On the usefulness of cats

"Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful?"

"Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner," said Strange. "That has a sort of moral usefulness, I suppose, in making one feel uncomfortable and encouraging sober reflection upon one's imperfections."

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke

A quick check on Google shows this has been blogged over 50 times. Not surprising given the high overlap of bloggers/cat people/egghead-lit geeks (I consder myself 2.5 out of three here...)

  ¶ 8:41 AM 0 comments

  Why hiring Ivy league classics majors pays off: Christopher Caldwell in the New York Times says what I've been saying for years....

Economists would say that a college degree is partly a “signaling” device — it shows not that its holder has learned something but rather that he is the kind of person who could learn something. Colleges sort as much as they teach. Even when they don’t increase a worker’s productivity, they help employers find the most productive workers, and a generic kind of productivity can be demonstrated as effectively in medieval-history as in accounting classes.

Moreover, if you’re not planning on becoming, say, a doctor, the benefits of diligent study can be overstated. In recent decades, the biggest rewards have gone to those whose intelligence is deployable in new directions on short notice, not to those who are locked into a single marketable skill, however thoroughly learned and accredited.

  ¶ 5:51 AM 0 comments

  What's on your bathroom shelf?

• The Death of Virgil
• Playful Parenting
• A Bear Called Paddington
• The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert
• Barrel Fever
• Arms of Nemesis

  ¶ 3:26 PM 0 comments

  Happiness, business, etc. My friend Chris, a successful silicon valley guy, blogs a lot about happiness. James Hong, a more successul silicon valley guy that I don't know, does too. Could it be that the valley has accelerated the possibilities of getting rich too young, giving people too many financial resources before they have the time to develop the personal resources (family, friends, personal interests) that they need?

I have no idea. Random thought.  ¶ 11:13 AM 1 comments

  Please Hammer, don't hurt us... "We are living in the most unique period in the history of the world. World War 3 looms. The earth is sick and soon will begin to release and pass it's pain in the form of quakes, floods, hurricanes, eruptions and evil winds and storms like never before seen and in non historical places. "

- MC Hammer Blog  ¶ 12:38 PM 0 comments

  In case you were wondering how the world works... Just finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. It is incredibly frightening. Even if the direct NSA involvement stuff is not true (and I believe it is), the clear explanation of the role that foreign loans have in giving America leverage with poor countries while enriching their elites and impoverishing their populaces and the discussion of the "religion of economic growth" is eye-opening and enlightening, if tremendously depressing.  ¶ 3:29 PM 0 comments