text:
It was just last November that Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley, the Carolina Panthers cheerleaders, were arrested after their little bathroom escapade. In January and March, Keathley and Thomas, respectively, pled out to avoid jailtime and agree not to make money off the case. (Hence, no Playboy spreads, sorry.)
Well, now the story can be told: A source close to the investigation tells us that our humble little site was dangerously close to being mentioned in official court documents. Witness.
So when the State began to prepare for trial, they searched for old internet articles relating to the arrest. The Defendant was charged with using a false ID, and the result of that use having ill effects on a third party. When the blonde got arrested and used her friend's ID, that friend's name was dragged through the mud on numerous blogs and newspaper articles, until the Defendant's real name came out. One of the articles that were prepared and marked as exhibits for trial? Deadspin's initial reporting of the incident, which linked to the newspaper articles that gave out the fake name given by the Defendant. Unfortunately, the Monday of Jury Selection, Miss Thomas chose to take the deal first offered by the bosses, which she initially refused, because she didn't like the "You can't make money off this" clause.
So, now that they've both pled out, and Miss Thomas is doing her Pre-Trial Intervention program, it's safe to let the cat out of the bag: Deadspin almost got mentioned in a criminal proceeding.
We can't think of anything that would have made our father more proud of us.
The Whole System Is Out Of Order [Deadspin]


text:
Micro apartments in Los Angeles: 'How Small Is Too Small?'
With condo buildings sprouting from vacant lots and talk of lifting height restrictions on its high-rises, Hollywood offers one of the best illustrations of Los Angeles' push toward population density. In the heart of this quickly changing neighborhood, in an appropriately tiny storefront gallery, two exhibitions show the direction of L.A. through studies of micro apartments and multifamily apartments.
"How Small Is Too Small" and "By-Right/By-Design," running until Aug. 4 at the WuHo Gallery, examine a future that, the exhibits propose, is already partially here.
A micro-unit, here defined as an apartment of 300 square feet or less, is already a reality in cities such as New York and Tokyo, and many Angelenos no doubt already live with even less. But increasingly architects and developers have created plans for tiny, efficient, well-designed apartments in hopes of catering to specific -- and growing -- audiences.
"A lot of things have happened in recent years in the dynamic of demographics that make this a viable option for people," said Takako Tajima, who curated "How Small Is Too Small" with Katrina Stoll Szabo and Daina Swagerty. She pointed to the single, childless young professionals who now make up 28% of the population, as well as all of the baby boomers who are downsizing as they age.
A 300-square-foot apartment fabricated by Specialized Construction fits snugly in the 15-foot-wide WuHo Gallery, allowing visitors to try on a micro-unit for size. To create a feeling of transparency and an understanding of the structure, the micro-apartment has no drywall; instead, untreated dimensional lumber frames the elements, and fixtures such as toilets, sinks and counters have been made from fiberboard, helping to illustrate the flexible nature of the layout. Visitors can move about the floor plan, which feels spacious with sparse white Ikea furnishings.
The exhibition also shows the demographic shifts driving the micro-unit trend. Of particular note is a sobering jobs report for the Los Angeles region: The lowest-paying jobs are growing the fastest.
"When you look at that and then look at the rents, you say, OK, we really need to provide affordable housing," Tajima said.
Tajima and her team mapped two hubs of this trend: One is a cluster of affordable housing projects in Santa Monica, and the other is a group of transitional housing projects in downtown by developers including the Skid Row Housing Trust. If Tajima's theory is correct, the region will need many more.
At the front of the gallery, "By-Right/By-Design" is curated by architect and USC professor Liz Falletta, who juxtaposes historic and contemporary examples of multifamily housing in Los Angeles. The show plays out as a companion to the concepts put forth in the Getty's Pacific Standard Time Presents initiative, which highlights how architects grappled with issues such as affordability and privacy during the postwar housing boom. In most cases, the single-family house with attached garage and lawn won out, but Falletta makes the case for L.A. as an innovator in multifamily living, citing examples including luxurious courtyard apartments such as Irving Gill's Horatio West Court as well as Gregory Ain's stylish yet affordable Mar Vista Tract.
Falletta demonstrates how changing attitudes paired with zoning modifications are finally bringing elements of those historic projects to fruition.
"I'm trying to take lessons from these and exemplify them through contemporary projects," she said.
The show demonstrates how, for example, Gill's design shares similar aspirations with the Heyday Partnership's Buzz Court, a six-unit Silver Lake project on a tiny lot, constructed under the city's small lot ordinance. "It's only viable now because we have a new ordinance that changes our setbacks," Falletta said.
Although Falletta and Tajima hope to inspire the designers, planners and developers who can build more of these kinds of projects, they also hope to spark a conversation around their viability: Can Los Angeles truly support this kind of high-density, low-footprint life? In some areas, such as Santa Monica or downtown L.A., the answer might be yes. But in other places, cities might need to improve transportation, add parks or other public recreation space, and build more walkable business districts before Southern Californians will give up those lawns and garages. These shows are not just an exploration of exemplary design, but also a provocation for the city to step up and support a new way of living.
WuHo Gallery, a facility that Woodbury University shares with the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, is at 6518 Hollywood Blvd. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
'On the Road' turns U-Hauls into design gallery on wheels
At Vincent Price Art Museum, L.A. re-created in cardboard
Yarn bombers cover craft museum in crocheted squares
For an easy way to follow the L.A. scene, bookmark L.A. at Home and join us on our Facebook page for home design, our Facebook page for California gardening, Twitter and Pinterest.

subset: commoncrawl


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Dinosaur Sighting: Dino Brew
University of Alberta scientist Phil Currie is one of the most famous paleontologists in the field today, but what many people don't know is that he's also a brewer of his own brand of beer. Sent to us by reader Casey Tucker, the above label came from a homebrew Currie made in the 1990s, and the art was created by Mark Schultz of Xenozoic Tales fame. Even the dinosaur on the label is a personal flair: the creature is Monolophosaurus, a dinosaur Currie described with Xi-Jin Zhao in 1993.
Have you stumbled across a dinosaur in an unexpected place? If you have, and have a photo of the encounter, send it to us via [email protected]!


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Softening Lotion-Toner ARTISTRY™ YOUTH XTEND™
Brand: ARTISTRY Youth Xtend™
Reference: 113802
Size: 200ml
Softening lotion-toner hydrates skin and optimises the benefits of further care products.
What It Does For You
- Helps your skin get more out of all the other skincare products you apply afterwards.
- Keeps your skin hydrated for longer by enhancing its ability to lock in moisture.
- Nourishes and conditions, so your skin feels fresh, soft and smooth after use.
Why You Would Like It
ARTISTRY YOUTH XTEND Softening Lotion-Toner is a luxurious way to make sure you give your skin the best care possible. It improves the skin's ability to seal in moisture, leaving skin feeling relaxed and hydrated after use. Furthermore, using this toner after cleansing and before applying serum and moisturiser prepares your skin to absorb and make the most of the advanced ingredients in these products. This makes sure you get the maximum benefits of our potent anti-ageing skincare line.
Facts For You
- The Japanese Lilyturf in this product strengthens the Tight Junction, the element of the skin that controls moisture levels. This means skin is better able to lock in moisture.
Key Features
ARTISTRY YOUTH XTEND Softening Lotion-Toner gets the skin ready to absorb the wonderful ingredients that follow in your anti-ageing skincare regime:
- Though not an 'anti-ageing' product as such, it helps skin retain moisture, which enables skin cells to appear younger for longer.
- Skin is left feeling smooth and soft.
How To Use
- After cleansing, gently pat onto the skin using your hand or a cotton pad.
- Follow with ARTISTRY YOUTH XTEND Serum Concentrate and then your preferred moisturiser.
ARTISTRY YOUTH XTEND Softening Lotion-Toner is formulated to improve your skin's hydration levels, as well as enhance its ability to absorb the key ingredients in further care products. This is thanks to Japanese Lilyturf, which boosts your skin's moisture control, as well as Softening Formula, which makes your skin more receptive to serum and moisturisers.


text:
Terms and conditions
Your IKEA FAMILY card has been deactivated and you can only use your card in order to redeem the coupon.
You can only receive the discount by presenting your IKEA FAMILY card.
The coupon is valid until 31/08/2019 for IKEA stores and IKEA Pick Up and Order Points. If the coupon has not been used until the aforementioned date, the coupon will no longer be valid.
The coupon can only be used in one transaction which has to be over 150€.
Purchases at IKEA eshop, IKEA Restaurant, IKEA Swedish Food Market and IKEA Bistro are excluded.
The coupon cannot be exchanged for money.
Cannot be combined with other promotions or activities.


