web jargon explicated, sort of (simon says)
"Sam’s book contains, among other things, the ultimate acronym directory. This could be very useful to you as you hunt down your prey. If you start dating a Web guy who is R.F.R. ("really fucking rich") and you overhear him referring to you as having N.P.V.A. ("no practical vertical application"—i.e., you’re good only for sex), you should feel free to kick him really, really hard right in the middle of his Web-enabled portals."
(Wednesday, October 18, 2000)

how we spend (nyt magazine)
I read this whole issue at home yesterday. It's very interesting reading. But maybe that's because money and debt reduction have been my major obsessions over the past year or so.

Here's why they're so important to me right now: for me, getting out of debt means instant freedom from the day to day grind. If the balance sheet is in the black, there is a lot more leeway in what you can do in your normal life.

The word "reprioritization" comes to mind.
(Monday, October 16, 2000)

beyond venture capital (nyt)
"'We're definitely seeing a growth in services — if not across the board, then very predominantly,' said George Moriarty, chief editor of Venture Economics, a trade publication.

"The services take many forms. Venture capital firms may provide furnished office space, hire recruiters and consultants in marketing and product development, hold job fairs and splashy corporate retreats to foster strategic alliances among new companies and sign up partners to serve as the start-ups' interim chief executives. The firms are also creating limited-access Web sites where young companies can soak up shop talk."

This is relevant. Take a guess on which part of the industry I work in now.
(Monday, October 16, 2000)

www.hijacking.com
i'd forgotten how much i enjoy hilary price's cartoons.
(Monday, October 16, 2000)

renzo piano wins nyt hq competition (nyt)
"'This building is about defying gravity,' Mr. Piano said yesterday in a telephone interview from his Paris office. 'This is the idea. In some ways, it is like information. Information is immaterial.

"'It's always very dangerous to look for symbolism,' he said. 'But in some way, I love the idea that the spirit of a newspaper like The New York Times is expressed semantically.'"
(Friday, October 13, 2000)

lose weight fast! outpatient procedure. (nyt)
"Dr. Jules Hirsch, an obesity expert at Rockefeller University in Manhattan, called bariatric surgery 'a counsel of despair.'

"'In a sense,' Dr. Hirsch said, 'I think it's an expression of failure. It's an extraordinary thing to do to somebody to counter obesity, which has to come about by overeating and underactivity. But the only alternative is to stay the way you are or to adhere very strictly to a diet. It's extremely difficult for most people to do that. A lot of people, unfortunately, are popping up in our society that weigh 400 pounds.'"

Every time I read an article about obesity I think of a "Bloom County" cartoon, wherein Opus is trying to lose weight and Milo counsels him to "eat right and exercise."
(Thursday, October 12, 2000)

from the Biography Room to the Architecture Closet (nyt)
"Visitors to both houses described finding books on the stairs, in the refrigerator and even in the bathtub, lovingly arranged by topic and by room according to a quirky system that came to be dubbed the Durst Quintessimal System."

This reminds me of Judith's dilemma: how to organize fifty boxes of books. The best suggestion she got was to shelve books in order, from best to worst.

My books are more or less arranged by topic, but a major reshelving project is in the works.
(Wednesday, October 11, 2000)

same photo, different colors
look at the two magazine covers pictured.
(Wednesday, October 11, 2000)

too much homework? (nyt)
"'Today, homework is not so much an issue because of legitimate pedagogical concerns, but because of increasing pressure on parents' time,' said John Buell, a former teacher and co-author of "The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning" (Beacon Press; 2000). 'It's not that parents don't want interaction with their kids, it's that when they get home from work, they don't want that interaction determined by another boss, i.e., the school. We don't want to have to again do someone else's chores. There are enough things we have to order our children to do anyway; there is enough stress in that relationship. Why aggravate it?'"
(Tuesday, October 10, 2000)

high gas prices = constant usage (nyt)
"In addition, even after rising steadily for the last 20 months gas prices remain significantly lower, adjusted for inflation, than they were in the 1970's and 1980's. Perhaps equally important, upper income consumers, who are relatively indifferent to gas prices, consume a larger share of gas than they once did because of theiraffinity for S.U.V.'s.

"Oil demand, consequently, shows little sign of abating in the United States. With Americans accounting for about one quarter of the world's energy consumption, the strength of gasoline demand in recent years is a major reason, economists say, that prices are at their current level."
(Monday, October 9, 2000)

no experience, high expectations (standard)
"Despite a less-forgiving stock market and a rash of recent dot-com layoffs, there's still an Internet gold-rush mentality among many recent college graduates. The crowded labor market and the resulting hiring habits of some startups lead those of earlier generations to believe that today's grads don't have to be good in order to get their candy. And unlike their bosses, many of whom had to job-hunt in less prosperous eras, recent grads do indeed have previously unheard-of options: They're able to work with people their own age while feasting on lavish snacks and getting paid well."

The nicest thing about my new job is that I can be really picky about who I hire. College grads with absolutely no experience are not on my list -- I'm not being paid to babysit, you know?
(Tuesday, October 3, 2000)

Les MIZrahi (nyt)
"I'm feeling great about things," he said, wearing khakis and a tight gray T-shirt that showed off his newly slim body. "I feel like I'm where I belong. I always felt I was where I belong, and now I feel this is absolutely right."

"It seems so simple to me, this chapter," he continued. "I work, I get paid — no losses and gains. It's just me, which is a nice feeling. And everything I have I own."
(Tuesday, October 3, 2000)

what to wear to work (esquire)
"Whoever you are, whatever kind of company you work in, there is another way to dress--a more stylish, more professional way. We call it dressing for the new office, and though it doesn't shun the khakis and polo, it most definitely includes the suit and just about every combination of sensible clothing in between."
(Monday, October 2, 2000)

pseudo reality (standard)
"More likely, though, Pseudo's problems are unique. 'Making parties an integral part of the business plan always sort of undermined its financial credibility,' quips Sonicnet founder Tim Nye, who's now gearing up to launch his own video-content portal."
(Monday, October 2, 2000)