According to a document from one of the largest telco’s in the US, AT&T will start blocking access to information for customers who have been flagged for copyright infringement. Imagine that you share, on book-face, a link that you find interesting. If someone were to claim a copyright on the article, & you were included in the list of “wrongfully” sharing it, you could lose the ability to even access your favorite social network site. AT&T will turn its customers in
Author: neil
Story-telling in pictures [article]
Many of us use Microsoft Excel’s charting feature to analyse/ present numerical information. In this article, while explaining his preference for a certain type of chart over another, the author demonstrates how a story can be effectively told without adding ‘chart junk’.
Getting an education [links]
The Internet has decimated the distribution system in a whole range of industries – newspapers, advertising, ideas sharing, communication, telecommunications etc. Education hasn’t been spared either. There are hundreds of online courses that offer specialised or general education courses, (Khan Academy, Coursera are a couple of examples). It has spawned what are called MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) from the likes of Harvard, Stanford, & other big-dollar universities, who don’t want to lose their advantage (& their revenues). Adding to the list, MRUniversity is offering a free economics education. Here’s a current collection of 530 free online courses, something might catch your fancy!
Live in Oslo – Thelonious Monk [Music]
For you jazz lovers, an hour of pianist Thelonious Monk, tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales, and drummer Ben Riley performing live in Oslo (1966). And if you aren’t familiar with jazz, here’s Louis Armstrong & Thelonious Monk among others giving a 45-minute child’s introduction to Jazz
Do we learn from history? [Essay]
In this opinion piece titled “the self-destruction of the 1 percent” which appeared in the NYTimes, Chrystia Freeland draws parallels between the merchants of Venice in the early 14th century & modern day crony capitalism that the US gifted to the world
The Kids Should See This [site]
There’s so much of good stuff out there – & the kids should see this is another awesome site for kids & the kids-at-heart. Science & fun rolled into one!
A water droplet in slow motion [video]
Awesome. and so are this eagleowl and a teaser of pollination and a cymbal.
Banking & Corruption
Another splendid blog I’ve just come across today. This post explores the question “Is Banking Unusually Corrupt, & If So, Why? Expect more links as I devour what these giants (Gary Becker & Richard Posner) have to offer.
Sudoku
I’ve spent many a journey back home from work, struggling to fill in the blanks on the “easy” 9 X 9 square called Sudoku, feeling quite hollow & useless. These boys from the Notre Dame University have developed an algorithm that solves Sudoku puzzles very easily, without backtracking! Their publication is here (even reading this was hard for me!)
EFF
No, that was not a swear word. Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organisation, is fighting the US legal system against the throttling of the Internet by Big Business, & which has implications for the rest of the world’s Internet users. They’ve just helped to win a case in the US which confirms that scanning books, in order to enhance research & to provide access to print-disabled individuals, is lawful. Read more about the EFF here