Tumbclio

500 Words before 8am

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:40:32 -0600

Clay Johnson:

Starting your day as a producer means that your information consumption has meaning: the rest of the day means consuming information that is relevant to what it is that you’re producing. Waking up as a producer frames the rest of your habits. You’re not mindlessly grazing on everyone’s facebook’s statuses. You’re out getting what it is you need to get in order to produce. Waking up as a producer is procrastination insurance.

Good advice. One reason I joined 750Words was to start a writing habit. I haven’t been very good at that, but really do want to make an effort to get back into it (especially once I’m done with comps).

(via Minimal Mac)

Potential Crisis May Be Brewing in Preservation of E-Journals

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:42:59 -0600

Potential Crisis May Be Brewing in Preservation of E-Journals:

The Digital Shift:

A recently released study of e-journal preservation at Columbia and Cornell universities revealed that only about 15 percent of e-journals are being preserved and that the responsibility for preservation is diffuse at best. Even as electronic materials now account for around 60 percent of collection expenditures (and print dwindles in importance), the report, Preservation Status of e-Resources: A Potential Crisis in Electronic Journal Preservation, questions whether the necessary infrastructure is in place to ensure that this scholarly record remains intact over the long-term.

"The paper describing the double-helix model shape of DNA was not peer reviewed, but that..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:53:52 -0600

“The paper describing the double-helix model shape of DNA was not peer reviewed, but that didn’t make it any less correct.”

- The Future of Science Publishing : We Beasties

E-books Can’t Burn

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:10:26 -0600

E-books Can’t Burn:

Tim Parks:

The e-book, by eliminating all variations in the appearance and weight of the material object we hold in our hand and by discouraging anything but our focus on where we are in the sequence of words (the page once read disappears, the page to come has yet to appear) would seem to bring us closer than the paper book to the essence of the literary experience.

Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:47:03 -0600

Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat:

Mark Hyman:

Yes, gluten is a real problem. But the problem is not just gluten. In fact, there are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.

The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:33:21 -0600

The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom:

Robert McDowell:

On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year’s end.

The False Novelty of Making Reading 'Social'

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:44:48 -0600

The False Novelty of Making Reading 'Social':

Alan Jacobs:

So what is it that sites like Findings and Readmill do? I would say that they enable asynchronous interactive digital commentary. That’s a mouthful; it’s a lot easier to say that they “make reading social.” But easier in this case is definitely not better. All these digital possibilities are turning the old and familiar experience of reading on its head, and the language we have to describe the changes hasn’t even begun to catch up. It needs to start.

A New Kind of Review for a New Kind of Book

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:08:46 -0600

A New Kind of Review for a New Kind of Book:

Carl Zimmer:

Walk into a book store and look at the science section. Most of the books are between about 200 and 400 pages. Most are created by large publishing houses. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong about a 50-page book, of course. It just doesn’t fit comfortably into the publishing business—a business that has to contend with costs for printing books, storing them in warehouses, shipping them to book stores, and accepting returned books. Ebooks create an economic space for the very short book (and the very long one). They also allow authors to reach readers without having to persuade a publisher that their book will earn back an investment.

Google Privacy policies

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:07:10 -0600

Google Privacy policies:

A Gmail user says Google deleted MP3s from his email because of copyright.

Despite Walmart and Starbucks, divided we stand

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:39:21 -0600

Despite Walmart and Starbucks, divided we stand:

Portland Press Herald:

America’s most essential and abiding divisions are not between red states and blue states, conservatives and liberals, capital and labor, blacks and whites, the faithful and the secular. Rather, our divisions stem from this fact: The United States is a federation composed of the whole or part of 11 regional nations, some of which truly do not see eye to eye with one another.

Interesting thesis. I’ve been meaning to read his book (as someone who has done work on regional political culture, it’s right up my alley). It’s on my post-comps list.

