My NYTIIH Score, Year Two

Posted by Jacob Harris Wed, 27 Dec 2006 20:05:00 GMT

Sunset Cranes

It’s that time of the year again, when the air gets a certain crispness, snatches of holiday song fill the air, and everybody communes with their friends and family, joined in warmth by their shared commitment to one thing: figuring out their New York Times Year In Ideas Hipness score. For those of you who missed this last year, I’ve started the personal tradition of reading through the New York Times Magazine’s annual Year In Ideas issue and tabulating how many of the collected phenomena I had known about beforehand. This is no mere game; a sufficiently high score is the only thing that allows me to still bask in the comfort of being “with it”, so please appreciate the seriousness of this moment.

I’ve been a bit late coming to the game this year (it’s been a really busy December), but now is the moment of truth and a big game day question: Now that I actually work at the Times, how will that affect my score? On the one hand, I am that much closer to the elitist, liberal, intellectual mindset the Times is so renowned for, so that should conceivably help my score. But – and I am painfully aware of the irony here – I find myself with so much less time to read the news these days now that I’m actually working for it, which might detract from my score.

If you’ve never read the Year in Ideas issue, give it a gander and see how much you recognize. I’m sure there will be some things you recognize a little, some you’ve known for years (as the picture shows, I’m very aware that shipping containers explain everything), and some things that will completely surprise you. And if you’re feeling competitive, tally up your score and see how intellectually hip you are. My results follow:

The Aerotropolis The New Inequality
Air-Index Impressionism Olfactory Cuisine
The Ambient Walkman Paternity Confidence
The Ballot That Is Also a Lottery Ticket Phantom Pianists
The Beer-Gut Flask Psychological Neoteny
Bicycle Helmets Put You at Risk Publication Probity
Big Urbanism Redefining Torture
The Boomerang Drone The Return of the Corporate State
Cohabitation Is Bad for Women’s Health Reverse Graffiti
The Comb That Listens The Robot Fielder
Creative Shrinkage Rods From God
Digital Maoism Sailing an Oil Tanker
The Diplomat-Parking-Violation Corruption Index Salt That Doesn’t Stick
The Drivable One-Man Blimp Shipping Containers Explain Everything
The E. Coli Wipe Smart Elevators
Empty-Stomach Intelligence The Social-Cue Reader
Energy-Harvesting Floors Sousveillance
The Eyes of Honesty Speed-Reducing Art
The Fashion Czar Spit Art
For-Profit Philanthropy Sporno
The Gyroball Straw That Saves Lives
The Hidden-Fee Economy Taxing Virtual Economies
Homophily Techno Fashion
Human-Chimp Hybrids The Tongue Sucker
The Humane Flophouse Trash-Talk Exegesis
Hyperopia Tushology
Indie Sitcoms Unscratchable Paint
Jujitsu Advertising The Visage Problem
The Lady Macbeth Effect Voting-Booth Feng Shui
Literary Spam Walk-In Health Care
Low Starting Prices Lead to High Auction Sales Web-Based Microfinancing
Misery Chic The Wheelchair Car
Money-Circulation Science Wine That Ages Instantly
The Myth of ‘the Southern Strategy’ Workplace Rumors Are True
Narcissistic Celebrities Yodeling Is Universal
N.C.A.A. Psyop The YouTube Referee Indictment
Negativity Friendships The Ziggurat of Zealotry

There you have it. A total score of 46 out of 74, for a NYTYIIH score of 55.4%! Given the wide-ranging scope of ideas, this might seem decent enough, except last year I scored an impressive 65.38%. Oh the humanity! I guess I’m now longer the idea hipster/coolhunter I thought I was. But can you do better?

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Calculate Your NYTYIIH Score!

Posted by Jacob Harris Mon, 19 Dec 2005 18:08:00 GMT

For the past 5 years, the New York Times has graced with an annual roundup article titled The Year In Ideas. The issue actually came out last week, but it’s a sign of my recent workload – and the excessive number of holiday parties I had to attend – that I only read it on the commute into work today.

It actually was rather boring. Not because of the ideas themselves, but because I had actually read many of them before on various blogs and other geeky websites (Sometimes, I long for a service like “del.icio.us” for feed subscriptions just so I can share how hip the feeds I read are). I am not an information omnivore by any means, but it was apparent that I was cued into some of the same idea sources as the editors of the New York Times. Which led to an idea of my own. Since the New York Times has declared its Year In Ideas issue to be an annual tradition, I’m going to start my own personal tradition of tabulating my personal New York Times Year In Ideas Hipness score (or NYTYIIH for short). The methodology is simple. Look at every idea listed and if you had heard of it before reading in the Times, give yourself a point. Okay, let’s get started then.

The following table lists the titles of the ideas in the 2005 Year in Ideas issue with bold ones being ideas I had encountered before. I know some of the titles are cryptic, but you can take that up with the New York Times editors and not me.

Accredited Bliss Playoff Paradigm, The
The Anti-Paparazzi Flash Pleistocene Rewilding
The Anti-Rape Condom The Porn Suffix
Branding Nations Preventing Suicide Bombing
Cartoon Empathy The Readable Medicine Bottle
Celebrity Teeth Republican Elitism
Cobblestones are Good for You Robot Jockeys
Collapsing the Distribution Window The Runaway Alarm Clock
Consensual Interruptions Scientific Free-Throw Distraction
Conservative Blogs are More Effective Seeing With Your Ears
Dialing Under the Influence The Self-Fulfilling Trade Rumor
Do-It-Yourself Cartography The Serialized Pop Song
Dolphin Culture The Sitcom Loyalty Oath
Econophysics Solar Sailing
Embryo Adoption The Sonic Gunman Locator
Ergomorphic Footwear Splogs
The Fair Employment Mark The Stash Rocket
The False-Memory Diet Stoic Redheads
The Fleeting Relationship The Stream-of-Consciousness Newspaper
Folksonomy Subadolescent Queen Bees
Forehead Billboards The Suburban Loft
Gastronomic Reversals The Synesthetic Cookbook
Genetic Theory of Harry Potter Taxonomy Auctions
The Global Savings Glut ”The Crawl” Makes You Stupid
The His-and-Her TV The Toothbrush That Sings
The Hollywood-Style Documentary The Totally Religious, Absolutely Democratic Constitution
The Hypomanic American Touch Screens That Touch Back
The Infrared Pet Dry Room Trial-Transcript Dramaturgy
In Vitro Meat Trust Spray
Juvenile Cynics Two-Dimensional Food
The Laptop That Will Save the World The Uneavesdroppable Phone Conversation
Localized Food Aid The Urine-Powered Battery
Making Global Warming Work for You Video Podcasts
Medical Maggots Why Popcorn Doesn’t Pop
Microblindness Worldwide Flat Taxes
Monkey Pay-Per-View Yawn Contagion
National Smiles The Yoo Presidency
Open-Source Reporting The Zero-Emissions S.U.V.
Parking Meters That Don’t Give You a Break Zombie Dogs

So, what is my final score? 51 out of 78, which gives me NYTYIIH score of 65.38%! I’m quite pleased with myself this year; since I have just started, I can unabashedly call this year’s score my personal best. Can you beat me?

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