“I think that one of the things that separates us from the high primates is that we’re tool-builders. I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. Humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing of about a third of the way down the list – it was not too proud of a showing for the crown of creation. So that didn’t look so good. But then someone at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And a human on a bicycle blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts. And that’s what a computer is to me. It’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with. It’s a bicycle for our minds.”

-Steve Jobs

Too bad GP computers will be defunct soon.

This is probably the most insightful thing I have ever read about Black Friday.

I really like it when smart people make me think of something I never would’ve thought of on my own, that also explains human behavior I previously could not have made sense of.

Of course the feeling of defeating capitalism at its own game is an illusion, but illusions are reality to the people experiencing them.

I’m really tired of the phrase “first world problems.” Originally, it highlighted something that was relevant and worth paying attention to.

Now it’s just used to dismiss people. For instance if my (nice, fast) car breaks down, yes that might indeed be a first world problem but it’s a real damn problem and I have to deal with with it.

“First world problems” has metamorphosed into a phrase mostly used to avoid paying attention to anyone who cares about anything besides your particular problem, and to guilt-trip people into silence.

This never works and is completely counterproductive, though it is a common liberal failure mode.