We save for the future by building things: "As a society, we save for the future by channeling resources—steel, electricity, human labor power—into the production of things that last a long time rather than things that are more perishable." Matthew Yglesias, Moneybox.
Investing in people: "I watched the great Ford River Rouge plant in Detroit, which once employed 44,000 workers, be reduced to rubble. I drove along ten mile of the Mongahela River near Youngstown and saw the skeletons of steel mills, surrounded by tires and rotting lumber …" Mark Naison, With a Brooklyn Accent.
Monsanto’s plastic House of the Future: "Legend has it that the planned one-day demolition of the House of Future ended up taking two weeks as the wrecking ball just bounced off the exterior. Workers painstakingly cut the house into pieces with hacksaws." Yesterland.
Data is the new plastics: There’s a shortage of people with data and analytical skills, says Steve at the Small Business Labs blog. Young people should get into data.
Erik Brynjolfsson on Big Data: "There is a fundamental change underway in the way that companies make decisions. Instead of relying on a leader’s gut instincts, an increasing number of companies are embracing a new method that involves data-based analytics." MIT Sloan Experts.
What does technology look like in an age of abundance? "Has truly radical innovation been forever replaced by incremental innovation that makes our lives easier, but not fundamentally different, from the way it was twenty years ago?" Dominic Basulto, Big Think.
What’s all the fuss – it’s a toasted cheese sandwich: Everyone‘s talking about Jonathan Kaplan‘s new grilled cheese sandwich chain, The Melt. It’s the chain’s use of QR codes that’s generating the most excitement. According to Ben Parr at Mashable:
The Melt allows diners to order their meals via their mobile phones. Placing an order on your phone creates a QR code that you can then swipe in the store. Once swiped, your order appears on the “Order Board” and your grilled cheese is placed in a propriety grill with a built-in microwave. Kaplan’s goal is to go from swipe to grilled cheese in two minutes or less.
So what about the sandwiches? Apparently they’re ok but not great.
Who is Noah Smith’s favourite conservative? "I am a liberal, but I believe we desperately need a relevant, functioning conservative movement. We need a conservative movement that is focused on making the government more effective, not smaller." Noah Smith, Noahpinion.
Somebody should tell John Singleton: "The Workers’ Party is systematically ruining this country. They are making it impossible for industry to compete, deliberately raising production costs and diminishing our ability to pay our way in the world." Steve Kates, Catallaxy.
The trouble with saving teenage poems: "My biggest fear is that someone will find them after I have died and wrongly assume that I kept my poetry because I was so proud of it. They may even then decide that a fitting tribute would be to read these poems at my funeral." Blue Milk.
What Noah really meant:
“I am a liberal, but I believe we desperately need a relevant, functioning conservative movement. We need a conservative movement that is focused on
making the government more effective, not smalleracting just like liberals would.”Pedro,
conservatives do not make governments smaller.
Missing link Friday indeed – that last item needs a link.
Pedro, as lefty as I am, I accept that conservatives can be good at reform, streamlining institutional structures, unlocking efficiencies.
Kennett, whatever else one may think of him, is a case in point.
The Tea Party is not.
#3 Thanks Unit. I’ve added the link.
so homer – hows tricks? Whats the word on the street up your way?
Of course. Let’s add this to Juliar’s agenda and make it compulsory, after they’ve banned me from cheap alcohol, eating carbs and fat, keeping warm in winter and cool in summer (no problem the latter, I suppose, with the “climate change” we’re experiencing in Sydney these last three months), looking at naughty websites like Bunyip and Bolt, and a whole list of other wicked but enjoyable pursuits. Perhaps before they prescribe a daily dose of Homer?
Small Business Labs – yes, they sound like pinko Aussies, not entrepreneurial Americans. Which is funny, since they’re entrepreneurial Americans.
As a young(ish) person into data, I can attest to the fact that data skills are thin on the ground and that there are plenty of gigs out there in the field.
I like it, I’d buy one (if only they were legal here). I’m really into retro stuff.
And here’s why good housekeeping is so important in the future …