Cell phones promise fairer elections in Africa

Cell phones promise fairer elections in Africa

August 28, 2008, 11:00 am
CNN : The humble mobile phone is driving a new revolution which some experts hope could bring fairer elections and democracy to some African states... READ MORE


Museum of Modern Arab Art

Flickr image: 
Mir-i-Arab Madrassah | AudreyH | Flickr
August 27, 2008, 10:33 pm
DEZEEN : The shape might have something to do with the dunes but as an exhibition space you don’t get any quality out of the outside form. The Klee Museum by Piano has the same problem. Why can’t buildings look like buildings and support the art? Why does a museum has to give the impression to be something else... READ MORE

Forestle turns Google searches green

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Picasso Google Logo At Google Kirkland | dannysullivan | Flickr
August 28, 2008, 11:19 am
ARS TECHNICA : The push toward green everything—green commuting, green shopping, green living, and even green computing—has exploded this year. But, as we all know, some of these initiatives are easier to take part in than others... READ MORE

Transforming American Newspapers (Part 2)

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The Guardian's Redesign - Titlepiece | gigijin | Flickr
August 28, 2008, 1:10 pm
DIGITAL DELIVERANCE : If the major reason for the American daily newspaper industry's demise were its stories contained too many dangling participles, then the industry could more easily comprehend its situation than instead hearing that the reason was it had violated the Principle of Supply & Demand... READ MORE

Denali

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Denali lifts her skirts | Unhindered by Talent | Flickr
August 28, 2008, 11:13 am
THE AGITATOR : Only about a third of visitors to Alaska get to see North America’s tallest mountain. The thing is so tall, it actually creates its own weather. So it can be a picture-perfect day (which, for all the state’s beauty, doesn’t happen often here), and there will likely still be clouds hovering around the peak... READ MORE

Monkeys experience joy of giving, too, study finds

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A portrait of a monkey | s-a-m | Flickr
August 28, 2008, 11:11 am
REUTERS : Monkeys can experience the joy of giving in much the same way as humans do, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. Tests in capuchin monkeys showed the animals consistently chose to share food with another monkey if given the option, suggesting they are capable of empathy... READ MORE

The languages of the Caucasus

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Border Locked! | mortsan | Flickr
August 27, 2008, 10:20 pm
LANGUAGELOG.LDC.UPENN.EDU : The New York Times has a piece by Ellen Barry entitled Barriers that are steep and linguistic about linguistic aspects of the situation in Georgia, which quotes both me and Johanna Nichols, who unlike me is an authentic expert on the languages of the Caucasus. As newspaper articles go this is actually pretty good, but I thought it might be useful to fill in some of the details... READ MORE

Anne Trubek on Why We Shouldn’t Still Be Learning Catcher in the Rye

Flickr image: 
my salinger rainbow | andthenpatterns | Flickr
August 28, 2008, 9:30 am
WWW.GOODMAGAZINE.COM : Why is The Catcher in the Rye still a rite of high school English? Sure, J.D. Salinger’s novel was edgy and controversial when teachers first put it on their syllabi. But that was 50 years ago. Today, Salinger’s novel lacks the currency or shock value it once had, and has lost some of its critical cachet. But it is still ubiquitously taught even though many newer novels of adolescence are available... READ MORE

Why Weren’t Atheists Invited to the Democratic National Committee’s Interfaith Gathering?

August 27, 2008, 10:20 pm
FRIENDLY ATHEIST : The Democratic National Convention will open next week with an interfaith gathering. Representatives from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths will be there. No atheists, though. We weren’t invited. The Secular Coalition for America has tried to persuade Convention CEO Leah Daughtry to allow atheists to be a part of the gathering, but to no avail... READ MORE

Economic Patriotism = Economic Racism/Bigotry

August 28, 2008, 10:20 am
CARPE DIEM : I am going to insist that all of the mayoral appointees buy American-made vehicles when they purchase new vehicles... READ MORE

The peril of racial paranoia

August 28, 2008, 6:30 am
PHILLY : In May 2005, comic Dave Chappelle shocked fans by walking off the set of his popular TV series, Chappelle's Show, for no apparent reason. Chappelle, whose show turned racial stereotypes on their heads, later explained that he was performing a skit in blackface when he noticed a white crew member laughing in a way that made him uncomfortable. Chappelle thought the white guy had missed the satire and was laughing for the wrong reason... READ MORE

Expediency Versus an Open Marketplace of Ideas

August 27, 2008, 9:40 pm
NEWS.BOOKWEB.ORG : For booksellers, this week there's a new headline issue in the presidential race. The news is not about health care, inflation, or foreign policy, but it raises important issues none the less -- issues about fair play, the free flow of information, and a vibrant marketplace of ideas... READ MORE

Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0: Tensions and Controversies in the Field

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Surgeon | d-d-daisy | Flickr
August 27, 2008, 2:00 pm
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH : The term Web 2.0 became popular following the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004; however, there are difficulties in its application to health and medicine. Principally, the definition published by O’Reilly is criticized for being too amorphous... READ MORE

What does this authoritarian moment mean for developing countries?

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"All Children Are Children of the Government" | huxleyesque | Flickr
August 27, 2008, 1:55 pm
FT/MAVERECON : As the petro-authoritarianism of Russia flexes its muscles and the economic prowess of China struts in Olympic glory, developing countries in the world might start rethinking about the lectures on democracy and development they have heard all these years from the West... READ MORE