text:
Sternberg Press / e-flux journal
Are You Working Too Much?
Post-Fordism, Precarity, and the Labor of Art
216 pp., 4 x 7 in, 11 b&w illus.
- Paperback
- 9781934105313
- Published: September 2, 2011
- Publisher: Sternberg Press
- Rights: not for sale in Europe or the UK
Let's be clear about something: it is infuriating that most interesting artists are perfectly capable of functioning in at least two or three professions that are, unlike art, respected by society in terms of compensation and general usefulness. Furthermore, when the flexibility, certainty, and freedom promised by being part of a critical outside are considered as extensions of recent advances in economic exploitation, does the field of art then become the uncritical, complicit inside of something far more compelling?
e-flux journal Series edited by Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, Anton Vidokle
Franco "Bifo" Berardi, Keti Chukhrov, Diedrich Diederichsen, Antke Engel, Liam Gillick, Tom Holert, Lars Bang Larsen, Marion von Osten, Precarious Workers Brigade, Irit Rogoff, and Hito Steyerl


text:
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021)
Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities - especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. It involves of various demands upon a person relating to work, social life, family, hobbies, personal interests, and commitments with the finite nature of time. Using time effectively gives the person "choice" on spending or managing activities at their own time and expediency.[1] Time management may be aided by a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects, and goals complying with a due date. Initially, time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually, the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. Time management is usually a necessity in any project management as it determines the project completion time and scope.
Cultural views of time management Edit
Differences in the way a culture views time can affect the way their time is managed. For example, a linear time view is a way of conceiving time as flowing from one moment to the next in a linear fashion. This linear perception of time is predominant in America along with most Northern European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland, and England.[2] People in these cultures tend to place a large value on productive time management and tend to avoid decisions or actions that would result in wasted time.[2] This linear view of time correlates to these cultures being more "monochronic", or preferring to do only one thing at a time. Generally speaking, this cultural view leads to a better focus on accomplishing a singular task and hence, more productive time management.
Another cultural time view is the multi-active time view. In multi-active cultures, most people feel that the more activities or tasks being done at once the better. This creates a sense of happiness.[2] Multi-active cultures are "polychronic" or prefer to do multiple tasks at once. This multi-active time view is prominent in most Southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Italy.[2] In these cultures, people often tend to spend time on things they deem to be more important such as placing a high importance on finishing social conversations.[2] In business environments, they often pay little attention to how long meetings last, rather the focus is on having high-quality meetings. In general, the cultural focus tends to be on synergy and creativity over efficiency.[3]
A final cultural time view is a cyclical time view. In cyclical cultures, time is considered neither linear nor event related. Because days, months, years, seasons, and events happen in regular repetitive occurrences, time is viewed as cyclical. In this view, time is not seen as wasted because it will always come back later, hence there is an unlimited amount of it.[2] This cyclical time view is prevalent throughout most countries in Asia, including Japan and China. It is more important in cultures with cyclical concepts of time to focus on completing tasks correctly, therefore most people will spend more time thinking about decisions and the impact they will have, before acting on their plans.[3] Most people in cyclical cultures tend to understand that other cultures have different perspectives of time and are cognizant of this when acting on a global stage.[4]
Creating an effective environment Edit
Some time-management literature stresses tasks related to creating an environment conducive to "real" effectiveness. These strategies include principles such as:
- "get organized" - the triage of paperwork and of tasks,
- "protecting one's time" by insulation, isolation, and delegation,
- "achievement through goal-management and through goal-focus" - motivational emphasis,
- "recovering from bad time-habits" - recovery from underlying psychological problems, e.g. procrastination and construal level theory biases.
Also, the timing of tackling tasks is important. As tasks requiring high levels of concentration and mental energy are often done at the beginning of the day when a person is more refreshed. Literature[which?] also focuses on overcoming chronic psychological issues such as procrastination.
Excessive and chronic inability to manage time effectively may result from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).[5] Diagnostic criteria include a sense of underachievement, difficulty getting organized, trouble getting started, trouble managing many simultaneous projects, and trouble with follow-through.[6] Daniel Amen focuses on the prefrontal cortex which is the most recently evolved part of the brain. It manages the functions of attention span, impulse management, organization, learning from experience, and self-monitoring, among others. Some authors[quantify] argue that changing the way the prefrontal cortex works is possible and offer a solution.[7]
Setting priorities and goals Edit
Time management strategies are often associated with the recommendation to set personal goals. The literature stresses themes such as:
- Rank priority of tasks by considering value divided by work.[8]
- "Work in Priority Order" – set goals and prioritize,
- "Set gravitational goals" – that attract actions automatically[citation needed].
These goals are recorded and may be broken down into a project, an action plan, or a simple task list. For individual tasks or for goals, an importance rating may be established, deadlines may be set, and priorities assigned. This process results in a plan with a task list, schedule, or calendar of activities. Authors may recommend daily, weekly, monthly, or other planning periods, associated with different scope of planning or review. This is done in various ways, as follows:
ABCD analysis Edit
A technique that has been used in business management for a long time is the categorization of large data into groups. These groups are often marked A, B, C and D—hence the name. Activities are ranked by these general criteria:
- A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important,
- B – Tasks that are important but not urgent,
- C – Tasks that are unimportant but urgent,
- D – Tasks that are unimportant and not urgent.
Each group is then rank-ordered by priority - to further refine the prioritization, some individuals choose to then force-rank all "B" items as either "A" or "C". ABC analysis can incorporate more than three groups.[9]
Pareto analysis Edit
The Pareto principle is the idea that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Applied to productivity, it means that 80% of results can be achieved by doing 20% of tasks.[10] If productivity is the aim of time management, then these tasks should be prioritized higher.[11]
The Eisenhower Method Edit
The "Eisenhower Method" or "Eisenhower Principle" is a method that utilizes the principles of importance and urgency to organize priorities and workload. This method stems from a quote attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower: "I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent."[12] Eisenhower did not claim this insight for his own, but attributed it to an (unnamed) "former college president."[13]
Using the Eisenhower Decision Principle, tasks are evaluated using the criteria important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent,[14][15] and then placed in according quadrants in an Eisenhower Matrix (also known as an "Eisenhower Box" or "Eisenhower Decision Matrix"[16]). Tasks in the quadrants are then handled as follows.
- Important/Urgent quadrant tasks are done immediately and personally,[17] e.g. crises, deadlines, problems.[16]
- Important/Not Urgent quadrant tasks get an end date and are done personally,[17] e.g. relationships, planning, recreation.[16]
- Unimportant/Urgent quadrant tasks are delegated,[17] e.g. interruptions, meetings, activities.[16]
- Unimportant/Not Urgent quadrant tasks are dropped,[17] e.g. time wasters, pleasant activities, trivia.[16]
POSEC method Edit
POSEC is an acronym for "Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing". The method dictates a template which emphasizes an average individual's immediate sense of emotional and monetary security. It suggests that by attending to one's personal responsibilities first, an individual is better positioned to shoulder collective responsibilities.[18]
Inherent in the acronym is a hierarchy of self-realization, which mirrors Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
- Prioritize your time and define your life by goals.
- Organize things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful (family and finances).
- Streamline things you may not like to do, but must do (work and chores).
- Economize things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent (pastimes and socializing).
- Contribute by paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference (social obligations).
Elimination of non-priorities Edit
Time management also covers how to eliminate tasks that do not provide value to the individual or organization.
The software executive Elisabeth Hendrickson asserts[19] that rigid adherence to task lists can create a "tyranny of the to-do list" that forces one to "waste time on unimportant activities".
Part of setting priorities and goals is the emotion "worry," and its function is to ignore the present to fixate on a future that never arrives, which leads to the fruitless expense of one's time and energy. It is an unnecessary cost or a false aspect that can interfere with plans due to human factors. The Eisenhower Method is a strategy used to compete with worry and dull-imperative tasks.[20] Worry, manifested as stress, emerges in reaction to a set of environmental factors. Understanding that this reaction is not inherently tied to one's own identity gives the individual the possibility to effectively manage these stressors. Athletes under a coach call this management as "putting on the game face."[21]
Change is hard, and daily life patterns are the most deeply ingrained habits of all. To eliminate non-priorities in study time, it is suggested to divide the tasks, capture the moments, review task handling method, postpone unimportant tasks (understanding that a task's current relevancy and sense of urgency reflect the wants of the person rather than the task's importance), manage life balance (rest, sleep, leisure), and cheat leisure and nonproductive time (hearing audio taping of lectures, going through presentations of lectures when in a queue, etc.).[22]
Certain unnecessary factors that affect time management are habits, lack of task definition (lack of clarity), over-protectiveness of the work, the guilt of not meeting objectives and subsequent avoidance of present tasks, defining tasks with higher expectations than their worth (over-qualifying), focusing on matters that have an apparent positive outlook without assessing their importance to personal needs, tasks that require support and time, sectional interests, and conflicts, etc.[23] A habituated systematic process becomes a device that the person can use with ownership for effective time management.
Implementation of goals Edit
A task list (also called a to-do list or "things-to-do") is a list of tasks to be completed, such as chores or steps toward completing a project. It is an inventory tool which serves as an alternative or supplement to memory.
Task lists are used in self-management, business management, project management, and software development. It may involve more than one list.
When one of the items on a task list is accomplished, the task is checked or crossed off. The traditional method is to write these on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, usually on a note pad or clip-board. Task lists can also have the form of paper or software checklists.
Writer Julie Morgenstern suggests "do's and don'ts" of time management that include:
- Map out everything that is important, by making a task list.
- Create "an oasis of time" for one to manage.
- Say "No".
- Set priorities.
- Don't drop everything.
- Don't think a critical task will get done in one's spare time.[24]
Numerous digital equivalents are now available, including personal information management (PIM) applications and most PDAs. There are also several web-based task list applications, many of which are free.
Task list organization Edit
Task lists are often diarized and tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list. An alternative is to create a "not-to-do list", to avoid unnecessary tasks.[24]
