Texas Monthly posted an intresting Cornmeal Crepe recipe, “an exceptional lowfat, lowcarb alternative to the tortilla”.
Giving Electronic Books Away Increases Paper Book Sales
Gray was asked to study the publishing strategy of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa. This research institution had a traditional strategy of publishing lots of research books, and selling them. Gray convinced them to change their strategy — to give away all their research books for free online, and offer a high quality print-on-demand service for anyone who wants the paper version. The result: “the sales turnover of the publishing department has risen by 300%.” As she concluded her presentation, “giving away books and lead to an increase in our book sales.” There’s much much more in her interesting analysis.
Download the pdf.
Washington Flees from a Flea – Lind
Two weeks ago, a small, single-engine plane inadvertently strayed into the closed air space above Washington. The result was panic. Both the White House and the Capitol were evacuated, with police shouting “Run! Run!” at fleeing staffers and visitors. Senators and Congressmen abandoned in haste the floors of their respective Houses. Various RIPs (Really Important People) were escorted to their Fuehrerbunkers. F-16s came close to shooting the Cessna down.
Garrison Keillor’s Madison Visit Now Online
Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion appeared at the Overture Center this past Saturday. Tune in to the whole show here.
Schneier on Touch Screen Voting
Supporters of touch-screen voting claim it is a highly reliable voting technology, while a growing number of critics argue that paperless electronic voting systems are vulnerable to fraud. In this paper we use county-level data on voting technologies in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections to test whether voting technology affects electoral outcomes. We first show that there is a positive correlation between use of touch-screen voting and the level of electoral support for George Bush. This is true in models that compare the 2000-2004 changes in vote shares between adopting and non-adopting counties within a state, after controlling for income, demographic composition, and other factors. Although small, the effect could have been large enough to influence the final results in some closely contested states.
Is Low Cost WiFi UnAmerican?
We have Big Media to thank for saving Americans from themselves. Just as the notion of affordable broadband for all was beginning to take hold in towns and cities across the country, the patriots at Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, Bell South and SBC Communications have created legislation that will stop the creeping socialism of broadband community Internet before it invades our homes.
Verizon’s Fiber Broadband Pricing (not available here, of course)
5 Mbps down /2 Mbps up = $39 15 Mbps down /2 Mbps up = $49 30 Mbps down /5 Mbps up = $199
Selling to the Department of Homeland Security
Brian Clark takes a look at the opportunities for small businesses in the Department of Homeland Security’s massive $40B budget. I hope some Wisconsin firms are feeding at the trough.
Canadian Oil Sands
Robert Collier visits Alberta’s vast oil sands:
Alberta’s oil sands are destined to be the main supply of foreign oil to the United States for at least the next century. The sands hold proven reserves of 175 billion barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia’s 262 billion, and far more than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s estimated 10 billion.
If Americans want to keep filling their gasoline tanks at a reasonable cost, they will need the oil sands industry to push ahead on its expected path of doubling, tripling and even quadrupling production in coming years.
Nowhere else is the conflict between energy use and ecological cost so stark.
“The oil sands are a big challenge,” Canada’s environment minister, Stephane Dion, who has fought publicly with other Cabinet officials for a tougher line on global warming, said in an interview. “They are sending out a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenspun on Minivans
Dave bought a new Toyota Sienna minivan and references Philip Greenspun’s wonderful long term article on the minivan culture. Greenspun also correctly points out the terrible economics awaiting minivan buyers.