Postgraduate researcher in The School of Pharmacy at The University of Nottingham.
Vices include épée, wine, opera and Evensong.
About meThis is my personal site and as such may not represent the views of my institution or funding bodies.
Structure of DNA described 13 years before the theory of plate tectonics
Cambridge University Wine Society Annual Dinner at Clare College with Maison Joseph Drouhin
Italian Renaissance Drawing at The British Museum
A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence
Church Going by Phillip Larkin
Due to a series of unfortunate events, I now find myself in Paris and free to my own devices for a day and a half on Monday & Tuesday next week. I haven’t been to the La Ville-Lumière for years and, as a somewhat rusty solo-traveler, am feeling somewhat lost. I’d appreciate mining your collective wisdom for your tips, secrets, and recommendations to make Paris alone magical. What should I know?
An academic friend pointed me towards I Write Like, a statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them to those of famous authors. Throwing a sample of my writing its way, I was quite pleased to discover that I write like the biochemistry professor, turned science-fiction author, Isaac Asimov. My friend was somewhat less pleased to be told that his thesis read like Dan Brown.
David,
I’m sorry to say that I thought Tumblr’s recent “heart-of-BP-executive black” dashboard fundraising effort went slightly too far.
I have no issues with, an indeed applaud, business for holding high moral standards; actively lobbying government and other corporations; or making political and charitable donations from its profits. However, when these otherwise admirable positions directly, and without customer choice, impact on user experience it’s another matter.
Whilst I understand that your target demographic is overwhelmingly environmentally savvy and politically left leaning, and as such takes kindly to your bold actions, I really feel that, from a UX perspective, content distribution/consumption systems such as your own should be neutral venues: A place where ideas, thoughts and even pictures of Pugs can be shared, largely without without let or hinderance (certain social mores excepted), and certainly without an editorial wrapping such as that which you created today.
Tumblr’s greatest attribute is the incredibly diverse content posted by users: From kittens and bunnies; to science and business; through crazy memes and celebrity obsession; right to the darker edges of personal taste and decency. If the creation, and much of the consumption, of this amazing content is then wrapped in a UI that pushes an agenda, however subtly, suddenly the independent spirit of freedom that Tumblr has engendered and nourished is lost.
So please, donate as much of your future profits to any cause you wish, but do so without politicising your users’ experience. Leave the editorial direction to the hugely engaged community that you’ve built up, and remain the best blank canvas that the internet has to offer.
Yours,
Adam Taylor
There have been two more recent suicides by employees of France Telecom, bringing the total, I believe to 35 suicides in two years. I’m kind of shocked that the American media isn’t covering these latest developments. I’m kind of shocked that no one in the U.S. seems to know about this in general, either. (LeMonde.fr)
Whilst these deaths are tragic, and on face-value the rates seem excessive, it’s worth having a look at the numbers here:
France Telecom (FTE) has 182,795 employees. So with 35 employee suicides in two years this gives a suicide rate of 0.0000957 - 9.6 deaths in 100,000 employees per year.
There are 9529 deaths per year caused by self inflicted injuries in France, which has a population of 63.9 million. Therefore the overall suicide rate is 0.000149 - 15 deaths in 100,000 citizens per year - higher than that seen in FTE employees. In comparison the USA has a suicide rate of 10 deaths in 100,000 persons per year and the UK 8 deaths in 100,000 persons per year.
If FTE’s suicide rate applied to the country as a whole there would be 3408 fewer suicides per year in France.
Of course, using the overall suicide rate is flawed as FTE employees are a most likely consist of a sub-population (broadly male/white/25-60) that generally excludes significant at risk groups (teenagers/unemployed), so a lower suicide rate is not entirely unexpected. It’d be interesting to break this down further and see if the 35 deaths over two years really are more than is to be expected in the sub-population of FTE employees
