News That Stays News

More LINKED August 8, 2010

1. What’s better than a grappling hook? I should take this on my travels.
2. Slow Motion Lightning-Strike. Cool!
3. How Swearing Works. I didn’t read this. Probably a waste of time unless you’re especially interested.
4. New Mayor of Reykjavic
5. Also Cool

Anyway, there’s a name for using terms like “ATM machine” and “PIN number”: RAS syndrome:

RAS syndrome stands for redundant acronym syndrome syndrome and refers to the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism with the abbreviation itself, thus in effect repeating one or more words. Usage commentators consider such redundant acronyms poor style and an error to be avoided in writing, though they are common in speech. The term “RAS syndrome” is itself a redundant acronym, and thus is an example of self-referential humor.

LINKED August 8, 2010

1. The Geopolitics of an Enemy. Describes the connection between Greece’s geography and the financial mess. Well-written and interesting. Not sure if it’s worth your time if you don’t care about the Greek financial mess.
2. The Top Idea in Your Mind This is why I should take a semester off.
3. What is Marriage. As defined by elmo (actually Grover, but my Sesame Street is rusty and I don’t know the characters that well). Very short.
4. Mike Rowe celebrates Dirty Jobs. A 20 minute TED talk by the Dirty Jobs Discovery guy. Incredibly well written speech. I think half the things he says are wrong but all of them are worth thinking about. Great concluding sentence.
5. How we spend our money, not how much we spend, is what makes us happy. Not worth reading. But worth remembering.

LINKED August 5, 2010

1. This will entertain you
2. Lust, Devotion and the Binary Code. Well written, superbly plotted piece on sex lives of young Iranians. Contrasts the strict, orthodox state regulations against the much more liberal populace. Will surprise you if you are unaware of how un-conservative much of the Iranian population is; if you are aware, the joy comes from the detail.
3. Russia Burns
4. Tell me something I don’t know. Research that makes me question economics, and I don’t mean economic fundamentals but why the economics research is done in the first place. Disclosure: I didn’t read the paper, but it seems like a given.
5. Tyler Cowen’s IO Course Reading List. I might be the only person interested in this link, but I want to save it somewhere, and this blog is for that. Hey, Ian-Dewbecker is on it.

A smidgen of sunset science August 3, 2010

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/

Mostly phenomenology – I like reading things that change the way I see the world.

Linked August 2, 2010

1. Physics Engine This might explain why so many summer films have been using detailed-particle physics CGI, but what do I know.

2. The Best Theory that I have read about  Inception Obviously, spoiler alert. I think this is the Michael-Caine-kicked-everyone’s-ass-while-nobody-noticed theory.

3. Some people think it’s a good idea to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

4. Scary Graph of Home Equity

5. Do you feel like your research is particularly un-fulfilling? Feeling better? Good!

The Best Magazine Articles Ever August 1, 2010

Okay, actually these are
some really good american magazine articles from the last half century.

I Wish I Could Write Like This July 31, 2010

I’ll try to make this into a series. I’ll start with:

Federer as Religious Experience

Pity that Wallace died so young.

Linked July 31, 2010

1. Korean English Teacher teaches swear words. Usually, videos that feature heavy swearing are made funny by the swearing itself, but this video is an exception. Excessive swearing it does not lack, but the humor comes from the cultural intersection and the teacher’s own observations.
2. The death of the phone call. Excellent observation on relevant trend that I completely missed. We use cell-phones all the time, but the number and length of calls have dropped significantly over the last few years.
3. Too many laws, too many prisoners Excellent overview in the economist on the failures of the sentencing system. Great read if you’re unaware of the problem.
4. Data tracking on the web WSJ investigates how much information creepy companies collect on you when you surf the web, and discovers that wsj.com installs 60 cookies on  your computer. Good to know. How scared should one be, if at all?

Linked July 30, 2010

1. United Mistakes of America
2. The Rise of the Caring Industry The last section is called The End of Love. Read it at your peril.
3. Alternative to the Big Bang Theory “as the Universe expands, mass and time are converted to length and space and vice versa as it contracts.”
4. Uncontacted Peoples: from wikipiedia. List of known tribes that avoid contact with the rest of the world.

Financial Crisis doesn’t have a plural, right? July 30, 2010

Dumb Atlantic Article About OTC Derivative Regulation

Consumers won’t feel such costs directly, but rather indirectly through higher interest rates on loans, more expensive insurance policies, lower and more volatile returns on retirement investments, and in many other ways.

Unless, of course, they either (1) diversify OR (2) don’t own much stock in which case they may notice that their damned economy doesn’t implode as often. This is actually me, testing Jason’s account.