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My name is Dan Nguyen and I'm a journalist, programmer and photographer.
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Tag Archives: new york times
Chatroulette’s creator is a 17-year-old altruist
I had seen screenshots of Chatroulette on Reddit threads, but didn’t know what it referred to until this New York Times Bits Blog post, where they track down the once-anonymous creator. It’s basically a service that allows anyone in the… Continue reading
NYT: How Unemployment Taxes are Collected; Also, Watch Your Texting Habit
A pretty interesting piece in Jay Goltz’s “You’re the Boss” blog on how unemployment tax is paid for (in Illinois, an employer can pay up to $1.48 per dollar that a former employee collects in unemployment benefits). Goltz argues that… Continue reading
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Tags illinois, new york times, propublica, texting, unemployment insurance
NYT: Anti-obesity tax will make soda more expensive than beer
Another one for the Department-of-Unintended-Consequences, from NYT’s City Room: While the governor is taking aim at obesity caused by sugary drinks, Mr. Eusebio worries that the proposed tax would slim down the beverage industry, which he said pays $6.7 billion… Continue reading
NYT: Radiation (IMRT) horror stories; Woman has massive hole burned in chest because several doctors and physicists didn’t know “in” from “out”
Yet another case study on how the most educated of our professionals are not fail-safe. Not just not-fail-safe, but not not-able-to-tell-up-from-down-safe. The New York Times has an incredible story today, apparently one of many, into the dangers of new radiation… Continue reading
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Tags health care, imrt, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, mistakes, new york times, science
Hell on Earth: Haiti Coverage
The Haiti earthquake’s aftermath is so horrible that an anecdote like this, which would be the tragic center point for virtually any other kind of story in the NYT, barely registers until you read it over again (“Looting Flares Where… Continue reading
Chartjunk? Slate’s Kaus vs. NYT’s David Leonhardt on hospital beds and better health care
An example of chartjunk: several colors and 26,000+ pixels to describe five hard-to-read numbers David Leonhardt put forth a gee-that’s-unexpected-but-possible thesis in the Dec. 30 New York Times: Limiting hospital beds forces hospitals to provide more efficient care; allowing limitless… Continue reading
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Tags health care, kaus, new york times, slate, statistics
NYT’s John Tierney: Pleasure yourself, now.
John Tierney’s latest column covers the phenomenon of procrastinating pleasure. Just last night I was complaining how I didn’t use any vacation time (except for a trip home on Thanksgiving, which is barely a “vacation”) this year. But it was… Continue reading
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Tags alcohol, new york times, play, pleasure, procrastination, vacation, wine