Letters Remain

Month: July 2009

  • On Passwords (Usability and Security)

    Passwords have barely evolved since the early days of computing and are taken for granted in our daily online-lives. It’s time for change, says usability expert Jakob Nielsen, who believes password masking goes against basic usability principles and should be stopped (via Kottke). Providing feedback and visualizing the system’s status have always been among the…

  • An Introduction to Stoicism (and Other Philosophies)

    My first introduction to Stoic thinking came from reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning; a powerful book showing how important self-discipline and attitude are in situations that some may see as hopeless. After discussing Tim O’Reilly’s thoughts on Classics last week, I was reminded of a post I’ve been meaning to read for a few…

  • Story Types for Speeches (and TV)

    Each and every time I begin to structure a speech or presentation I consider which ‘story type’ to use (if it is suitable at all). Not being particularly well-versed in these, I recently came across a couple of useful resources. First, Nick Morgan’s description of the five “basic stories that Western culture has to make…

  • 30 Ways to a Better Person

    As Trent says, this article’s original title—30 Days to a Better Man—may exclude a large proportion of readers, and this is a bad thing. It’s a bad thing because these 30 articles compiled together to help you “improve in […] relationships, fitness and health, career, and personal finances” are not only excellent, but apply equally to both…

  • The Benefits of a Classical Education

    Asked by Forbes about his Classical education, Tim O’Reilly discusses at length lessons learnt from the classics that have influenced both his personal and business life. A great post looking at how the classics not only influence culture, but the adoption and adaptation of technology. The unconscious often knows more than the conscious mind. I believe…

  • Laziness, Impatience, Hubris

    The three virtues of a programmer, according to Larry Wall (in Programming Perl): Laziness The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful, and document what you wrote so you don’t have to answer so many questions about…

  • The Parental Limit

    Birth order and parental influence matter much less than a child’s peer group when it comes to determining behaviour, according to Judith Rich Harris‘ polarising book, The Nurture Assumption. In the ten years since the book’s publication her ideas have gained support from prominent developmental psychologists (notably, Steven Pinker), and now Jonah Lehrer interviews Harris,…

  • A Brief Summary of Group Psychology

    If, like me, you’re even remotely interested in the dynamics of group psychology you’ve probably already read a couple of these. Nonetheless, these 10 psychology studies highlighted as ‘rules’ governing groups are worth noting: Groups can arise from almost nothing Initiation rites improve group evaluations Groups breed conformity Learn the ropes or be ostracised You become…

  • Validation vs Correctness

    In order to avoid cognitive dissonance you have a number of choices. Primarily: selective exposure and/or confirmation bias. Researchers from a number of US universities are now attempting to quantify these phenomena, looking at how we seek validation as opposed to correctness. The researchers found that people are about twice as likely to select information that supports their…

  • The Benefits of Child Bilingualism

    Outside of the UK, bilingualism (or even trilingualism+) is the norm in Europe and, in some countries and/or regions, even expected. With that said, The Economist takes a look at the effect bilingualism has on a child’s brain. Monitoring languages and keeping them separate is part of the brain’s executive function, so these findings suggest that…