Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.


Date: May 2010

Holiday recon

I’ve been exploring Manhattan with Google Street View ahead of our short trip to the Big Apple at the end of the month. Big cities like New York can be overwhelming, so it’s fantastic that we now have a tool which enables the forward-planners among us to get some semblance of familiarity with a place well ahead of our arrival.

Indeed, just tracing the route from the subway to our hotel, I was taken aback by how many landmarks we’d be wheeling our luggage past. From Grand Central to 42nd Street and the Chrysler Building, hanging left on Second Avenue, turning right towards the UN headquarters — and all that before we’ve even checked in.

More…

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Haim Saban: The Influencer

A long profile of the Israeli entertainment mogul behind most of the cartoons I watched as a kid (and later, the insufferable Power Rangers); now he's positioning himself as a power broker in US-Israeli relations. At least he wants peace in the Middle East (it's good for business) but what if he didn't? It's a scary thought. #link

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Web Stencil Kit

I don't know when I would ever need one of these (I've never designed a site on paper; just hard coding and lots of browser refreshes) but I want one. #link

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Some good advice

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St Paul's: A Space for Learning

The blog to accompany a very interesting TY architecture/environment project at my old secondary school (my cousin Sean was part of the team, too). I'm jealous; we didn't do anything even nearly as interesting in my transition year. #link

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Popular Science+

I was sure I blogged about Mag+ before, but anyway: the concept has now come to life as an app for the iPad. I want to try it for myself to make a proper judgement, but conceptually this is the kind of thing the iPad needs to do well if it's to have any kind of longevity, IMHO. #link

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Wikipedia on the Dunning-Kruger effect

A cognitive bias in which "people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it". In other words, the dumber you are, the more likely you are to think you're smarter than everyone else; conversely, the truly smart ones tend to underestimate their own intelligence for fear of patronising others. The end result is a social climate where the likes of Fox News can thrive. Oy vey! #link

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