Trouble for Elsevier, the Leading Academic Publisher

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:36:45 -0600

Trouble for Elsevier, the Leading Academic Publisher:

On the Media:

Late last month, a Cambridge Mathematician wrote a blog post that launched a massive boycott of the largest publisher of academic journals in the world. The boycott, now more than 6,000 academics strong, has ignited a discussion over the cost of, and access to, information published by academics. Rick Karr reports on rising discontent with the current academic publishing model.

mnmal: The Antikythera Mechanism - made with Legos

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:59:59 -0600

mnmal:

The Antikythera Mechanism - made with Legos

"Lessen your choices and your actions will quicken as well. You will not have to take the time to..."

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:40:15 -0600

““Lessen your choices and your actions will quicken as well. You will not have to take the time to decide which tool to use because there is only one.””

- Patrick Rhone

I.B.M.: Big Data, Bigger Patterns - NYTimes.com

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:51:00 -0600

I.B.M.: Big Data, Bigger Patterns - NYTimes.com:

New York Times:

In the last five years, I.B.M. has spent some $14 billion purchasing analytics companies, in the service of its Big Data initiative. “We look for adjacencies” between one business and another, said Mr. Mills. “If we can’t get an adjacency, we’ll never get a return.”

Curing Diabetes: How Type 2 Became an Accepted Lifestyle

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:12:00 -0600

Curing Diabetes: How Type 2 Became an Accepted Lifestyle:

The Atlantic:

Reframing type 2 diabetes — and the obesity and sedentary lifestyle that most often triggers it — as potentially deadly but almost entirely preventable is a good beginning. Offering factual information to someone diagnosed with diabetes about how to possibly reverse their disease is every bit as important as writing prescriptions for medications and blood glucose test strips. Even those who have to live with type 2, because of their particular metabolic makeup or other contributing factors, can still largely define what living well with diabetes looks like for them.

This is a reason why the paleo/keto lifestyle — not the Food Pyramid lifestyle — is the healthy way to go.

Big Data’s Impact in the World

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:04:25 -0600

Big Data’s Impact in the World:

New York Times:

Welcome to the Age of Big Data. The new megarich of Silicon Valley, first at Google and now Facebook, are masters at harnessing the data of the Web — online searches, posts and messages — with Internet advertising. At the World Economic Forum last month in Davos, Switzerland, Big Data was a marquee topic. A report by the forum, “Big Data, Big Impact,” declared data a new class of economic asset, like currency or gold.

Iran begins blocking access to Gmail, other sites - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:27:13 -0600

Iran begins blocking access to Gmail, other sites - BlogPost - The Washington Post:

Washington Post:

When Thomas Erdbrink, The Washington Post’s correspondent in Tehran, logs on to the Internet in Iran, he never knows whether Gmail and Google Reader, The Post or Facebook will open for him. Increasingly, this is the error message he sees instead of the page he was trying to reach:

coffeenotes: coffee by zsoltKudar on Flickr.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:50:43 -0600

coffeenotes:

coffee by zsoltKudar on Flickr.

“Until scholars really believe that publishing on the web...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:06:00 -0600

“Until scholars really believe that publishing on the web is as valuable as publishing in print — and more importantly, until they believe that their institutions believe it, too — few will be willing to risk their careers on a new way of working, with the result that that new way of working will remain marginal and undervalued.”

Truth.

(From Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Planned Obsolescence).

Happiness Takes (A Little) Magic

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:32:45 -0600

Happiness Takes (A Little) Magic:

Brian Lam:

I also stopped reading twitter and facebook regularly, because most of my online acquaintances are nice, but I like to think about these experiences as shallow and yes, also I don’t give a shit about 99% of people I interact with online. I’ve met some great friends online, but once I find them I would prefer to spend that time and energy with the few I would do anything for. Also, clicking the like button 1 billion times will never give you an orgasm or a hug or a high five.

All this has freed up about 3 hours a day for me.

I engage pretty regularly with Twitter and Tumblr because I get value out of them, in terms of connections or information. Everything else (Facebook, Google+, etc) gets little traffic from me.