joshuago’s Bookmarks

Justice Louis D. Brandeis’s metaphor of the states as "laboratories" for policy experiments is perhaps the most familiar and clichéd image of federalism. Contrary to common belief, however, Brandeis’s famous dictum had almost nothing to do with federalism and everything to do with his commitment to scientific socialism. That substantive view proved even more influential, in political thought and constitutional jurisprudence, than the metaphor that flowed from it. To this day, it continues to inhibit a truly experimental, federalist politics.

The three sexy skills of data geeks are statistics (which requires study), data munging (which demands suffering), and visualization (which favors those with a knack for storytelling).

Marc Andreessen argues that market is the most important factor to a startup's success.

In 1946 Observer editor David Astor lent George Orwell a remote Scottish farmhouse in which to write his new book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. It became one of the most significant novels of the 20th century. The compelling story of Orwell's torturous stay on the island where the author, close to death and beset by creative demons, was engaged in a feverish race to finish the book.

Twitter, texting, Facebook, Crackberrys, and 24/7 instant news. All these technologies enhance an already bad inclination humans (and especially Americans) have: an overweening desire to be distracted from being alone in silence, or having to come to terms with whatever we might find there, if we slowed down enough to let it catch us.

Great tips for the socially awkward on how to keep a conversation going and how to engage in small talk.

A time-tested formula may not determine the difference between good or bad taste, but it does predict common taste. And that makes the formula quite useful when you're choosing colors.

The only metrics that entrepreneurs should invest energy in collecting are those that help them make decisions. Unfortunately, the majority of data available in off-the-shelf analytics packages are Vanity Metrics: they might make you feel good, but they don’t offer clear guidance for what to do.

Here's the problem for states that want to pry more money out of the wallets of rich people. It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.