"People used the Gaussian copula model to convince themselves they didn't have any risk at all, when in fact they just didn't have any risk 99 percent of the time. The other 1 percent of the time they blew up. Those explosions may have been rare, but they could destroy all previous gains, and then some."
"Under the close supervision of rabbis, who are there to ensure that no squid, shellfish, or other nonkosher species remain in the nets, billions of fish are sucked through a pipe to onshore processing plants. There, the anchoveta are heated to 85 degrees Celsius, ground with an auger, and pulverized with a hydraulic screw to extract the oil."
Gale force winds applied directly to people’s faces. (via @itscolossal)
An excellent, must-read treatise by Stijn Debrouwere about how journalism is slowly being replaced by other services which perform journalistic duties (inform, entertain, etc.) without being journalistic entities unto themselves. Examples include Netflix reviews, Quora Q&A threads, and the like:
There are organizations and websites everywhere that are taking over newspapers’ role as tastemaker and watchdog and forum. These disruptors don’t replace investigative reporting, but they replace the other 95% of what made professional news organizations important.
Fascinating article about how memories work and how we are very close to being able to biologically destroy them.
“Memory comes with a natural updating mechanism, which is how we make sure that the information taking up valuable space inside our head is still useful. That might make our memories less accurate, but it probably also makes them more relevant to the future.”
This is the best article about the Huffington Post that’s ever been written. If you care at all about business or the news industry, it’s an absolute must read. Whether you love or hate HuffPo, the story of how they rose to prominence is fascinating and instructive. When you’re done, also make sure to check out this 1983 New York Magazine article about Arianna (then) Stassinopoulos.
The “worst” baseball cards in history… which of course means they’re the best. The Bill Pecota one is particularly great. Thanks Fleer! (via @gruber)
Using OpenStreetMap data, Stamen Design has taken map design to a new level. I love these. Goodbye Google Maps? (via jasonsantamaria)
A fascinating story about the Samwer brothers and their lucrative-but-icky-feeling business model: identify American internet companies right after they become successful in America and then clone them internationally, to great financial success.
In today’s episode of Our Stadium is Better than Your Stadium… play this full-screen with the volume cranked.
Children’s Classics as Minimalist Posters: These are amazing. I particularly like the Princess and the Pea poster.
This is a really great post; one of the clearest, most concise, and personally important ones I’ve read in a long time. It’s important to understand that the reason most people consume news is in order to entertain themselves. This isn’t the aspirational reason… it’s just the true reason, in most cases. If you can get your news consumption refined to the point where you are staying amply-informed without being overwhelmed, you stand to be a lot more productive.
NFL Logos Redrawn with Manningface. This is fantastic.
Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think.Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. Not learning other people’s ideas, or memorizing a body of information…
Takes a little while to get going, but overall a great article about the virtues of seeking solitude from distractions in order to develop your own original thoughts.
“I think you’ve got a pretty good imagination, despicability-wise!”
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