Office spaces

Cliff Kuang traces the evolution of office designs from the open factory-like floors of Frederick Taylor to the present era of semi-private pods.

Also, don't drive angry!

kottke.org contributer Cliff Kuang asks: what can we learn from the classic Bill Murray flick Groundhog Day? A: Lessons physic, lessons Buddhist, and lessons economic.

The first time Phil Conners lives out Groundhog Day, he knows nothing about how events will unfold, and acts accordingly -- self centered, short sighted and rash. But by the time Conners lives out his last Groundhog Day, he has perfect knowledge of how everyone around him will behave. He acts accordingly -- maximizing his happiness and the happiness of those around him. The metaphor gets pretty loose, but in this interpretation, Phil's last day is analogous to classical economics, where people act with perfect knowledge and rationality.

Gallons per mile

Replacing a car that gets horrible gas mileage with one that gets good gas mileage is preferable to replacing a car that gets good gas mileage with one that gets excellent gas mileage. To that end, kottke.org contributor Cliff Kuang says to the car companies: forget about 100-mpg cars and focus on small, achievable increases in MPG ratings.

My concern is a rhetorical one: What happens when advancements in cars are eternally linked -- through marketing and special prizes -- with big innovations, rather than tangible results right now? Fuel efficiency gets its urgency sapped: Someone's working on it, with results TBD. Wait and see.

Your guest editor for the week, Cliff Kuang

I'm off on holiday this week and I've invited Cliff Kuang to help keep that kottke.org groove going in my absence. Cliff is a journalist and has written/edited for I.D., The Economist, Wired, Print, Monocle, and GOOD on culture, design, and technology. When he's not writing for money, he blogs for fun and wonderment at Delicious Ghost (may be NSFW). Welcome, Cliff!