I appreciate when Elon Musk takes the time to explain the strategy of Tesla. It reminds me of the infrequent notes from Steve Jobs regarding Apple strategy:

The reason that we did not choose to do this is that the auto dealers have a fundamental conflict of interest between promoting gasoline cars, which constitute virtually all of their revenue, and electric cars, which constitute virtually none. Moreover, it is much harder to sell a new technology car from a new company when people are so used to the old. Inevitably, they revert to selling what’s easy and it is game over for the new company.

Because the ending tells the entire story:

Going to miss Phillip Seymour Hoffman:

Responsive, semantic, gorgeous icons… in code. I do so enjoy living in the future.

Via Allison Griswold on Business Insider:

Leaders of the supermarket chain believe in keeping employees as informed as possible, even when it comes to pay. Under the company’s open policy, staff can easily look up anyone’s salary or bonus from the previous year — all the way up to the CEO level.

Intriguing. I’m wondering how they correct salaries when someone is clearly being compensated incorrectly and it’s discovered by another party.

Written in 1965. Rings painfully true today.

Defense arousal prevents the listener from concentrating upon the message. Not only do defensive communicators send off multiple value, motive and affect cues, but also defensive recipients distort what they receive. As a person becomes more and more defensive, he or she becomes less and less able to perceive accurately the motives, the values and the emotions of the sender. The writer’s analysis of tape recorded discussions revealed that increases in defensive behavior were correlated positively with losses in efficiency in communication.

When it comes to comics, I’m a omnibus guy. While I imprinted on the standard comic book format as a kid and I miss it, I lack patience and and I lack time. I want to consume the whole story arc in a couple of sittings, there is no sitting and waiting a month for the next comic, I need closure. (As an aside, this content binging strategy is also my current move for TV shows – two seasons of Game of Thrones in two days – no joke.)

At somewhere between $50 and $100 dollars, an omnibus is an investment. I need to have pretty good signal that the entire series is compelling. Astonishing X-Men? Amazing. Possibly the finest piece of capes and tights fiction out there. Avengers vs. X-Men. Meh. Artwork starts off bizarrely bad – story improves over time.

I’m 1/3rd of the way through the Planetary Omnibus (tip of the hat to @pberry for the birthday gift of the first few issues) and I’m still deliciously wondering what the hell is going on. This is Warren Ellis’s masterpiece and like Alan Moore’s Watchmen before him, the universe he’s created is an homage to comic books.

Planetary is the tale of a group of super powered archeologists. The three main characters are wandering around, chasing a complex and unfolding set of mysteries, but the question the remains (and remember, I’m on chapter 10 and I’m certain this question will be answered shortly) is “What universe are we in?”

Planetary is set in the WildStorm (a division of DC shutdown in September 2010) universe, but at my current location of the story, Ellis is gleefully teasing readers with hints of crossovers between the WildStorm and DC universe. Chapter 10 of Planetary goes as far as to introduce characters so closely approximating Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman, the reader (me) is left asking, “Where the hell am I?”

These moments are rare – being lost in an all consuming story. I turn the pages slower because I’m dreading the reveal.. the end. That is a worthy investment.

Via Brain Pickings:

We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination.

Too often, I’m waiting for the perfect alignment of time of day, caffeination, and inspiration before I sit down and write.

Via Nick Statt on CNet:

“There must be a clear and simple task; that task must provide instant feedback; there must be no distractions that either disrupt your concentration or make you ultra-aware of your own actions; and, key to the act of game playing especially, it must be a challenge with appropriate balance with regards to your own skill and the task’s difficulty.”

There are huge monetary rewards if you solve for flow correctly.

Via Nick Bilton in the New York Times:

Using neuroimaging techniques, researchers are peering into gamers’ heads, hoping that the data they collect will help them make video games that change as you play, getting easier or harder, depending on your performance. The idea is to keep people at the addiction point. You know, that infuriating flap-flap-flap zone.