June 2009
66 posts
1 tag
Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity →
From The Onion. I have to be honest. This was news to me.
“Based on the study, we can safely conclude that if an employee’s job is to process expense reports, doing a crossword puzzle will result in the successful completion of that task zero times out of 100, while processing expense reports will result in the successful completion of that task 100 times out of 100,” head...
“It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more...”
– Quote from this video (via)
The Similarities Between Megachurches and... →
Fantastic article/photo essay titled: “Infrastructure for Souls: Tracing the parallel histories of the American megachurch and the corporate-organizational complex.”
I found this absolutely fascinating:
“Successful megachurches are like well-run companies, with intricate corporate structures devised to keep each member personally engaged; their pastors are like chief...
1 tag
Bolivian News airs LOST episode footage, thinking... →
Yes, you read that correctly. In the video at the link above, you can see the character Kate in the lower left corner of the screen.
And logical questions like “If we didn’t find the black box, how did this video footage survive?” and “Why is Kate from that show LOST on a plane that crashed yesterday.” It’s life imitating art…. accidentally, or something.
WatchIt’s Andy Richter and the late great Ed McMahon playing a game of Quarters. I’m not sure what else should be said. Enjoy. (Via)
Networking for the Introvert →
I’m a bit of a sucker for anything with “For The Introvert” in the title. But as a “young professional” (I don’t feel like I can “call” myself “that” and take “it” seriously), I appreciated this article on networking tips when you don’t have the politician-esque “work the room” mentality.
Nothing...
“I haven’t seen Transformers 2: This Shit Is Two And A Half Hours Long? and...”
– The A.V. Club, on Transformers 2. Having said that, I’ll see all of you at the theater tonight. I make zero apologies for that.
Chicago Summer Fun: Booze and Free Concerts
Yes, the winters here in Chicago are hellish, and mind-numbingly cold. But the summers here are pretty packed full of fun things to do downtown. A few:
-Some downloadable Google Calendars showing several of Chicago’s outdoor summer concert series (of which there are many).
-BeerBin- A great site that lets you search Chicago-area bars based on what beer you’re looking for, or what...
1 tag
“The dullest person becomes interesting if you feel that he is really himself,...”
– Arthur Christopher Benson (via)
Wild, Unattached Twenties Spent At Work →
The Onion knocked it out of the park today:
“Nobody tells me what to do or when to do it—other than my bosses, of course,” said Anderton, who recently cancelled his Netflix subscription after letting his first three DVDs sit on his dining-room table unwatched for nine weeks. “The other junior account execs are always complaining about their kids and their wives. Not me....
1 tag
“I’m always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it...”
– Clay Shirky, on the role of social media in Iran right now (via)
“Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Twitter: Not Just For People Anymore →
The whole world is a-Twitter! (Use of tired pun? Check.) Kogi taco trucks in L.A. will tweet their location. The River Thames tweets its water levels to city engineers. “According to Gartner Research, the data being tweeted by sensor-equipped objects in the world will soon become so huge that by 2012, physical sensor data will account for some 20 percent of all non-video Net traffic.”
...
“Yes. Louis C.K., Demetri Martin, and Amy Poehler used to do sketches on our...”
– Conan O’Brien (via)
Spezify.com - the greatest thing to come from... →
until I find something else cooler in about 45 seconds. That’s neither here nor there, though! The internet is about instant gratification, and this site has gratified me, instantly. Spezify is a search engine created for (and presumably) by adults who love collages and also maybe have severe ADHD. The first thing I spezified (it makes a great verb, btw) was Harry Potter, and the resulting...
1 tag
“I disapprove of the F-word, not because it’s dirty, but because we use it as a...”
– Dave Barry
American Harmony →
Cheers to The Indie Handbook for introducing me to the movie I know I’m going to absolutely adore. It’s called American Harmony, and it is a behind the scenes look at the annual Barbershop Harmony Society International Championships. Like so many great documentaries, this one delves into a fairly obscure, but very intense subculture. Quartets and fans alike are not half-hearted about...
Chess Boxing →
Oh yes. You read that right. Chess Boxing. Move over, decathlon.
Here’s how it’s played. 2 contestants sit at a table in the middle of a boxing ring, at a table and they play a round of chess. And then… they box. 6 rounds of chess, and 5 rounds of boxing.
I don’t know how I feel about this. Happy? Sad? Enthralled? Empowered? Slightly hungry?
