Who knew that there are "dyslexia friendly" fonts? From Freakonomics:
As a lunch-table discussion here in England revealed, the University insists on certain typefaces that are dyslexia-friendly, particularly Arial, Trebuchet, and Verdana. It costs me or any other faculty member nothing to use one of these on exams; non-dyslexic students are not harmed by them, and dyslexic students are better off.
I might be one of a handful of people who will think this is exciting, but so what? Freakonomics coauthor Stephen Dubner is going to be playing a gig with his old band in Winston-Salem this week. From the Freakonomics blog:
A long time ago, I played in a rock band, called The Right Profile. It was a great deal of fun. We wound up getting a record deal with Arista…
But I quit the band about a year later. We were in the middle of making our first record. I decided I didn’t want to try to be a rock star after all, as much fun as it was. Writing suits me better.
I pretty much went cold turkey and have performed almost no music since then. But all these many years later, The Right Profile is set to ride again, if only for a few songs. We were asked to participate in a concert by the Vagabond Saints’ Society at a centennial celebration for the city of Winston-Salem, N.C., on Fri., May 7, from 7-10 pm.
I can’t wait. Winston-Salem has produced some amazing music over the years (the dB’s, Ben Folds, Let’s Active, the Alisons, Dillon Fence, and many more), and it will be great fun to hear these guys again and crawl backwards into the time capsule. Also I can’t wait to play again with my bandmates Tim Fleming, Jeffrey Dean Foster, and Jon Wurster.
The date is actually May 10 and according to the centennial celebration website the Vagabond Saints' Society show will be at 6th and Cherry. Should be a blast.
From Sasha Dichter's post titled Four tips for better group decision making we find this interesting tidbit:
The Law of Two Women. “One night I was having dinner with an executive at Google, and I asked him to tell me the most significant change he’s seen in how his company runs meetings. Without hesitating, he told me they always make sure there is more than one woman in the room. He then told me about the study that led to this principle…” I won’t summarize the subsequent MIT study – the punchline is “groups that had a higher proportion of females were more effective. These groups were more sensitive to input from everyone, more capable of reaching compromise, and more efficient at making decisions.” This one is fascinating and, again, very easy to implement.
A French scientist (of course) has done a study that shows that women probably shouldn't wear bras. Well, okay, just young women:
His preliminary results on 330 women aged 18 to 35 suggested that wearing a bra from an early age does nothing to help a wearer's breasts and going without could improve firmness.
"The suspension system of the breasts degenerates," Rouillon said, explaining that bras also unnaturally hamper circulation.
"But a middle-aged women, overweight, with 2.4 children? I'm not at all sure she'd benefit from abandoning bras," he added.
So these two good friends and neighbors get divorced from their wives and end up building two houses on one lot, making them something like semi-roommates. From the story in the Wall Street Journal:
Now both divorced, the two friends still hang out with each other and their current girlfriends. But they are even closer neighbors: They live in nearly identical, 1,500-square-foot, three-story wood-and-glass contemporary houses, which they built on the same lot.
The tall, rectangular-shaped twin houses, each with three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms, are separated by about 30 feet—close enough that the occupants can see into each other's windows. It's like a modern version of "The Odd Couple", says Corey Martin, who designed the project with architect Ben Kaiser of Portland-based PATH Architecture. "On some level, it's every guy's dream. They get their freedom but they're not doing it alone. There's built-in camaraderie."
The friends say their arrangement is working well. They have dinner a couple of nights a week. They share an Internet account. They still go skiing, camping, biking and hiking together. "I know when Ted is home, who is going in and out of his house, which lights are on, what he is up to," says Mr. Zehetbauer. "It's companionship. Other people come and go. The only constant is Roland," adds Mr. Wardlaw. They share the outdoor space and are currently planning a vegetable garden together.
Western civilization is saved: a man has invented a machine to separate Oreo cookies from their creme middles.
Most people who have tried sales, and really we've all tried sales in some form, knows that the most challenging and difficult part is "the ask." It's hard asking someone to give you money, or time, or attention. That's why this TED talk by Amanda Palmer is so interesting. Give her a listen:
This Saturday the folks at Wake Forest will be hosting their second TEDx event at Wait Chapel. It looks to be very interesting (I'm excited to be going), but it's doubtful they'll have a "model" presentation. Pardon the pun.
This five minute Freakonomics segment from NPR's Marketplace show should freak out anyone who:
Luckily I have a bad memory and know it so I've developed all kinds of systems to compensate for that fact. Unfortunately my kids also know I have a terrible memory and they use it to their advantage by saying things like, "Dad, don't forget you promised to buy me the new Halo for Xbox today." I've started to wise up and have developed a simple system to deal with that too: if they don't get it from me in writing it doesn't count.
Here's the Freakonomics segment:
A blast from the past for those of us old enough to remember analog technology.
Befuddled 