Newsletter 807
Best of the Moment
The Greatest Fake-Art Scam in History?
Joshua Hammer | Vanity Fair | 10 October 2012
"The big question every reader will want to know is, how and why does a person become an art forger?" says Wolfgang Beltracchi. And, as mastermind of one of the most lucrative art frauds in postwar European history, he should know Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/greatest-fake-art-scam-history)
The Patent, Used As A Sword
Charles Duhigg & Steve Lohr | NYT | 7 October 2012
Patents are vital, but are being misused. In software, they're now often broad and vague, covering concepts rather than defined processes; they're being traded; and they're being used as weapons, sometimes cynically, against rivals Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/patent-used-sword)
Yesterday My Daughter Emigrated
Carlos Duarte | Huffington Post | 8 October 2012
"Yesterday my daughter emigrated in search of a future she couldn't find in her country and that society, or her parents, didn't know how to give her." A lament for Spain. And a denunciation of its politicians (h/t @rszbt) Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/yesterday-my-daughter-emigrated)
The Beautiful Game
Patrick Symmes | Outside | 9 October 2012
"Goals are nice. But fighting is forever." Inside the frightening world of Argentine football "fan clubs". Which operate more like violent criminal syndicates, having captured a good chunk of the clubs' economic value Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/beautiful-game)
How To Die
Bill Keller | NYT | 7 October 2012
In praise of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient, a protocol used in British hospitals. You halt the insulin and antibiotics, pull out the IVs, let the patient drift towards a dignified death on a cloud of morphine Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/how-die)
Why Do We Behave So Oddly In Lifts?
William Kremer | BBC | 9 October 2012
"The way we behave in lifts, or elevators as they are known in the US, reveals a hidden anxiety. It has been observed that lift-travellers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements, as predetermined as a square dance" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/why-do-we-behave-so-oddly-lifts)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)
FiveBooks Interview
(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/evan-osnos-on-china)
Evan Osnos on China
The New Yorker's China correspondent reflects on why the country captures our imagination – and why we want to change it. He chooses five books for the discerning traveller Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/evan-osnos-on-china)
Featured Special Report
(http://thebrowser.com/reports/women-and-workplace)
Women and the Workplace
Women in the West may be slowly winning the battle for workplace equality. But at what price? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/women-and-workplace)
Reader Recommendations
@polit2k (http://twitter.com/polit2k) How the Hype Became Bigger Than the Presidential Election t.co/CuIEMaev via @rollingstone (http://twitter.com/rollingstone) #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) h/t @boomerangomics (http://twitter.com/boomerangomics) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)
Book of the Day
Bodies () by Susie Orbach
Renata Salecl says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/renata-salecl-on-modern-misery) : “She makes a social critique, pointing out that in some way capitalism relies on our unhappiness with the body.” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)
Video of the Day
The Truth About Dishonesty
(http://thebrowser.com/videos/truth-about-dishonesty)
Dan Ariely. Another of those wonderfully animated RSA lectures More videos (http://thebrowser.com/videos)
Quote of the Day
Nicholas Beale, on complexity (http://www.barelyimaginedbeings.com/2012/10/such-stuff-as-dreams-are-made-of.html)
“Biological systems are almost always more complex than you think – even when you allow for the fact that they are more complex than you think”
More quotes (http://thebrowser.com/quotations)