Rant

Cellphones have forever ruined the contemporary horror movie.  Ten minutes in, instead of rooting for the heroine, I'm just thinking, "if the bitch can't be bothered to dial 9-1-1, she's got it coming."

71.) Rich isn't about the volume of your wealth, it's the ratio of how much contentment you derive from the wealth you have.

Rant

Screw science.  When I die, I'm donating my body to science fiction, that's where the real breakthroughs are happening.

70.) The best investment you'll ever make is in your own education.

It doesn't even have to be a financial investment.  Set aside a few minutes a day read a book on a topic that interests you.  Join a self-guided study site.  You'll never regret knowing more than you need to, especially on a topic related to your profession.

Rant

Whenever I come across the Facebook page of someone cute, and I find out that their profile is public, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning.  Six hundred pictures?  Don't mind if I do! 

Twenty years ago, possessing this many photos of a complete stranger would have been a prime indicator I was a burgeoning serial killer. Today, it's ... well, today, I guess we're all burgeoning serial killers.

The Geek Girl Survival Guide

Arm yourselves accordingly to take on the world together.

Lovely girl geeks¹, gather close: you are some of the most important people to the future of the world. You love to learn things, and know things, and make things, and do things. The things you learn, make, and do can change the world for the better.

But you’re probably aware that it can be pretty tough for a girl in any field of geekery dominated by boys. You might be held to different standards than your male compatriots; people might find it harder to believe and respect you; and you might be treated badly. But I want you to stick with it because I think you can make the world a better place if you do what you do best.

So here are some tips for you to get through those extra bits of rubbish that you get for being a geek girl and help other people get through them too. You’re still going to need to work really hard to get really good at the thing you love.

1. Be good to each other.

Make friends. Be a mentor. Ask for advice. Forgive people. Pass on opportunities to others. These are things that can never really go amiss in general, but especially be good to other women in your field. It can be really hard not to fall into the trap of being super-competitive and mean to other women, but it’s always worth it to create positive relationships.

69.) If you feel a need to post a comment anonymously, take a moment to consider whether you should be posting the comment at all.

99% of the time the answer is a resounding NO.

Rant

My favorite part of Twitter is saying something I think is really funny and then waiting anxiously while people fail to immediately validate me. 

68.) The paper résumé is dead.  The Web is your résumé. Social networks are your mass references.

Rant

Naming a blog is like naming a garage band.  It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to catch people's attention... and embarrass you years later when you're reminiscing about your youth.

"depression is like trying to peel a potato with another potato its not fun it doesn't work and you just wanna cry"
- Birdpear

"... and then people are like God! Why don't you just get a peeler!? And then they HAND YOU ANOTHER FUCKING POTATO."
- Osointricate

"…why is this such a good metaphor what the fuck"
- Shorm

Five Steps to Living a Remarkable Life

Five steps to living a remarkable life by Debbie Millman

What advice would I give a young designer in order to help him or her succeed? I believe that every goal is achievable and you can live a remarkable life by following these steps:

1. Work harder than anybody else you know.

2. Don’t rest on your laurels. Don’t rest on any laurels.

3. Constantly try to find out and learn about the things that you don’t know. It’s really easy to learn about things that you know. And it’s pretty easy to learn about things that you know that you don’t know. I would suggest that people learn about all the things that they don’t realize that they don’t know.

4. Many people start out by thinking about all the things that they can’t do; once you take that path, it’s very hard to get off of it. Try not to take that path. The only person who can make your dreams come true is you. If you start out with limited dreams, you’ll achieve only limited dreams. This is not a good way to start.

5. Do not compromise! Consider what you would do if you knew you would never fail, and pursue that as if your life depended on it—because it does! Only you can create a remarkable life for yourself. Only you. Start right now!

Via: Meghan P. Coleman

67.) Your possessions will always expand to fit the space in which you live.

It's not particularly geeky, but I wish someone had told me this when I was young.  It's easy enough to move from a bedroom in your parent's house to a prison cell of a dorm room or from a dorm room to an apartment, and it's simplicity itself to move from an apartment to a house.  It's just near impossible to do it in reverse.  It's something to reflect on when the time comes to go off to college, especially if your post-graduation plans include living abroad.

Rant

I brought a girlfriend who'd never played D&D to a Friday night game once.  Three hours into arguing over character builds, she asked when the game was going to start.  I just turned to her, confused.  "What are you talking about?  This is the best part of the game."

66.) If you're starting more than one sentence with "Actually..." in a conversation, nobody likes you.

(A bit of advice that I wish someone had told me in high school.)  Nerds take note.

Rant

LOL was once a meaningful acronym, but now, it's just a way of saying "I have nothing else to say."

"Fill your heart with bees. If someone breaks your heart, then they have to deal with the bees."
- Sir Bombalot, August 28, 2013

News

Lars von Trier is Writing a horror movie set in Detroit.  No word yet on whether it'll be a slasher film or something truly terrifying, like a documentary. 

News

Robocop threw out the first pitch at Tuesday's Tigers game, so it's official.  There are no actual celebrities left willing to appear in Detroit without body armor.

Resource: The Best Commencement Speeches

The fine folks over at NPR have hand-picked the best commencement speeches available to read, listen to, or watch on the web.  There are three hundred in total, dating all the way back to 1774. There are some truly awe-inspiring words of wisdom contained in this archive.  Search the speeches by name, school, date, or theme

Best wishes to everyone out there in my readership who is graduating this spring, be it from high school or university!

Rant

Computers used to be cold, soulless appliances.  Now they're our most private, personal possessions.  I'd rather someone go through my underwear drawer than my hard drive any day of the week.

Rant

I sometimes find myself wondering things like how I would describe my modern day life to someone from the beginning of the last century.

I'd start by explaining that I possess a device that fits into my pocket that is capable both of accessing the entirety of human knowledge and broadcasting my own thoughts to an audience of millions.  Then, I'd admit that I use said device to look at silly photos of cats and argue with strangers all day.

"Your mobile phone has more computing power than all of NASA in 1969. NASA launched a man to the moon. We launch a bird into pigs."
- George Bray, March 22, 2011