Task lists are often prioritized in the following ways.
- A daily list of things to do, numbered in the order of their importance and done in that order one at a time as daily time allows, is attributed to consultant Ivy Lee (1877–1934) as the most profitable advice received by Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939), president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.[25][26][27]
- An early advocate of "ABC" prioritization was Alan Lakein, in 1973. In his system "A" items were the most important ("A-1" the most important within that group), "B" next most important, "C" least important.[9]
- A particular method of applying the ABC method[28] assigns "A" to tasks to be done within a day, "B" a week, and "C" a month.
- To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed ("1" for highest priority, "2" for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to be recorded more quickly.[24]
- Another way of prioritizing compulsory tasks (group A) is to put the most unpleasant one first. When it's done, the rest of the list feels easier. Groups B and C can benefit from the same idea, but instead of doing the first task (which is the most unpleasant) right away, it gives motivation to do other tasks from the list to avoid the first one.
A completely different approach which argues against prioritizing altogether was put forward by British author Mark Forster in his book "Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management". This is based on the idea of operating "closed" to-do lists, instead of the traditional "open" to-do list. He argues that the traditional never-ending to-do lists virtually guarantees that some of your work will be left undone. This approach advocates getting all your work done, every day, and if you are unable to achieve it, that helps you diagnose where you are going wrong and what needs to change.[29]
Various writers have stressed potential difficulties with to-do lists such as the following.
- Management of the list can take over from implementing it. This could be caused by procrastination by prolonging the planning activity. This is akin to analysis paralysis. As with any activity, there's a point of diminishing returns.
- To remain flexible, a task system must allow for disaster. A company must be ready for a disaster. Even if it is a small disaster, if no one made time for this situation, it can metastasize, potentially causing damage to the company.[30]
- To avoid getting stuck in a wasteful pattern, the task system should also include regular (monthly, semi-annual, and annual) planning and system-evaluation sessions, to weed out inefficiencies and ensure the user is headed in the direction he or she truly desires.[31]
- If some time is not regularly spent on achieving long-range goals, the individual may get stuck in a perpetual holding pattern on short-term plans, like staying at a particular job much longer than originally planned.[32]
Software applications Edit
Many companies use time tracking software to track an employee's working time, billable hours, etc., e.g. law practice management software.
Many software products for time management support multiple users. They allow the person to give tasks to other users and use the software for communication and to prioritize tasks.
Task-list applications may be thought of as lightweight personal information manager or project management software.
Modern task list applications may have built-in task hierarchy (tasks are composed of subtasks which again may contain subtasks), may support multiple methods of filtering and ordering the list of tasks, and may allow one to associate arbitrarily long notes for each task.[citation needed]
Time management systems Edit
Time management systems often include a time clock or web-based application used to track an employee's work hours. Time management systems give employers insights into their workforce, allowing them to see, plan and manage employees' time. Doing so allows employers to manage labor costs and increase productivity. A time management system automates processes, which eliminates paperwork and tedious tasks.
GTD (Getting Things Done) Edit
Getting Things Done was created by David Allen. The basic idea behind this method is to finish all the small tasks immediately and a big task is to be divided into smaller tasks to start completing now. The reasoning behind this is to avoid the information overload or "brain freeze" which is likely to occur when there are hundreds of tasks. The thrust of GTD is to encourage the user to get their tasks and ideas out and on paper and organized as quickly as possible so they're easy to manage and see. Getting Things Done Website
Pomodoro Edit
Francesco Cirillo's "Pomodoro Technique" was originally conceived in the late 1980s and gradually refined until it was later defined in 1992. The technique is the namesake of a Pomodoro (Italian for tomato) shaped kitchen timer initially used by Cirillo during his time at university. The "Pomodoro" is described as the fundamental metric of time within the technique and is traditionally defined as being 30 minutes long, consisting of 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of break time. Cirillo also recommends a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes after every four Pomodoros. Through experimentation involving various workgroups and mentoring activities, Cirillo determined the "ideal Pomodoro" to be 20–35 minutes long.[33][self-published source?]
Related concepts Edit
Time management is related to the following concepts.
- Project management: Time management can be considered to be a project management subset and is more commonly known as project planning and project scheduling. Time management has also been identified as one of the core functions identified in project management.[34]
- Attention management relates to the management of cognitive resources, and in particular, the time that humans allocate their mind (and organize the minds of their employees) to conduct some activities.
- Timeblocking is a time management strategy that specifically advocates for allocating chunks of time to dedicated tasks in order to promote deeper focus and productivity.
Organizational time management is the science of identifying, valuing and reducing time cost wastage within organizations. It identifies, reports and financially values sustainable time, wasted time, and effective time within an organization and develops the business case to convert wasted time into productive time through the funding of products, services, projects, or initiatives as a positive return on investment.
See also Edit
- Action item
- African time
- Attention management
- Calendaring software
- Chronemics
- Flow (psychology)
- Gantt chart
- Goal setting
- Interruption science
- Maestro concept
- Opportunity cost
- Order
- Polychronicity
- Precommitment
- Procrastination
- Professional organizing
- Prospective memory
- Punctuality
- Self-help
- Task management
- Time and attendance
- Time perception
- Time to completion
- Time-tracking software
- Time value of money
- Work activity management
- Workforce management
- Workforce modeling
References Edit
- ^ Stella Cottrell (2013). The Study Skills Handbook. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 123+. ISBN 978-1-137-28926-1.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f Communications, Richard Lewis, Richard Lewis. "How Different Cultures Understand Time". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ a b Pant, Bhaskar (2016-05-23). "Different Cultures See Deadlines Differently". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
- ^ Duranti, Giancarlo; Di Prata, Olvers (2009). "Everything is about time: does it have the same meaning all over the world?".
- ^ "NIMH – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder". www.nimh.nih.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-12-29. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ Hallowell, Edward M.; Ratey, John J. (1994). Driven To Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood. Touchstone. pp. 73–76. ISBN 9780684801285. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
- ^ Amen, Daniel G. (1998). Change your brain, change your life: the breakthrough program for conquering anxiety, depression, obsessiveness, anger, and impulsiveness (1st ed.). New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-2997-7. OCLC 38752969.
- ^ Francis, Tom (March 4, 2015). Lessons Learned Making Gunpoint Quickly Without Going Mad. Game Developers Conference.
- ^ a b Lakein, Alan (1973). How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. New York: P.H. Wyden. ISBN 0-451-13430-3.
- ^ "The 80/20 Rule And How It Can Change Your Life". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2017-09-16.
- ^ Ferriss, Timothy. (2007). The 4-hour workweek: escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich (1st ed.). New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-307-35313-9. OCLC 76262350.
- ^ Dwight D. Eisenhower (August 19, 1954). Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
Evanston, Illinois. (retrieved 31 March 2015.)
- ^ Background on the Eisenhower quote and citations to how it was picked up in media references afterwards are detailed in: O'Toole, Garson (9 May 2014). "What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent and What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important". Quote Investigator. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015.
- ^ Fowler, Nina (September 5, 2012). "App of the week: Eisenhower, the to-do list to keep you on task". Venture Village.
- ^ Drake Baer (April 10, 2014), "Dwight Eisenhower Nailed A Major Insight About Productivity" Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider, (accessed 31 March 2015)
- ^ a b c d e McKay; Brett; Kate (October 23, 2013). "The Eisenhower Decision Matrix: How to Distinguish Between Urgent and Important Tasks and Make Real Progress in Your Life". A Man's Life, Personal Development. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
- ^ a b c d "The Eisenhower Method". fluent-time-management.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03.
- ^ "The POSEC Method Of Time Management". Time-Management-Abilities.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ^ Hendrickson, Elisabeth. "The Tyranny of the "To Do" List". Sticky Minds. Archived from the original on 2007-03-27. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — an anecdotal discussion of how to-do lists can be tyrannical
- ^ Phillip Brown (2014). 26 Words That Can Change Your Life: Nurture Your Mind, Heart and Soul to Transform Your Life and Relationships. BookB. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-0-9939006-0-0.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Richard Walsh (2008). Time Management: Proven Techniques for Making Every Minute Count. Adams Media. pp. 232–238. ISBN 978-1-4405-0113-5.
- ^ Richard Walsh (2008). Time Management: Proven Techniques for Making Every Minute Count. Adams Media. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-1-4405-0113-5.
- ^ Patrick Forsyth (2013). Successful Time Management. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 90–93. ISBN 978-0-7494-6723-4.
- ^ a b c Morgenstern, Julie (2004). Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule—and Your Life (2nd ed.). New York: Henry Holt/Owl Books. p. 285. ISBN 0-8050-7590-9.
- ^ Mackenzie, Alec (1972). The Time Trap (3rd ed.). AMACOM - A Division of American Management Association. pp. 41–42. ISBN 081447926X.
- ^ LeBoeuf, Michael (1979). Working Smart. Warner Books. pp. 52–54. ISBN 0446952737.
- ^ Nightingale, Earl (1960). "Session 11. Today's Greatest Adventure". Lead the Field (unabridged audio program). Nightingale-Conant. Archived from the original on 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Time Scheduling and Time Management for dyslexic students". Dyslexia at College. Archived from the original on 2005-10-26. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — ABC lists and tips for dyslexic students on how to manage to-do lists
- ^ Forster, Mark (2006-07-20). Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management. Hodder & Stoughton Religious. p. 224. ISBN 0-340-90912-9.
- ^ Horton, Thomas. New York The CEO Paradox (1992)
- ^ "Tyranny of the Urgent" essay by Charles Hummel 1967
- ^ "86 Experts Reveal Their Best Time Management Tips". Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
- ^ Cirillo, Francesco (November 14, 2009). The Pomodoro Technique. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1445219943.[self-published source]
- ^ Project Management Institute (2004). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Project Management Institute. ISBN 1-930699-45-X.
Further reading Edit
- Allen, David (2001). Getting things done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-88906-8.
- Fiore, Neil A (2006). The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt- Free Play. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-1-58542-552-5.
- Le Blanc, Raymond (2008). Achieving Objectives Made Easy! Practical goal setting tools & proven time management techniques. Maarheeze: Cranendonck Coaching. ISBN 978-90-79397-03-7.
- Secunda, Al (1999). The 15 second principle: short, simple steps to achieving long-term goals. New York: New York: Berkley Books. p. 157. ISBN 0-425-16505-1.


