Tag: Thoughts

The Curious Case of Rollerblades vs. Inline Skates: A Brand Name’s Journey to Common Use | June 02 2025, 18:14

I step into Starbucks, and there’s a sign in the parking lot. Why rollerblades? After all, blade means ‘blade’? If it came down to it, rollerblades should be something like a circular saw. Started figuring it out. Turns out, roller skates were originally called inline skates, but then the commercial company Rollerblade appeared and eventually became a generic trademark, like Pampers, Xerox, marker pen, Thermos, Play-Doh, or escalator.

But actually, the term Inline Skates exists, and it means any skates, and the company Rollerblade still exists. Interesting, did it influence the fact that its name was on the sign?

And what about the Russian name “коньки”? Is it a diminutive of “horse”? Yes 🙂 According to one version, like little horses, they carry you across the ice: ancient skates were decorated with a horse’s head at the front. According to another version, the name comes from the fact that the first runners were usually made from animal bones, most often horses.

It seems you speak in Russian, and only when you contemplate do you realize that ‘horse’ and ‘skates’ are related words.

Success and Second-hand Embarrassment: The Two Extremes of Expertise | June 01 2025, 21:25

Enthralled. When something is done successfully by professionals, it’s like balm for the soul. But when done by idiots, you experience second-hand embarrassment.

Doubting the Fabricated Reality: An Antidystopian Paradox | May 31 2025, 13:47

Generated people are persuaded that everything around them is not real, and that they themselves are made of prompts, but they do not believe.

It turned out dystopian.

It would be funny if we also didn’t believe that we are living in a simulation.

Or is it not funny?

Doubting the Fabricated Reality: An Antidystopian Paradox | May 31 2025, 13:47

Generated people are convinced that everything around them is unreal, and that they themselves are made from prompts, yet they do not believe it.

It turned out dystopian.

It would be funny if we also didn’t believe that we live in a simulation.

Or is it not funny?

Doubting the Fabricated Reality: An Antidystopian Paradox | May 31 2025, 13:47

Generated people are convinced that everything around them is fake, and that they themselves are made from prompts, yet they do not believe it.

It turned out dystopian.

It would be funny, if we also didn’t believe that we live in a simulation.

Or is it not funny?

Simulated Realities: When Fiction Mirrors Life | May 31 2025, 13:47

Generated people are convinced that everything around them is fake, and that they themselves are made from prompts, yet they do not believe it.

It turned out dystopian.

It would be funny, if we also didn’t believe that we live in a simulation.

Or is it not funny?

Exploring Ridiculous Book Prices on Amazon | May 31 2025, 01:45

On Amazon, Clete Kushida offers books like “Sleep” for $1,895 and “Sleep for Dummies” for $22.99. It seems to me that it should be the other way around. He also has “Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms” for $2,247.

If you search for all the books on Amazon and sort them from the most expensive to the cheapest, the top entries are books around $200. However, if you slightly hack the system by appending &low-price=…&high-price=… to the URL, sorting by descending price can reveal much more.

I decided to see what else is sold for big money on Amazon. For example, in the listing, Topps has a set of 1952 baseball cards “1952 Topps Baseball Almost Complete Set – Premier (Baseball Set) EX+” priced at $354,530. The single comment says “Damn I could take a picture and print those for free”.

Typically, such prices are seen for diamonds, Hermes bags, and pre-fabricated houses. It’s interesting to look into what’s in the books. Naturally, the top includes antiques, various mistakenly set prices, and jokes.

But among these, there are real books for some unreasonable money. For instance, the Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research by Filomena Maggino is sold at Harvard Book Store for $5,999. Or the Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance 2nd ed. 2022 Edition by Ali Farazmand for $7,999.99. It’s interesting whether selling for just under $8K is justifiable? On the Springer website, the electronic version of this book sells for $3500. And you can even rent it on Kindle for a couple of months for $2000.

Or there is also the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics in 14 volumes. On Amazon, this encyclopedia is priced just under $100K, yet it’s quite easy to find other sites online selling its electronic versions. What do you think, how much could the electronic version of this encyclopedia cost? The price is around $11,000 everywhere.

