As a medium, the internet is defined by a built-in performance incentive. In real life, you can walk around living life and be visible to other people. But you can’t just walk around and be visible on the internet—for anyone to see you, you have to act. (Location 147)
Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino
It’s not just that we happen to be partially oblivious to our body language. In many ways, we seem to prefer it this way. We feel it’s appropriate for people to act spontaneously. When body language becomes a deliberate performance, it seems forced, perhaps even creepy. (Location 1842)
The Elephant in the Brain, Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson
As the 1990s opened, the workstation technology of the previous decade was beginning to look distinctly threatened by newer, low-cost and high-performance personal computers based on the Intel 386 chip and its descendants. For the first time, individual hackers could afford to have home machines comparable in power and storage capacity to the minicomputers of ten years earlier—Unix engines capable of supporting a full development environment and talking to the Internet. (Location 255)
The Cathedral & the Bazaar, Eric S. Raymond
Efficiency is highly overrated; Goofing off is highly underrated. Regularly scheduled sabbaths, sabbaticals, vacations, breaks, aimless walks and time off are essential for top performance of any kind. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic.
The Technium: 103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had Known
You should dress according to the expectations of the audience spoken to. If I am going to give an address at the MIT computer center, I dress with a bolo and an old corduroy jacket or something else. I know enough not to let my clothes, my appearance, my manners get in the way of what I care about. An enormous number of scientists feel they must assert their ego and do their thing their way. They have got to be able to do this, that, or the other thing, and they pay a steady price.
You and Your Research
In my experience, attention can be given to only one of these games at a time since they require different forms of focus.
Choose wisely!
And addressing the errors it causes!
Kaneki: An experience in interaction design
It used to be that people knocked on your door, got no response, and went away. Now they’re effectively waiting in line when you come home.
Each week, I send out something that looks like this. Sign up below if you want in!