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84-year-old Milton Glaser—one of the world's most sought-after graphic designers, who left an indelible mark on advertising in the 1960s—has designed the posters and promotional pieces for the next and final season of Mad Men.
New York Times art writer Randy Kennedy got to tag along when Glaser met with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner to show him the work:
The poster and ads he came up with read like a sly reappropriation of his past, a shaggy explosion of color, flowers and Art Nouveau curves on top of which is the by now familiar back-of-the-head silhouette of Don Draper with his arm extended over a chair and a cigarette in his hand. What first reads as abstraction resolves into a profile of a woman's face, the spire of the Chrysler Building and a glass into which wine is being poured.
Weiner loves to make these nods to history, and this is probably one of his most wink-wink moves yet. In 1968, Glaser would definitely have been hired by Sterling Cooper & Partners for one of its campaigns. In fact, he was only a few years away from founding his own firm, and was already getting choice commissions as a member of Push Pin Studios, which he had founded in 1955 with Seymour Chwast and Edward Sorel.
At the time, Glaser's most legendary work was this 1966 poster for Columbia Records, included in Bob Dylan's greatest hits album. I could totally imagine this poster tacked onto the wall in the room where the creatives brainstorm.
1968 was the year that Glaser founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker (where he also penned a food column on affordable eats called "The Underground Gourmet"). It was quickly found on every New Yorker's coffee table. Wouldn't this totally be something Roger Sterling would read?
In 1977 Glaser was hired by the ad agency Wells Rich Greene (which bears many resemblances to Sterling Cooper & Partners) to promote tourism in a downtrodden New York City. It has become one of the most famous (and emulated) logos in the world, and would make a great plot point (if Mad Men goes that far into the future).
Glaser's work for the final season continues to mess with the blurry line between fiction and reality that Mad Men fans have come to embrace. Although according to the first teaser clip for the new season, released yesterday, Don Draper is getting off an airplane in what is probably—as we can guess from the events of last season—Los Angeles. Maybe Weiner hired a New York designer just to throw us off. [New York Times]


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'The ending ofthe tale ye see;
The Lover draws anigh the tree,
And takes the branch, and takes the rose,
That love and he so dearly chose.' — William Morris
The Heart of the Rose by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt ARA (1833-1898). Signed with initials and dated 1889. Oil on canvas:38 x 51 1/2 inches, 96.5 x 131 centimetres (In original tabernacle frame).
Provenance: William Connal, 23 Berkeley Square, by 1898 (probably bought from the artist); his sale Christie's, March 14 1908, number 35; bought by Sampson for £525; The Maharajah of Jamnegar to 1980; Private collection
Commentary by Bill Waters
This painting and its companion, The Pilgrim at the Gate of Idleness, together with the larger painting, Love Leading the Pilgrim (Tate Gallery), form a trilogy on a romantic theme loosely based on parts of Chaucer's poem Rumaunt of the Rose. Around 1872 Burne-jones and William Morris collaborated on designs for a wall-hanging inspired by the poem, with Burne-jones supplying the figures and Morris the briar background. The narrative sequence, consisting of many scenes, was embroidered by the wife and daughter of Sir Lowthian Bell, Ist Bt, an industrialist, and hung as a frieze in the dining room of his newly-built house, Rounton Grange. Rounton Grange, North Allerton, North Yorkshire was designed by Burne-jones's friend Philip Webb, built in 1872 and is now unfortunately demolished although the stables and some cottages survive. The embroideries, which date from 1874-1882, are now in The William Morris Museum, Walthamstow. Both the present painting, dated 1889, and its companion, dated 1884, are based on the artist's original designs for the wall-hanging. The Museum's collection also includes a chalk drawing of The Heart of the Rose, which is almost identical in size and composition to the painting.
The theme of the Romaunt of the Rose occupied Burne-Jones intermittently for over twenty years. The present painting was begun in 1889 and created as a pendant to the earlier Pilgrim at the Gate of Idleness. Both paintings remained in the studio and were taken up again by the artist in 1892, following a period of illness, and completed in time for the New Gallery exhibition in 1893. Love Leading the Pilgrim (Tate Gallery), the largest ofthe group, was begun in 1877 and finally completed in 1897, the date of its exhibition at the New Gallery.
The three paintings are conceived as a sequence. The first is The Pilgrim at the Gate of Idleness, in which the Pilgrim meets Idleness personified as a beguiling maid. Having escaped that temptation, the Pilgrim is led by Love through a briar thicket, depicted in the Tate Gallery painting. The final scene is represented in the present painting, The Heart of the Rose, where a winged figure, perhaps Love, leads the Pilgrim to the Rose, personified as a beautiful woman within a rose bush.
A large drawing with a composition related to the present painting and also entitled The Heart of the Rose is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A solitary figure on the left, similar to the Pilgrim, touches the edge of a gigantic rose, at the centre of which is a woman's race in profile. The drawing appears to be a tapestry design for William Morris's craft works at Merton Abbey. Two versions of the tapestry were made, c. 1901; one in a private collection was exhibited in the Burne-jones exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, 1975-6, no.23 1, and the other, sold at Sotheby's, London, 7 June 1972, is now in the Museum at Karlsruhe.
William Connal was the first owner of the two paintings, The Pilgrim at the Gate of Idleness and The Heart of the Rose, and probably acquired them from the artist. Connal's sale at Christie's in 1908, occasioned by his move from London to Glasgow, shows him to have been a serious patron of the Pre-Raphaelites. In addition to the nine works by Burne-jones, he sold many other Pre-Raphaelite paintings, notably The Pretty Baa-Lambs by Ford Madox Brown (Birmingham City Art Gallery).
Peter Nahum Ltd, London has most generously given its permission to use in the Victorian Web information, images, and text from its catalogues, and this generosity has led to the creation of hundreds of the site's most valuable documents on painting, drawing, and sculpture. The copyright on text and images from their catalogues remains, of course, with Peter Nahum Ltd.
Readers should consult the website of Peter Nahum at the Leicester Galleries to obtain information about recent exhibitions and to order their catalogues. [GPL]
Waters, Bill. Burne-Jones -- A Quest for Love: Works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones Bt and Related Works by Contemporary Artists. London: Peter Nahum, 1993. Catalogue number 38.
Last modified 5 June 2020


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The Getty Research Institute exhibit currently at the Central Library, a Nation Emerges – The Mexican Revolution Revealed, tells the story of an uprising that spread like wildfire across Mexico - marking the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in November 1910. The exhibit features photographs from the first decade of the revolution revealing the complexities of the times as recorded by Mexican, European, and American photographers, artists, and journalists – professional and amateur. The key figures of the revolution: Zapata, Poncho Villa, Diaz, Madero, and others are all on view – along with less familiar images of railroads transporting soldiers, or children bearing arms.
But what of the Mexican artists who recorded their country's protests during the period from 1910-1920 through prints and broadsheets, paintings, photographs, and films? What graphics persisted in the decades that followed? What pictures voiced new waves of social unrest and injustices endured by the populace into the twenty-first century?
Images obtained from the splendid books available at Central Library include reproductions of broadsheets of Posada and prints of Mendez, paintings by Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, photographs of Lopez and Bravo, and film stills from the collaborations of Fernandez and Figueroa. These graphic interpretations express continuing protest through one hundred years of art.
You are invited to join us on Saturday, January 19, 2013 from 12 – 2 P.M. in the Central Library's second floor Getty Gallery for a program on the artwork of the Mexican Revolution and the artists who tell their stories of protest. Enter a Diego Rivera mural on an interactive website, play a game of Lotería based on photographs from the exhibit, and enjoy a gallery talk with curator, Beth Ann Guynn from the Getty Research Institute. Free and open to all.


