A conversation with the journalist.

"New research from France finds restaurant patrons exposed to music with pro-social lyrics are more likely to leave tips." Miller-McCune on another delicious French sociology study.

"They sure buy a lot of cars for a society built on collective ownership." Slate says that while China's political party is highly centralized, most Maoist concepts have been abandoned.

What happens when you are on 'the same wavelength' as someone? New neurological data suggests physical traits are behind feeling a deep connection with someone.

"If we want to protect traditional marriage, we should be prepared to sacrifice our love affair with equal rights and sexual freedoms." An author at 3 Quarks reflects on the nature of tradition.

Nouns that have changed to verbs, such as 'login', 'text', and 'unlike' have some grammarians in a fuss, but one lexicographer celebrates the changes as evidence of language's dynamism.

"In many ways, WikiLeaks’ 92,000 Afghanistan documents are no Pentagon Papers." The Christian Science Monitor says the leaked documents confirm already-available information.

"Before children even take their first breath, common air pollutants breathed by their mothers during pregnancy may reduce their intelligence." Scientific America reports on urban pollution.

An Illinois particle accelerator is helping to determine the range in which the Higgs boson, a.k.a. "God particle" exists. The special particle is thought to give mass to other elementary particles.

"Anti-luxury politics are often a hit with the public. But Ben Franklin argued that wealth accumulation is a positive, and that government should not interfere."

The knowledge-based economy is dead because its goals have been accomplished so well, says a British CEO. The new economy will be driven by ideas and value-added products.

I thought I had seen all there was to be seen about Shirley Sherrod, until I can across an article titled Sherrod Story False in American Spectator by Jeffrey Lord, […]

Suomi-Neito is a distant, but weirdly parallel echo of ‘Paula’, the personification of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state (discussed in #471). Female like most other anthropomorphic representations of geographic entities (1), […]

I would only build the things that I need,” says Fried. “I’m really a big proponent of building products that we’re going to use.

Always hire after you need someone, “after it hurts,” not before. When companies ramp up fast in anticipation of work to be done, it can be really hard to hire […]

When companies have a “free only” business model—thinking they’ll make money later—they’re usually betting that “there’s going to be this magic switch they can flip.”

Competition doesn’t put start-ups out of business. Rather the businesses tend to put themselves out of business by hiring the wrong people, being afraid of making money, and spending too […]

Raising money upfront puts you in the wrong frame of mind. A ventured-backed company has to spend money. A self-funded, bootstrap company has to make money.

If you really want to get creative and work on something, you need uninterrupted stretches of quiet time. Jason Fried says you need to keep the distractions out.

It’s best if people stay away from each other while they are working, because when people are all together all the time, they tend to constantly interrupt each other.