Fire and Knowledge

Pioneer has invented blu-ray discs that hold 400GB per disc in 16 layers. In comparison, CDs hold under 1GB, DVDs up to 9GB (double-layered), and current Blu-ray discs up to 50GB (double-layer).

That is more space on one disc than most people’s hard drive.

Writing that will endure tends to consist of words that are short and strong; words that sedate are words of three, four and five syllables, mostly of Latin origin, many of them ending in “ion” and embodying a vague concept.

—William Zinsser, On Writing Well, p. 240.

John Yoo, a legal adviser to the Bush administration and contributor to the Patriot Act, can’t seem to answer questions with a straight answer.

He was asked, “Could the President order a suspect buried alive?” Yoo answered, “My view right now is that no American president would ever have to order that or feel it necessary to order that.” Slippery, slippery.

Here’s the video:

The key to earning more and working less is to pick the right thing to do and to do only those things that add the highest value.

—Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More With Less (1998), p. 188