Category: Web/Tech
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Assorted links
Will social networks boost good political change?
Malcolm Gladwell says not so much:
Shirky considers this [web-based] model of activism an upgrade. But it is simply a form of organizing which favors the weak-tie connections that give us access to information over the strong-tie connections that help us persevere in the face of danger. It shifts our energies from organizations that promote strategic and disciplined activity and toward those which promote resilience and adaptability. It makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact. The instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo. If you are of the opinion that all the world needs is a little buffing around the edges, this should not trouble you. But if you think that there are still lunch counters out there that need integrating it ought to give you pause.
The point is well-taken but still activism of some kinds should go up. Loose ties favor campaigns to get out the vote and sign petitions; those developments can bring about many positive changes. Most unsettled issues in American politics today would not be well-served by organizing less cooperative confrontations, even if you perceive a great injustice. I believe that "making the existing social order" more efficient, to use Gladwell's phrase, is positively correlated with many desirable reforms, as are the qualities of "resilience" and "adaptability." If we look at the recent experience in Iran, web mobilization seems to have encouraged — not discouraged — people from risking their lives for a cause. Is the web doing much to help the worst African dictators or the totalitarians in North Korea? Not so many data are in, but so far I score this one for Shirky.
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1. How to eat at an Indian buffet.
2. New links on the still-superb David Grossman book, which I am continuing to read.
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1. The impressive Melissa Dell.
3. Canuxploitation.
4. Is there a core in this game? Worrying developments in the politics of the flow of the Nile River.
5. "He has legitimate reasons for all the repellent ideas he holds.” — a good article on cross-political marriages and relationships.
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1. Seth Roberts on psychology and economics.
2. Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy, the new book by Diana Kennedy.
3. David Thompson's new book, the amazing Thai Street Food. Here is a recent article on Thompson's promotion and reinvention of Thai cuisine.
4. Das's The Difficulty of Being Good is about to come out, FT review here.
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Markets in Everything: Lookup Before You Hookup
Today's dating scene is tough to navigate, which is why Intelius
developed Date Check, a free mobile app that deciphers fact from
fiction in the palm of your hand. Simply enter a name, phone number or
email address and instantly get accurate and comprehensive results.
With features like Sleaze Detector, Compatibility, $$$, Interests and
Living Situation, you can be in the know on the go.
Some of you may recall the scene from Amazon Women on the Moon in which this idea was featured as a joke. I also recall but couldn't find online a scene from the great movie GATTACA in which a women on a date kisses a man and then rushes to the ladies room to have the DNA on her lipstick analyzed for suitable qualities. How long untill we have that technology?
Hat tip: Chris Rasch.
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1. Did the Irish have any choice? I am still waiting to hear about the preferred Keynesian alternative, beyond "the Germans should pay for it."
2. NYT symposium: what does a recovery look like? Is this it?
3. Todd Henderson update, and another update.
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1. Tyler Cowen and Tinkerbell, and another more optimistic take here, and more here.
2. Markets in everything, essays with bad grammar.
3. How much do we trust robots?
4. The Sion Gospels.
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1. The culture that is Fairfax.
2. Ruth Marcus's intellectual autobiography.
4. On ADHD, a step in the right direction, though it could be taken further.
5. Five favorite places in Latin America.
6. James Hamilton speaks sense on sales and unemployment, I will add that a) statistical significance on the delta is not the same as economic significance for the entire phenomenon, b) we should not throw out information contained in absolute magnitudes, and c) more nominal demand without more real wealth won't bring back a lot of the sectors suffering from poor sales.