Q&A with Khoi Vinh at the New York Times
“We draw inspiration from what’s happening in digital media at large, regardless of whether or not a news organization is explicitly involved, and often regardless of whether a given digital product deals in the news at all. That means that sites of miscellaneous classification like YouTube, Wikipedia, Craigslist and Facebook — and countless others, many of which might have only recently emerged from their founders’ garages — are of as much interest to us as top-shelf competitors like The Guardian and our other peers.”
Do you focus on bad luck?
“Remember that whatever you pay attention to grows in your mind. If you focus on what’s going wrong in your life—especially if you see it as ‘bad luck’ you can do nothing about—it will seem blacker and more malevolent. In a short time, you’ll become so convinced that everything is against you that you’ll notice more and more instances where this appears to be true. As a result, you will almost certainly stop trying, convinced that nothing you can do will improve your prospects.”
You weren't meant to have a boss
“Another thing you notice when you see animals in the wild is that each species thrives in groups of a certain size. A herd of impalas might have 100 adults; baboons maybe 20; lions rarely 10. Humans also seem designed to work in groups, and what I’ve read about hunter-gatherers accords with research on organizations and my own experience to suggest roughly what the ideal size is: groups of 8 work well; by 20 they’re getting hard to manage; and a group of 50 is really unwieldy.” [tx Sean]
Is Apple creating some kind of a virtual world environment?
“[One of Apple’s latest patents] would clearly indicate that there’s a store front involved here in order for a user to know that it’s a sunny day in the fall in this virtual world. Something a little outside of the box I’d say and definitely far beyond anything known by any of us shopping at the Apple Store today.”
Making long-distance work partnerships succeed
“Technology makes it possible to run a business from practically anywhere on the planet. But what if your business partner lives in a different city or a different time zone? How do long-distance partners make it work? The answer appears to be with lots of planning and smart use of technology. And even in the best long-distance arrangements, an old-fashioned in-person meeting now and then seems to reignite the spark.”
Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch
“Emmy-nominated series Deadliest Catch returns for a third season of daring adventures on the high seas. Viewers once again voyage to the Bering Sea and follow the brave captains and crew of eight crab-fishing vessels as they struggle against the treacherous weather conditions doing one of the deadliest — and most lucrative — jobs in the world.”
Timeframe date picker
“Click-draggable. Range-makeable. A better calendar…I’m just sick of multiple date pickers on the same page.”
Scott Raymond nails the recent Twitter flap in the blogosphere
“Twitter must be really grateful for the goldmine of free technical and business advice they’ve gotten in the last 24 hours.”