Archive for January, 2008

Romania Mangamania

Cory Doctorow — he of BoingBoing, Craphound, and several excellent scifi novels — has a terrific column in Forbes about the extraordinary remix culture of manga fans in Romania. His piece does a nice job of describing how fan fiction can keep a medium vital. And he delivers several delicious quotes about the role of […]


Mini-saga of the day

Well, thanks to the post below, lots of mini-sagas have been filling our inboxes here at the Pink Tank. (Remember, class: It’s exactly 50 words — not around 50 words.) My favorite so far comes from a reader who (perhaps understandably) didn’t want me to use his or her name. Trans-Portation When he first glanced […]


Mega-mini-sagas

In AWNM, I wrote about mini-sagas — ultra-short stories that are exactly 50 words long. Readers often send me mini-sagas they’ve written. And one of the most prolific and compelling contributors has been Chris M., who runs a blog for people who belong to Narcotics Anonymous (though the site itself is not connected to the […]


A Julliard for programmers?

Software guru Joel Spolsky says universities are cranking out too many computer science grads who’ve mastered abstract theory and routine coding — but nothing in between. And he’s proposed an intriguing remedy: “I think the solution would be to create a programming-intensive BFA in Software Development — a Julliard for programmers.” In other words, maybe […]


No laughing matter. (Actually, it is.)

Today is Global Belly Laugh Day. Repeat after me: Ho-ho-ha-ha-ha.


Transaction costs factoid(s) of the day

— “Over a lifetime, the average full-time, unbanked worker will spend more than $40,000 just to turn his or her salary into cash.” — “[T]he number of check cashers, payday lenders and pawnshops is more than double the number of McDonald’s franchises in the United States.” (Source: WSJ op-ed, 1/24/08) Permalink


Book recommendation

Finally got a chance to read Garr Reynolds’s new book, Presentation Zen. It’s very good. I ended up changing a bunch of my own presentation slides based on its recommendations. Even better, Garr encourages presenters to ask themselves two questions — questions that, imho, most never consider: 1. What’s your point? 2. Why does it […]


Rice, rice, baby

Daddytypes reports on a new-fangled birth announcement out of Japan: “[A] rice shop in the southwestern Japanese city of Kita-Kyushu will send out a customized dakigokochi, a roughly baby-shaped bag of high-grade rice to everyone on your birth announcement list. The bag will be printed with the kid’s picture, stats, and a greeting–and it will […]


Career choice reevaluation factoid of the day

In David Wessel’s column in today’s WSJ, he cites research by Harvard economists Larry Katz and Claudia Goldin that followed the fortunes of 6,500 Harvard graduates between 1969 and 1992. “Comparing graduates with similar SAT scores, grade-point averages, gender, age, occupation, and everything else they can measure, Mr. Katz and Ms. Goldin find Harvard grads […]


A bright (and green) idea

Earlier this month, the London government offered its first lightbulb amnesty program. Citizens could bring in one or two of their current, CO2-creating bulbs to a home improvement store — and receive an energy-saving bulb for free. Prediction: Some time before Election Day, at least one big city U.S. mayor will do the same. Permalink

Should you quit your job?

Sign up to get Dan's favorite career advice:

  • When to quit your job
  • The best time of day to exercise
  • A nifty trick for dealing with JERKS at work