Best TV commercials by movie directors (13)
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Ten cool TV commercials done by movie directors. Ridley Scott's 1984 Apple ad makes the list along with spots by Messrs. Jonze and (Wes) Anderson. BTW, Jonze's Ikea commercial is superior to his Gap ad. (via self-employedsandwich) (link)
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Jeffrey said:
Advertising is a totally different product, when it's this good.
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neha said:
these are awesome. take 10 minutes out of your day and watch the BMW one at #2.
Olympic Wrap-Up: Jamaica Wins; Aussies Are 5th; U.S. Ranks 33rd; China Is 47th - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog (11)
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Justin Wolfers (5)
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The Olympic Games are now over. All that remains is tallying up which are the greatest sporting nations on earth. Following the norm of emphasizing the gold medal tally over the total medal count, we can now declare Jamaica the winner; with 2.2 gold medals per million inhabitants, it bolts ahead of any other country. Second place [...]
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Bryan said:
interestng comparison that cuts through the bullshit but this still fells like it comes up short. Even the smallest nation is gonna get lucky from time to time. What dos this data look like over time?
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arturo.servin said:
This is great!
A Heck of a Speech, and more... (1)
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bdecker (4)
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Create Your Communications Experience (4)
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The Convention - Day Two Wasn't going to blog on this, but it was a heck of a night communication wise. - Governor Mark Warner started it off with a solid hit. He was the keynote, and it will not be the equivalent of Barack Obama's 2004 speech that rocketed Obama to prominence, but Warner was the first speaker to really do well at this convention: Great message - not a cliche Used the teleprompter ...
Michelle - our belle? (1)
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The Herald | Political Blogs (0)
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Michelle Obama appears to be getting a good press this morning after her emotional homage to her husband. Her speech was a little too saccharine for this British palate but the Americans like their schmaltz thick and dripping, so some of the more sentimental moments were lapped up by an adoring crowd. Sniffles around her remininsces of her late father, teary references to how much she loved her husband and kids all went down a ...
Are the polls really all over the place? (1)
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Mike Smithson (0)
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politicalbetting.com (0)
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A guest slot by Bob Worcester - the founder of MORI (This is a specially adapted version for PB of an article produced by Bob Worcester for his new Vox Populi blogs on the Ipsos MORI site. The aim is to produce a monthly piece between now and the next election based on Bob’s personal experience of nearly 40 years conducting and observing polls and how they are reported) “Let’s look at the record”, as ...
Those blog lists again (1)
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Beaten to the punch by an MP - a Labour MP at that, gah! - but very chuffed with second spot in Iain Dale's latest list, of the top 40 Scottish blogs as voted for by his readers and others - over 1,100 votes in total. These polls can be, and have been, criticised, and there's no doubt that if the vote had been run elsewhere it might have produced a different result. Nonetheless, it ...
Because Elections Are Determined by the Median Voter (6)
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Justin Wolfers (5)
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Freakonomics (117)
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The folks at the Census Bureau have just finished compiling the most recent data on income distribution. I'm betting that the following chart will get a lot of political play: Yes, median real household income was lower last year than in 2000. And yes, it has in fact grown somewhat in the past few years. My two [...]
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Derick Valadao said:
This is an interesting article. To sum up, while the "median" voter is getting richer, the poverty line isn't so clear cut. BUT, who cares because the median voter is who will be deciding the election so the recent census data will inevitably be interpreted through a political lens. Interesting :)
Explanation before information (3)
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Made to Stick (1)
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This American Life recently ran an episode called “The Giant Pool of Money,” which explained the subprime mortgage crisis, and since then it has become the most-downloaded episode of all time. By a margin of 50,000 downloads and counting… Jay Rosen at Pressthink calls it “the best work of explanatory journalism I have ever heard.” And, in the course of praising the piece, he says something absolutely brilliant: “Explanation leads to information, not the other ...
MP3 of The Wire discussion (13)
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An mp3 of the entirety of last month's discussion of The Wire presented by the Museum of the Moving Picture is online. Participants included David Simon, Richard Price, Wendell Pierce (The Bunk), and Clark Johnson. (link)
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Michael said:
probably worth listening to.
Usain Bolt: It's Just Not Normal (28)
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Justin Wolfers (5)
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Freakonomics (117)
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Usain Bolt’s wonderful run in the Olympic 200-meter sprint reminds us that the normal distribution — the familiar bell curve beloved by economists and statisticians — can be wildly inappropriate when analyzing extremely selected samples. This morning’s New York Times shows Usain Bolt’s new world record, relative to the 250 greatest 200-meter sprints ever. Not only does this not look like a normal distribution, it doesn’t even look like the tail of any standard distribution ...
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Busybee said:
Statistics may just be useful after all..
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Michael said:
Great analysis!
● Great Olympic moments on YouTube (51)
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One of the best ways to watch the Olympics is to chase down all the references made by NBC's commentators on YouTube and watch them in addition to (or instead of) the regular telecast. Here are some of the ones I've found. From the 1976 Olympics, the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history by Nadia Comaneci on the uneven parallel bars. This more impressive routine also earned a 10, as did this balance beam ...
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charliereece said:
Awesome videos!!!
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James said:
Some of this is unbelievable. So much more interesting than the Olympics now.
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Jacob said:
Great collection of Olympic history clips on YouTube. I especially found the uneven bars routines to be so different from what you see today. Perhaps not as athletically challenging, but definitely some creative stuff.
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John-Michael Oswalt said:
great list of olympic wins. add both races for bolt this year and it is even better
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Juan Fernando Zuluaga C. said:
Una perfecta recopilación de los momentos más importantes en los Olímpicos... por fin alguien se le midió a la tarea!
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Sue said:
Great time traveling videos!
The REAL Olympic medal table (1)
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A few days ago, Iain Dale alerted us to this filth from "Medaltracker.eu" (click to enlarge):Inspired by More Than Mind Games, I have a rather better idea:
Success Cannot Be Legislated: The Answer - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog (4)
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Freakonomics (117)
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A recent blog post asked you to guess (without looking it up) who said this: The people cannot look to legislation generally for success. Industry, thrift, character, are not conferred by act or resolve. Government cannot relieve from toil. It can provide no substitute for the rewards of service. It can, of course, care for the defective and recognize distinguished merit. The normal must care for themselves. Self-government means self-support. We also asked you to ...
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Jon said:
The people cannot look to legislation generally for success. Industry, thrift, character, are not conferred by act or resolve. Government cannot relieve from toil. It can provide no substitute for the rewards of service. It can, of course, care for the defective and recognize distinguished merit. The normal must care for themselves. Self-government means self-support.
Vincent Laforet's Olympic photos (10)
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Photographer Vincent Laforet, formerly of the NY Times, is in Beijing making photos of the Olympics. Here's a look at some of the stuff he's been shooting and the process behind getting those wonderful overhead shots of his. Getting a photograph of Phelps from above is priceless -- so it's all worth the hassle. Here he is winning gold in the 200 meter individual medley. This was shot with a 400mm 2.8 handheld--oh yeah, hand ...
The most famous trips in history (15)
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Good Magazine has a nice little map feature on some of the world's greatest journeys, including Magellan's circumnavigation, the old Silk Road, and Around the World in 80 Days. (via justin blanton) (link)
+++ BREAKING +++ Scottish Labour leadership sensation +++ BREAKING +++ (1)
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Vox populi, vox dei (1)
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ASwaS (0)
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Adam Smith Was A Socialist (0)
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A new record lead on the Scottish Parliament constituency vote for the SNP in a poll commissioned through YouGov - 44%, with Labour on 25%. There will probably be a lot of talk about it, but forget who commissioned it - this was a regular YouGov poll and they are not a company (*cough* Scottish Opinion *cough*) known for giving whatever answer the commissioning body wants. The Weber Shandwick model gives a projection of 58 ...
Brawndo: From Satire to Reality (5)
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Brawndo. A fake sports drink brand in a satirical movie (Idiocracy) becomes real, and now it’s a real brand but it’s still satirical, and it seems to be satirizing a RabidMacho kind of sensibility, and people who drink it must be mocking that sensibility, right?, except that RabidMacho people will almost certainly love the brand too, so ultimately, no one is distinguishing themselves from anyone else, and what’s the point? Well, the point is the ...
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Carl Fyffe said:
If you haven't seen Idiocracy... you are missing out.
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