was a good sport about the entire thing, concluding that this “must be some..."

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:54:23 +0800

“Jennifer Paige was a good sport about the entire thing, concluding that this “must be some creative genius trying to stump the world on this one. I wish Jai Paul tons of success with his new (non-release) release.””

- Jennifer Paige on Jai Paul’s (non-release) cover of Crush.

Terrific track from both the JPs.

"Your job as the product manager is to make assurances on behalf of your team. Leadership means..."

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:54:11 +0800

“Your job as the product manager is to make assurances on behalf of your team. Leadership means setting the bar high and challenging everyone to teleport over it. Show your ambition by committing to project schedules without consulting your team. Being held accountable to somebody else’s promises builds character and brings out the best in people.”

- Kenneth Norton in the hilarious essay How to Work With Software Engineers

therumpus: Classic Literature, Reimagined For The Smartphone...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:42:42 +0800

therumpus:

Classic Literature, Reimagined For The Smartphone Era - The Instagram Of Dorian Gray

wired: Slow ride. Take it easy. [via PopSci]

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 10:48:17 +0800

wired:

Slow ride. Take it easy.

[via PopSci]

NPR: 'Lean In': Not Much Of A Manifesto, But Still A Win For Women

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:00:33 +0800

NPR: 'Lean In': Not Much Of A Manifesto, But Still A Win For Women:

The whole catty and repetitive debate over Sheryl Sandberg’s book and message helped me realise to two things - why books like that are still needed, and why women are taking ages to achieve gender equality in corporate leadership.

As summarised by the NPR piece,

Lean In, which Sandberg describes as “sort of a feminist manifesto,” has been slammed by Maureen Dowd, Jodi Kantor, Judith Shulevitz and others for its elitism, for being hard on women and soft on institutional sexism and for making an unfair exemplar of the 43-year-old Sandberg’s own Amazonian accomplishments.

Maureen Dowd’s NYT piece even makes several transparent attempts at undermining Sandberg’s goals with alliterations,

Now that she has domesticated the Facebook frat house, Sandberg wants to be “the pompom girl for feminism,” as she calls it. She has a grandiose plan to become the PowerPoint Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots reigniting the women’s revolution — Betty Friedan for the digital age. She wants women to stop limiting and sabotaging themselves.

And an admittedly hilarious comparison to Rosa Parks,

Sandberg has been recruiting corporations to join her Lean In Foundation, which will create the Lean In Community and Lean In Circles, which are, as The Times’s Jodi Kantor wrote, like “consciousness-raising groups of yore.” The circles will entail 8 to 12 peers who will meet monthly and use “education modules” to learn the skills to pursue equality. (Like how Rosa Parks used bus modules.) The debut assignment is a video on how to command more authority by altering how you speak and sit.

However, Dowd does make a keen observation on what is perhaps the key reason for the flood of sarcasm and outrage at Sandberg,

Sandberg may mean well, and she may be setting up a run for national office. But she doesn’t understand the difference between a social movement and a social network marketing campaign. Just because digital technology makes connecting possible doesn’t mean you’re actually reaching people.

People come to a social movement from the bottom up, not the top down. Sandberg has co-opted the vocabulary and romance of a social movement not to sell a cause, but herself.

She says she’s using marketing for the purpose of social idealism. But she’s actually using social idealism for the purpose of marketing.

All very valid points.

However, does concern that Sandberg is exploiting a cause to further her own interests justify the overzealous put-downs and jibes? Yes the topic is relevant to all women, and I’m guessing that naturally, female journalists were riled by Sandberg’s tone and seemingly top-down approach.

In the midst of all the divisive opinions, isn’t it ironic that women spend more time arguing with each other on details, rather than teaming up to influence the very people who will play a large role in helping us achieve the equality we desire - i.e. the men?

It’s the working adult’s version of what Ms. Norbury advised against in Mean Girls,

Well, I don’t know who wrote this book, but you all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it ok for guys to call you sluts and whores.

We want the same thing - gender equality in the workplace, with increased female leadership.

Women bashing on women isn’t going to get us there.

