everyday observations of regular people

clay fields. [Flickr]

jratlee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:33:09 PST

jratlee posted a photo:

20/25 on first ever trap. [Flickr]

jratlee — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:16:16 PST

jratlee posted a photo:

best $40 ever.

touring the state. [Flickr]

jratlee — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:25:07 PST

jratlee posted a photo:

nj flight @ the 'leaf. counter-clockwise: carton bdg, kane head high ipa, yakima glory, cricket hill imperial stout

Trials and Errors: Why Science Is Failing Us

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:04:10 -0500

Trials and Errors: Why Science Is Failing Us:

Consider a set of classic experiments designed by Belgian psychologist Albert Michotte, first conducted in the 1940s. The research featured a series of short films about a blue ball and a red ball. In the first film, the red ball races across the screen, touches the blue ball, and then stops. The blue ball, meanwhile, begins moving in the same basic direction as the red ball. When Michotte asked people to describe the film, they automatically lapsed into the language of causation. The red ball hit the blue ball, which caused it to move.

This is known as the launching effect, and it’s a universal property of visual perception. Although there was nothing about causation in the two-second film—it was just a montage of animated images—people couldn’t help but tell a story about what had happened. They translated their perceptions into causal beliefs.

"Frictionless sharing isn’t better sharing; it’s the absence of sharing."

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:56:51 -0500

“Frictionless sharing isn’t better sharing; it’s the absence of sharing.”

- The end of social - O’Reilly Radar (via deplorableword)

mike loukides goes on, quoting…wait for it…microsoft:

The other day, I read a perceptive article, “In Defense of Friction,” arguing that “automated trust systems undermine trust by incentivizing cooperation because of the fear of punishment rather than actual trust.” That’s a profound point. If we rely on computational systems for a trust framework, we actually lose our instincts and capacity for personal trust; even more, we cease to care about it. And there’s a big difference between trusting someone and relying on a system that says they’re trustworthy.

it’s a new year so i’m cool with saying that microsoft “gets it” on this one.

A Decade into “Always-On” Internet

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:54:26 -0500

A Decade into “Always-On” Internet:

from christian sandvig discussing the current state of bandwidth in america.

In other words, Comcast has monopoly power in cable television in many markets. It has set its 250 GB/month cap so that it is impossible to buy television over its Internet service (take that, Netflix!) or to use free Internet video services in lieu of cable TV (take that, YouTube!), thus maintaining its monopoly in video. By the way, that is the definition of a violation of antitrust law. Hello, Justice Department?

related, i received this notice on 12/16. then another about two days ago. my phone sits on wi-fi the entire day except, usually, the two hours i’m commuting during a 5-day work week.

looking at my phone statistics (assuming since i’ve owned the iphone 4, not previous versions - but without logging into at&t’s web site, not sure), i’ve sent/received a total of 19.4 GB of data over their cellular network. my girlfriend and i pay, on average, $150/month to have both of our iphone 4 devices supported by at&t’s network. on top of that, another $100/month for verizon to grant us internet access and cable television over their fios network.

it costs me $3,000 a year to stay “always-on.” so, yeah, of course i agree with this shit.

related, this is what one billion dollars looks like. My life...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:00:39 -0500

related, this is what one billion dollars looks like.

My life got no better, same damn ‘Lo sweater
Times is ruff and tuff like leather

“C.R.E.A.M.” - Wu-Tang Clan

"You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to..."

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:01:52 -0500

“You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.”

- Seth Godin (via azspot)
2012.

day19: Ponce de Leon Black If you don’t know...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:40:33 -0500

day19:

Ponce de Leon Black

If you don’t know about http://www.mattutd.com/ you really should take some time and go check it out.

lollerskates.

"To explore the consequences of viewing one’s virtual doppelgänger, we ran a simple experiment using..."

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:50:16 -0500

“

To explore the consequences of viewing one’s virtual doppelgänger, we ran a simple experiment using digitally manipulated photographs (Ahn & Bailenson, 2011). We used imaging software to place participants’ heads on people depicted in billboards using fictitious brands, for example holding up a soft drink with a brand label on it.

After the study, participants expressed better memory as well as a preference for the brand, even though it was obvious their faces had been placed in the advertisement. In other words, even though it was clearly a gimmick, using the digital self to promote a product is effective.

”

- Advertising through avatar-manipulation « Mind Hacks (via slantback)
testing this…soon.

had family over on jan. 2, 2012.

