Periscope Depth

love you, mama, but you’re too proud to change

While I’m thinking about Netflix, a quick question: why does Netflix care so much about improving their recommendation system? Netflix made headlines years ago when it announced its Netflix Prize, a $1,000,000 bounty to whoever could build an algorithm that would improve the accuracy of its recommendations by 10%. When this award was claimed in [...]

turn on the bright lights

How to Change the Brake Lights on Your Sedan: Google “how to change brake lights [make] [model]“. Read a few contradictory articles on eHow. Head out to your car with an adjustable wrench, screwdriver and a pair of brake light bulbs. Pop the trunk. Unfold the interior panel on the side with the expired bulb. [...]

we can’t go on together with suspicious minds

Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is not Iraq 2003 (Juan Cole): 1. The action in Libya was authorized by the United Nations Security Council. That in Iraq was not. By the UN Charter, military action after 1945 should either come as self-defense or with UNSC authorization. Most countries in the world are signatories to [...]

the economics of niche programming

New post on Overthinking It examining the difficulty – and success – that smart TV has in finding an audience. Battlestar Galactica is set in a universe that, confusingly, looks a lot like 21st century Earth, only with starships. But it’s not Earth. In fact, it’s the last survivors of a genocide, who are fleeing [...]

the world weighs on my shoulders, but what am I to do?

On Friday, I came downstairs from my desk to get a seltzer water from the fridge. I noticed three cans of seltzer lying in the crevice between our two refrigerators. Since this isn’t the usual place to store water, my mind reeled. I looked up above the fridge, where twelve-packs of soda are kept. Within [...]

sitting here in my safe european home

A few reminders: 1. There is no non-fictional source of power that will allow a First World country to operate at its current rate of industry that will survive an 8.9 quake without venting pollution. None.* (Right, right; solar and wind power can keep the entire planet not only stable but growing, just as soon [...]

to douchebags, with love and squalor

I was having a bad week last week. A week where I was recovering from a mild but persistent sinus infection that left me coughing, sneezing, aching and feverish. One of those weeks where I left the office late every night. And this night was one of those nights where I Wished a Sucka Would. [...]

you should hear how she talks about you

Today I discovered that, if you feed every sentence in a David Brooks column into Excel and use OFFSET() and RANDBETWEEN() to rearrange them at random, the resulting paragraphs make just as much sense. For the past 30 years we’ve tried many different ways to restructure our educational system — trying big schools and little [...]

I mean the macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mushed and the chicken tastes like wood

Someone needs to go back in time* and tell me about the following:Two slices of wheat bread, buttered;Some thin slices of salmon;A bit of light mozzarella cheese;Assemble whole into sandwich and heat in conventional oven on 350 for 5-10 minutesNot only does it take less time to prepare than the heat-and-eat stuff I used to [...]

you’re just a rapping infection, dirtilizing my section

While doing my taxes, I was presented with the option of deducting my medical expenses. After doing some math, I realized I would have to have spent over $3000 on doctor’s bills in 2010 to take it as a deduction. “Three thousand dollars a year in medical expenses?” I thought. “Is that even possible?” (Progressives, [...]

  • Periscope Depth

    The website of John Perich, author of TOO CLOSE TO MISS and editor for Overthinking It. He's learning about writing, marketing, publishing and promotion, and he encourages you to learn along with him.

    perich@periscopedepth.com

  • TOO CLOSE TO MISS




    "... opens with a bang and never relents ..."
    "... from chapter one, I couldn't put the damn thing down ..."
    "... already looking forward to Perich's next book ..."

    Mara Cunningham knew that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. But when her lover shows up in the hospital after his wife and son are murdered, the rumors about her turn dangerous. Now she's the prime suspect in a double homicide, and the real killers will stop at nothing to silence her ...

    Buy the book that readers are calling "a great, suspenseful thriller" at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.



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