What You Live By.TUMBLR

“Picking the right text editor will not make you a better writer. Writing will make you a better writer. Writing, and editing, and publishing, and listening — really listening — to what people say about your writing. This is the golden age for aspiring writers. We have a worldwide communications and distribution network where you can publish anything you want and — if you can manage to get anybody’s attention — get near-instant feedback. Writers just 20 years ago would have killed for that kind of feedback loop. Killed! And you’re asking me what word processor I use? Just fucking write, then publish, then write some more.

— Mark Pilgrim

Everybody's Coming To Get Me

I think part of the reason that Windows managed to become such a haven for viruses/trojans/malware was that the OS threw so many inexplicable error messages that when things start acting weird, all you could think was “oh, that’s normal for Windows.”

But now, because of my security paranoia, anytime I see error messages that I cannot comprehend, I begin to think my machine’s been compromised.

Long story short: finally “upgraded” (read: wiped and replaced) my WinXP Boot Camp partition to Windows 7. So far, so good.

“If contributing yet another human monkey to this overcrowded world to do nothing with their precious gift of life other than spend it predictably consuming precious resources and blogging about how they think that American Idol is starting to lose it, so they can then grow up to make another unnotable Wal-Mart greeter - if that makes you some sort of hero, then call 911 and tell them I give up.

— David Cross

“All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch, please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record it is my least favorite quality, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get … but if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.

— Conan O’Brien

“Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making hasty inferences, even when they appear to make perfect sense. Much like infectious diseases themselves — beaten back by decades of effort to vaccinate the populace — the irrational lingers just below the surface, waiting for us to let down our guard.

— Amy Wallace, An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All

“Windows Mobile is like a tiny, stupid SHODAN; it despises you in a way that is almost palpable, it will shriek at you and curse your name as you use it, but eventually you can just reboot the fucker back into momentary obedience.

— boo_radley, of MeFi

“There’s no future in making your customers hate you.

— Danilo Campos

“I realize that I’m tilting at windmills to suggest that Winer let the RSS Advisory Board get anywhere near the effort. Jon and Kate have a better chance of getting together.

— Rogers Cadenhead

“Cheney thinks it was a sterling success when it came to national security and counter-terrorism. Perhaps there’s something to this. After all, except for the catastrophic events of 9/11, and the anthrax attacks against Americans, and terrorist attacks against U.S. allies, and the terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush’s inability to capture those responsible for 9/11, and waging an unnecessary war that inspired more terrorists, and the success terrorists had in exploiting Bush’s international unpopularity, the Bush/Cheney record on counter-terrorism was awesome.

— Steve Benen