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:29:39 -0500

had family over on jan. 2, 2012.

"Your probability of dying during a given year doubles every 8 years. For me, a 25-year-old American,..."

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:26:32 -0500

“Your probability of dying during a given year doubles every 8 years. For me, a 25-year-old American, the probability of dying during the next year is a fairly miniscule 0.03% — about 1 in 3,000. When I’m 33 it will be about 1 in 1,500, when I’m 42 it will be about 1 in 750, and so on. By the time I reach age 100 (and I do plan on it) the probability of living to 101 will only be about 50%. This is seriously fast growth — my mortality rate is increasing exponentially with age.”

- Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human mortality rates (via deplorableword)
getting over a cold this week.

this clip is just for show, but, i used to obsess over these...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:02:53 -0500

this clip is just for show, but, i used to obsess over these competitions whenever espn had them on air.

nevver: Have you ever wondered which part of the other side of the earth is directly below...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:50:07 -0500

nevver:

Have you ever wondered which part of the other side of the earth is directly below you?

trying to legit zone out.

not usually a filter guy but i’ll make an exception for...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:05:00 -0500

not usually a filter guy but i’ll make an exception for the 2nd amendment.

nevver: What does your cigar say about you?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:37:04 -0500

nevver:

What does your cigar say about you?

peterwknox: perpetua: Wu-Tang Clan“M.E.T.H.O.D. Man”Live on...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:28:17 -0500

peterwknox:

perpetua:

Wu-Tang Clan
“M.E.T.H.O.D. Man”
Live on Yo! MTV Raps, 1993

The audio on this isn’t great, but it’s kinda amazing to watch a young, extremely animated Meth in action.

Rap with some of this and some of that.

auto-wu-re-blog.

"Often, we’re hesitant to identify a problem out of fear we can’t solve it. Knowing that we have to..."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:18:56 -0500

“

Often, we’re hesitant to identify a problem out of fear we can’t solve it. Knowing that we have to live with something that we’re unable to alter gives us a good reason to avoid verbalizing it—highlighting it just makes it worse.

While this sort of denial might be okay for individuals (emphasis on might), it’s a lousy approach for organizations of any size. That’s because there are almost certainly resources available that can solve a problem if you decide it’s truly worth solving.

Put yourself and your people on a path to finding problems without regard for whether or not they are capable of solving them. Queue them up, prioritize them and then go find the help your organization needs to solve them.

Just because you don’t know what to do about it doesn’t make it less of a problem.

”

- Seth’s Blog: Solving problems (vs. identifying them)

best.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:22:22 -0500

best.

rubinrecommends: I’ve been using this AeroPress one cup system...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:56:22 -0500

rubinrecommends:

I’ve been using this AeroPress one cup system for over a year and half now and thanks to this step by step Stumptown tutorial I’m now getting the best cup of coffee out of it that I can. It’s a very inexpensive device that doesn’t take a lot of work to clean and maintain. It comes with a year supply (or more if you reuse them) of filters. Check it out if you’re looking for a simple one cup coffee solution.

Stumptown: How to prepare the perfect AeroPress at home

Things you’ll need/might want: Aeropress ($25)
Kyocera Hand Burr Grinder, Mr Coffee Electric Burr Grinder (I have this and it does the trick), Bodum Burr Grinder.
Bodum Mini Electric Water Kettle and maybe a scale but I think you could skip this and just do a level scoop for the Aeropress.

do this.

"Our two teachers, pain and fear"

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:45:49 -0500

“Our two teachers, pain and fear”

- Magnificent Ruin
this sums up 2012 so far.

quite the pep talk.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:35:48 -0500

quite the pep talk.

kratlee: horseecomics this third panel just kills me. like,...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:29:25 -0500

kratlee:

horseecomics

this third panel just kills me. like, i’ll be going about my day and it’ll pop into my head and these crazy-haired scientists will throw it down with goddamned puns and i’ll just start laughing at nothing. this has been happening for two weeks now and i’m getting tired of explaining that there’s this comic strip based on this twitter feed of an ebook spambot looking for goddamned horses.

“what’s so funny?”

“watts so funny!”

jesus christ.

i’d probably lose my shit at this too.

really dude? [Flickr]

jratlee — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:06:12 PST

jratlee posted a photo:

his 2012 is gonna suck just for that.

really stupid or really smart? cc @baristanet [Flickr]

jratlee — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:23:19 PST

jratlee posted a photo: