The Brian Hayes

"Back on the ship this evening: I was trading stories with students. I talked with Vin Hayes, a..."

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:33:57 -0400

“

Back on the ship this evening: I was trading stories with students. I talked with Vin Hayes, a University of Delaware student; his friend Alex Malvezzi, who attends Quinnipiac University; and Scott, who had caught my eye during dinner (I watched him smear a huge dollop of peanut butter on his Granny Smith apple).

Alex told me that last night he and Vin were at one of the dockside bars. Sometime around 1:30 a.m., he was approached by a Russian man from Moscow who spoke English. Another Russian man nearby, who spoke no English, wanted to arm-wrestle Alex. Would that be okay? Alex hesitated but after a few moments agreed. Then, he saw the Russian man taking off his shirt.

Alex didn’t need a translator to understand the rule. So he proceeded to remove his own shirt. With that, the match began. The Russian man was strong, but Alex finally prevailed. With the Muscovite translating, the Russian man then said he wanted a rematch, this time with the other (left) arm. Alex said okay. He won again. The Russian looked at him and said, “Respect.” Meanwhile, Alex said, some American students watching the match began chanting, “USA! USA!”

Nearby, Vin was oblivious to the drama in which his friend had a starring role. He was too busy watching one of the bridges over the Neva River go up to allow ships to pass. Only when he turned away from the bridge and saw his friend putting his shirt back on did Vin realize something interesting had just happened.

”

- UVA Today Blogs: Semester at Sea » How It Works

Anton Talks About The Digg Recommendation Engine on Vimeo (via...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:39:25 -0400

Anton Talks About The Digg Recommendation Engine on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

A great look into the science and math behind a new feature at Digg

"I often just sit and look out my office window for a long time, thinking. Why does this look so..."

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:06:59 -0400

“I often just sit and look out my office window for a long time, thinking. Why does this look so terrible, why can’t we do this or that?”

- Talking About Design - WSJ.com

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-29)

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:55:56 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-29):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

pile:“Two times a week I travel 6 miles to rent and return...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:11:07 -0400

pile:

“Two times a week I travel 6 miles to rent and return movies” (via jakoblodwick)

While uploading some photos from my sister’s graduation I...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:13:13 -0400

While uploading some photos from my sister’s graduation I noticed that Flickr has a status update in the title area of the page. It is small features like these that make the differance in internet based products.

The Matt Cohler Exit Interview

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:34:13 -0400

The Matt Cohler Exit Interview

David Sedaris: 97% True + 3% Fake = Non-Fiction

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:46:24 -0400

David Sedaris: 97% True + 3% Fake = Non-Fiction:

pile:

mpile:
Has anyone noticed how much people are talking about the definition of fiction these days? They are done getting upset at non-fiction being fiction and have started getting worried about fiction really being exaggerated non-fiction. But I don’t get why they are so up in arms––It’s always been like that. Hemingway had one love story and he wrote it over and over because it was what happened to him and he couldn’t get over it. Fitzgerald, too.
I think the problem is we just know way more about writer’s personal lives now so this bothers us, maybe takes some of the magic out of it. But I don’t think it should. Fiction is supposed to make sense of reality, find some beauty or lesson in it when life is to complicated to figure out on your own. It’s never just made up. It’s always non-fiction to some extent. Isn’t that why people read it?

Come on people! Next to Chuck Klosterman David writes some of the best books I’ve ever read.

Apple, please make this with a built in touch pad just like my...

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:43:51 -0400

Apple, please make this with a built in touch pad just like my laptop, it would be great not to need a mouse.

"I’m like tiger woods, but without the nerves of steel, or the skills, or some other stuff. Still… my..."

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:41:23 -0400

“I’m like tiger woods, but without the nerves of steel, or the skills, or some other stuff. Still… my left knee hurts, for example.”

