Newsletter 380

[5]Google+ Is The Social Backbone
    Links:
      5. http://b.rw/n8JOqN

Edd Dumbill | O'Reilly Radar | 19 July 2011

Superb analysis. Openness and interoperability is potential game-changer.
  And what Facebook can't offer. "Google+ is the rapidly growing seed of a
  web-wide social backbone, and catalyst for the ultimate uniting of the
  social graph" [6]Comments
    Links:
      6. http://thebrowser.com/articles/google-social-backbone

[7]Cyber Weapons, The New Arms Race
    Links:
      7. http://b.rw/rhhV8X

Michael Riley & Ashlee Vance | Businessweek | 20 July 2011

Fascinating on rise of cyber weapons that can attack moving cars, water
  supplies, banking systems, even nuclear plants. As former CIA director
  admits: “We are able to do things which we have not yet decided are wise to
  do” [8]Comments
    Links:
      8. http://thebrowser.com/articles/cyber-weapons-new-arms-race

[9]Great Bad Men As Bosses
    Links:
      9. http://b.rw/obPvnC

Schumpeter | Economist | 21 July 2011

"Many tycoons suffer from what Norwegians call _stormannsgalskap_, the
  madness of great men. It's particularly common among media barons, not least
  because they frequently blur the line between reporting reality and shaping
  it" [10]Comments
    Links:
      10. http://thebrowser.com/articles/great-bad-men-bosses

[11]Two Kinds Of Magic
    Links:
      11. http://b.rw/osMncl

James Fenton | NYRB | 18 July 2011

A joy to see James Fenton returning to his earlier life as theatre critic.
  And reflecting here on grand versus intimate theatre, as exemplified by
  Cirque du Soleil's "Zarkana", and Peter Brooks's farewell production of
  "Magic Flute" [12]Comments
    Links:
      12. http://thebrowser.com/articles/two-kinds-magic

[13]God Damn: The Economics Of Malediction
    Links:
      13. http://b.rw/nqHRjm

Peter Leeson | Peter Leeson | 18 July 2011

Academic paper, a touch tongue-in-cheek, on superstition among rational
  actors. Without functioning government, medieval clerics used religious
  curses to protect their property. Apparently, it worked pretty well. But
  why? (PDF) [14]Comments
    Links:
      14. http://thebrowser.com/articles/god-damn-economics-malediction

[15]Obituary: Lucian Freud
    Links:
      15. http://b.rw/ro8xf3

Anonymous | Telegraph | 21 July 2011

Grandson of Sigmund Freud. Expelled from school for bringing dogs into
  chapel. At least 13 children by five mothers. "Portrait of a Benefits
  Supervisor" fetched $33.6m in 2008, world record price for work by living
  painter [16]Comments
    Links:
      16. http://thebrowser.com/articles/obituary-lucian-freud

FiveBooks Interview

[17]Colin Thubron on Travel Writing
    Links:
      17. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/colin-thubron-on-travel-writing

The much-travelled author reflects on more than 40 years of writing about
  other cultures and shares his own favourite travel reading with us [18]Read
  on
    Links:
      18. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/colin-thubron-on-travel-writing

Featured Topic

[19]Financial Crisis
    Links:
      19. http://thebrowser.com/topics/financial-crisis

In-depth primer for both the expert and the amateur. Experts interviewed
  include Eichengreen, Barro and Rodrik. Wide range of hand-picked background
  articles [20]Read on
    Links:
      20. http://thebrowser.com/topics/financial-crisis

Reader Recommendations

_@bennyfactor_ RT _@prospect_uk_: Smug, self-congratulatory, intellectually
  lazy:  does  Jon  Stewart symbolise the failings of the American left?
  [21]t.co/jInGGSo [22]#browsings [23]More like this
    Links:
      21. http://t.co/jInGGSo
      22. https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings
      23. http://thebrowser.com/browsings

Book of the Day

[24]Book of the Day
    Links:
      24. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/three-trapped-tigers-by-guillermo-cabrera-infante

[25]Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
    Links:
      25. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/three-trapped-tigers-by-guillermo-cabrera-infante

[26]Oscar Hijuelos says: “Few other writers can approach Infante in his
  verbal  intensity and sense of rhythm – his language transports you to
  Cuba” [27]FiveBooks Archive
    Links:
      26. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/oscar-hijuelos-on-cuba
      27. http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive

Video of the Day

[28]Al Franken In Action
    Links:
      28. http://thebrowser.com/videos/al-franken-action

As Laurie Voss says, "Al Franken is pretty good at this senator thing"
  [29]More videos
    Links:
      29. http://thebrowser.com/videos

Quote of the Day

[30]Horace Dediu, on trial and error
    Links:
      30. http://www.asymco.com/2011/07/20/how-did-i-get-the-iphone-number-so-wrong

"If you stick with the theory and ask where it went wrong, you will build
    a better theory"

[31]More quotes
    Links:
      31. http://thebrowser.com/quotations