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Attempting to answer the question, "what is white culture?" and reporting on those who have tackled it before.

There are two problems with this piece that I have noticed right off the bat and later would like to comment on. One, he states that no research has actually shown that going for better teachers makes a difference, but that's not true (see the Economist article I linked to earlier regarding TFA's study etc.). I think the phrasing is ambiguous anyway, but there's a straw man here. Two, he seems to imply that bettering teachers is a quixotic goal, but isn't "bettering America" just as ambitious? He is essentially suggesting that we wage a war on poverty to get our children better educational environments. I don't disagree, but I think that finding top-notch teachers to bridge the gap while we fix that problem for the next fifty years is a good idea.

Joe Clark on why those complaining about the closedness of the iPad are complaining about a non-problem. "Open source has nothing to teach literature or indeed any artistic creation, since talent doesn’t scale as you give more and more developers check-in access to the version-control system set up for your novel."

The extent to which large 'environmentalism' groups are actually destroying the environment with their corporate connections.

Me fucking around on Paul's guitar during a lull at practice.

Plain and simple: software patents don't work because there's too much software and not enough people who know about it.

Great free releases. Post-pop, lo-fi, experimental, etc. etc.

Fantastic collage/ambient label whose releases are mostly free.

A fun tenori-on sort of musical instrument.

With photos so you can identify all!

Nitsuh Abebe on exactly why people need to stop talking about how "white" Vampire Weekend are.

On what Farmville is (not a game) and what it means (nothing good).

"Make your own Glitter Graphics."

On the effectiveness of teachers.

This is brilliant music blogging. Details are what make me love music.

DADT is homophobia, and the denial of equal rights to homosexuals is caused by hatred and fear. Period.

"14. Fourteen"

"That's some serious neanderthal action going on."

The last paragraph hits every nail on its head.

"But all of a sudden, for a brief time at least, she's the only real pop star around."

On the universal love for Jay-Z and his history as an authentic brand.

How mobile phone usage differs geographically, and how the difference is lessening.

"I would prefer to go to a different world and the closest we have to that besides space travel is an inner world. It's not so much that I really love the act of sleep, but that I love that escape from reality, the potential for the impossible, removing myself from the stress of today’s culture world, from people talking all the time, etc."

"I had this vision of the future — a ruined empire, run by number crunchers, squalid and stupid and puffed up with phony patriotism, settling for a long slow decline."

Why I don't think I'm a curmudgeon for thinking the green Iran icons are a joke. "…if you believe for one minute that publicly agreeing with an echo chamber is changing anyone’s mind, behavior, or outlook, you need to stand up, locate your disused front door, walk the fuck through it, and then go spend a full (unwired) day doing something to actually help another person."

"One of the minor puzzles of American life is what question to ask people at parties and suchly to get to know them."

"An article with a ridiculous conspiracy theory propped up by selective and dishonest quoting. Presented to us by a publication that can’t be bothered to do elementary fact checking. This is the face of climate change denial."