James Surowiecki from The New Yorker comments on how Nintendo may be winning the console wars by taking third place. Also of interest, an article about the design of the Wii and an interview with the designers. I never, ever, play video games… and yet I have a strange urge to buy one of these.
A great composite picture of flights leaving an airport.
The effects of Alzheimer’s on an artist’s work. For more details, read the accompanying article. Also, this is a New York Times article, so the link may become available at some point. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about that.
Gladwell on the formula for making perfect movies. Speaking of movie formulas, the Netflix Prize offers a million dollars to the team that substantially improves their movie recommendations. The data of course reveals lots of fun facts, such as these lists of loved, hated and contentious movies.
Beautiful visualizations of flight patterns across the US.
Richard Dawkins on TedTalks explains how our size affects our model of the world. One idea that particularly struck me is that something as fundamental as the concept of “solid” might simply be a useful interpretation, biologically evolved. If you’re not doing so already, do yourself a favor and watch all the TedTalks — they’re solid gold.
Video about how an internal combustion works. The wonders of technology!
Following up on my Myth of the Prodigy link, here is an interesting article on the Expert Mind.
Why have I never seen this before? A map of the world with superimposed antipodes. There’s surprisingly little overlap.
What would happen if humans disappeared overnight? More details in this New Scientist article. Makes you pause and think.
