We know you like to play contests (like this one and this one and this one). And we know that at least some of you have a fierce literary bent (as judged by your response to this post and this one and this one). So there should be at least some interest in the following: a six-word memoir contest. That’s . . .
Our post last week about the possibility of pilotless commercial airplanes produced a vigorous, fascinating, and civil discussion in the comments. Here’s a bit of followup for those of you who are still interested. My brother the pilot, a.k.a. Joe Dubner, wrote to tell me that “about 80% of commercial airliner takeoffs and landings are already remote-controlled” is not quite . . .
According to an A.P. report, the recent Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson broke his left wrist after falling out of a golf cart. “I was in a golf cart,” Johnson said, “and the driver took a sharp turn.” Fortunately, it was Johnson’s non-shifting hand, “and he should be able to participate in pre-season testing at Daytona next month.” NASCAR just . . .
One of my favorite types of stories to write about is when people say one thing and do another. This gap between what economics call “declared preferences” (what you say you’ll do) and “expressed preferences” (what you actually do) does not necessarily constitute a lie. Sometimes we say we will do something with the full belief that we will do . . .
Here’s the story. Our previous posts about autism can be found here and here and here.
Last night the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Cleveland Browns, a game between two losing teams on a freezing Thursday night. But I couldn’t wait to watch it. The Steelers have meant a lot to me for a very long time, and my 6-year-old son Solomon has become as devoted to them as he is devoted to his family, school, and . . .
Yesterday, after posting this item wondering whether 9/11 had begun to diminish our collective remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day, I wrote to Bill Tancer of Hitwise.com. I asked Bill to take a look at his search-query data for any insights into this subject. Here’s his reply: Unfortunately, I only have access to 24 mo. of historical data. However, the question . . .
That’s what Mark Leibowitz, one of our readers, wants to know: “Public men’s rooms have a mix of urinals and toilets, but private homes only have toilets. At first I thought it was simply a matter of space, but even when there’s room for a second installation the second choice is always a bidet rather than a urinal. Urinals use . . .
Because it might be a lifesaver: a soldier can spray the Silly String to look for trip wires around bombs. According to this A.P. article, “Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the . . .
When I blogged yesterday about Swivel.com, the site had nothing but a “coming soon” banner. Well, one day later, Swivel has gone live. There’s not too much there yet, and things seem a little buggy, but it’s well worth a look. One commenter on the original post wrote: “Coming soon” on a website is similar to “Closed for renovations” in . . .
Duncan Foley, a professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, has written an interesting-sounding book: Adam’s Fallacy: A Guide to Economic Theology. The Adam of the title is not, as the subtitle might lead you to believe, the biblical Adam; it is Adam Smith. And the fallacy is that “the pursuit of self-interest is guided by objective . . .
Levitt was on The Colbert Report last night, and did great. What follows sounds like it comes from The Colbert Report or The Daily Show but, unfortunately, comes from a N.Y. Times report by Nazila Fathi, “Iran Invites Scholars to Assess Holocaust as History or Fiction”: The Iranian authorities, who have frequently accused the Jews of distorting history to legitimize . . .
Remember yesterday’s item about how the N.Y. Times and Wall Street Journal published their very, very different editorials on John Bolton’s resignation? In answer to a Brazilian commenter’s question, the Times is the liberal paper (and therefore anti-Bolton) while the Journal, and most famously its editorial page, is the conservative one. In today’s papers, there is evidence that those irreconcilable . . .
We’ve just learned that Freakonomics — a.k.a. Фрикономика — has been published in Russian. Here’s more information. I know very little Russian but among my most prized books are a handful of Isaac Bashevis Singer novels in Russian that I picked up while visiting Moscow several years back. And even though my elders were chased out of Russia a few . . .
In case you missed Levitt’s weekend(!) blog quiz or late-night clarification, let it be said plainly and loudly here that yes, Steve Levitt will be appearing on The Colbert Report tonight (Tues., Dec. 5), at 11:30 p.m. Eastern/10:30 p.m. Central. I would gladly go watch Levitt at the taping — I did when he was on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, . . .
