I see a lot of interesting links a day, but a lot of them don't warrant a full Blog Post (nor do I have the time to write a full post about it). So i figured I might bookmark them all and then aggregate them into one list with a short blurb on Monday nights as a summary for the previous week.
These links cross all spans of subjects. I like to think of it as like the Potpourri category on Jeopardy, only without buzzers and cat ladies.
Some might just be images, others links, other videos.
Pioneering midwife touts 'orgasmic birth' : Some women can experience a sort of birth ecstasy, says Ina May Gaskin
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23239361/
Before I read this article I swore it was going to be about the not-really-talked about method to "jump start a baby delivery". The article doesn't mention it, but Mrs. Gaskin does talk about how certain births could be partially orgasmic. While seeing the birth of my daughter was an absolutely amazing and beautiful thing, I am pretty sure my wife would be very hesitant to use the term "orgasmic" within 50 miles of a conversation about her delivery. Regardless this is an interesting read about home births etc. I know, we had some slight complications with mother and daughter on Ava's birth and I honestly can't imagine being at home at a time like that, but it is through provoking none the less.
Jon Taplin's Blog : “Its All About Oil”-Alan Greenspan
http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/its-all-about-oil-alan-greenspan/
A great summary read about The White Houses (Dick Cheney's) meetings with the Energy Task Force prior to 9/11. The most interesting aspect is the map of Iraq and it's oil fields (pre 9/11 remember). It is interesting how in all the scandals that this administration has been a part of, the Energy Task Force Docs seem to be the most forgotten (from reading the piece it seems people are still fighting up to the supreme court to get the meeting information released).
After reading this, it really doesn't add any gas to the fire about my disdain for anything Bush, but it really makes me sit back and try to remember all the different little things that have plagued this nation over his past tenure, and how we are so inundated with bad news about him (both fair and not fair) that all these things seem to blur. I can't decide if that is what his administration is aiming for, or if it is a by product of a media who just needs to continue keeping viewership with sensationalized stories. (please don't think i am playing down the importance of the linked post, this last paragraph was just a side thought).
The Next Slum? : The subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes
in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/subprime
In my opinion this article does a great job on solidifying the facts that the subprime fiasco and the "ripple bubbles" that lowering interest rates after 9/11 has created will eventually effect us all. Especially those of us who are not worried about making the mortgage payment every month. Blight, Foreclosure, Crime are so all intertwined that even 1 vacant house in a neighborhood can lead to an upheaval. This is a great read by the Atlantic.
This paragraph is what really struck me, although I think it is a little scaremongeriness thrown in the article it is amazing if true and Nelson's calculations are correct:
Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American demographics, construction, house prices, and consumer preferences. In 2006, using recent consumer research, housing supply data, and population growth rates, he modeled future demand for various types of housing. The results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by 2025—that’s roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today.
Wikipedia: The Keating Five
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
I had heard a lot of people during the course of the election so far mention the Keating 5. To be honest I never knew about what exactly they were talking about when they say it in reference to John McCain. Thank you Wikipedia. Although it sounds like after reading the article it sounds comical that the only person to be punished was the guy who actually had already stated that he was not running for reelection. I am sure this type of stuff goes on all the time in DC, it was just that this time it was caught because of the monstrosity that was the S&L scandal.
Gustavo Durate: Richard Feynman, the Challenger Disaster, and Software Engineering
http://duartes.org/gustavo/blog/post/2008/02/20/Richard-Feynman-Challenger-Disaster-Software-Engineering.aspx
This one will probably appeal more to the coders who read this blog, but I really enjoyed this post about the history of the post accident Challenger investigation and Richard Feynman's findings at how he was sort of exiled from the end report. The emphasis of the article is that Feynman was preaching iterative ("agile paradigm" to some, although thats kinda a generic word these days) bottom up design when critiquing the way in which the space shuttle engine was (from what I can gather without reading his full report) built, which could have lead to the accident.
Gamasutra : Sponsored Feature: Democratizing Game Distribution: The Next Step
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3545/sponsored_feature_democratizing_.php
It reads like a marketing piece or xna-ish paradigm manifesto, but if you follow this blog I have been a big supporter of Microsoft's XNA ( for non coders that's 'the ability for hobbyist to make games for the Xbox 360 and distribute them to friends and/or market and sell them') on this blog. I keep up with it because I believe that there are millions of people walking around the world who have brilliant ideas for games, it is just that they don't have the means nor money to make them happen. Although I don't think that XNA will allow anyone to compete with A-list video games (think Zelda, EA Sports Franchises, and the like) I do believe it gives a platform for people to experiment and will influence a lot of people who want to get into game creation, but want to do it slowly and a lot of times as a hobby. MS sees the inherent value of "The Free" to a point and I like the fact that they are the ones behind this movement.
How to live with a birthmark : It inspires admiration and alarm in equal measure, but one writer loves her ‘nature’s tattoo’
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article3374912.ece
I thought this article was interesting because it states that only 1% of the population has a birthmark. I honestly think that is incorrect and is a lot more, that just sounds low to me. I liked the layman classifications of the different types of birthmarks in this article also which range from "the Gorbachev" to the really odd scythe one I have on my toe. So if you ever think you are not dealing with me, and dealing with a clone of me (this is very very possible given my last experiments in our shed lab over the weekend) check out the 2nd to last toe on each foot, to see if you need to torture the clone and find out where it has hid me.
People of the Web : Jonathan Coulton : Jonathan Coulton went from being just another "code monkey" to the Godfather of "Geek Rock." Here’s how he did it.
http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/61785/how-to-become-a-rock-star
I think Coulton is entering somewhat of a geek demi-god state as of late. I heard some VB.Net programmers were throwing their panties on stage at him during his Rock Band concert at GDC.
That reminds me, I still need to beat Portal.
Interesting Photos Found (Click to view):
Rare Albino Moose Photographed (Flickr Photo Set)
(You need to read the description of it to understand why I thought it was so interesting.)
4dc1586a-dd92-4949-bce6-a39ce3c747ef|0|.0