Joey Baker

"The United Space Alliance, which manages the computers aboard the International Space Station in..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:25:31 -0700

“The United Space Alliance, which manages the computers aboard the International Space Station in association with NASA, has announced that the Windows XP computers aboard the ISS have been switched to Linux. “We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable.””

- International Space Station switches from Windows to Linux, for improved reliability | ExtremeTech

THIS IS WATER - By David Foster Wallace http://bit.ly/17RbLvL

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:43:41 -0700

THIS IS WATER - By David Foster Wallace http://bit.ly/17RbLvL

"I think that sort of striving for simplicity is not a style. It’s an approach and a philosophy. I..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:35:01 -0700

“I think that sort of striving for simplicity is not a style. It’s an approach and a philosophy. I think it’s about authenticity and being honest. Not just taking something crappy and styling the outside in an arbitrary disconnected way.”

- stratēchery | Jony Ive Is Not a Graphic Designer

"The disconnect is sharp; the frustration, the sense of ennui palpable from Capitol Hill to..."

Sat, 04 May 2013 08:48:25 -0700

“The disconnect is sharp; the frustration, the sense of ennui palpable from Capitol Hill to California. You could fairly call it the Obama malaise, but it’s not his fault. It’s his very existence, his presence in the Oval Office, that fuels a nihilistic opposition, driving obstruction and seeding an increasingly disillusioned national mood.”

- This Isn’t Obama’s Malaise, It’s GOP Intransigence - The Daily Beast

"Couple a voluntary reporting scheme with too-big-to-fail status and a revolving-door legal system,..."

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:06:45 -0700

“Couple a voluntary reporting scheme with too-big-to-fail status and a revolving-door legal system, and what you get is unstoppable corruption.”

- The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever | Politics News | Rolling Stone

"It wouldn’t be politics without politics, and the phrase “free from government control” had to be..."

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:41:09 -0700

“It wouldn’t be politics without politics, and the phrase “free from government control” had to be removed from the bill at the last minute to quiet Democrats, who argued that the phrase could undermine the government’s ability to enforce existing or future laws.”

- The Brief: Monday, April 22nd

"Our laws do more than prevent the government from restraining prices for drugs the way other..."

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:42:44 -0700

“Our laws do more than prevent the government from restraining prices for drugs the way other countries do. Federal law also restricts the biggest single buyer — Medicare — from even trying to negotiate drug prices. As a perpetual gift to the pharmaceutical companies (and an acceptance of their argument that completely unrestrained prices and profit are necessary to fund the risk taking of research and development), Congress has continually prohibited the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices with drugmakers. Instead, Medicare simply has to determine that average sales price and add 6% to it.”

- Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us | TIME.com

"An acquisition, or an aqui-hire, is always a failure. Either the founders failed to achieve their..."

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:59:13 -0700

“An acquisition, or an aqui-hire, is always a failure. Either the founders failed to achieve their goal, or – far likelier – they failed to dream big enough. The proper ambition for a tech entrepreneur should be to join the ranks of the great tech companies, or, at least, to create a profitable, independent company beloved by employees, customers, and shareholders.”

- An acquisition is always a failure | PandoDaily

"The video was the latest in a line of similarly-themed productions posted to the Uriminzokkiri..."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:34:31 -0700

“

The video was the latest in a line of similarly-themed productions posted to the Uriminzokkiri channel.

An video released early last month showed New York in flames after an apparent missile attack, and another two weeks later depicted US soldiers and President Barack Obama burning in the flames of a nuclear blast.

And earlier this week, another video showed the dome of the US Capitol building in Washington exploding in a fireball.

”

- Video: North Korea ‘defeats’ US troops in new video - Telegraph

"Wealth affects not only how much money is given but to whom it is given. The poor tend to give to..."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:55:54 -0700

“Wealth affects not only how much money is given but to whom it is given. The poor tend to give to religious organizations and social-service charities, while the wealthy prefer to support colleges and universities, arts organizations, and museums.”

- Why the Rich Don’t Give to Charity - Ken Stern - The Atlantic

"The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 10 of the 20 occupations that will grow the fastest in..."

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:18:33 -0700

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 10 of the 20 occupations that will grow the fastest in the U.S. by 2020 are related to health care. America’s largest city may be commonly thought of as the world’s financial-services capital, but of New York’s 18 largest private employers, eight are hospitals and four are banks. Employing all those people in the cause of curing the sick is, of course, not anything to be ashamed of. But the drag on our overall economy that comes with taxpayers, employers and consumers spending so much more than is spent in any other country for the same product is unsustainable. Health care is eating away at our economy and our treasury.”

- Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us | TIME.com

"Taken as a whole, these powerful institutions and the bills they churn out dominate the nation’s..."

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:16:25 -0700

“Taken as a whole, these powerful institutions and the bills they churn out dominate the nation’s economy and put demands on taxpayers to a degree unequaled anywhere else on earth. In the U.S., people spend almost 20% of the gross domestic product on health care, compared with about half that in most developed countries. Yet in every measurable way, the results our health care system produces are no better and often worse than the outcomes in those countries.”

- Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us | TIME.com

"There are roughly 5,600 commercial banking institutions in the country, Mr. Fisher noted. Some 5,500..."

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:54:05 -0800

“There are roughly 5,600 commercial banking institutions in the country, Mr. Fisher noted. Some 5,500 of them are community banks. While these organizations account for 98.6 percent of all banks, they hold only 12 percent of total industry assets. They are routinely allowed to fail if they get into trouble. Few of them did during the crisis.”

- A Fed Voice, Asking to Cut Megabanks Down to Size - NYTimes.com

(via 25 Things I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco...

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:47:49 -0800

(via 25 Things I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco « The Art of Living)

"He went on to say the adopted treaty text was incompatible with the existing multistakeholder model..."

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:37:50 -0800

“He went on to say the adopted treaty text was incompatible with the existing multistakeholder model of Internet governance. Internet policy, he said, “should not be determined by Member States, but by citizens, communities, and broader society, and such consultation from the private sector and civil society is paramount. This has not happened here.””

- Behind closed doors at the UN’s attempted “takeover of the Internet” | Ars Technica

"If you wished to characterize the Democrats and the Republicans in terms of true exaggerations, you..."

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:15:11 -0800

“If you wished to characterize the Democrats and the Republicans in terms of true exaggerations, you might say that the Republicans have become the Party of Psychosis while the Democrats have become the Party of Neurosis.”

- n+1: Politico-psychopathology

"suspect that if you agree with Clay Shirky that teaching is analogous to music, then you are likely..."

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 09:06:48 -0800

“suspect that if you agree with Clay Shirky that teaching is analogous to music, then you are likely to be persuaded by his assertion that Udacity — a lavishly capitalized educational startup company — is analogous to Napster. If you are not impressed with this analogy, however, you will not be impressed by his argument. And just to put my cards on the table, I am not very impressed with his argument. I think teaching is very different from music; that it is so different as to make the comparison obscure a lot more than it reveals.”

- Essay critiques the ideas of Clay Shirky and others advocating higher ed disruption | Inside Higher Ed

I do believe that teachers are analogues to hiring a live band.

"If education were truly constructed around outcomes, it would start with researching the skills and..."

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:52:59 -0800

“If education were truly constructed around outcomes, it would start with researching the skills and knowledge students need to meet their goals — whether that is a job or an expertise — and then determine the best ways to accomplish that.”

- Content vs. service in media & education — BuzzMachine

jayrosen: “Confidently unaware…” D.C. Muecke identifies three...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 08:41:36 -0800

jayrosen:

“Confidently unaware…”

D.C. Muecke identifies three basic features of irony. First, irony depends on a double-layered or two-story phenomenon for its success. “At the lower level is the situation either as it appears to the victim of irony (where there is a victim) or as it is deceptively presented by the ironist.” The upper level is the situation as it appears to the reader or the ironist. Second, the ironist exploits a contradiction, incongruity, or incompatibility between the two levels. Third, irony plays upon the innocence of a character or victim. “Either a victim is confidently unaware of the very possibility of there being an upper level or point of view that invalidates his own, or an ironist pretends not to be aware of it.” (Source.)

"Reporters in his traveling press corps often wondered why, even as the general election kicked into..."

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:44:46 -0800

“Reporters in his traveling press corps often wondered why, even as the general election kicked into full gear, Romney insisted on dropping off the campaign trail on Sundays, opting to spend the day with family in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire or La Jolla, California. Some speculated that it was a symptom of his distaste for campaigning, but one aide told me his motives were mostly religious. Even when he was obligated to travel, he made efforts to find a Mormon Sacrament meeting nearby. He also abided by the other Sabbath-related bylaws, abstaining from dining out and and shopping on Sundays.”

- A Mormon Reporter On The Romney Bus