Things to Read
A roundup of interesting articles and posts elsewhere on the Web. Links are arranged newest to oldest, left to right, top to bottom.
What Isn’t for Sale?Market thinking so permeates our lives that we barely notice it anymore. A philosopher sums up the hidden costs of a price-tag society. » | The Social Graph is NeitherAn interesting essay about the fundamental flaws with the idea of a “social graph,” which is the basis for sites like Facebook. “The social graph wants to turn us back into third graders, laboriously spelling out just who is our fifth-best-friend. But there’s a reason we stopped doing that kind of thing in third grade!” » | Up in ur internets, shortening all the wordsA humorously serious look at Ralph Fiennes’s claim that Twitter is eroding our language. It’s the sort of post that makes me want to be a linguist. » |
Who Left A Tree, Then A Coffin In The Library?An anonymous artist has been leaving book-based sculptures around Edinburgh. » | Europe vs. FacebookA look at the information Facebook is collecting about you and at an Austrian law student who's fighting back. » | Occupy Wall Street protesters should pay more attention to the ballot boxTo bring about real change in a real democracy you also have to do real politics. It just takes work—and enough people who think like you. » |
Word of the Week: ScofflawScofflaw was invented for a contest to create a new word to shame drinkers during Prohibition » | Social networking in its oldest formOver the last two decades, Harold Hackett has sent out over 4,800 messages in a bottle from Prince Edward Island, and he has received over 3,100 responses from all over the world. » | Wanna Live Forever? Become A NounAmusing song (and animation) from NPR’s Adam Cole and Robert Krulwich about people who have become nouns. » |
I want a glow-in-the-dark kitten!Cats that can glow in the dark from a new genetic engineering technique are helping scientists study molecules that could stop AIDS. I totally want one. » | A Deity Goes into Retirement: Tibetans Face Uncertainty in Post-Dalai Lama EraThe retirement of the Dalai Lama from politics, the search for his successor, and scandal and intrigue within the Tibetan exile community. » | How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into AmericansHow our political system has become a war between Republicans and Democrats, to the detriment of democracy. “Ours is a system focused not on collective problem-solving but on a struggle for power between two private organizations.” » |
Rock Paper Scissors, 2011 Style“For generations, this children’s game has helped settle some profound conflicts. So I’ve created a few additional hand gestures that might be helpful for our representatives in Washington.” » | Crashing the Tea PartyMaybe there’s hope: On everything but the size of government, Tea Party supporters are increasingly out of step with most Americans, even many Republicans » | Why have the Apostles behind Rick Perry’s prayer rally been invisible to most Americans?Examination of Rick Perry's links to the New Apostolic Reformation movement. » |
The Transformation of Michele BachmannHow can this country be considering Michele Bachmann as a serious presidential candidate? It’s absurd. “Michele Bachmann’s world view has been shaped by institutions and people unfamiliar to most Americans.” » | Other People’s PapersIs cheating the natural consequence of forcing students to take classes that are meaningless to them? » | The mystery of the Canadian whiskey fungusMycologist James Scott goes on a hunt to explain the strange black fungus coating a whiskey warehouse and the town around it. » |
Take two hookworms and call me in the morningGrowing evidence points to a significant downside to life without hookworms » | Ant rafts repel waterResearchers have described how ants form floating, waterproof islands » | The “nonplussed” problemHow long should we cling to a word’s original meaning? » |
Condé Nast got hooked in $8 million spear-phishing scamA spear phisher tricked Condé Nast into wiring $8 million to his bank account after he posed as a legitimate business » | Why the other shopping line moves fasterHow a lesson learned in the early days of telephone service lets you understand the flow of shoppers waiting to check out, and why banks and airlines want you to wait for the next available teller/agent » | Icelandic penis donor diesPáll Arason, who bequeathed his penis to the Icelandic Phallological Museum, died on January 5 » |
Wobbly Earth means your horoscope is wrongIf you look to your horoscope for a preview of your day, look again: You’re probably following somebody else’s supposed fate » | A physicist opts out of TSA full-body scannersA physicist explains why full-body scanners are not safe » | Ricky Gervais: Why I’m an atheistWhy don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do you believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. » |
Ban the BenjaminsHundred-dollar bills are for criminals and sociopaths. Why do we still print them? » | Cell phones and cancerA skeptical take on the idea that cell phones cause (or even could cause) brain cancer. » | Why the TSA can’t back downThe security theater will continue! » |
Settlers of Catan is the board game of our timeMonopoly is an awful game. Try Settlers of Catan instead. It’s more fulfilling and more fun. There should be more to life than rolling the dice and going in circles. » | A new book takes down Breast Cancer Awareness MonthEvery year, when Pink October, aka Breast Cancer Awareness Month, rolls around, dozens of women with breast cancer begin posting online to express one single sentiment: Make it stop. » | Marcel the Shell with Shoes OnI don’t generally do “cute” but this is: cute stop-motion animation » |
Ratzinger is an enemy of humanityRichard Dawkins writes that the pope’s attack on atheists and secularists was disgraceful and redolent of the sound of stones hurled within a glass house » | Playing fiddle while drivingReykjavík Police stopped a man who had been reported to be playing a fiddle while driving » | Inventing the market for printed booksThe first printed books came with a question: What do you do with these things? Successful early printers made their money not on great works but on little ones like almanacs, calendars, municipal announcements, and indulgence certificates. » |
Parasite-infested zombie ants walked the Earth 48 million years agoA fossilized leaf shows the marks of having been bitten by a zombie ant under the control of a parasitic fungus » | Latest liberal conspiracy: relativityYep: “The theory of relativity is a mathematical system that allows no exceptions. It is heavily promoted by liberals who like its encouragement of relativism and its tendency to mislead people in how they view the world.” Apparently the home-school crowd thinks relativity and relativism are the same thing just because they sound similar. » | English only spoken hereHomer, Illinois wants to make English its official language. Too bad the board members who support the move can barely speak English themselves. » |
Canada’s creationist science ministerThis is the sort of science minister George W. Bush could be proud of: a creationist chiropractor. Asked whether he believes in evolution, he replied that, “I don’t think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate.” » | The Cupertino EffectThere’s a name for when your spell checker makes an inappropriate substitution: the Cupertino effect. » | The Clbuttic Mistake: When obscenity filters go wrongPresident Abraham Lincoln was buttbuttinated by an armed buttailant after a life devoted to the reform of the US consbreastution. » |
An Unsolicited Commercial Love StoryThe story of “Alicia,” whose picture you’ve almost certainly seen in more than one online ad or spam e-mail. » |
Music Review: The Turpentine Ray; Book Review: Prague
My new favorite Christmas song
Update on Bill’s Wrist
A cheaper alternative to spending $4.3 million for a dull photograph
This was going to be an awesome post but then I broke my wrist
Big Brother is stalking me
How to coin a phrase