Well, bottom line. Chess...
Iowa girl wins U.S. Texting Title →
SWEET MOSES. WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD?!
“For the Des Moines, Iowa, teenager, her 14,000 texts-per-month habit reaped its own rewards, landing her the competition prize of $50,000 just eight months after she got her first cell phone.
Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the country over two days of challenges such as texting...
Well, shucks.
Hi folks. Sorry about the lack of material lately- this weekend has been a flurry of packing, moving boxes, repainting and all around manual labor. (Fun was had by all. And by that I mean me. And by fun I mean I’m never moving again even if that means I have to live in a storage unit or something.)
BUT that’s neither here nor there. Regular posts to resume soon. A few things...
“Read a f**king newspaper. Please.”
– The Economist (in an acceptance speech for a Webby award)
Mad Men returns August 16 →
Well, the title pretty much says it all. Season 3 of AMC’s Mad Men returns August 16. I’m curious as to what year this season will pick up in, and what the Draper family will look like. (I don’t want to give too much away for folks that want to get into the show. You have a few months- it would be a great show to catch up on during the summer.)
Never fear, a Season 2 marathon...
"If you like the way I write code, feel free to... →
If you’re like me, you rarely put change in tip jars, because let’s face it: I may be buying a $17 cup of coffee, but I also earn the same amount of money I did as a part-time babysitter in college. And no, Mr. Barista, your disapproving stares aren’t stopping me from putting that nickel right back into my purse. Also, I have no desire to throw 29 cents into a tip jar that says...
1 tag
30 Rock = The Muppet Show? →
Enjoyed this comparison a great deal. A few snippets:
“Each week, our smart yet neurotic lead character has to manage a group of wacky misfits and put on a weekly sketch comedy show. Which show am I talking about? 30 ROCK plays like NBC went to JJ Abrams and told him to reboot THE MUPPET SHOW.”
Liz Lemon vs. Kermit the Frog: “Both are the most normal characters on their...
The Seven Types of Bookstore Customer →
My favorite:
Oprahites: according to reliable contemporary reports, by the 23rd Century Oprah is a religion. If the book was written by a guest on her show, fans want it. If The One True Host actually recommends the book, then booksellers must be prepared to defend themselves (against force) because some folks will be prepared to kill for it. “What do you mean you don’t have it? How can you be...
WatchMark-Paul Gosselar appears on Jimmy Fallon’s show…. as Zack Morris. All 90’s children will get a big kick out of it. His old school cell phone that’s the size of a mid-size Volvo makes an appearance!
What's that? A Facebook fan page for The... →
Why you may ask? Because one social media platform isn’t enough. Sure, I started with Tumblr, and then I gave in, and started Tweeting.
But…. nay. Twas not enough. You can now find The Poptimist on Facebook (aka “the ‘book”). I’ll be posting new, original content over there on the fan page, and you’re welcome to share links, photos, videos and comments of...
1 tag
“E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘writing a novel is like driving a car at night....”
– Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird (Via)
WatchYes, this is after the fact, but definitely confirms that Obama was courting the younger vote. The WAY younger vote. (Via)
2 Gigapixel Photo of the Prague Skyline →
Photographer Jeffrey Martin created a 2 gigapixel panoramic photo of Prague. It’s made from a few hundred shots taken from the Petrin Tower in Prague.
You can zoom in to an incredible degree and see some fantastic parts of the city- really good quality photography and the city is absolutely beautiful. Definitely worth looking at and playing around with for a few minutes.
6 Real Islands Way More Terrifying Than The One On... →
First of all, I don’t know what could be scarier than a time traveling/skipping/whatever island inhabited by the likes of Benjamin Linus, but oh yes…. these islands exists.
For example, Ilha de Queimada Grande. From the article: “In fact, the Brazilian Navy has forbidden anyone to visit the place. Conservative estimates range from the spine tingling one snake per square meter to...
Wadsworth: Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.
Professor Plum: Yes, but now I work for the United Nations.
Wadsworth: So your work has not changed.
-Clue (a truly fantastic movie)
Matthew McConaughey Runs On Beach Shirted, And I... →
An article I had to link to just because of the brilliant title. It’s from the always fantastic Best Week Ever blog. From the blog entry:
“There has always been one constant over the past decade: Constant pics of Matthew McConaughey running on the beach shirtless that we could always point at and go “Of course that’s still happening.”
