The City
Shawn Achor On Happiness
This TEDx Talk is a bit dated (2011), but I’d not seen it and it’s worth sharing for its summary of Harvard professor Shawn Achor’s research on happiness (learn more via his books). It’s also an excellent example of a speaker who can balance gravitas and humor, which is a difficult balance to pull off.
The Secret To Raising Smart Kids
The secret to raising smart kids appears to have a lot to do with rewarding effort and not telling them they’re smart. The “A” that they managed to get while coasting isn’t nearly as important as the “B” they worked hard to get. Read Carol Dweck’s book on this research (most of which she has pioneered), Mindset, for more.
New York Times Top 10 Books
The 10 best books of 2015 (at least according to the New York Times).
Gun Death Visualization
Add San Bernardino to the list of mass killings with firearms in our country. It’s been several years since Slate published this project to record all US gun deaths in the year following the killings at Sandy Hook. See the final visualization here. It’s one of the few ways to understand how many people 12,000+ people really adds up to be.
It’s been nearly three years to the day since Sandy Hook. There’s no reliable and authoritative figure, but presume it’s at least 36,000. By one count there have 161 school shootings alone.
Whiskey Advent Calendar
File under “Good Ideas,” or perhaps “I Wish I’d Thought Of That”: a whiskey advent calendar, courtesy Master of Malt. (Via M. Sinclair Stevens)
Comics, Kids, And Devices
Two comics, Paula Poundstone and Louis C. K., weigh in on kids and devices. Not that comics are authorities about this topic, but they also tend to shine a light on what needs seeing.
African Safari Webcams
Here are three live streaming WebCams from the south African bush, one from a Safari lodge and two from watering holes. The sound alone is cool.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Repair Via Patagonia
Patagonia has a full set of clothing repair guides online. They reference Patagonia gear, but the repairs aren’t Patagonia-specific. I need to perform a loop zipper repair myself, making good a pair of technical rock climbing pants that otherwise aren’t much use.