A ler, lendo, reading, lesen, leyendo

[alerlendo-blog]

But I do think that the concerns Twenge raises are valid (if overblown), if only because I constantly hear from parents who are struggling with their own version of these problems: Teens who are too busy online to come out of their room. Kids who are social butterflies on the Internet, but socially awkward in meatspace.

in “YES, SMARTPHONES ARE DESTROYING A GENERATION, BUT NOT OF KIDS” at JSTOR Daily by Alexandra Samuel, 8th of August 2017

[alerlendo-blog]

Today, no such reservations exist and semlor (the plural of semla) usually appear in bakery windows as near after Christmas as is deemed decent – and sometimes even before. This is followed by a collective, nationwide moan about how it gets earlier every year. Shortly thereafter people begin to eat the things like the world will end tomorrow.

 in “The Semla - more than just a bun” at Sweden.se, by Rob Hincks,  28th February 2017

[alerlendo-blog]

As with any book at this level, certain topics have been presented in a simplified (possibly even over-simplified) form. However, a considerable effort has been made to avoid giving a distorted account of any topic. It is hoped that this book can provide a foundation for those wishing to pursue more advances studies, and that nothing learned from it will have to be 'unlearned' later. There are good reasons for thinking that this is a realistic hope.

“Enzymes”, 2nd edition, by Trevor Palmer and Philip Bonner, 2007, Woodhead Publishing

[alerlendo-blog]

I talked to Ferrari and discovered that after 20 years of studying us [procrastinators], his sympathy is wearing thin. "I don't understand this, why they're consistently like this. I don't like cutting the grass, but I do it."

in “Lollygagging Through Life” at Slate, by Emily Yoffe, May 13th 2008

[alerlendo-blog]

But the real struggle for women — what amplifies shame regardless of the category — is that we’re expected (and sometimes desire) to be perfect, yet we’re not allowed to look as if we’re working for it. We want it to just materialize somehow. Everything should be effortless. The expectation is to be natural beauties, natural mothers, natural leaders, and naturally good parents, and we want to belong to naturally fabulous families. Think about how much money has been made selling products that promise “the natural look.” And when it comes to work, we love to hear, “She makes it look so easy,” or “She’s a natural.

in “Daring Greatly” (”Understanding and Combating Shame”) by Brené Brown, 2012

[alerlendo-blog]

Most of the new industrialists and investors were accustomed to deferential trade reporting that stuck close to official talking points, and to reverential magazine profiles. Many were brilliant but fragile geeks, who had grown to enjoy the adulation, and did not appreciate criticism. Information was carefully controlled through non-disclosure agreements, embargoes, and preferential access given to favored journalists. It was not just Steve Jobs that had constructed a reality distortion field around him; many Silicon Valley ventures and reputations depended on careful management of buzz.

in “How Things Work” at Gawker, by Nick Denton, August 22nd 2016

[alerlendo-blog]

The word "craftsperson" doesn't quite capture the totality of dedication and cultural reverence embedded in "shokunin." This word represents a person's full commitment to every detail of a craft, whether they're a temple carpenter (miyadaiku) or head sake brewer (touji) or pizza maker. Japan so reveres shokunin, artists, and purveyors of culture that the Emperor doles out Living National Treasure designations — ningenkokuhō — to "Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties."

in “Tokyo Neapolitan: The New Wave of Japanese Pizza“ at Eater, by Craig Mod, February 21st 2017

[alerlendo-blog]

Take the term “tulip bubble”: everyone knows it is in reference to a speculative mania that will end in a crash, even those like me — and now you — that have learned about what actually happened in the Netherlands in the winter of 1636. Like I said, it’s a myth — and myths matter.

“Tulips, Myths, and Cryptocurrencies” at Stratechery, by Ben Thompson, May 23rd 2017 

[alerlendo-blog]

A Russian poet named Sergei Gandlevsky once said that in the late Soviet period he became obsessed with hardware-store nomenclature. He loved the word secateurs, for example. Garden shears, that is. Secateurs is a great word. It has a shape. It has weight. It has a function. It is not ambiguous. It is also not a hammer, a rake, or a plow. It is not even scissors. In a world where words were constantly used to mean their opposite, being able to call secateurs “secateurs”—and nothing else—was freedom.

“The Autocrat’s Languague” at The New York Review, by Masha Gessen, May 13th 2017

[alerlendo-blog]

Before asking the question of how technology can affect democracy, I’m going to ask: What is democracy for? In a developed, post-industrial country at the start of the twenty-first century, one of the main functions of a democratic political system is to help us collectively manage living in a complex, global society. Our daily lives take place in a network of technological, socio-technical, and social systems that we barely notice, except when things go wrong.

“Gratitude for Invisible Systems” at The Atlantic, by Debbie Chachra, May 18th 2017

[unshelvedbrain-blog]

He gave a hollow laugh. ‘What does it matter? Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I’d far rather be happy than right any day.’ 'And are you?’ 'No. That’s where it all falls down, of course.’ 'Pity,’ said Arthur with sympathy. 'It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise.’

The Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (via unshelvedbrain)