joshuago’s Bookmarks

08 MAR 2010
[NPR] Accidents Of History Created U.S. Health System

How did Americans end up with a system in which employers pay for our health insurance? After all, they don't pay for our groceries or our gas.

05 MAR 2010
[The Ferrett] If Nerds Can Learn Linux, Why Can't They Learn Not To Interrupt People?

If nerds can master such arbitrarily complex things as the Linux operating and the complete rules of D&D, why can't they learn the rules of social norms?

24 FEB 2010
[McSweeney's] Adventures of a Foreclosure Attorney

Could it be that the last chance to save a young family from foreclosure is a 28-year-old Pakistani-American playwright-attorney who learned bankruptcy law on the Internet? A fun and informative, if at times infuriating, read.

24 FEB 2010
[The Guardian] The limits of freedom

In the chaos of the liberal free-market, we tend to lack not so much freedom, as the chance to use it well. We lack guidance, self-understanding, self-control, direction. Being left alone to ruin our lives as we please is not a liberty worth revering.

24 FEB 2010
[CNN] Too much law suffocating America

Washington's paralysis is becoming intolerable, says Philip Howard. He says the government is burdened by too much law and too many entitlements. The health care system can't provide quality care efficiently. Legal reform would force officials to take responsibility for their actions.

24 FEB 2010
[American Scientist] Avoiding a Digital Dark Age

Detailed, pessimistic account of problems in making data secure, legible for centuries to come. Do the obvious things—back up, print out—but they won't be enough.

24 FEB 2010
[The New Yorker] The Deflationist: How Paul Krugman found politics

In his columns, Krugman is belligerently, obsessively political, but this aspect of his personality is actually a recent development. His parents were New Deal liberals, but they weren’t especially interested in politics. In his academic work, Krugman focused mostly on subjects with little political salience.

23 FEB 2010
[Steve Blank] No Accounting For Startups

Startups need different metrics than large companies do. They need metrics to tell how well the search for the business model is going, and whether at the end of that search is the business model you picked worth scaling into a company. Or is it time to pivot and look for a different business model?

22 FEB 2010
[The Weekly Standard] Blame Americans First

The reason health care, cap and trade, and the other blocks of Obama’s New Foundation are unpopular isn’t public ignorance. It’s that the public sees them as counterproductive—and in many cases beside the point.

18 FEB 2010
[HBS Working Knowledge] Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation

Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivation—but sometimes managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are seven practices to fire up the troops.