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Architects: Searle x Waldron Architecture
- Area: 131 area
- Year: 2011
Photographs:John Gollings
Text description provided by the architects. Annexe expands the Art Gallery of Ballarat function spaces, creating a new frontage to historic Camp Street and the adjoining plaza of Alfred Deakin Place. The project shifts across hybrid postures of public hall, verandah and bandstand, formally and programmatically recalling local typologies.
The project transforms a simple 'events marquee' brief into a flexible response to site and program providing an enclosed multi-purpose space for talks, workshops, installations and gallery functions. Operable glazed panels open the facade for summer openings and transform the project into a bandstand for public performances toward the adjacent plaza.
A modulated roof scape and painted timber linings recall roof forms of Ballarat's 19th century back of house spaces where humble, timber lined, saw-toothed additions stand in contrast to the grand facades of the main streets. A singular augmented horizontal plane running inside to out, the roof defines the space while emphasising framed views across the condensed volume between ceiling and plinth.
The facade opens for outdoor public events, de-materialising the glazed perimeter reorientates the interior to the urban context, with the outer corner cantilevering from two circular columns. Triangular awnings signal the new insertion from the distant end of Police Lane and form interstitial verandahs; stepped seating forms a stage and allows casual occupation of the plaza.
Interiors are purposefully sculptural, casting the volume upward into four peaks above the plinth. Skylights combine perpendicular and inclined edges at varying orientation and scale, channelling in diffused natural light. A striated pattern of timber boards shifts from solid to open at the extreme awning edges. This ceiling surface extends across the vertical face of the storage wall, accommodating operable glazed panels and services. An opening in the wall aligns with the skylights and frames a long bench seat, revealing the historic brickwork of the main gallery.
Acoustics are tailored predominantly for speech. Varied gaps between timber boards modulate sound with acoustic insulation behind. Lighting is integrated into the linear ceiling design with fluorescent slot lights and exhibition lighting tracks recessed. An open weave curtain fully encloses the envelope to diffuse southern glare. It features a horizontal viewing strip retracing historic sightlines across the 19th century city and Goldfields.
Ballarat became an instant tent city in the 1850's after the discovery of gold. This project faces historic Camp Street, where government troopers established a camp on top of the escarpment to keep surveillance over the goldfields and miner's tent city below. It was from this location that the troopers rode out to quash the Eureka Rebellion of 1854. The Art Gallery of Ballarat, founded in 1884, is the oldest regional art gallery in Australia. This addition opens to embrace and re-engage with the historic views of the 1850s Ballarat goldfields, with full height glazing folding away to present a sight-line across the city largely forgotten.
Designed along a long life loose fit ethos, a refined palette of powder-coated steel, painted timber, butynol membrane and bluestone paving were chosen for durability and ease of maintenance. The envelope employs perimeter seals, shade screens, double glazing, a passively ventilated roof cavity, as well as energy efficient lighting, programmatic versatility and the potential to naturally ventilate seasonal functions.
The Annexe is designed to be structurally independent of the existing heritage listed gallery and rest on the concrete retaining wall of the existing archival space immediately below. Steel was chosen for its lightweight versatility, rapid assembly and ability to be accurately tailored to the existing conditions. Two visible circular columns do the bulk of the lifting, supporting a cluster of beams at these two points, bearing the roof and awning.
Since completion this adaptable venue has hosted a multitude of functions from exhibitions, community workshops and fashion parades to local government meetings. The Annexe provides Ballarat with a 'statement' civic addition and public event space.


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I found this picture simply to illustrate my 'new' rifle. But Roza's story is strong and touching, compelling me to attach it, rather than use a small piece. So many fine people are destroyed by the greedy and powerful – who run no risk whatsoever in the theaters they build and games they play (the Rothschilds funded Franklin Rosevelt, Joe Stalin AND Adolph Hitler). I found it HERE and give them credit, but I copied it to The Fixer website in case the links break or their site goes away before mine. – Ted
Roza Shanina
This old picture has always stuck with me. It's obviously posed, with Roza Shanina (Senior Sgt.,184th Rifle Division, USSR) looking off into the distance with the hopeful gaze known well on countless Soviet propaganda posters. The pictures were all propaganda then, and not just in Russia. Everyone was at war.
Look closer, and the small details strike out, past the official vision of a triumphant, clean-faced young warrior. Her rifle is banged-up, scratched, the wood worn down white where the bolt's been pushed forward, again and again and again.
Her hands are dirty, calloused, and one sleeve falls back, a little tattered. The kindergarten teacher from Arkhangelsk had already killed 54 people — and those just the ones her superiors confirmed. Mindful of her sudden value as a symbol, they ordered her to leave the front.
She replied that she would only return after the battle, and fought on, getting a rifle round through her shoulder. While she recovered, they plastered her with medals. Two for glory, one for valor. Two of her brothers had died in 1941, one vanished, never to be seen again. She went back to the war.
Roza Shanina was killed a few weeks later, near an old homestead. She was 21, maybe, but no one seems to know her birthday. The war ended that spring.
About the time you think you have it rough, remember Roza Shanina. If you need some help getting in the mood, I'll let you fire my Mosin Nagant. Better still, I'll help you restore your own.


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Things get very exciting when you're about to start your dream career in the field of dentistry. Apparently, having their own dental clinic tops the list of things that aspiring dentists in Chicago want to have right after graduation. It's simply because practicing your profession is a lot easier if you do it your own way, and this includes the perks of being the boss.
Like them, you probably want to get your career going down the same path. Although putting up your own dental clinic is easy as long as you have the funds for it, you have to know that putting up your own clinic takes a lot of preparation and responsibility. This entails thorough planning and construction so that your dental clinic will be designed the way you want it to.
Probably the most difficult decision you need to make concerns the interiors of your clinic. The overall interior look of your dental clinic is important since many interior designers believe that it can affect the way your patients perceive their visit. Dentists pay more attention to their clinic's interiors to provide their patients a relaxed and fun experience. Here are some tips that you might want to consider when it comes to your clinic's interiors.
The secret to making your patients feel good about your dental services is to provide them a comfortable environment. Know that most people, especially children, don't really like dental visits. Many experts in dental construction Chicago suggest that you make use of neutral colors when it comes to your walls. Neutral colors can make the room exude a calm ambience and help to calm the nerves of anxious patients.
When it comes to aesthetic decorations, it helps a lot that you express your fondness for the profession. Display dental books, illustrations, or dentistry-inspired artwork. Ask your dental contractors Chicago to help you choose the right ones but do remember to consider your personal preferences.
It may sound a bit funny or unimportant, but know that aquariums are commonly suggested by Chicago medical construction companies. You can even find a lot of healthcare establishments that have aquariums in it. This is because they believe that watching the fish swim calms the nerves of anxious people. If you have patients with dental phobias, this could certainly help.


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2013 Acura TL Priced at $36,800, AWD TL with Six-Speed Manual at $44,080
Related Video
The 2013 Acura TL will still offer a six-speed manual with the SH-AWD system, the automaker revealed this week. Pricing on the 2013 Acura TL starts with a base model at $36,800, while the all-wheel-drive TL with the manual transmission will again only be offered with the Technology package, priced at $44,080. All prices include the $895 destination charge and represent a $200 increase over 2012 Acura TL prices.
After debuting in the 2009 model year to mixed reviews -- largely because of its controversial styling -- the Acura TL was refreshed in the 2012 model year and carries over unchanged for 2013. The entry-level TL, at $36,800, is powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 making 280 hp and 254 lb-ft of torque. Using a six-speed automatic, the 2013 Acura TL gets an EPA-rated 20/29 mpg city/highway. Standard features include HID headlights, fog lights, a power moonroof, eight-speaker sound system, 17-inch wheels (18s are available).
The TL more people are likely to buy is the one equipped with the $3730 Technology package, which includes a navigation system with a 60GB hard drive and a larger central screen, perforated leather seats, and a 10-speaker premium sound system. For $2200 more ($42,730 with the 3.5-liter V-6), the Acura TL with the Advance package includes heated and ventilated front seats, a blind spot monitoring information system, and 18-inch wheels.
2013 Acura TL models with the automaker's "super-handling all-wheel drive" start at $40,350, and have under the hood a 305-hp 3.7-liter V-6 with 273 lb-ft of torque. When we tested an all-wheel-drive 2012 Acura TL with the six-speed manual, the 0-60 mph sprint was completed in 5.3 seconds with the quarter mile in 13.9 seconds at 99.6 mph. Eighteen-inch wheels are standard on the all-wheel-drive TL, which can be had with the Technology package with the six-speed manual or automatic for $44,080. An all-wheel-drive TL with the Advance package adds 19-inch wheels (pictured at top) and will carry an MSRP of $46,280.
The 2013 Acura TL, which was recently named an IIHS Top Safety Pick, may be replaced by a new model called the TLX for the 2014 or 2015 model year. An Acura TLX would again be based on the Honda Accord, and since that 2013 four-door shrunk in length by 3.5 inches, expect the next-generation TL or TLX to get slightly shorter, as well. The 2013 Honda Accord's 3.5-liter V-6 makes 278 hp and 252 lb-ft of torque and is estimated to get 21/34 mpg. The Acura TLX could mark the automaker's first use of direct-injection on a V-6 but, for now, Acura sedan buyers can choose from the ILX and TSX compacts or TL and RL midsize entries.
Source: Acura


