Tag Archives: lessons

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Polo is a fun and fairly simple game, which is not to say it is simple to play. (Courtesy: Great Meadow Foundation)

* The Soviet Union denied requests for garlic experts to traverse the old Silk Road to collect garlic samples, because the areas commonly included missile bases. Beginning in 1989, though, requests were approved, and this opening up is a major source of “new” (i.e., rediscovered) garlic types. (Courtesy: The Valley Table)

* Vibrators were the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified. (Courtesy: NYer)

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Spotify audio quality isn’t as good as I expected, despite knowing the format. I suspect it is a non-issue for most people. (Courtesy: Spotify)

* Weddings benefit from having Baltimore-based attendees: They know how to dance and they play good music. (Courtesy: MLs)

* According to excellent, interesting, insightful, and important research by Byers, Mitzenmacher, and Zervas, daily deals carry a reputational cost to the sponsoring establishment. Specifically, Yelp reviewers who went to an establishment due to a Groupon or LivingSocial coupon, reviewed the establishment 10 percent lower than non-daily deals reviewers. The paper also sheds light and raises questions about the sales dynamics of daily deals and social network effects on these types of sales. I only wish they had better controlled for the Yelp reviews by comparing daily deal establishments with non-daily deal establishments across the same time; not only is this relevant methodologically, but it is also something of interest to me. (Courtesy: Business Insider)

* Reading Rainbow returns as an iOS app! (Courtesy: TUAW)

* Chinese shadow play is cool, but lacks the unmatchable brilliance of gamelan, the music that accompanies Indonesia’s shadow play–wayang kulit. (Courtesy: Tangshan Shadow Puppet Theatre)

* Karen O, like me, is getting into opera. (Courtesy: Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

Things I Learned This Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Spotify doesn’t allow you to hide your existence/profile. (Courtesy: Spotify)

* North Korea had its first Ultimate Frisbee tournament. (Courtesy: North Korea Economy Watch)

* Google Alerts doesn’t work with filetype searches. (Courtesy: Google Alerts)

* The United States and Canada prohibit gay men donating blood, and a host of other countries have behavioral restrictions on whether a gay man can donate blood. (Courtesy: NYT).