While You Were Sleeping

My father noticed that his grandson is sometimes distracted when...

werdigier — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:51:45 +0100

My father noticed that his grandson is sometimes distracted when I read him a book. He loves being read to but sometimes just looks away or stares into the distance. I never notice that he does this because I sit behind him. Today my father asked me what I think Samuel is thinking about when he stares like that. After giving it some thought, we concluded that he must be dreaming about a huge field of dummies that he would harvest with a big tractor. And my father made a drawing.

— From London.

reasonsmysoniscrying: “The cable modem stopped...

rascouet — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:10:22 +0100

reasonsmysoniscrying:

“The cable modem stopped flashing.”
Submitted By: Marcey R.
Location: Oregon, United States

Jason pitched a two-hour fit the other day for the exact same reason.

— From NYC.

James Cheshire, a lecturer at the UCL Centre for Advanced...

werdigier — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:15:52 +0100

James Cheshire, a lecturer at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, created this fire engine callouts map. It shows 144,000 calls to fire brigades across London between January and September 2011.

— From London.

Really quite excited. Even more so after this. — From NYC,...

rascouet — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:25:00 +0100

Really quite excited. Even more so after this.

— From NYC, riding happily.

"A meritocracy is a system in which the people who are the luckiest in their health and genetic..."

rascouet — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:52:00 +0100

“A meritocracy is a system in which the people who are the luckiest in their health and...

maximumyuks: Ughghghghgh. Guys I was so excited about BLURRED...

rascouet — Thu, 30 May 2013 16:49:00 +0100

maximumyuks:

Ughghghghgh. Guys I was so excited about BLURRED LINES!! I thought it was the SONG OF THE SUMMER! And then I saw the video and read the lyrics and was like “wait is this SO OFFENSIVE?!?!?!?!?”

UGH!!!!!!! I don’t know what to do. At least Pharrell’s part is fine??

I don’t know what’s worse about this. It certainly doesn’t help that none of the female models hired for this video know how to dance. Yikes.

You kids do what you want. This summer, I’m sticking to Get Lucky.

— From NYC.

My old class from my Volkschule, the school you go to in Austria...

werdigier — Thu, 30 May 2013 10:58:44 +0100

My old class from my Volkschule, the school you go to in Austria when you are between 6 and 10 years old, suddenly came back to life and has been organizing a string of reunions. I kept a low profile and have been reading the email exchanges between people I barely remember from a safe distance in London. Yesterday, one of my old classmates sent some photos from the old days. Nothing looked familiar. Just a few kids playing the flute or reading books or standing around in a garden. But then there was one of myself, dated spring 1987. I was 10 years old and looking at it now, all I can think is how happy and blessed I was and how oblivious to everything going on around me in the big wide world.

— From London.

"There was no more forceful intellectual voice in support of the Iraq War than Christopher Hitchens...."

rascouet — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:01:47 +0100

“There was no more forceful intellectual voice in support of the Iraq War than Christopher...

"Actually, it’s pronounced ‘pedant.’"

rascouet — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:22:41 +0100

“Actually, it’s pronounced ‘pedant.’” - Avery Edison (@aedison) December 6, 2009 —...

We are finally here. The trip was fun, if exhausting (we caught...

rascouet — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:54:07 +0100

We are finally here. The trip was fun, if exhausting (we caught the red eye, otherwise known as “the grown up flight,” yet I ended up with toddler on my lap for most of it; on the other side of the aisle, Jason was dealing with the cat crying and violently scratching her crate).

We passed out for a good couple of hours soon after arriving at our new home, then walked along the Navy Yard all the way to DUMBO, where Jason will be working. We walked back, had dinner, passed out again.

Today was spent dealing with a minor crisis (the technician from Time Warner Cable hit a water pipe whilst drilling for our internet connection to come through the wall) and sorting various administrative things. In the midst of it all, we took a minute to look outside our bedroom window. Half-hidden by trees and Brooklyn roofs, there it was, tall and proud, just waiting to be noticed.

— From NYC.

coketalk: coverjunkie: Libertine (UK) There’s a new mag in...

rascouet — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:01:46 +0100

coketalk:

coverjunkie:

Libertine (UK)

There’s a new mag in town. Libertine Magazine: “For Interested Women”

Founder and editor Debbi Evans explains:

“to redefine the ‘women’s interest’ category. In addition to luxury lifestyle content we cover tech, science and business, and celebrate high achieving maverick women for the contents of their brains, not their beds. There is no fashion or beauty content in issue 1, unless you count a piece on the semiotics of handbags. There’s nothing like it, and we’re really excited (and relieved!) to have finally got it out there.”