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Transcript 038
Spolsky: There's a debate over Test Driven Development... should you have unit tests for everything, that kind of stuff... a lot of people write to me, after reading The Joel Test, to say, "You should have a 13th thing on here: Unit Testing, 100% unit tests of all your code."
And that strikes me as being just a little bit too doctrinaire about something that you may not need. Like, the whole idea of agile programming is not to do things before you need them, but to page-fault them in as needed. I feel like automated testing of everything, a lot of times, is just not going to help you. In other words, you're going to write an awful lot of unit tests to ensure that code that, really, is going to work, and you're definitely going to find out if it doesn't work [if you don't write the tests] does, actually still work, ... I don't know, I'm going to get such flame mail for this because I'm not expressing it that well. But, I feel like if a team really did have 100% code coverage of their unit tests, there'd be a couple of problems. One, they would have spent an awful lot of time writing unit tests, and they wouldn't necessarily be able to pay for that time in improved quality. I mean, they'd have some improved quality, and they'd have the ability to change things in their code with the confidence that they don't break anything, but that's it.
But the real problem with unit tests as I've discovered is that the type of changes that you tend to make as code evolves tend to break a constant percentage of your unit tests. Sometimes you will make a change to your code that, somehow, breaks 10% of your unit tests. Intentionally. Because you've changed the design of something... you've moved a menu, and now everything that relied on that menu being there... the menu is now elsewhere. And so all those tests now break. [Ed: WUT???] And you have to be able to go in and recreate those tests to reflect the new reality of the code.
So the end result is that, as your project gets bigger and bigger, if you really have a lot of unit tests, the amount of investment you'll have to make in maintaining those unit tests, keeping them up-to-date and keeping them passing, starts to become disproportional to the amount of benefit that you get out of them.
Atwood: I think that's a great point. Although, I do think if you're working on older code bases that don't have a lot of churn, ...
Spolsky: Yeah.
Atwood: To me it's about churn. If you're working on an old code base that isn't going to have that much churn, and you want to change it where you can't break anything, where if you break anything it's really really bad, then it's probably worth your time to go in and develop a bunch of unit tests. You're building scaffolding around this grand old building, this classic old building that's not going to change for another 200 years, so sure, build a bunch of scaffolding around the building.
Spolsky: Yeah. They work really for things like a compiler, where the design is not going to change because the language is fixed.
Atwood: That's right.
Spolsky: I might do more black-boxy tests, sort of like unit tests but more from the perspective of "does this compile all code correctly," with enormous numbers of tests, than just the internal, "does this particular function work in this particular way at all times."
Last week I was listening to a podcast on Hanselminutes, with Robert Martin talking about the SOLID principles. (That's a real easy-to-Google term!) It's object-oriented design, and they're calling it agile design, which it really, really, really isn't. But it is various principles for how to design your classes, and how they should work and so forth. And, when I was listening to them, they all sounded to me like, to me, extremely bureaucratic programming that came from the mind of somebody that has not written a lot of code, frankly.
And here I am ranting against somebody that doesn't have a real chance to respond. But just to give you one example, a part of the SOLID principles was that if you write a class, that class has contracts with all the other classes that it interacts with, and those contracts should be expressed in interfaces [PDF]. So you shouldn't just interact with the class, because that class may change. If you have a particular class that you need to use, you should make a custom interface just for what you're going to use in that class. That interface, then, never has to change. And the interface is the only thing that you have to #include.
Does that make sense? So, you've got some class, with 40 different little methods on it, and I'm only going to use six of them, so I should make an interface with those six things that I can use, and the class will implement that interface, and that's my contract with the class, that those are the only six things I'm going to use.
Atwood: Right.
People that say things like this have just never written a heck of a lot of code. Because what they're doing is spending an enormous amount of time writing a lot of extra code, a lot of verbiage, a lot of files, and a million little classes that don't do anything and thousands of little interface classes and a lot of robustness to make each of these classes individually armed to go out into the world alone and do things, and you're not going to need it. You're spending a lot of time in advance writing code that is just not going to be relevant, it's not going to be important. It could, theoretically, protect you against things, but, how about waiting until those things happen before you protect yourself against them?
This seems to be where a lot of the Object Oriented Design community went, and if anybody has any strong feelings about this, call in and tell me what you think--tell me if I'm totally off track here--but it seems to me like a lot of the Object Oriented Design principles you're hearing lately from people like Robert Martin and Kent Beck and so forth have gone off the deep end into architecture for architecture's sake. It doesn't seem like you could actually get any code written if you're spending all your time writing 8,000,000 unit tests, and every single dinky little class that you need to split a URL into four parts becomes an engineering project worthy of making a bridge, where you spend six months defining 1000 little interfaces. They've just gone off the deep end, and I don't think these people write very much code if they're coming up with these principles, to be honest, it doesn't even make sense.
Atwood: Well, there are places where that level of testing makes sense. If you're working at Microsoft and you're working on the .NET Framework...
Spolsky: Yeah.
Atwood: ... you have a totally different set of obligations to your public ...
Spolsky: Correct.
Atwood: ... Your code's going to be used millions and millions of times.
Spolsky: Yeah. In fact, if you're making any kind of API, a plug in API, it is very important to separate things into interfaces and be very very contractual, and tightly engineered. Just like you want to put a lot of effort into your user interface, you also want to put a lot of effort into your API that people are calling... it's just an interface, and you want it to be good and solid and robust. And that's fine.
But this idea that every single class in your code, all these classes interacting with each other, should be so tightly defined ...
Listening to this interview on Hanselminutes, there seemed to be an intense obsession with creating lots and lots of little classes that all did one particular thing...
One of the SOLID principles, and I'm totally butchering this, but, one of the principles was that you shouldn't have two things in the same class that would be changed for a different reason [PDF]. Like, you don't want to have an Employee class, because it's got his name which might get changed if he gets married, and it has his salary, which might get changed if he gets a raise. Those have to be two separate classes, because they get changed under different circumstances. And you wind up with millions of tiny little classes, like the EmployeeSalary class, and it's just... (laughs) idiotic! You can't build software that way! The way real software works is that you create these very imperfect things, and they work great. They really do. And then you have a little problem, and you go and you fix the little problem, because it's code, and you have an editor, and you edit it. These classes are not going to go wander off flying in the universe all by themselves and need to work perfectly and unchanged until the end of time.
Atwood: Right. The longer I think about this, the less I care about code hygiene issues (laughs). Because the unit of measure that really matters to me is, how quickly you can respond to real business needs with your code. And by that I mean, how well are you serving the people that are using your code. To me that's what it's all about. Anything that gets in the way of you fixing your code or improving your code in a way that your customers can appreciate, is a negative. If that means using Ruby, or having lots of unit tests: whatever's working for you: do that. But if it's getting in the way, if it becomes friction, like, "I'd love to have this great new feature but I'd have to have 1000 unit tests," that's a negative.
Spolsky: Yeah. And the worst thing that happens is that you get people that just stop thinking about what they're doing. "This is the principle, to always write unit tests, so I'm always going to write unit tests," and then they're just not thinking about how they're spending their time, and they wind up wasting a lot of it.
Atwood: Yeah, it's a balancing act. And I don't want to come out and say I'm against [unit] testing, because I'm really not. Anything that improves quality is good. But there's multiple axes you're working on here; quality is just one axis. And I find, sadly, to be completely honest with everybody listening, quality really doesn't matter that much, in the big scheme of things... There was this quote from Frank Zappa: "Nobody gives a crap if we're great musicians." And it really is true. The people that appreciate Frank Zappa's music aren't going, "that guitar was really off." They're hearing the whole song; they're hearing the music, they're not really worried whether your code has the correct object interfaces, or if it's developed in a pure way, or written in Ruby or PHP... they don't really care about that stuff. We do internally, but it's important to balance that, I think, and I think that gets missed a lot, which is, maybe, the point you're getting at.
Spolsky: Yeah.
Atwood: I think over time, more and more, I've become really lax on my thinking about this, because what matters is what you deliver to the customer, and how happy the customer is with what you've delivered. There's many, many ways to get there.
Spolsky: Let's take a couple of questions from the StackOverflow.
Atwood: I've got one.
Spolsky: Yeah, do it.
Atwood: One that came up just randomly that I really enjoyed, huh. It was a guy asking about the marquee tag in a non-ironic way, like, he really wanted to do something where marquee was like the solution he had picked.
Spolsky: Okay.
Atwood: He was totally... This is not meant as a joke! As far as I can tell, this is a totally serious question. And he actually asked it in a reasonable way, like he get code samples, it wasn't like "How do I blah-blah-click", you know.
Spolsky: Yeah.
Atwood: It was a reasonable question formatted in a reasonable way. And of course the first answer is, you know, "Please don't do that! Don't use the marquee tag!" (laughs) But I love that we're reaching out to programmers who really don't know, like, they truly...
Spolsky: What's wrong with the marquee tag?
Atwood: Where in the world this guy is?
Spolsky: Wait, hold on a sec.
Atwood: The number is 456815.
Spolsky: Yeah, okay, I'm looking at that one. It says: "I try to move some box alternatively within a..." Huh, okay. "Hi friends. Actually I am trying to move some box alternatively within a box, I have done it. But both the blocks do not interrupt each other. What should I do?" I don't even understand the question. "How to make the blocks cross each other? I try with style:position, but it is not working. I am using this code, please check this and assist me, thanks." It's a legit question.
Atwood: Still, it's a good question, and anybody searching for marquee would see this and go "Oh, I probably shouldn't use marquee."
Spolsky: No, wait, stop, that's not answering his question! Just answer his friggin' question!
Atwood: This is the very essense of questions that shouldn't be asked, like, he needed to ask his question to find out that it's the wrong question.
Spolsky: Okay, so go tell him how to do the thing that he wants. He wants some box alternate within a box, go tell him some code to do that without the marquee.
Atwood: Well, I mean, we gave him jQuery...
Spolsky: No, this is not your chance, linking to jQuery is not getting him the jQuery stuff. Give him the jQuery stuff, showing him how to write the code.
Atwood: If you're asking a question, you've got to do some of the work, and he did some of the work with marquee, right? He played around with the marquee tag and he got certain results, now he needs to go play with jQuery and get some more results. And then, if he has a problem with that, he'll ask another question.
Spolsky: Yeah, I'm voting up the question and I'm voting down this snooty answer. I hate the answer which is like, "Don't do what you're doing! That's the solution, use Linux and you won't have any of these problems."
Atwood: Well, not necessarily.
Spolsky: Maybe he's got a good reason to using marquee tags!
Atwood: Okay, like, Alex, the guy that runs The Daily WTF, Alex had a great blog entry called "Old Shoe or Glass Bottle". And he characterized the problem where people go into web forums and ask programming questions. And they're like "I need to bang this nail into a wall. Should I use this old shoe or should I use a glass bottle? I tried the glass bottle, but it kind of breaks the bottle, and the shoe doesn't seem very efficient."
Spolsky: And the people always like, "You shouldn't be putting nails in your walls." That's their answer!
Atwood: That's terrific! "Oh, you're using nails, there's your problem, it's the wrong type of nail you idiot!" And there's the whole argument about nails.
Spolsky: Just say "Get a hammer!" It's fine to say you need a hammer, but you can't just say "You shouldn't be putting nails in your walls." That's what's annoying.
Atwood: But that's not what really what was said! Nobody said "Don't try to animate boxes", that would be "Don't try to put nails in your wall." They said, "If you're going to animate boxes, why don't you use jQuery?"
Spolsky: But the answer is "Please don't use the marquee tag, it's non-standard." Which is just not true, it's in all the browsers, it works fine, I saw a marquee tag site in Firefox yesterday.