Among the rarities is RECOVERY: THE HOSPITAL DRAWINGS OF ALFONSO OSSORIO. Interestingly, this is just a book printed relatively recently, in 1995, in a limited run of 100 copies, each individually numbered. Now these books are selling for $4-5 thousand dollars. Well, that makes sense, it’s collectible.

Exploring Ridiculous Book Prices on Amazon | May 31 2025, 01:45

Clete Kushida has books on Amazon like “Sleep” for $1,895 and “Sleep for Dummies” for $22.99. It seems to me it should be the other way around. He also has “Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms” for $2,247.

Moreover, if you search for all books on Amazon and sort them from the most expensive to the least expensive, the top spots are occupied by books priced around $200. However, if you slightly hack the system and add to the URL &low-price=…&high-price=…., sorting by descending price, you can see quite a lot.

I decided to see what actually sells for significant amounts on Amazon. For example, Topps in the listing has a set of 1952 baseball cards “1952 Topps Baseball Almost Complete Set – Premier (Baseball Set) EX+” for $354,530. The only comment says, “Damn I could take a picture and print those for free”.

Items like diamonds, Hermes bags, and pre-fabricated houses often go for such amounts. It’s interesting to look at what books are going for. Naturally, the top includes antiques, wrongly set prices, and jokes.

But among these are real books priced unreasonably. For instance, Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research By Filomena Maggino is sold in the Harvard Book Store for $5,999. Or look at Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance 2nd ed. 2022 Edition by Ali Farazmand for $7,999.99. Interesting, does selling for just under $8K justify itself? On the site Springer, the electronic edition of this book is sold for $3,500. And it can also be rented on Kindle for a few months for $2,000.

Or there’s also the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics in 14 volumes. On Amazon, this encyclopedia is priced just under $100K, but it’s quite easy to find other sites online selling its electronic versions. What do you think, how much could the electronic version of this encyclopedia cost? The price is generally around $11,000.

Among rare books, there’s RECOVERY: THE HOSPITAL DRAWINGS OF ALFONSO OSSORIO. Interestingly, this is just a book, printed relatively recently in 1995, in a limited edition of 100 copies, each individually numbered. And now these books sell for $4-5 thousand dollars. Well, that’s understandable, as it’s collectible.

Exploring Ridiculous Book Prices on Amazon | May 31 2025, 01:45

Clete Kushida has books on Amazon like “Sleep” for $1,895 and “Sleep for Dummies” for $22.99. Seems like it should be the other way around. He also has “Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms” for $2,247.

If you search all books on Amazon and sort them from the most expensive to the cheapest, the top will feature books around $200. But if you hack the system a bit and adjust the URL with &low-price=…&high-price=…, then sorting by descending price reveals much more.

I decided to see what goes for big money on Amazon. For example, Topps has a listing for a 1952 baseball card set “1952 Topps Baseball Almost Complete Set – Premier (Baseball Set) EX+” priced at $354,530. The only comment says “Damn I could take a picture and print those for free”.

Mostly, items like diamonds, Hermes bags, and pre-fabricated houses are going for such high prices. Curiously, I looked into what’s in books. Naturally, the top consists of antiques, some mistakenly placed prices, and jokes.

But among these are real books for some unreasonable prices. For example, Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research By Filomena Maggino is sold at Harvard Book Store for $5,999. Or here’s Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance 2nd ed. 2022 Edition by Ali Farazmand for $7,999.99. Makes you wonder, does pricing it a cent below $8K justify itself? On Springer’s website, the electronic version of this book is sold for $3,500. Or you could rent it on Kindle for a couple of months for $2,000.

Or there’s also the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics in 14 volumes. On Amazon, this encyclopedia is priced at just under $100K, but it’s very easy to find other sites on the net that sell its electronic versions. What do you think an electronic version of this encyclopedia might cost? Prices are generally around $11,000 everywhere.

Among the rare books is RECOVERY: THE HOSPITAL DRAWINGS OF ALFONSO OSSORIO. Interestingly, this is just a book printed relatively recently, in 1995, in an edition of 100 copies, each individually numbered. And now these books are being sold for $4-5 thousand dollars. Well, that’s understandable, it’s collectible.