If you go to your Web browser and type in www.swivel.com, all you get is a pretty little “coming soon” banner. But if you read about Swivel here on TechCrunch, it sounds like a godsend — or at least a tremendous way to waste time — for data freaks. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch says that Swivel’s founders describe the forthcoming . . .
It’s a good thing that the editorial pages of the N.Y. Times and Wall Street Journal aren’t people, and that they aren’t married to each other. Can you imagine the fights the two of them would have? One would want the housekeeper to come on Mondays and Fridays; the other would insist on Wednesdays only. One would want to keep . . .
A few weeks ago, my seatmate on an airplane was a fantastically interesting guy who’s been flying airplanes since he was a kid. He has flown Air Force cargo planes, fire-fighting planes, and is currently employed as a long-haul pilot for a West Coast cargo company. (FWIW, my oldest brother is also a former Air Force pilot; here’s what he’s . . .
With the bookselling year nearly over (though with its best few weeks yet to come), Publishers Weekly has published its list of best-selling books for 2006 to date. The top 3 hardcover novels are: 1. For One More Day, by Mitch Albom 2. Beach Road, by James Patterson 3. Cell, by Stephen King And the top 3 hardcover nonfiction books . . .
John Noble Wilford writes in the N.Y. Times about a strange contraption found in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. It was discovered 100 years ago, and was known as “the world’s first computer,” but recent high-tech analyses have shown that the contraption was even more sophisticated than researchers first realized. The instrument, with gears and dials made of . . .
Apparently, quite a bit, at least in Detroit. The price of copper has risen 56 percent this year, probably due in large part to construction demand in China. The high price of copper has led to an increase in people breaking into construction sites and even homes to steal copper pipes. In Detroit, someone stole the copper pipes from the . . .
New Scientist magazine, in honor of its 50th anniversary, asked 70 of the world’s foremost scientists to answer that question. Here are their answers.
Several months ago, I noted that a few countries had recently elected an economist as president, and solicited suggestions for which U.S. economist might make a good president. Among the many suggestions (including Gary Becker, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell), one prominent name failed to appear: Jeffrey Sachs. But that hasn’t discouraged a group of Sachs fans. The Sachs for President . . .
If you thought the N.Y. Times business section was critical of Barry Diller’s pay package before, what happens now that he calls the Times “loony”? If you thought that African-Americans didn’t watch Seinfeld before (as we wrote in Freakonomics), what happens now that Jesse Jackson calls for a boycott? And if you thought that books were good for you, you . . .
I am not the kind of person who usually watches Stupid Pet Trick-type videos, and certainly not the kind of person who inflicts said videos on other people, but: In this case, I cannot resist. The bouncing dog in this video is named Moishe and belongs to my cousin Barbara Koltuv, who is the person on the other end of . . .
My friend James Altucher has probably never had to have a resume in his life, but if he did it would include: teen chess whiz, computer-science guy, web filmmaker for HBO, general web wunderkind, poker player, hedge fund guy, financial writer, and author. He’s just launched a new website, Stockpickr.com, that combines almost all of the above. It’s a sort . . .
The L.A. Times ran an article yesterday about the runaway popularity of economics blogs. They are so popular, in fact, that the Times chose to run the piece on Thanksgiving, when the paper is read by approximately 18 people. But here’s the weirdest thing: even in the online version of an article about blogs, there are no links to the . . .
Not long ago, a reader from Portland, Oregon, wrote to us: Hello, Mr. Levitt and Mr. Dubner… I wanted to say thank you for writing your book. It has really changed the way I think about my life and the world. You’ve also saved me money. As an African-American using Match.com and Yahoo personals, I always wondered why it was . . .
With the Summer Olympics coming to Beijing in 2008, all of China is busily buffing itself for the TV cameras and crowds of tourists. According to today’s Wall Street Journal, one element of this charm offensive surrounds the museum trade. From the article, by Mei Fong: Daishan, a fishing community three hours from [Shanghai], is building a museum devoted to . . .
Back in the old days, maybe 10 years ago, most Hollywood and pop-music stars were reluctant to do American TV ads, I guess because it was considered declasse. But everything has its price, including declasse-ness, so now American TV commercials are full of stars like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jay-Z, even Robert DeNiro. So this website, which has been around a good . . .
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