The indestructible ’79 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon conquers sand dunes with ease
“When you make something no one hates, no one loves it.”
—Tibor Kalman
This time we’re colliding the shape of design, a concert meant to put you to sleep, moon photos from 1874 and going beyond smile sheets. More on that last one next.
Skip around, read what you want to! Find something interesting in your internet travels? Send me a link
—JH
Live Session
PathCamp Live Session ∙ View in browser
PathCamp ’25 is back this Thursday for another noon session. Here’s Christian to intro Will Thalheimer, our speaker:
Will Thalheimer has spent years studying how to make course evaluations more meaningful. In this session, he’ll share practical insights from his book Performance-Focused Learner Surveys, which challenges the limits of traditional “smile sheets” and offers research-based ways to ask better questions.
You’ll learn simple, evidence-driven techniques for crafting questions that capture learning impact, encourage thoughtful responses, and yield feedback you can actually use to improve teaching and course design.
Join us for a lunch hour session live on Zoom with Q&A to follow. See you there!
10 curious links that would have killed the cat
🤔 Dataguessr is a game that helps you update your knowledge of the world. I’m terrible at it but also fascinated by it. Other fun quizzes: WhichYear, Framed.
📺 There is nothing to watch. A mind-bending way to browse everything you could be watching right now.
📐 The shape of design. 15 years ago, designer Frank Chimero gave this 40-minute talk at Build. I rewatched it last week and still learned things. I used to show this to my students every semester back when I taught college graphic design classes.
🚫 Why a good user experience isn’t enough. “Value doesn't emerge from individual excellence—it emerges from multiple factors working together as a system.” 6 factors, to be specific.
💤 When composer Max Richter premiered Sleep in 2015, the concert lasted all night with audience members reclining in beds. That’s because it’s supposed to put you to sleep. The 8-hours piece last long enough for a full night’s sleep. Richter worked with a sleep neuroscientist while composing it. Here’s a CBS Sunday Morning segment on his New York concert.
Nasmyth's photo of the “lunar surface”
📸 James Nasmyth made what look like photos of the lunar surface at home in 1874. "Peering through a self-made telescope, Nasmyth sketched the moon’s scarred, cratered and mountainous surface … then built plaster models based on the drawings, and photographed these against black backgrounds in the full glare of the sun.”
🚗 VW sings “happy birthday” to itself with a chorus of screaming tires. The Volkswagen Polo just turned fifty.
💪 Speaking of cars: The history of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. “Back in 1979, Mercedes launched a stripped-down, go-anywhere SUV built to survive anything.” 40 years later, it’s still doing exactly that.
🎷 An hour and twenty-two minutes of excellent jazz on vinyl. A musician and jazz enthusiast DJs through his jazz records for you in his highly aesthetic apartment.
🇨🇺 NYC’s best cubano is hidden in Times Square. Come for the drool-inducing sandwiches, stay for the sweetest story about a family business you’ve heard in a while.
in Greenville, SC
One interesting bit of news from us here in Greenville, SC.
🏆 As I mentioned above, Thursday we’re doing a live session at Noon ET called Measure What Matters. Join us for Will Thalheimer’s method of measuring actual impact from your courses. See you there!
As I write this I’m sitting in a bag chair at the mouth of my garage, looking out at the neighborhood.
Leaves drift down lazily. I can barely hear a jet reaching altitude as it slides through atmospheric strata far above me. I see the deep blue butterfly that likes our rose bush at the front of the lawn fluttering past.
Inside, my dog barks at the sound of a passing truck. She was up sick last night. All the house windows are open—you can figure out why. She’s fine now; just a bug she picked up from the pet hotel last weekend. Soon she’ll be sniffing the pile of shoes by the entryway, her way of asking for a walk.
But for now, thank goodness for bag chairs, laptops and good weather. It really is amazing to be able to work from anywhere.
High five,
Justin Hall
Editor, Partner at Pathwright