rebecca's pocket

» Seriously, the most awesome Hallowe'en costume ever. (thanks, jjg!)  [ 11.01.12 ]

» The day of the election, I heard a Political Science professor say that the Obama campaign had an unbelievable amount of information about voters. What they were doing put Nate Silver in the shade, he said. Here's a glimpse of that data machine and how they did it.

Details are sparse, but intriguing. Past voting records and consumer information played a role. I have to wonder what data they were buying. Credit card records would seem to offer the broadest picture into people's spending habits. And does this attention to behavioral data explain why I got so few robo-calls this year?  [ 11.12.12 ]

» WSJ: Men Get the Jobs That Get Them Ahead, Study Finds. I've tended to believe that a lot of pay disparity is based on women's inability or unwillingness to negotiate as aggressively as men - your starting pay is the basis for all of your raises throughout your time at any company. When you start lower, you will stay lower, even if you and your male colleagues receive identical pay raises.

But this article suggests that women simply are not given the same opportunities, no matter what their title, that are given to men. Pure and simple.  [ 11.16.12 ]

» Last May was the anniversary of the Hindenburg Disaster. Here is the amazing Atlantic spread commemorating the day. Image 14 is the very essence of the 1930s-future.  [ 11.29.12 ]