Assorted links

  • Will tablets kill PCs? Daniel Lemire thinks tablets more than satisfy the mainstream (non-techie) user's needs. Jeff Atwood opines about his spiffy new ultraportable laptop, which is everything he wanted in a laptop 10 years ago.
  • A great animation showing the secret law of page design harmony (scroll down).
  • The oldest self-help book: a 19th-century American grimoire, or collection of magic spells and incantations. The writer explores the  American zeal for DIY and self-reliance as expressed in this once-popular book, which includes many features of modern self-help books, such as testimonials. "Within the pages of self-help books are recipes not just for healing but for divinity, a promise that every American can be individually complete and autonomous."
  • Whatever you think about in the shower is where your attention is -- so make sure you're thinking about something worthwhile.
  • Lemire on peer review and this salient quote: "The editor-in-chief of a major computer science journal once told me: you know Daniel, all papers are eventually accepted, don’t forget that."
Michael E Brown @brownstudy