Overheard

“Toilet paper with at least enough strength to pull it’s own roll without tearing is a basic human right.” Steven Garrity

“Gentlemen, we got 20 calls about the David Hyde-Pierce incident. And, as you know, one call equals a billion people, which means 20 billion people were offended by this. Needless to say, something must be done.” FCC Suit #1 in Family Guy’s “PTV” episode

“So, how does this help the user kick ass?” Kathy Sierra, on user personal experience

“Now I kinda wish we could re-run the experiment. Are MySpace users just younger and without credit cards? What happens when you make the “Buy CD” links bigger? What happens when you include artwork? Change the colors? What if you offered $2 off just for MySpace members? What about a free t-shirt for the first 10 to buy? Eh, forget sales—how about a free CD to anyone who refers 10 more MySpace friends? You know, make ‘em feel good for being a MySpace ninja… and it’s around this point that I realize: evil marketing-bot DNA has somehow seeped into my blackened soul, threatening to turn me into a switch-your-phone-service telemarketing lizard-boy, to be scorned by the world.” Scott Andrew, on numbers and exposure

“Rarely, if ever, in the annals of human history have so many with so much to give to their society, actually given so little and done it so maladroitly as have American Christians over the past fifty years. Speaking as only one Christian, I feel the need to apologize.” Bob Briner, author of Roaring Lambs

“Fear of delegation is the belief that no one is as competent to solve a problem as you are. This kind of thinking (which at times may be justified) usually results from the belief that tasks will inevitably be done poorly if not done by capable hands—yours, of course. But how often is this really masking the fear that others can perform jobs you once thought only you could accomplish? This in turn leads to the fear of replaceability…” Ricardo Semler, author of Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace

“From the orang-utan reserves of Borneo to the Brazilian Amazon, virgin forest is being razed to grow palm oil and soybeans to fuel cars and power stations in Europe and North America.” Issue 2526 of New Scientist magazine