Pure and Applied

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[pureandapplied]

(via The debate over the Anthropocene, explained - YouTube)

The word “Anthropocene” has gained cultural resonance in recent years, as it’s become clearer that humans have made an indelible — and destructive — impact on our planet. But it’s also a term with a specific technical meaning: an epoch, or geologic unit of time, named for humans. In 2009, geologists first started investigating whether the Anthropocene should be formally recognized as part of the way we record geologic time. This video explains what happened next: how a team of scientists looked for the evidence to make their case, and what it means to consider human time as part of the Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history.  

[pureandapplied]

It's not incompetence, but competence, that causes companies to be disrupted. That applies to big companies and small, as well as people too.

+ a16z.com/2016/03/03/disruption-clay-marc

» a16z Podcast: Disruption in Business... and Life by a16z |  SoundCloud

[pureandapplied]

The value chain for any given consumer market is divided into three parts: suppliers, distributors, and consumers/users. The best way to make outsize profits in any of these markets is to either gain a horizontal monopoly in one of the three parts or to integrate two of the parts such that you have a competitive advantage in delivering a vertical solution. In the pre-Internet era the latter depended on controlling distribution. 

...

The fundamental disruption of the Internet has been to turn this dynamic on its head. First, the Internet has made distribution (of digital goods) free, neutralizing the advantage that pre-Internet distributors leveraged to integrate with suppliers. Secondly, the Internet has made transaction costs zero, making it viable for a distributor to integrate forward with end users/consumers at scale.

» Aggregation Theory - Stratechery by Ben Thompson

[pureandapplied]

Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email, has died at age 74.

Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.

Tomlinson chose the "@" ("at") symbol to connect the username with the destination address and it has now become a cultural icon.

While he was a holder of numerous awards and other accolades, co-workers say he was humble and modest. And, surprisingly, not a frequent checker of email.

» Creator of modern email, Ray Tomlinson, dies at 74

[pureandapplied]

(via Welcome Home to Planet Earth, Scott Kelly! on Vimeo)

[pureandapplied]

» xkcd: The Three Laws of Robotics

[pureandapplied]

Innovation is sometimes written about as an almost magical process. But it is wrong to see innovation as a mystery. It is true that innovation is rarely simple or predictable, but looking closely at what actually happens, it is also true that the overall innovation process is structured and systematic.   

Although every real innovation is a complex story of loops and jumps, there are various stages that most innovations pass through. This framework is useful for understanding how to put ideas to work, and focusing on the different methods, and different mindset, needed at each stage.

» Background – Development Impact and You

[pureandapplied]

Consider the following statements: 

People should not be allowed to starve in the streets. 

No one should be denied access to a decent minimum of health-care. 

Every citizen should be able to meet his or her basic needs. 

These statements all express a widespread view that a political community should seek to ensure that its members are all able to enjoy at least a minimally decent standard of living. They assert the importance of what is often called the social minimum. However, the exact nature of the social minimum, the considerations that support it, and, indeed, its basic justifiability, are all matters of intense philosophical controversy. The aim here is to provide a guide through the terrain of these controversies. This is done in three stages.

[pureandapplied]

Decision theory is concerned with the reasoning underlying an agent’s choices, whether this is a mundane choice between taking the bus or getting a taxi, or a more far-reaching choice about whether to pursue a demanding political career. (Note that “agent” here stands for an entity, usually an individual person, that is capable of deliberation and action.) Standard thinking is that what an agent does on any given occasion is completely determined by her beliefs and desires/values, but this is not uncontroversial, as will be noted below. In any case, decision theory is as much a theory of beliefs, desires and other relevant attitudes as it is a theory of choice; what matters is how these various attitudes (call them “preference attitudes”) cohere together. 

 The focus of this entry is normative decision theory. That is, the main question of interest is what criteria an agent’s preference attitudes should satisfy in any generic circumstances. This amounts to a minimal account of rationality, one that sets aside more substantial questions about appropriate values and preferences, and reasonable beliefs, given the situation at hand. The key issue in this regard is the treatment of uncertainty. The orthodox normative decision theory, expected utility (EU) theory, essentially says that, in situations of uncertainty, one should prefer the option with greatest expected desirability or value. This simple maxim will be the focus of much of our discussion.

[pureandapplied]

An art made of material fir and maple grown in Hokkaido. Roll a ball from the top of the xylophone and enjoy the tone. You can find a vending machine placed at the top the xylophone and purchase a ball cost you 300 JPY for one. Play with the ball as many times you want and bring it back home as a souvenir. Don't forget the ball next time you come back to play with xylophone. The keyboard is simply placed and set on the pedestal to make the sound better. In case the keyboard comes off or fall down, please return it to the original position in consideration for the next users. This service takes a rest for xylophone protection on a rainy day.

» Hokkaido Garden Show 2015 - Xylophone of forest HT @verdantflaneur

[wiggoaugogo]

“VisiCalc spreadsheet ~1982 vs Excel spreadsheet ~2015. Which is "simpler"?”

VisiCalc spreadsheet ~1982 vs Excel spreadsheet ~2015. Which is “simpler”? pic.twitter.com/6MJiPbVyAz

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) December 24, 2015

I first learnt spreadsheets on Visicalc in 1984. Me and tabulated, calculated data go way back.

[todaysdocument]

Annual Schedule of Wages for 1916, 12/27/1915

Series: General Correspondence, ca. 1915 - 1925. Record Group 181: Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments, 1784 - 2000

The 1916 wage schedule for the Portsmouth Navy Ship Yard, approved by then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[pureandapplied]

A behind-the-scenes look at building Google's visual framework. Find out more about material design at www.google.com/design.

» Making Material Design - YouTube

[pureandapplied]

Print is the new ‘new media’

PRINT IS BEAUTIFUL. It can’t notify you when a work email arrives, can’t be tweeted mid-sentence, and won’t die without a charger. Even better, it’s finite.  It’s also supposed to be dead. For years, the new media vanguard has preached “digital first” and the death knell has sounded again and again for print, as legendary magazines moved online or ceased publication altogether. Now, 20 years into the digital revolution, print is making something of a comeback.

» Print is the new 'new media' - Columbia Journalism Review

[pureandapplied]

You might be wondering, why make a book? Isn’t SPAN about design and technology? Aren’t they UX designers? Don’t they make software, and spend their time thinking about user flows, interactions, and multi-device layouts… Well, we do, but it turns out that much of our thinking about these systems begins with book design. In fact, Material Design is built around the principles of classic typography and grid systems—ideas that started with print design—and, of course, paper. If the proliferation and popularity of book fairs is any indication, it seems like the art of the book is alive and doing well—so we’re definitely not alone in our interest.

(via First Edition - Articles - Google Design)

[pureandapplied]

A year ago, my boss announced that our large New York ad agency would be moving to an open office. After nine years as a senior writer, I was forced to trade in my private office for a seat at a long, shared table. It felt like my boss had ripped off my clothes and left me standing in my skivvies.

» Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace | The Washington Post

via Francesca Ford

[pureandapplied]

In a leaked “proposed restructure” document, the manager of RN, Deborah Leavitt, warns the “current broadcast model is not in line with what we know about emerging audience behaviour” and RN has to change to survive.

Clare Bowditch, Wendy Harmer and Larissa Behrendt to join ABC Radio | Media | The Guardian