Month: December 2008
-
The Future of Food Policy
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, discusses the future of U.S. food policy. Michael Pollan: A lot of people talk about the elitism of the food movement. And they think about Whole Foods and people shopping at upscale farmers markets. But there is another face to this food movement. There is a…
-
Obama’s Presidential Rhetoric
The Guardian presents an analysis of Obama’s campaign trail speeches, noting particularly how they recall ancient Greek imagery and skills from great Roman orators. During the Roman republic (and in ancient Athens) politics was oratory. In Athens, questions such as whether or not to declare war on an enemy state were decided by the entire electorate (or…
-
The Most Popular (Canon) DSLR Lenses
The readers of Darren Rowse’s Digital Photography School voted for their favourite lenses. Below are the overall top five, with Darren’s comments. (Plus links to reviews from The Digital Picture and approx prices from Amazon UK) Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM (Telephoto Zoom) (£1300) – fast, great for portraits, weddings, sports, versatile focal length.…
-
Conducting Technical Interviews
Eric Ries, ex-CTO and current tech startup advisor, offers advice on how to conduct a thorough and effective technical interview. Just one of many methods, obviously, but some good information nonetheless. Finding great engineers is hard; figuring out who’s good is even harder. The most important step in evaluating a candidate is conducting a good…
-
World’s Center of Population
The world’s center of population is located at “the crossroads between China, India, Pakistan and Tajikistan”. At this point, the mean distance to all humans on Earth is 3,200 miles (5,200 km). The opposite is a point in the South Pacific near Easter Island. From here, the mean distance to all humans on Earth is…
-
The Inefficiency of Christmas Gifts
A letter to Tim Harford (The Undercover Economist) asks, What’s the best Christmas present? Your letter obliges me to disinter the influential research of the economist Joel Waldfogel on the “deadweight loss of Christmas”. Fifteen years ago, Waldfogel published an academic article demonstrating that the recipients of gifts would not generally have been willing to…
-
Intelligence’s Effect on Sperm Quality
The Economist presents a short article on how intelligence predicts—among other health benefits—sperm quality. Something I pointed to a couple of months ago when research results were first coming through. Recently, it has been discovered that an individual’s [intelligence] is correlated with many aspects of his health, up to and including his lifespan. One possible…
-
Interview With a Somali Pirate
A pirate boss speaks to The Guardian We give priority to ships from Europe because we get bigger ransoms. To get their attention we shoot near the ship. If it does not stop we use a rope ladder to get on board. We count the crew and find out their nationalities. After checking the cargo…
-
The Year in Photographs
I try not to link to individual entries from The Big Picture because, well, they’re all good. However, there’s always an exception. The Year 2008 in Photographs (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) is a three–part collection of some of the best photographs from the year, covering a wide range of events. 2008 has been…
-
Time’s Year in Review
In the most unsurpsing move of the year, Time has announced Barack Obama as Person of the Year, 2008. But it’s the other parts of the Year in Review issue that interest me the most. People Who Mattered tells the story of those who have changed the course of science, politics and science in 2008: some for…