When they have a choice, people will always gravitate
to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave
the rooms which are lit only from one side unused
and empty.
Delving a bit more into the theory:
The importance of this pattern lies partly in the
social atmosphere it creates in the room. Rooms lit on
two sides, with natural light, create less glare around
people and objects; this lets us see things more
intricately; and most important, it allows us to read
in detail the minute expressions that flash across
people’s faces, the motion of their hands… and
thereby understand, more clearly, the meaning they
are after. The light on two sides allows people
to understand each other.
Most of the rooms in the house where I grew up have windows on two sides… which, come to think of it, was a really nice thing. Interesting stuff.
Hugh Laurie of House talking to TV Guide — it’s actually a rather good interview considering it’s published in TV Guide, which to the best of my knowledge, isn’t exactly known for insightful journalism (does anyone know otherwise?). Anyhow, Laurie, when asked if he hangs out with celebrities:
I have such a strong aversion to the ubiquitous digital
camera that I can’t really bear to go anywhere. It’s pathetic.
Not that I am ideal paparazzi fodder—I’m definitely not—
but these days you don’t have to be to have your soul
chopped up and laid out on the butcher’s slab. So
instead I just sit at home and stare at the wall. Which
luckily has a huge plasma TV on it.
When asked about exercise:
I run 6-8 miles a day, plus weights and aerobics in the
lunch hour. I also lie a lot, which keeps me thin.
Common sense and a little physics seem to show that the radio waves from Wi-Fi internet connections (non-ionising as they are) are nothing to be concerned about:
A typical UK resident receives far more radiation from
analogue radio broadcasts than they do from Wi-Fi.
Radio broadcasts have operated in the UK for almost 85
years, so if we’ve not heard of any long term negative health
effects caused by radio waves so far, it’s unlikely that we
will do in the future.
I have a hard time thinking cell phone waves are anything other than harmless, as well. Remember, not all radiation is created equal — so don’t let people try to confuse you by conflating radiation from one source with something like radiation from the sun, or a microwave.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but a farmer in the UK who directed his sheepdogs for three hours to spell out the word ‘spring’ on the side of a hill, is a difficult story to make up. Anyhow, the pictures look amazing. Collies sure are neat dogs.
Wal-Mart is not just the world’s largest retailer. It’s the
world’s largest company—bigger than ExxonMobil,
General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be
hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of
goods last year. It sells in three months what
number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its
own category of general merchandise and groceries,
Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more
business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway,
and Kroger combined.
A pickle jar example in the article is particularly intriguing — the gallon pickle jar “cannibalized” Vlasic’s sales at other retail locations because Wal-Mart sold it at such a ridiculously low price.
Originally, I thought that if I was making any product with any sort of brand, I would never ever sell at Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart sells iPods… at the same price you see them everywhere else. And that’s because Apple has it’s own (quite healthy, thank you very much) supply chain.
So while the meeting between Wal-Mart and just about any supplier goes like this…
Wal-Mart: You’ll supply to us at $X per unit. Supplier: That reduces our profits to essentially nothing. Wal-Mart: Then we’ll find a supplier with comparable brand recognition at our price. Supplier: Fine, we’ll do it.
…a meeting between Wal-Mart and Apple goes like this:
Wal-Mart: We want to take $20 off the price of an iPod. Apple: Categorically: “no.” Wal-Mart: Then we’ll find a supplier with comparable brand recognition at that price. Apple: No you won’t.
While Wal-Mart frequently says “put up or shut up,” suppliers can occasionally do the same to them. Regardless of scenarios like this, I think the problem that the article points out — that Americans can’t consume if we don’t have a healthy base of employed workers — is undeniably correct.