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In honor of Spring Break, and spring travelers everywhere, let's send a shout-out to some of our painted friends who have also hit the road lately. The last time I checked, our artworks were not boozing it up on the beach…but then again, I'm a firm believer that works of art have distinct personalities, so perhaps they do get a little crazy when they're away from home.
As you may know, museums frequently lend works of art to each other for special exhibitions. This is why—if you're an art dork like me—when I visit a temporary exhibition, I always look at the labels next to each work to see where each one has come from. Sometimes you automatically know, because you recognize something very famous. And sometimes it's a great surprise, as in: "Who knew that there was a Museum of Bellybutton Lint AND that they just happened to have a major painting by Joe Schmo?"
Those of you who attended the Museum's fall 2011 exhibition Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper exhibition saw fantastic and rare works of art borrowed from our friends and partners at the Albertina in Vienna (where the exhibition is now on view); as well as the Harvard Art Museums and the Art Institute of Chicago, among many others.
In case you're traveling yourselves over the next few months, you might run into some of your Milwaukee hometown artistic pals in the following shows.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Sunlight, Tangiers, 1924.
This marvelous small image of a Moroccan street scene is currently part of the Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit retrospective organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. One of the most prominent African American artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Tanner was an internationally acclaimed painter and one of the great masters of religious painting. You can see Milwaukee's painting—along with other amazing examples, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts until April 15th. After that, you can catch it at the Cincinnati Art Museum from May 26-September 9th and then the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from October 21st, 2012 until next January 13th, 2013
Duane Hanson, Janitor, 1973.
You know and love—and probably have been fooled by—the Museum's super-realistic sculpture of a janitor by Duane Hanson. If you're wondering why he isn't leaning in his corner at the Milwaukee Art Museum lately, it's because he's now jolting visitors to the Lifelike exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Lifelike is a thematic show that questions what's real and what isn't. If you're in Minneapolis before May 27th, you can wave at Janitor there and tell him Milwaukee misses him.
Robert Henri, Blond Bridget Lavelle, 1928.
For someone who doesn't look old enough to travel without a chaperone, Bridget Lavelle has been getting around! She's been part of From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri and Ireland, a show that explores American artist Robert Henri's frequent trips to Ireland, and the inspiration he found there. Little Bridget was at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina all last summer, followed the show to Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum last fall, and now she has been hanging out in Syracuse, New York, at the Everson Museum of Art, where the exhibition continues until May 12.
Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #16, 1968.
This fantastically important abstract painting has really racked up the stickers on its crate. As part of Richard Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series, an exhibition that has brought together this distinctive series within the artist's career for the first time, Milwaukee's painting has strutted its stuff at the Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth, Texas, and is now enjoying the sunshine at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California, until May 27th (See? College students aren't the only one who need a little sun and sand during winter!) You can also catch the exhibition this summer at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC from July 3-September 23, 2012.
George Bellows, Sawdust Trail, 1916.
And speaking of Washington, DC, if you happen to be visiting there between June 10 and October 8th, and drop into the National Gallery of Art (which is free!), you will run into another Milwaukee artwork, the great Sawdust Trail by George Bellows. Milwaukee's spectacular image of evangelist Billy Sunday and his revival meeting is part of the NGA's major retrospective on George Bellows that will be debuting there this summer and then travel to the Metropolitan Museum in New York this fall.
I'll miss these paintings while they're gone—as I know you do, too—but the Museum is thrilled to be able to share our works with visitors in other places. And we're always happy to see them when they come home.
Which reminds me: someday I want a T-shirt that says: "My painting went to [FILL IN THE BLANK] and all I got was this lousy t-Shirt!"
William Keyse Rudolph was the Museum's curator of American art and Decorative arts, focusing on the Museum's collections of American painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, furniture, silver, and textiles from the 17th to the 20th centuries.


