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How About “Downlifting” to Replace “Digital Piracy”?

We recently asked you to consider renaming “digital piracy” in light of recent actual piracy. The question appears to have some resonance, as it was picked up by The Guardian, The Washington Post, and others. For my money, the best suggestion by far comes from a reader named Derek: Downlifting. Download + shoplifting. Pretty accurate Read More »



Practicing Your Way to a Higher I.Q.

We’ve written earlier about Anders Ericsson‘s research on talent, and we’ve blogged on the subject repeatedly. Ericsson’s thesis is that raw talent is overrated, and that experts in a given field (be it hockey or music) accomplish excellence primarily through “deliberate practice.” Nicholas Kristof wrote yesterday about a new book about I.Q., also reviewed here, Read More »



Quotes Uncovered: Who Worried About Events?

Quotes Uncovered Here are more quote authors and origins Shapiro’s tracked down recently. Spelling, Logic, and Frenchmen Why Don’t You Go Find Your Own Quotes? Who Wanted the Least Government? Thirteen weeks ago, I invited readers to submit quotations for which they wanted me to try to trace the origins, using The Yale Book of Read More »



FREAK Shots: Thrift, Sex, and Cheap Lattes

According to NPR, recession-themed marketing is a way to “rais[e] money from lower expectations” and “turn bad times into glad times” by selling thrift, good value — and, as Gawker claims, more sex and alcohol. This photo, taken in a New York City subway station, then, is the perfect recession-ad sampler: Photo: Ryan Hagen Read More »