A Taxonomy of Confusions
There are specific contributing factors to confusion and coherence. Understanding these, as well as your own strengths and weaknesses, can help you write, read, and edit better.
The Shadow of the MOOC Grows Longer
Will massive open online courses (MOOCs) disrupt higher education? With recent announcements, the potential seems to be growing.
A New Publishing Ecosystem Emerges
A new publishing ecosystem is emerging that includes among its participants O’Reilly Media, Pearson, Safari Books, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, and Liberty Media. This new ecosystem may come to challenge the proprietary ebook networks of Amazon and Apple.
Intellectual Property Is a University’s Best Friend
Universities should seek to retain control of their copyrights and develop mechanisms to monetize them to ensure the financial health of the institutions. This is a proposal that sides neither with open access advocates nor with the interests of commercial organizations.
Pickpockets, Attention, and Neuroscience — A Demonstration
Can you pay attention? Or will your attention deficits make you pay? This pickpocket knows the answer, and he’s helping people understand why their attention wanders, falters, or . . . squirrel!
Video Rewind — Unicode, the Video: All 49,000 Characters
Unicode is a vast system for rendering the written word. Here’s a video of its scope and complexity.
The $20 Tablet, and Four Interesting Questions for the Academic Market
A low-priced tablet computer from India might have the potential to change the game for many. Are we ready for a potential rapid and system-wide disruption?
Chefs’ Selections: The Best Books Read During 2012
Once again, the Chefs list their favorite books read this year — everything from Presidents to statisticians to cancer to owl soup. Enjoy!
A Music Video With Important Lessons
Enjoy a laugh and lots of important lessons about how to decrease moronic mortality rates.
Thanksgiving, Football, and The Princess Bride — NFL Analysts Drop As Many References As Possible
What happens when NFL analysts embrace a film classic? They probably mean no harm, and are not at all short on charm.
Amazon Enhances Its Position in Academic Markets with Launch of Its Whispercast System
Amazon’s new local distribution technology allows academic institutions new levels of control.
The Nano World — Microscopes Show Us the Ants' Willie Wonka Land
Looking closely at nature reveals that our world is a world isolated by its scale, not by its reality. At other scales, other worlds exist.
Math and Discipline — Why Nate Silver's Accuracy Isn't About "Big Data"
“Big data” isn’t what the Nate Silver story highlights. It highlights data curation, management, analysis, publication, iteration, and integrity, none of which “big data” guarantees.
Why Did Publishers Get So Big?
The recent announcement of the merger of Random House and Penguin prompts an essay on why publishers get big. Surprisingly, their own greed has little to do with it.
Luck, Superstitions, and Rationality — Black Cats, Broken Mirrors, Ladders, Salt, and Umbrellas
Common sense of yesteryear is sometimes expressed as “luck.” Would we do better if we made modern common sense “lucky” as well?