When I posted the first Monday Links a year ago, it was only intended to be a one-off thing. Unfortunately, the habit grew on me, so here goes with another year of time-wasting:
Happy invoicing!
- Notes to the Principal Private Secretary - "When we transferred power from voters to parties by increasing the size of constituencies so that voters no longer knew the person they were voting for, we in effect gave far more power to the cabinet. We were able to neutralise that by increasing its size. You and I know that it is impossible for any committee of more than ten members to give proper consideration to problems, or reach sensible and considered decisions. Once we raised cabinet membership above twenty we removed the danger of its doing anything original or decisive. As you know, it is now in effect a group therapy session." Sir Humphrey Appleby's blog, by Yes Prime Minister creators Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn.
- When Summer Fun Turns Deadly Serious - "I was in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado yesterday, whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River... It’s a challenging stretch of water that demands an aggressive approach. People can and do get hurt." Jeff Wise, author of Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger, describes how he and his companions' response to sudden peril almost led to tragedy.
- Why it's better to pretend you don't know anything about computers - Another classic comic from The Oatmeal, this time about providing tech support to friends and family: "Sorry about the rat's nest of cables and the dust. I bought my computer after Windows 95 came out and I haven't vacuumed under there since."
- Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness - "...Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), the guy who wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that 'these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.' For the first time in two days, the conversation comes to an awkward halt... he came out of a seemingly contented retirement to launch a bitter and protracted battle with the people, some of them friends, who are creating the next edition of the DSM. And to criticize them not just once, and not in professional mumbo jumbo that would keep the fight inside the professional family, but repeatedly and in plain English, in newspapers and magazines and blogs. And to accuse his colleagues not just of bad science but of bad faith, hubris, and blindness, of making diseases out of everyday suffering and, as a result, padding the bottom lines of drug companies. These aren’t new accusations to level at psychiatry, but Frances used to be their target, not their source. He’s hurling grenades into the bunker where he spent his entire career."
- Demolition of the Paris Metro - "On my first trip to Paris I arrived into Gare du Nord and entered the dense maze that is the metro. Despite the crowds, the noise and the distinct odour of piss, I was in love. The kind of love which inspires one to risk life, limb and deportation to get up close and personal." No, they aren't actually demolishing it: it's a term used by urban explorers to describe the places they've penetrated. This detailed account of numerous invasions of the Metro contains many brilliant photos.
- From sex to phones to Star Wars, what would older redditors like to let the young whipper-snappers know about the past? - Brilliant (and very long) nostalgia thread on Reddit with people reminiscing about assorted aspects of life with older technology: "We didn't have remote controls for TVs. You had to get up off your ass and physically turn one of the two knobs. Not only that, but most of the channels were just noise. So VHF had 13 channels, of which maybe 3 were NBC, ABC, and CBS. UHF had about 80 channels, but most of them were just white noise."
- Dead-End Jobs: Are You Suffering From Stockholm Syndrome? - "Looking back at my own career (specifically some of the extremely intelligent people I’ve met who are stagnating in oppressive companies or positions) I have recognized that many of these people (and sometimes myself) have felt 'stuck' for no obvious reason. Some people seem just plain crazy when you look at their skill sets, ability, and the low quality of work or environment they’re willing to put up with... So I contacted Joseph Carver to ask his opinion. Could this be Stockholm Syndrome? He agreed. In email, he said 'SS is most likely to develop when the employee feels trapped, perhaps by a high salary, fear of losing a career, or fear of humiliation.'" Interesting conjecture by Chad Fowler about why people stay in bad workplaces. You may want to send this link to the permies at your current gig, just to make them hate you even more
- How Ayn Rand Became an American Icon - "Ayn Rand is one of America's great mysteries. She was an amphetamine-addicted author of sub-Dan Brown potboilers, who in her spare time wrote lavish torrents of praise for serial killers and the Bernie Madoff-style embezzlers of her day. She opposed democracy on the grounds that 'the masses'—her readers—were 'lice' and 'parasites' who scarcely deserved to live. Yet she remains one of the most popular writers in the United States, still selling 800,000 books a year from beyond the grave." Excellent examination of Rand in Johann Hari's review of two recent biographies.
- The Blast Shack - Cypherpunk author Bruce Sterling on WikiLeaks: "The Wikileaks Cablegate scandal is the most exciting and interesting hacker scandal ever. I rather commonly write about such things, and I’m surrounded by online acquaintances who take a burning interest in every little jot and tittle of this ongoing saga. So it’s going to take me a while to explain why this highly newsworthy event fills me with such a chilly, deadening sense of Edgar Allen Poe melancholia. But it sure does."
- Comically Vintage - Great collection of single frames taken from the kind of comics we had back in the days when men were men, and women were easily confused:
Happy invoicing!
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