Web-Reads

A few of the interesting bits and bobs I’ve stumbled on over the last few days Hope for a cleaner, cheaper, oil less future just became a wee stronger. Nigeria beware? @forakin on why we should all blog. For a more in depth analysis, Andrew Sullivan’s seminal piece from 2008 offers a longer read. The £11bn conundrum. The scale of the problem or an opportunity? Khoi on the design of the iPhone 6. Unimpressed is the word Education as a tool for disrupting and challenge paradigms - the NY Times weighs in. Ebola contained.. Phew - Elon Musk, on Mars On lightning, and being struck by it. On Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the Modern Novel. Pay and gender gaps, closing?

Are emotions prophetic? The short answer is No, but Jonah Lehrer at The Frontal Cortex offers a good summary of the long answer [pdf]: Every feeling is like a summary of data, a quick encapsulation of all the information processing that we don’t have access to. (As Pham puts it, emotions are like a “privileged window” into the subterranean mind.) When it comes to making predictions about complex events, this extra information is often essential. It represents the difference between an informed guess and random chance. ...

Quick reads…. On-the-job relationships come back into the limelight - one Police Unit seems to have fallen apart over the Team Leader’s dalliance with a female team member. On paywalls, one of the more rational arguments I’ve read. (HT - The Daily Dish) Artificial leaves currently in development may one day power an entire house by electrolysing water and providing hydrogen for fuel cells. Robotic bird flying becomes a wee bit more realistic. The genetic basis for loving working out. Sounding a note of caution for using GPS-aware apps indiscriminately. Color gets another (light) bashing. Slick sleaze, or ill advised expenditure? A short history of the bomb-zapper that never was. Google aims to turn phones into credit cards. App of the Week? Social Media meets shopping for dresses - an app for your friends to help you select a dress. The boobs have it. Apparently, there is a connection between length of time spent breast feeding and brain size. However there is no guarantee that breast milk is all that, especially when the mother isn’t eating well herself after all.

Steve shares his learnings so far - 30 days after quitting Facebook The Christian Illuminati? Or Just a well connected crew? More questions than answers in this teaser... Large-proofing emergency services - counting the costs. The Jerusalem UFO, or a drone? Becoming invisible? Wack or what? The bloke who added his wife to a terrorist watch list to prevent her flying back home. ‘Spray-on skin’ for burn victims. This brings a whole new meaning to the storm in a tea-cup idiom. Storm in a bed sheet? Mubarak’s cronies launch a cyber counter-insurgency… Mosquitoes evolved?

Max Atkinson deconstructs JFK’s iconic inaugural speech and identifies Six Essentials. Apparently the key is utilizing contrasts; three-part list; contrasts combined with lists; alliteration; bold imagery and audience analysis. Useful for writers? Children who write by hand ’learn better than those who type’. However text messaging ‘improves children’s spelling skills’. Clearly the pen is mightier than the keyboard, but the cellphone is mightier still.. The woman who solved her own kidnap story. The evidence for manflu - even if its only in our heads… The genetic basis for friendships.. Surely it’s a first, but the city of Liverpool now has an embassy in the UK..

A few of the info-graphics that captured my eye this year.. Football Chalkboards: For us the discerning football enthusiasts, chalkboards were the revelations of 2010. Granted the Guardian debuted with them in early 2009, but the Roy vs Rafa debate for us Liverpool fans ensured chalkboards became the ultimate resource for assessing how high up the pitch the lads press, passes completed, oh and the aptly named heatmaps. Twitter is not a conversation: Us Twitter apologists usually claim Twitter as a conversation for being one of the reasons we stay on Twitter. Sadly, the data does not support that claim, as this info-graphic from 2010 showed. The world according to Facebook: In December, Paul Butler at Facebook came up with an interesting info-graphic; a world map based on Facebook connections. Marriage In America: TIME asked if marriage in America was still required. Al Mohler argued that we all do, and this PewSocial info-graphic captured the data. Infostate of Africa: Fascinating… via AppAfrica Flickr account…

The science of attraction. Perhaps it’s all in the mind after all. Another reason to google your name. You might be wanted for murder… Necessity is the mother of invention - the husband who rigged up a taser device to keep his wife faithful.. The ‘completely irresponsible’ call reporting a stolen snowman The case for eating insects.. Mathematical immortality - buy a theorem and name it after yourself. The smart wallet that could help you spend within your means.. Bacteria that could recycle iron.. The gene for aggression. DNA testing of babies - whilst in the womb..

Google’s 2010 Zeitgeist makes for interesting read.. The summary from Google: In the year of Nigeria’s 50th independence celebration, it was unsurprising that terms like “Nigeria” and “Goodluck Jonathan” ranked highly in the search trends. But the nation’s imagination was certainly captured by social networking, with “2go” topping the fastest rising list, and “Facebook” being the second most popular search by volume. Nigerian musicians “Terry G” and “Dagrin” also attracted significant online interest. ...

Feeding the poor with iPads: How FareShare is blending technology and social responsibility.. The game that ‘makes’ you a genetic scientist… The radiation debate flares up again - are radio waves frying our brains? Facebook breakups are the real deal.. The right twitter handle can make you famous.. The girl who suddenly became famous thanks to the ashes down under.. Skye Jethani’s 30 day Twitter experiment…

6 years on - the 66 year old woman who gave birth to a kid.. Selfish? Playing God or a real chance for re-inventing life? .. Celebonomics.. Why you’re not famous.. Con artist.. Not Nigerian.. Gasp! Another take on the homoepathy debate.. Apparently the talk not the tincture is what works. The danger of desensitization - The daily telegraph’s Geoffrey Leon compares BP’s Gulf disaster to Chernobyl. Ghost writers.. A shadow scholar ‘bares’ all.. Ultimate gadget? Or quirky? The remote control + pillow combo… Google street view - weight loss tip.. Apparently its not only Nigerian cops who are camera shy.. The demise of marriage? Or just a blip.. Time ponders the relevance of marriage