Critiquing & Brainstorming — Proof That When Fools Do Either, We Have a Problem
A recent article calls brainstorming’s value into question, and asserts that critiquing is vital to more productive thinking. But what if the article is all wet?
Revisiting a Little-Known RWA of the Past — The Restaurant Welfare Act of 1958
Can we learn a lesson from a prior clash of RWA and FRPAA years ago?
Criss-cross Applesauce — Multiplication in Japan
A fascinating video showing another way to multiply moderately big numbers, courtesy of Japan.
The Kodak Moment — Unleashed from Scarcity, Editing Becomes More Important
Scarcity limited the amount of material, hence the amount of editing necessary to make sense of what we had. Now, with more information than ever, the value of editing should be increasing. Perhaps we’re just not as aware of it as we should be.
Ask the Chefs: "How Do You See the Economy Factoring Into Publishing Decisions These Days?"
Economic pressures are driving change. The Chefs weigh in on the options, and clearly believe that while times are challenging, the best course is to keep moving ahead.
Glass in the Information Age — Corning's Vision of a World It Helps Create
A vision created by corporate scientists — of a future filled with their products — proves arresting and inspiring.
Grumpy Old Men — Franzen, Sendak, Permanence, Capitalists, and E-books
Authors sound off about e-books, revealing both a misunderstanding of publishing but also of how their interests and capitalist interests align.
The Elsevier Boycott — Does It Make Sense?
The boycott of Elsevier may have unintended consequences for smaller not-for-profits, scientists in smaller domains, and accessibility overall. And examples of solutions don’t look like solutions once you understand them a bit better.
Chart of the Day: How Science Stacks Up in the US Budget
Chart of the Day: How Science Stacks Up in the US Budget — from an Atlantic article entitled, “The Innovation Nation vs. the Warfare-Welfare State“:
The Little Letters in Our Lives — e to the i to the x
Is the decade-long trend in e, i, and x naming based on a deeper trend in how the world is coming together?
The End of the Salad Days — Where Is Google Headed Next?
Google once represented the spirit of Internet optimism distilled into a successful company. Now, with more cynical plays and shuttering experiments, what does Google’s new approach tell us about the Internet of tomorrow?
Why E-books Are Turning the Library and Publishing Worlds Upside Down
Old intersections of libraries and book publishers don’t work in the e-book era, and the rapid adoption of e-readers has shown that new bargains are inevitable. Whether libraries and publishers belong together in that future isn’t clear.
The Hidden Expense of Energy — Print Is Costly, Online Isn't Free
How many joules does it take to get a journal out? A small, quick study suggests that print consumes much more energy than online, but shows that online is far from free, with energy its main variable cost.
The End of Mass Media Mentalities and the Sciences
The big trend of the last decade has been the quiet, unremitting erosion of mass media. Television has been a major form of mass media since the 1950s, but it is quickly losing its ability to exert a mass effect. […]
The Joy of Books — A Short, Inspired Film Full of Passion
Passions die harder than businesses, and when passions energize a business, little miracles can happen, as this short film demonstrates.