John Carmack on Doing Something Great

Here's something inspirational and motivational from John Carmack that I found in Jerry Pournelle's "Chaos Manor mail" a few years ago: "The power of the individual or small group today is vastly greater than it was even 50 years ago. We are far wealthier, and the resources that are at our fingertips today are, in many ways, better than what could be had at any price 50 years ago."

Review: Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else

Patrick Roy was the heart and soul of the Montreal Canadiens throughout the '80s and '90s he made spectacular saves almost every game and gave the impression of a hockey warrior in the nets. The '86 and '93 Conn Smythe winner backstopped the Habs to their last two Stanley Cups. In October, his father Michel did his own tribute to his son, a biography entitled Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else.

Why Blogging Common?

Let's face it: the Internet is a sexy topic these days. You can't open the New York Times without running into a story about how online news stresses journalists out or what happens to Facebook profiles when their owners die or Twitter and the World Cup.

Accidental Self-Inflicted Pill Misery

One of the things involved with having to be on a constant, long term regime of medications over a period of many years is not so much the misery of having to take said medications (along with the realization that you wouldn't do very well at all if you didn't have them) but making sure that you don't accidently let one slip through your fingers and end up not taking it.

How to Analyze Unfamiliar Data

When you come face to face with unfamiliar data, how do you proceed? How do you avoid sending you and your shiny "speed of thought" tool slamming into a dead end? Dan Murray's got a routine -- and he's also got certain music and right-brained books to go along. Dan's first rule: "Don't pre-think."

Tableau Rising

As Stephen Few delivered his keynote address at the recent Tableau customer conference in Seattle, he suddenly broke his rhythm to look at someone in the audience. "Is that Howard Dresner?" he wondered, surprised. It was. Howard is the man who as a Gartner analyst in 1989 revived the term "business intelligence," and he's one of the industry's patriarchs.

Hipster Travel Gift Guide

So we're starting up our Hipster Travel Gift Guide for you for the second year in a row -- and this time, we're running it for 30 days. We know times are tough and we hope you can collect more than a few ideas from us for finding that just right gift for that person who seems nearly impossible to buy stuff for -- in part because they already have every thing.

WWE: Hell in a Cell 2010 DVD Review

The rise of Daniel Bryan as a major superstar continued last month when he delivered a spectacular match in his first pay-per-view title defence against The Miz and John Morrison in a Submissions Count Anywhere match.

Climate Activists Create Art That Can Be Seen from Space

What's being called "the first planet-scale group art show" began over the weekend, as climate activists in several countries gathered to create symbolic images that could be seen from space. In Spain, citizens created a maze in the form of a young girl's face who is afraid the Delta del Ebro will be destroyed by climate change. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, a thousand Girl Scouts and residents holding blue tarps formed a human "flash flood" in the dry remains of the Santa Fe River bed to show what it could look like if water still flowed there.

Sharing Our Creativity on the Web

Sharing our creativity on the web is increasingly popular to do. But how do we get the credit we are due for our creative work? How can we identify the original source? I don't know about you, but I am eager to know everyone out in cyberspace who cares about the stuff I do.