Month: November 2008
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Debating the Merits of Neuroeconomics and Behavioural Economics
Prospect magazine hosts a debate on whether or not behavioural economics is as important as many of its advocates laud. As the BPS Research Digest says, In this […] debate, Pete Lunn (author of Basic Instincts) argues that behavioural economics will “deliver a revolutionary new way of understanding the world.” In response Tim Harford (author…
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Should the Young Run-Up Debts to Buy Stocks?
Tim Harford, author of The Logic of Life and The Undercover Economist, believes that young people “should be buying more stocks and running up debts to do so”. He supports this controversial viewpoint with the following: The logical way to fight generational risk is to borrow money to make large, regular investments in stocks while…
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Interviews on Sun Tzu’s Art of War
Sonshi bills itself as “the original online resource for Sun Tzu’s Art of War“. Of particular note is their collection of columns, essays and interviews featuring—among others—Guy Kawasaki, Josh Waitzkin, and this from Robert Greene, author of 48 Laws of Power and 33 Strategies of War: If I could simplify the whole game of power…
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The Undead: Walkers or Runners?
I’ve heard on good authority that Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set is a rather excellent mini-series. It’s also controversial, sparking an argument on whether or not zombies can run. Simon Pegg is of the belief that they can’t, as he elucidates in his latest article for The Guardian: More significantly, the fast zombie is bereft of…
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L’Arbre du Ténéré
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, a picture of L’Arbre du Ténéré may. This solitary acacia, know as the Tree of Ténéré in English, was long considered to be the most isolated tree on Earth, situated in the Sahara desert in north-east Niger. It was destroyed in 1973 by a drunk Libyan truck driver…
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Designing for Democracy
As the Floridian ‘butterfly ballots’ used in the 2000 U.S. presidential election showed, poor design can have far-reaching consequences. With new ballot design guidelines now in place, The New York Times identifies common design problems found on ballots and ways to improve clarity and vote accuracy. It’s good to know people are thinking about issues…
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Reducing the Risk of Human Extinction
A recent article from the University of Pittsburgh’s Centre for Biosecurity, Reducing the Risk of Human Extinction. Abstract: In this century a number of events could extinguish humanity. The probability of these events may be very low, but the expected value of preventing them could be high, as it represents the value of all future…
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Online Web Design Tools
Mashable’s list of over 130 web design tools looks like it may come in handy. Tools mentioned include CSS optimisers, colour scheme generators, attractive background design generators, and many more.
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The (Data) Visualisation Lab
I’ve been playing with The New York Times’ Visualization Lab lately and am enjoying it quite a lot, even though the current data sets you can play with are quite limited. However, the system uses IBM’s ‘Many Eyes’ tool, a project of their Visual Communication Lab, and if you head there you can register and…
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Revolutionary Scientific Minds
Revolutionary Minds is a new(ish) video series from Seed Magazine well worth your time. Each instalment profiles a number of scientists with one thing in common: their ideas are revolutionising how science advances. So far: The Game Changers Competition, legal difficulties, information overload, a lack of money, and public relations problems can impede the progress…