A Pickpocket’s Tale - A profile of Apollo Robbins, a professional pickpocket. Riveting long read from The New Yorker.
“I specialize in future used goods—goods that used to belong to you. I’m a pickpocket.”
One day, over lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in a Las Vegas strip mall, Robbins demonstrated his method on me. “When I shake someone’s hand, I apply the lightest pressure on their wrist with my index and middle fingers and lead them across my body to my left,” he said, showing me. “The cross-body lead is actually a move from salsa dancing. I’m finding out what kind of a partner they’re going to be, and I know that if they follow my lead I can do whatever I want with them.”
Isaac Asimov: How to Never Run Out of Ideas Again - If there’s one word to describe Isaac Asimov, it’s “prolific. He has written books in every Dewey Decimal category except Philosophy. This is a great piece about how to imbibe the best of what Asimov employed to always crank out quality work.
I’m Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, and This Is How I Work - Lifehacker has a series called “How I Work” and this is one of the best ones in it. Jason Fried talks about how he manages his work/digital and personal lives, and what’s most important to him. I was sold when he said this.
What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else? What’s your secret?
I’d like to think it’s making a great cup of Japanese green tea. Certainly there are people who do it better, but most people either boil the water too hot, steep the tea too long, or use crap tea that tastes bitter and turns people off of tea. The proper amount of Japanese sencha at around 170 degrees, steeped in the right amount of water in the right vessel for about 45 seconds without agitation, is really a delight. I’ll make you one.
“Roberto undertook a great task but he did not do it alone,” Silvia stressed. “He was part of a network. He would have considered it egocentric to claim responsibility. He felt his task was important but he never took centre stage. He put great value on teamwork.”
To his staff, Kozak always seemed preternaturally calm. “He was always composed. It was remarkable,” said Infante. “He would come to the hot and stuffy third floor to inspect the files. We were all sweating and he’s in a jacket and tie, cold as a fish. He told us that the files must be carefully taken care of, that they were not files, they were human lives, worthy of respect.”
An Ancient Toy Could Improve Health Care in the Developing World - This is about a very inspiring Indian called Manu Prakash, who gave a TED talk a while ago about a $1 microscope. He now has a new project, which is a centrifuge (needed to complete a bevy of medical tests) inspired by an ancient toy. This is very good stuff.
Is Emirates Airline Running Out of Sky? - Very nice in-depth piece about the empire that is Emirates. Everything is done grand-size, but slowly there is very little new grand to be found, and little new ground to break.