I love everything about this.

Here comes the female Monocle. I love the idea, but I have such aversion for that pretentious magazine I’ll have to see what this one’s made of. Nice choice of name, though.

— From SF.

They’ve still got it. — From SF.

rascouet — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:36:39 +0100

They’ve still got it.

— From SF.

It only took me three years to get an acceptable shot of this...

rascouet — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:50:35 +0100

It only took me three years to get an acceptable shot of this sign (and to make it to Top of the Mark).

— From SF.

thenewrepublic: The Grumpy Grammarian: Freedom From, Freedom To...

rascouet — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:56:12 +0100

thenewrepublic:

The Grumpy Grammarian: Freedom From, Freedom To by John McWhorter

For someone who is in the constant process of learning this language, little posts like these are gems. I shall now dangle my prepositions without shame.

— From SF.

Same-sex marriage and adoption for same-sex couples are now the...

rascouet — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:28:03 +0100

Same-sex marriage and adoption for same-sex couples are now the law of the land in France, a day after the Constitutional Court, seized by the “antis” to examine a piece of legislation they deemed “unconstitutional,” validated it in its entirety.

President François Hollande gave it his executive seal of approval, and the full text was published this morning in the “Journal Officiel,” establishing its promulgation.

The very first gay wedding will be celebrated in Montpellier on May 29th. Congratulations to the grooms, Vincent and Bruno.

Next step: legalising artificial insemination for lesbian couples, as it is only open to straight couples with diagnosed infertility. Surrogacy is still illegal for everyone.

— From SF.

ucresearch: Jane Austen, Game Theorist Although whiffs of game...

rascouet — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:11:51 +0100

ucresearch:

Jane Austen, Game Theorist

Although whiffs of game theory have been discerned in writings as old as Plato, its conventional history begins with the 1944 publication of von Neumann’s seminal “Theory of Games and Economic Behavior.” The techniques gained prominence as a means of anticipating attacks and counterattacks among superpowers during the Cold War, and they played a role in determining the quantity and positioning of U.S. nuclear warheads.

“Austen’s novels are game theory textbooks. She’s trying to get readers to use their higher thinking skills and to think strategically.”

In many cases, by making tough choices and predicting how others will respond, Austen’s young (often financially deprived) heroines triumph over seemingly stronger forces, including well-to-do men and older women of higher status, he argues. In so doing, they find happiness and — just as importantly in an era with limited employment and inheritance possibilities for women — financial security.

“They build a theory of strategic thinking, not to better chase a Soviet submarine, but to survive.”

Read the first chapter →

— From SF.

she-works: TMS, Columbus, GA We want to hear from women: What’s...

rascouet — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:34:04 +0100

she-works: TMS, Columbus, GA

We want to hear from women: What’s your note to self – a piece of advice that’s helped you at work? Share your advice at http://she-works.tumblr.com

— From SF.

The insanity of the Bay Area real estate market, made even more...

rascouet — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:56:00 +0100

The insanity of the Bay Area real estate market, made even more painfully obvious by the fact that some are willing to pay cash to secure their homes within hours of properties being advertised.

— Thanks to Charles-Eric, from SF.

Bulle, Burbuja, Bolha: Ain't No One Gonna Tell Me There's No Bubble In SF

rascouet — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:18:19 +0100

By now, most of you know Jason and I are moving to New York City at the end of May. There are many,...

Edvard and May-Britt Moser, a couple of neuroscientists who...

rascouet — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:17:00 +0100

Edvard and May-Britt Moser, a couple of neuroscientists who discovered the brain cells that allow us and all other animals to locate ourselves and map things out, whether it’s to find the sock drawer or the corner shop, were profiled today in the New York Times. They are also contributing authors of the scientific publication I work for, Annual Reviews.

So I did a search on their profiles and this is what I came upon: while Edvard has an individual photograph directly linked to his Wikipedia profile, May-Britt’s shows up un-illustrated, and accompanied by a host of related searches that include Edvard’s portrait followed by those of a bunch of other white dudes.

I thought maybe there weren’t many photos of May-Britt available. A Google image search quickly disproved that theory.

In conclusion: Edvard stands on his own. May-Britt? Well, she’s pretty great, too. You know. For someone’s wife. Or someone’s student. Or someone’s colleague. Or maybe, possibly, someone’s professor.

— From SF.