NYT: Boy Scouts Sends Questionnaire to Members About Ban on Gays

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:10:03 +0800

NYT: Boy Scouts Sends Questionnaire to Members About Ban on Gays:

Well, at least they are surveying the entire population and are not making claims based on “the majority (based off our small survey sample collected years ago)”.

It is hopefully a survey to gauge the implications of a decision that the association is already planning to take, because basing decision-making wholly on a survey is….not the way good decisions are made.

The scenario-based question approach appears to be highly appropriate for the nature of the survey.

Predictive Power of Facebook Likes

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:50:21 +0800

Predictive Power of Facebook Likes:

Researchers have found that your Facebook likes reflect your private traits and attributes. It’s a perfectly sensible hypothesis. However, the findings surprised with the strength of the predictions, and the wealth of bizarre Likes that were found to be the most predictive.

For example, the best predictors of high intelligence include “Thunderstorms,” “The Colbert Report,” “Science,” and “Curly Fries,” whereas low intelligence was indicated by “Sephora,” “I Love Being A Mom,” “Harley Davidson,” and “Lady Antebellum.” Good predictors of male homosexuality included “No H8 Campaign,” “Mac Cosmetics,” and “Wicked The Musical,” whereas strong predictors of male heterosexuality included “Wu-Tang Clan,” “Shaq,” and “Being Confused After Waking Up From Naps.” Although some of the Likes clearly relate to their predicted attribute, as in the case of No H8 Campaign and homosexuality, other pairs are more elusive; there is no obvious connection between Curly Fries and high intelligence.

Wait, there’s more. Here’s a more detailed table breaking down the highly predictive Likes for each dichotomy.

Friends - Many:

The Dollar You Are Holding Could’ve Been In A Stripper’s Butt Crack

Friends - Few:

Walking With Your Friend & Randomly Pushing Them Into Someone/Something

Ok….

Homosexual Female:

Sometimes I Just Lay In Bed And Think About Life

Heterosexual Female:

Did You Get A Haircut No It Grew Shorter

Who would have expected that the plethora of dumb Facebook pages could actually serve a purpose - helping people better understand each other.

Entertainment - Phoenix Watch all the Korean entertainment...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:28:16 +0800

Entertainment - Phoenix

Watch all the Korean entertainment you’ll ever need, all at once.

South parallels the North, because really, how different are bombastic concerts from outrageous military parades?

Quite an inexplicable video from the French band that is clever on so many different levels. Someone ought to do a critical analysis on this.

Reading the dumbfounded reactions from the West is entertainment enough.

The Fall - Rhye I’ve been listing to Rhye’s album,...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:04:04 +0800

The Fall - Rhye

I’ve been listing to Rhye’s album, Woman, and it is for the most part, excellent. It is sensitive but not cloying, minimalist but not lacking, universal but not presumptive.

Well worth a listen.

Photo

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:39:01 +0800

love-portlandia: Portlandia season 3 episode 9

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:48:16 +0800

love-portlandia:

Portlandia season 3 episode 9

San Francisco - Foxygen Young people doing their own old...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:03:17 +0800

San Francisco - Foxygen

Young people doing their own old jams.

“I left my love in San Francisco / That’s okay, I was born in L.A.”

E-Readers Track How We Read, But Is The Data Useful To Authors?

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:01:14 +0800

E-Readers Track How We Read, But Is The Data Useful To Authors?:

In games, we use data to understand player behaviour and make tweaks to improve their experience. It’s a continuous process that is commonly accepted as an industry best practice.

Why then is it so unthinkable that our reading experiences may be optimized in a similar way?

Full of Fire - The Knife A short film directed by feminist porn...

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:04:37 +0800

Full of Fire - The Knife

A short film directed by feminist porn creator Marit Östberg.

Themes from the fringes of society meld seamlessly with everyday life.

Deeply unsettling.

But, it sounds good.

Sophie Schmidt in North Korea

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:18:52 +0800

Sophie Schmidt in North Korea:

“I want to go to there.”

(site layout needs work -_- )

Katachi - Shugo Tokumaru Extreme stop motion for Katachi. One of...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:59:28 +0800

Katachi - Shugo Tokumaru

Extreme stop motion for Katachi. One of the many excellent tracks from Tokumaru’s new album, In Focus?.