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Study: Amount of Water Used in Fracking Climbs, but Will Soon Plateau
A new University of Texas at Austin study funded by an oil and gas group has found that the amount of water used in fracking has risen sharply in recent years but would level off sometime in the decade starting in 2020.
A new University of Texas at Austin study has found that the amount of water used in the drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing has risen sharply in recent years as oil and natural gas production has surged.
But the 97-page study, funded by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, also found that the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing would level off sometime in the decade starting in 2020, as water recycling technologies matured and the industry's rapid growth rate cooled.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a water-intensive practice in which liquids are pumped underground at high pressure to retrieve oil or gas trapped in rocks, like shale.
The Texas Water Development Board circulated the study last week to regional water planning groups around the state. Those groups are preparing the state's next water plan, due out in 2017.
The study is an update to a 2011 study that was prepared by UT-Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology using funding from the Water Development Board. This study was also prepared by UT-Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology, but it was funded by the oil and gas association. It is considerably shorter than the earlier study (97 pages vs. 357 pages), but it is more narrowly focused on oil and gas. (The earlier report did further analysis of other water-intensive activities in the mining sector, like coal mining.)
Dan Hardin, the Water Development Board official who circulated the study to regional water-planning groups, said that the board had not funded the updated study because of financial constraints. "Because of our budgetary situation, we did not have the funds available to commit to it at the time," he said. However, the board agreed with the methodology of the study, he said.
Jean-Philippe Nicot, a research scientist with the Bureau of Economic Geology who served as the lead author of the study, said that oil and gas association funding had not constrained his work. In fact, he said, it had resulted in better industry cooperation than the 2011 study, which he had also worked on.
"I must say, they let me do my work, no problem," he said.
The new study (which cost $95,000, according to the oil and gas association) "doesn't change the high-level picture" of the use of water for fracking, according to Nicot. It found that total water use for fracking in Texas rose by about 125 percent, from 36,000 acre-feet in 2008 to about 81,500 acre-feet in 2011. (For comparison, the city of Austin used about 107,000 acre-feet of water in 2011.), About one-fifth of the current total comes from recycled or brackish water, a category that has been growing.
"We are using more and more brackish water, and reuse or recycled water, and we think that is all positive," said CJ Tredway, a consultant with the oil and gas association on water issues.
Nicot said that using brackish or recycled water was more expensive for the industry, but in some dry areas drillers had no choice.
In the Permian Basin, for example, "there is not much fresh water," he said. "There is a lot of brackish water." The study found that about one-third of the water used in fracking in the Midland area was brackish.
The total amount of water used in fracking in Texas is expected to level off in the 2020 decade at about 125,000 acre-feet, per year, the report states. Nicot predicted that water-recycling technologies pioneered in the Pennsylvania drilling area known as the Marcellus Shale would become more cost-effective and then make their way to Texas.
Oil and gas account for less than 1 percent of the state's total water use, according to the report. Hardin of the Water Development Board agrees with that figure, though usage for the mining sector as a whole [which includes coal and other types of mining] is 1 percent to 2 percent, he said.
However, water use for fracking in drilling-intensive rural counties can be high. The 2011 study mentioned that in Dimmit, Webb and LaSalle counties — all in the Eagle Ford Shale — more than 50 percent of total water use comes from the broad category of mining. (Mining would mostly consist of hydraulic fracturing, in this instance.) The current study did not contain such estimates, though clearly water usage in heavily drilled counties remains significant.
Cyrus Reed, acting director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, said that high water use by the oil and gas industry in West and South Texas remained a concern. He said he viewed the report as a useful planning document, but more study needed to be done.
"While Sierra Club believes this more accurate look at oil and gas water use, based in large part on actual water use from an industry database and interviews with individual companies, is a great first step, we continue to support a more robust requirement that the Railroad Commission [which regulates oil and gas in Texas] both collect and aggregate water use data for the regional water planning process," he said in an email.
Nicot said that given the fast-changing nature of technology and the resurgence of drilling, he hoped to continue doing updated studies.
"I think we need to do an update fairly frequently, at least every other year, because the industry is evolving very fast," he said.
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Today's show includes some updates about the action on campuses, a couple of major press hits, and the sad, sad state of my computer. All that, of course, and a little topic I like to call:
Most of my close relationships are with sexual people. Because I do the whole community based intimacy things none of these are really Relationships with a capitol R, but it's still worth noting. I have been able to do a lot in my relationships without sexuality ever entering the picture (or at least without it ever becoming unmanageable.)
For the record, this is NOT how I do things. Maybe it's the AVEN-lavender blood coursing through my vanes, but the thought of an arrangement so centered around sexuality makes me shudder. If my years of asexual escapades have taught me one thing, it's that every time it's about sex it's never REALLY about sex. Let's dig a little deeper.
What do sexual people mean when they say that they "need sexuality?" Science has yet to find a negative thing which happens to people when they don't have sex, aside from the general theory that wanting anything too much and forcing a denial of it is a problematic behavior. When sexual people don't have sex in their lives they in theory (though not always in practice) get cranky, and cranky people are no fun to be in relationships with. It may be useful to stop thinking about sexuality as a biological drive, and start thinking about it as a sort of identity. For most of you listening, asexuality is an important part of who you are. It's a sort of toolbox of ideas and definitions that you use to think about yourself and your relationships, describe yourself to people and just go about your day without getting hopelessly lost and confused. (Which is not to say that most of us haven't been there.) I'm saying, what if sexuality is the same way? What if sex and the desires that they feel around it are so integral to the way that sexual people think about themselves and their lives that asking one of them to suddenly live in a world without sex would be like asking one of us to live in a world without AVEN.
(Not to compare AVEN to sex, y'all already know which is better.)
So sexual people need sex for more than endorphins, they need it to understand and explore themselves. The important thing to realize is that we don't need to be the arena of their exploration in order to be close to them. We don't even have to help, all we have to do is avoid standing in the way. Sexual people are just as capable of nonsexual intimacy as we are, they're just not as used to exploring it.
So how do you avoid standing in the way? Point out the facts. Unless your partner is gung-ho about exploring sexuality with someone who's inexperienced, disinterested and bored, their relationship with you probably is not the arena for their sexual exploration. If you've never had sex play down the virgin card. Virgins swoon over the world of erotic possibility that their first time has unlocked, you would look at your watch and ask if there was anything good on TV. And not to bean-count, but does your partner REALLY have anything lose from a relationship with you? If they go from looking for sex, intimacy, and companionship to just looking for sex, then aren't they better off?
This is, admittedly, where it gets tricky again. As I've noted in earlier podcasts I'm a ho, most of my friends are hoes and none of us has THAT much trouble separating intimacy from doing the nasty. Not all of us are so fortunate. For some people sex, intimacy and companionship can not be so easily separated. This is NOT because once intimacy and companionship enter the picture immutable sexual desire gets dragged in with it. (See Exhibit A, in which sexual people have been forming intense nonsexual relationships with each other throughout all of history.) It's because when intimacy and companionship are served up with cake and AVENfries, sex is left a la cart. Your partner can't get close to you because they're saving themselves for a sexual relationship which rides in on a unicorn that shits rainbows.
In times like these that it's useful to point out the flawed logic of "saving oneself." The whole really fantastic thing about love is that you never run out. Love is a verb, not a commodity- when you love more you get better at loving. And unless looking for that all-encompassing sexual relationship is a 40-hour-a-week endeavor (in which case PLEASE stop them), there's no reason that they can't make that relationship better and richer by seeing just how far they can take their relationship with you. And who knows? Once they've had themselves a nice, big slice of AVENcake that unicorn may seem like more and more of a fairy tale.


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Did NASA fake the moon landing? Is the government hiding Martians in Area 51? Is global warming a hoax? And what about the Boston Marathon bombing…an "inside job" perhaps?
In the book "The Empire of Conspiracy," Timothy Melley explains that conspiracy theories have traditionally been regarded by many social scientists as "the implausible visions of a lunatic fringe," often inspired by what the late historian Richard Hofstadter described as "the paranoid style of American politics." Influenced by this view, many scholars have come to think of conspiracy theories as paranoid and delusional, and for a long time psychologists have had little to contribute other than to affirm the psychopathological nature of conspiracy thinking, given that conspiricist delusions are commonly associated with (schizotype) paranoia.
Yet, such pathological explanations have proven to be widely insufficient because conspiracy theories are not just the implausible visions of a paranoid minority. For example, a national poll released just this month reports that 37 percent of Americans believe that global warming is a hoax, 21 percent think that the US government is covering up evidence of alien existence and 28 percent believe a secret elite power with a globalist agenda is conspiring to rule the world. Only hours after the recent Boston marathon bombing, numerous conspiracy theories were floated ranging from a possible 'inside job' to YouTube videos claiming that the entire event was a hoax.
So why is it that so many people come to believe in conspiracy theories? They can't all be paranoid schizophrenics. New studies are providing some eye-opening insights and potential explanations.
For example, while it has been known for some time that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are also likely to believe in other conspiracy theories, we would expect contradictory conspiracy theories to be negatively correlated. Yet, this is not what psychologists Micheal Wood, Karen Douglas and Robbie Suton found in a recent study. Instead, the research team, based at the University of Kent in England, found that many participants believed in contradictory conspiracy theories. For example, the conspiracy-belief that Osama Bin Laden is still alive was positively correlated with the conspiracy-belief that he was already dead before the military raid took place. This makes little sense, logically: Bin Laden cannot be both dead and alive at the same time. An important conclusion that the authors draw from their analysis is that people don't tend to believe in a conspiracy theory because of the specifics, but rather because of higher-order beliefs that support conspiracy-like thinking more generally. A popular example of such higher-order beliefs is a severe "distrust of authority." The authors go on to suggest that conspiracism is therefore not just about belief in an individual theory, but rather an ideological lens through which we view the world. A good case in point is Alex Jones's recent commentary on the Boston bombings. Jones, (one of the country's preeminent conspiracy theorists) reminded his audience that two of the hijacked planes on 9/11 flew out of Boston (relating one conspiracy theory to another) and moreover, that the Boston Marathon bombing could be a response to the sudden drop in the price of gold or part of a secret government plot to expand the Transportation Security Administration's reach to sporting events. Others have pointed their fingers to a 'mystery man' spotted on a nearby roof shortly after the explosions. While it remains unsure whether or not credence is given to only some or all of these (note: contradicting) conspiracy theories, there clearly is a larger underlying preference to support conspiracy-type explanations more generally.
Interestingly, belief in conspiracy theories has recently been linked to the rejection of science. In a paper published in Psychological Science, Stephen Lewandowsky and colleagues investigated the relation between acceptance of science and conspiricist thinking patterns. While the authors' survey was not representative of the general population, results suggest that (controlling for other important factors) belief in multiple conspiracy theories significantly predicted the rejection of important scientific conclusions, such as climate science or the fact that smoking causes lung cancer. Yet, rejection of scientific principles is not the only possible consequence of widespread belief in conspiracy theories. Another recent study indicates that receiving positive information about or even being merely exposed to conspiracy theories can lead people to become disengaged from important political and societal topics. For example, in their study, Daniel Jolley and Karen Douglas clearly show that participants who received information that supported the idea that global warming is a hoax were less willing to engage politically and also less willing to implement individual behavioral changes such as reducing their carbon footprint.
These findings are alarming because they show that conspiracy theories sow public mistrust and undermine democratic debate by diverting attention away from important scientific, political and societal issues. There is no question as to whether the public should actively demand truthful and transparent information from their governments and proposed explanations should be met with a healthy amount of scepticism, yet, this is not what conspiracy theories offer. A conspiracy theory is usually defined as an attempt to explain the ultimate cause of an important societal event as part of some sinister plot conjured up by a secret alliance of powerful individuals and organizations. The great philosopher Karl Popper argued that the fallacy of conspiracy theories lies in their tendency to describe every event as 'intentional' and 'planned' thereby seriously underestimating the random nature and unintended consequences of many political and social actions. In fact, Popper was describing a cognitive bias that psychologists now commonly refer to as the "fundamental attribution error": the tendency to overestimate the actions of others as being intentional rather than the product of (random) situational circumstances.
Since a number of studies have shown that belief in conspiracy theories is associated with feelings of powerlessness, uncertainty and a general lack of agency and control, a likely purpose of this bias is to help people "make sense of the world" by providing simple explanations for complex societal events — restoring a sense of control and predictability. A good example is that of climate change: while the most recent international scientific assessment report (receiving input from over 2500 independent scientists from more than a 100 countries) concluded with 90 percent certainty that human-induced global warming is occurring, the severe consequences and implications of climate change are often too distressing and overwhelming for people to deal with, both cognitively as well as emotionally. Resorting to easier explanations that simply discount global warming as a hoax is then of course much more comforting and convenient psychologically. Yet, as Al Gore famously pointed out, unfortunately, the truth is not always convenient.
Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas.