I’m in the process of changing this blog over to WordPress.

1840s democracy 150 years ago, we had pretty much settled on all of the protocols and conventions of the American democractic system. We had figured out the steps and rules of electing a president. Before radio, before TV. Before planes or cars. Before computers or voting machines. Before YouTube. Since mass democracy is essentially an… Continue reading 1840s democracy

Pmarca productivity: Excellent tips for getting through the day. blog.pmarca.com: The Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity What a fantastic post. And so many great suggestions that I’m hesitant to choose a sample…so I’ll limit myself to three: Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3×5 index card with a short list of 3… Continue reading Excellent tips for getting through the day

The best creative thinking books. Between teaching a course on creative thinking at UW, and writing a book on innovation, I’ve read dozens of books on creative thinking, from handbooks, to games, to psychology literature. Here are the four books I’d recommend as a starter library: they range in focus from handbooks to theory to… Continue reading The best creative thinking books

Semantic analysis: Making sense of the chaos of free text. Matt Hodgson has posted a summary of a presentation he did for our local IA group recently. This is a truly awesome piece of IA work – he analysed a large volume of unstructured text and designed a framework to rewrite it in a consistent,… Continue reading Semantic analysis: Making sense of the chaos of free text

Google get small. Google really are a contradiction. I guess it’s what happens when you become a large organisation with megalomaniacs at the top, ex-Microsoft middle-management psychopaths, and a lot of crazy engineers trying to solve big problems. From Coding Horror: Google wants to extend that same efficiency outside their datacenter to your home PC.… Continue reading Google get small

Department of Homeland Security Not Focused on Terrorism. I thought terrorism is why we have a DHS, but they’ve been preoccupied with other things: Of the 814,073 people charged by DHS in immigration courts during the past three years, 12 faced charges of terrorism, TRAC said. Those 12 cases represent 0.0015 percent of the total… Continue reading Department of Homeland Security Not Focused on Terrorism

RUSSIA VS. ESTONIA: 21st Century State vs. State Conflict. What does “guerrilla” war between interdependent states look like in the 21st Century? Very much like the war now going on between Estonia and Russia. Russia is using the removal of a statue commemorating Russian war dead from Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) as a pretext… Continue reading RUSSIA VS. ESTONIA: 21st Century State vs. State Conflict

Hoffman on Hard Fantasy and the Absence of Law. It turns out that Dave Hoffman and I have more in common than just being corporate law professors and bloggers. We also both like fantasy. In an interesting post, Hoffman looks at the turn towards what he calls “hard fantasy.” Several of the writers he discusses… Continue reading Hoffman on Hard Fantasy and the Absence of Law

How to be a great receptionist Being a pretty good receptionist is easy. You’re basically a low-tech security guard in nice clothes. Sit at the desk and make sure that visitors don’t steal the furniture or go behind the magic door unescorted. But what if you wanted to be a great receptionist? I’d start with… Continue reading How to be a great receptionist