Yearly Archives: 2009

For the Good of the Team: Football Coaches & Conscience

By devan | Published: October 11, 2009

In his latest essay for the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell writes about one of the greatest dangers football players face: long-term brain damage from all the impact. It’s a grim, worthwhile read. Gladwell doesn’t discuss the element that most disturbs me: the role of coaches in perpetuating the “programm[ing],” as one former NFL player calls [...]

Posted in Science, Sport | 3 Comments

Don’t Hammer Screws: Nielsen on Social Media Outsourcing

By devan | Published: September 8, 2009

In his latest AlertBox entry, Jakob Nielsen effectively shows that “usability suffers when an organization puts its website content on social sites without adapting it to the particular site’s features.” This is true enough: One should no more use YouTube in the half-hearted ways Nielsen identifies than one should use a hammer on screws. However, [...]

Posted in Business, Case Studies, Technology, Web | Leave a comment

The Interrolimb?: A New Punctuation Mark

By devan | Published: August 5, 2009

I see a new combination of punctuation emerging, and demanding formal recognition. Consider an example in which the writer of an email, say, asks the recipient about possible meeting times. Some options for punctuation: Can we meet at any of these times: 12:30, 3:00, 4:30. Can we meet at any of these times? 12:30, 3:00, [...]

Posted in Language, Writing | 3 Comments

The Eunuch, or, How Michael Jackson Got That Way

By devan | Published: July 29, 2009

A Theory: Joe Jackson, threatened by what his son Michael’s oncoming puberty might have done to that cash cow of a singing voice, secretly has him chemically, or even physically, castrated. At first, the procedure drives Michael Jackson to an unprecedented level of success; emasculated, he finds his identity in his ongoing improvement as a [...]

Posted in Culture, News | 9 Comments

Reality TV and Parasocial Bonding

By devan | Published: July 29, 2009

In a post at The Frontal Cortex on television’s ability to stave off loneliness, Jonah Lehrer writes: I imagine we’re even more likely to form attachments to characters on reality TV shows, since the characters are purportedly “real.” It’s a minor point in his post, but prompted a lengthy comment from me, which I repost [...]

Posted in Culture, Life, Movies & TV, Writing | 2 Comments