Interesting Articles: August 22nd-28th 2005

* Gory and erotic images can affect your vision, describing a neat psychological effect. (The Economist)
* Why There's No Escaping the Blog. While not a deep or particularly insightful article, the diverse selection of blogs and companies the article mentions is interesting. (New York Times)
* Online Bettors Find a New Love: Real Estate. I truly believe futures market with diverse individuals and money riding on it can make very smart predictions. And now it's being done with real estate. This, for one, provides the ability to hedge the value of your home, something most homeowners probably should do. (New York Times)
* Men, women and pain. On the differences between the genders. How much is biological versus psychological versus social, and how is this effect mediated? (The Economist)
* How urban high schoolers got math. Just another study reflecting the importance of good teaching and good teaching methods. (Stanford Report)
* Dubious 'Mozart Effect' remains music to many Americans' ears. An article analyzing the (probably non-existent) Mozart Effect (i.e., listening to classical musical raises your IQ) and exploring its popularity. (Stanford Report)

Interesting Articles: August 15th-21st 2005

* Dishes That Double as Special Effects. Cool audio report about using machines not normally used in a kitchen to produce new dishes. (All Things Considered on NPR)
* Paradise and Money Lost. An article that reads like a story, about the importance of transparent audited results. (New York Times)
* Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling. I don't recall why I decided to flip through this ruling on abortion, but I found Section VI particularly interesting, in which the Supreme Court puts abortion in its historical social and legal context. (Supreme Court, via FindLaw)
* Have You Heard? Gossip Turns Out to Serve a Purpose. A light story about gossip's ability to enforce social laws. (New York Times)

Interesting Articles: August 8th-14th 2005

* Sleeping your way to the middle. The summary of an interesting study about women who use their sexuality to get ahead in the workplace. (American Public Media's Marketplace, distributed on many NPR affiliates)
* Political Humorist Bill Maher's 'New Rules'. An entertaining interview on WHYY's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, distributed on many NPR affiliates.
* Safer Beef. Are you nervous about eating beef? Perhaps you should be. This editorial reflects the reasons why I tend to avoid beef (when it's not labeled organic), especially ground beef. (New York Times)

Interesting Articles: August 1st-7th 2005

* You Think You've Got Tomatoes. A cute though brief profile of Berkeley Bowl. Posted simply because I was impressed it made the New York Times.
* The Price Is Right. An Op-Ed piece clarifying the WalMart debate. (New York Times)
* Running the World: the Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power. This (audio) lecture from David Rothkopf from late June is quite interesting. He's a very charismatic speaker. (World Affairs Council)

Interesting Articles: July 25-31st 2005

* Science education: Hothouse High, an article about magnet schools and student burnout in high school. My high school (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology) is one of the ones they focus upon. (Nature)
* Putting for the Fences, on the under-respected sport of putting. (New York Times)
* Roach robot to infiltrate insect societies?, on using robots to interact with insects/animals to influence them. (IT Pro)
* A bribe too far! Ukraine scraps all traffic cops. (Motoring & Independent Online)
* Who Knew a $10 Bill Had Such a Nice Bouquet?, about wines for less than $10/bottle. Here is a list of the top five whites and red, for when reading the article ceases to be free. (New York Times)
* Tow Trucks Prowl, and Authorities Crack Down. A story about vigilante (?) tow truck drivers and the debate over how much power tow truck drivers should have in deciding to tow vehicles. What do you think? (I'm mostly on the side of the tow truck drivers, but I believe the penalties for illegal towing should be higher to discourage too aggressive towing.) (New York Times)
* The Sniffer vs. the Cybercrooks. A short profile of a man that tries to break into networks for a living. (New York Times)
* Who Needs Education Schools?. On eduction schools teaching practice versus theory. (New York Times)
* Bad to the Last Drop. Do you drink bottled water? (I don't.) Read this. (New York Times)

Interesting Articles: July 18-24th 2005

* Tattooed Fruit Is on Way. i.e., labeling fruit using lasers instead of stickers. (New York Times)
* A Gene for Romance? So It Seems (Ask the Vole). Yet another neat article on simple genetic control of complex behavior. (New York Times)
* Corrupted PC's Find New Home in the Dumpster. A sad story about computers being so complicated that people throw them out rather than reinstall the operating system. (New York Times)
* The Framing Wars. At first you might think this is just another article about framing. But really it is an interesting piece about how politicians have reacted to Lakoff's book and how it has affected political battles in recent months. (New York Times)
* Jon Stewart, Faking It and Making It. An neat and funny interview on WHYY's Fresh Air (via NPR).
* Public radio programs trying to move to the screen: Lake Wobegon Goes Hollywood (or Is It Vice Versa?), With a Pretty Good Cast (from Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion); Close Your Eyes and It's Almost Like Radio (from Ira Glass's This American Life). (New York Times stories)
* R We D8ting? A cute (cautionary?) tale about relationships and text messaging. (New York Times)

Interesting Articles: July 11-17 2005

* Graffiti Archaeology. (Referenced in Digital 'Antigraffiti' Peels Away the Years, a New York Times article.)
* Cancer Drugs Offer Hope, but at a Huge Expense. The real question here is: How much do you value a month of your life? (New York Times)
* The Editor's Tale. A cute (fictional, I assume) story about a publisher that turned down Harry Potter. A fun short read. (New York Times)

Los Angeles Weekend Trip

With two friends, I took a quick flight down to Los Angeles to go exploring for a weekend (July 16th and 17th 2005). I wrote a travel diary but only distributed it to my friends via e-mail -- it's not on the web. My pictures from this trip, however, are online.