13 year-old checks out Walkman

This article is pretty amusing. The kid had some problems with the older technology, such as not realizing that cassettes have two sides until he’d had the Walkman for a few days. Overall, he’s glad to have his MP3 player back.  From BBC.

Facebook vs. Google

Wired gives the background of sniping between the two companies, and previews their emerging battle over the future of the Internet.

How hypnotism works

USA Today reports on research that combines brain scanning with behavioral experiments. The research shows how hypnotism affects the brain, disconnecting the normal relationships that govern movement, etc.

The evolutionary value of spite

According to New Scientist, the capacity for spite may be necessary for altruism to operate in human societies.  From ALDaily.

How teens use media

Nielsen has a new report on how teens use media. The upshot?  They aren’t all too busy texting to do anything else.

Nice pictures of clouds, etc.

From the Dark Roasted Blend blog, via Boing Boing.

Obama’s struggles with smoking

To mark the signing of anti-smoking legislation this week, New York magazine goes back through public statements by the President and others about his smoking.

Wizards trade with Wolves

Washington gets Mike Miller and Randy Foye, Minnesota gets the #5 selection in the 2009 draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov.

A bit deflating, because there had been chatter about the Wizards getting Amare Stoudemire. This trade addresses several needs, and probably sets up another deal.  The main downside is the opportunity cost of the 5th pick.  Someone selected at 5 or after will blow up, but will it be someone the Wizards realistically might have selected?  After Blake Griffin everyone has questions and issues.

Economics: Charting the recession

On the Atlantic Business channel, Derek Thompson compares charts from the current economic downturn with those from the Great Depression. It’s not real encouraging.

FTC suit against auto warranty robocallers

I was getting calls from these folks pretty regularly, then they stopped a couple months ago.  Guess this is why.