Links! Links! Links!

Biden policy lives (The Economist)
Long live the blog (The Economist)
More on what they are arguing about (The Economist)
Co-Working: Not exactly working from home, but not exactly going into the office either. (The Economist)
The Problem with Naming Transit Stations (Atlantic Cities)
Layaway is making a comeback, and that's a good thing (Free Exchange)
We take the historical site bullshit a little too far (Matt Yglesias)
Finally! Recess! (Plain Blog)

Links! Links! Links!

US Population Growth Slowing (Wonkblog)

A Baguette Vending  Machine (Matt Yglesias)

Where Unused Gift-Cards Go (Wonkblog)

America's Best & Worst Airports (Atlantic Cities)

I would read this book (The Economist)

More Apartments less Single Family Homes (Matt Yglesias)

Links! Links! Links!

Where have all the hitchhikers gone? (Freakonomics)
Again, screwing with the sex ratio is not going to help in the long run. (Freakonomics)
The World's Next 20 Tallest Skyscrapers. (Atlantic Cities)

Links! Links! Links!

Wired:
The rise and fall of Bitcoin.
Amazon is the future.

The Economist:
South Koreans are insane when it comes to standardized testing.

A great Radio Lab short, just listen to it.

From Matt Yglesias, online piracy is not exactly theft.

From Atlantic Cities can we save Suburbs?

Links! Links! Links!

Bloomberg:

Afghanistan really was a no good very bad place, from a logistics standpoint, for the US to have invaded.

Leaving a party when you are the largest military force on the planet is a lot more complicated than you think.

I think Lithuania is getting one of the worst deals when it comes to the debt crisis.

China continues to experience growing pains.

The Economist:

Language continues to be weird.

And so does America and Religion.

3D printing marches onward.

Links

Even more on the phenomenon known as Bit Coins.

Adam Davidison's pro Airline fee rant at the beginning of this Planet Money podcast (which you really should listen to the whole thing) is exactly how I feel on the matter. If I don't have to pay as much for a ticket because airline's withhold free things such as a meal, reserved seat or checked luggage (just as long as if I really want it I can still pay for it) then I am all for it.

I largely agree with Bloomberg (editorial not the mayor) that though debit fees do seem rather high the answer is not to regulate. It is the business community that should band together to bring down the fees and if that proves not to be possible then Anti-Trust laws should be used not regulation. Personally I think this is the perfect opening for the US government to start offering a basic checking account to US citizens and provide free terminals to qualifying merchants. I would assume the savings from less currency in circulation and benefits to the IRS (I would assume the IRS would have some reporting tools built into the system not to mention the ability to withdraw and deposit tax directly from the accounts) would defray most of the cost. Of course that is never going to happen. In light of that I would encourage the Federal government to encourage things such as Square.

Saudi Arabia is currently trying to stop a global recession, pacify it's people and fund a cold war against Iran. Color me skeptical.

India loses a whopping 1/3rd of it's power production to thieves and inefficiency. Oh and that's equal to 1.2% of GDP.

People will always try to get high, and the US government is foolish for trying to stop them. That last part was my opinion.

Great profile on Turkey in last weeks Businessweek. Oh and if you want to buy me a subscription, please do so.

Links for the Weekend

It appears that Italy is really an ass backwards country and Silvio Berlusconi only made that worse. I highly recommend that you read the entire report on Italy if you have the time and the Economist subscription (if you don't and still want to read it let me know).

I am a supporter of anything that tries to eliminate the need for cash and at the same time looks to reduce the amount siphoned off by the financial sector. Here is the practical way of doing it and here is the revolutionary way. The practical way is very enticing from a personal business stand point where as Bitcoin strike me as a pyramid scheme / penny stocks.

You know what scares me? That politics and not highly respected economists determine our fiscal and monetary policy.

Suddenly that investment in drones and not pissing off Saudi Arabia is starting to make a whole lot of sense.

This is why I don't put "cases" on my electronics and nor would i cover up the front of my vehicle

This (and the rest of the articles done in conjunction with NPR Planet Money) is why I will be reupping my Wired subscription.

I always wondered why we didn't put giant solar projects in the middle of the desert.

I want all states to get on this non-partisan election bandwagon California is currently leading.

You know you read an old man newspaper (or one with a good sense of humor) when they explain the definition of 'lulz" and "script kiddie".

Links! Links! Links!

I have neglected you all but I promise not to once the nightmare that is playoff hockey ends Wednesday night. I plan on getting some thoughts on The Economist up this week (maybe tomorrow) now that I'm not listening to so much George R.R. Martin. In the meantime here are a bunch of links:

Want my thoughts on Rep Weiner? Look no further. I just so happens I sometimes answer via Ezra Klein's finger tips.

We should not have phone numbers any more they hold no relevance to what they are for anymore, we should just have handles.

Shocking: The Post Office is antiquated and loses money.

The EU may be struggling at the top but it still works well as a carrot.

Dictators really don't fool anyone with their silly games.

I still love my trains because it uses less actual infrastructure but anything that brings us closer to a world like in Minority Report is AOK in my book.

Why don't we do this all ready?

Links, Random Links

With the latest issues of Wired and The Atlantic arriving recently I realized I never gave my readers my links from the past issue of both. So here they are, slightly rushed.

Wired May 2011

• Only Bill James would have chronicling a history of dark crime as a hobby. Count his book as one I wish to read if I had the time.
• Yes commercials are indeed louder.
• Japan's quake ridden history.
• Sycophants might now be sooooo bad.
• Why do we still have Region Codes? Answer. Though the DVD is all but dead anyway.
• First rule about private trackers, you don't talk about private trackers.
• We are an angry 12 year old away from Armageddon.
• I for one tend to agree with Steven Levy. Though I would love to do away with physical programs for web based apps I still find myself using a Mac based Twitter client, email client as well as RSS reader. So to find myself doing away with physical files on my computer will be quite a stretch. I myself favor a Dropbox approach for now.

The Atlantic May 2011

• Did you want to know more about the Verizon Wireless Guy? Here you go.
• I am happy to say I do not follow into this category of yuppie.
• Being a pack rat is never a good thing, preserving useless old buildings is an even worse habit. We grow through innovation not through preserving old inferior buildings.