- Twitter / dick costolo: I’m like tiger woods, but w… (via fred-wilson)

Watch Tiger Woods, Live, For Free, Legally On The Web - Silicon...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:56:14 -0400

Watch Tiger Woods, Live, For Free, Legally On The Web - Silicon Alley Insider

backyard paradise: Outdoor Spaces Galleries: dominomag.com

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:11:03 -0400

backyard paradise: Outdoor Spaces Galleries: dominomag.com

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-8)

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:18:41 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-8):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

AppleTV SDK?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:07:30 -0400

bijan:

I’ve been talking & writing about open source and open hardware for awhile. It is a theme that led to our investment in Bug Labs.
I was thrilled to see this post by James Levin on Techmeme this morning and just got around to reading it. His post is right on target especially when he says:
To make Apple TV a hit, Apple needs to turn it into more than a closed box - it needs to turn it into a platform. Let developers come up with the features and apps that could help the company turn it into a hit.
Apple needs to open up AppleTV and let 3rd parties develop apps & services for it.
They should even let apps exist that compete with iTunes. I want a Hype Machine app for AppleTV, integration with Twitter and lots more.
Their SDK is a huge deal on iPhone. I hope they offer an AppleTV SDK on Monday.
Fingers crossed.

Same here. A AppleTV SDK would be a huge surpise on Monday. There are so many great applications that can be built into the AppleTV platform. I also don’t see the benifit of opening up only part of the platform, why only the iphone and not AppleTV as well?

catbird:Topherchris, you’re my hero for the...

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:31:20 -0400

catbird:

Topherchris, you’re my hero for the day.
http://whatthefuckdoineedtoknow.com/

All of the days important new in one post or less.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-1)

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:29:05 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-6-1):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

Barack Obama, John McCain, and The Future of Facebook

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:13:25 -0400

rickyv:

Will Facebook be sold within the next year? A question I’ve heard asked countless times over the last, well, few years. So here’s some insight — that could very much depend on who wins the presidential election in November.

Currently, the federal tax rate for a capital gain (making a profit from an asset you’ve held for over a year) is 15%. Many suspect that with a Democratic congress and president, that rate might rise to 28%. If that’s the case, Mark Zuckerberg would save himself a lot of money if he decided to sell the company before a change in the tax laws.

So let’s do the math. At a $15 billion dollar valuation (which Microsoft set at its last invesment), with Mark owning 30%, his share is worth $4.5 billion.

At a 15% captial gains tax rate, he would pay $675,000,000 in taxes to the federal government. At a 28% capital gains tax, he would pay $1,260,000,000 (not to mention state and local taxes).

This means that if the Democrats win in November and raise the capital gains rate, Mark would pay over a half a billion dollars in additional taxes upon the sale of Facebook— $585,000,000 to be exact.

I’d imagine the investors who own the other 70% or so would be pressuring him to sell as well. That all said, Mark’s history of turning down a lot of big offers in the past shows that perhaps he’s not in it for the money and saving a half billion dollars isn’t worth losing control of his baby.

Note: I’m terrible at math so correct me if any of these numbers are wrong.

Note 2: Reader Peter e-mailed me to point out that if Facebook was sold as a non-cash transaction (stock), that would reduce the tax burden.

"To most college students a world of a few thousand people seems big enough. Plus in college you..."

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:45:51 -0400

“To most college students a world of a few thousand people seems big enough. Plus in college you don’t yet have to face the hardest kind of work—discovering new problems to solve. It’s when you move on to the next and much harder step that it helps most to be in a place where you can find peers and encouragement.”

- Cities and Ambition

peterwknox: inky:Manhattanhenge (by wlphoto). From Wikipedia: ...

Fri, 30 May 2008 02:07:59 -0400

peterwknox:

inky:Manhattanhenge (by wlphoto). From Wikipedia:

Manhattanhenge is a semi-annual occurrence in which the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan’s main street grid. […] It applies to those streets that follow the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 which laid out a grid offset 28.9 degrees from true east-west.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-5-25)

Sun, 25 May 2008 22:54:06 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-5-25):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr