Left-handed Cancer, Box Springs, Scientific American, Branding, and Credibility
When brands, credibility, and trust all stumble, what is an increasingly weary public supposed to think?
“Cognitive Surplus” — Look What Can Happen When We Turn Off the Television
Clay Shirky’s new book is smart, snappy, and insightful. You should read it if you want to understand why people are adding social media to their lives.
Is Print an Elite Medium? Or a Medium for Elitists?
College journalists are more motivated about getting into print, editors are missing huge opportunities, and Harry Potter’s owners are in no hurry to go digital. What gives?
Conan Doyle Creates Holmes for Science, Then Descends Into Pseudoscience
The creator of the detective of the scientific age seems to have abandoned science as he aged.
E-book Sales Beat Hardcover Sales at Amazon: Tipping Point or Fluke?
Amazon’s Kindle and e-book sales take off, and the overall trend is for a huge shake-up in the retail book space.
The Chefs Meet “I Write Like” — or, the Long Arm of David Foster Wallace
The I Write Like site was the hot trend recently — but what of Scholarly Kitchen authors? An analysis tells you who we write like, among other things.
Clay Shirky on Generosity, Erotic Novels, Civics, Lolcats, and Scholarly Journals
The cognitive surplus of our age is being unleashed. This video discusses some of the side-effects and trends that will shape our futures.
Cups, Buckets, Pools, and Puddles: When the Flood of Papers Won’t Abate, Which Do You Choose?
When most papers submitted ultimately get published, and in an age driven by pooled philosophies and practices, are we already participating in a “filter failure” of immense proportions?
OK, Let’s Try This Again — It’s Time for a Summer Vacation!
We’re taking 2 weeks off. See you in July!
Does Thinking Benefit More from Contemplation or Exchange?
Distractions spur thoughts, so why do we want deep, contemplative thinking?
The Content Graph: How Brands, Trust, and Quality Can Network the Future of Online News
By realizing content links news outlets and creating a barter system, Scott Karp’s Publish2 offers an interesting approach to the “content graph” networked information has created.
Signals of Quality — Does Selectivity Attract Better Submissions and Better Authors?
A study from ACM suggests that selectivity — both being selective and being known as selective — has a citation benefit.
The POD Booby Trap and the Lure of Open Access Books
Using POD (print on demand) as a means to support open access is not a viable business model.
Arguing Against Links: Are They Distracting, Counterproductive, and Anti-Intellectual?
Is there a good case against linking? Or are links just an updated version of an old idea?
Academic Incentives Gone Awry: Why Junk Persists in the Scientific Literature
The system of scientific publication is broken, with rewards cynically exploited by many players while science fills with more and more garbage. How can we fix this?