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Thirteen years of coffee and commentary. Tridecaphobes, beware.

Author Archives: deCadmus

March 11, 2013
by deCadmus
0 comments

“Sprinkling the Internet on a bad business model does not magically make it a good business model. It merely means that the people who are pursuing a bad business model are hoping you are credulous enough to believe that being electronic is space-age zoomy and awesome and there is no possible way this brilliant business plan could ever fail. Or even worse, that they believe that being electronic means all these things, which means they are credulous. Which is not a very good thing to have as the basis of one’s business model.”

– John Scalzi

John’s remarks here are on the matter of “electronic publishing” imprints endeavoring to leverage (bully, swindle) naive new writers into signing egregious contracts that a) offer no advances and b) make money for publishers before they’d pay a dime to authors.

I like the quote, because even without Scalzi’s specific and intended context, it reads every bit as true.

March 8, 2013
by deCadmus
0 comments

Amanda Palmer’s Viral TED Talk: The Art of Asking

March 7, 2013 by deCadmus | 2 Comments

I watched Amanda Palmer’s TED talk — a talk about fairness, and reciprocity, and art — and was struck by just how deeply I miss making connections with people as a performer… kinetic, buzzing, random, wholly improbable and sometimes strange interactions. And I realized (or remembered) how very much trust plays a role in making the whole thing work.

Watch. Enjoy. And Amanda… thank-you.

February 24, 2013
by deCadmus
0 comments

  • A high-school basketball game features a twist of sportsmanship that makes it the feel-good story of the week. (Reported by CBS’ Steve Hartman, who now has totally inherited the legacy of the late, great Charles Kuralt.)
  • Steven Brill’s Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us is Time Magazine’s  cover story and this week’s must-read:

    “What are the reasons, good or bad, that cancer means a half-million- or million-dollar tab? Why should a trip to the emergency room for chest pains that turn out to be indigestion bring a bill that can exceed the cost of a semester of college? What makes a single dose of even the most wonderful wonder drug cost thousands of dollars? Why does simple lab work done during a few days in a hospital cost more than a car? And what is so different about the medical ecosystem that causes technology advances to drive bills up instead of down?”

    Why, indeed.

  • And, because the medical billing story is almost certain to raise your blood pressure, here’s 15 Hedgehogs With Things That Look Like Hedgehogs as therapy.