Newsletter 885
Best of the Moment
How He Got It Right
Andrew Hacker | NYRB | 21 December 2012
On big data, probability, Wall Street, Nate Silver, and Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Life gets less predictable, even as our analytical methods improve, because the complexity of our society grows faster than our analytics do Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/how-he-got-it-right)
Snow Fall
John Branch | NYT | 20 December 2012
Account of deadly avalanche in Washington state earlier this year that enveloped a group of expert skiers. This is part one of what's a long, compelling narrative Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/snow-fall)
Lunch With The FT: Tyler Cowen
John McDermott | FT | 21 December 2012
“What I would like to vote for is a candidate that is socially liberal, a fiscal conservative, broadly libertarian with a small ‘l’, but sensible and pragmatic, and with a chance of winning. That’s more or less the empty set” Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/lunch-ft-tyler-cowen)
This Sacred Text
Jonathan Freedland | Guardian | 21 December 2012
The US Constitution is both a treasure and a curse. Any policy proposal, whatever its merits, must be proven compatible with the views of a group of 18th-century politicians whose words are revered almost as those of deities Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/sacred-text)
On Not Believing In Canada
Daniel Davies | Crooked Timber | 21 December 2012
Christmas parable. "As I grow older, I must admit, the prospect of Canada seems comforting and spiritually enriching rather than irritating. My wife is a firm believer in Canada and insisted on bringing up the children as believers" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/not-believing-canada)
Battle Of The Somm
Ben Schott | NYT | 23 December 2012
Guide to sommelier's jargon — as applied to both wines and customers. A "whale" or "baller" buys thousand-dollar bottles. An "extra big baller" spends more than $100,000 in the course of an evening. A "cork dork" is a wine geek Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/battle-somm)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)
FiveBooks Interview
(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/randall-grahm-on-wine)
Randall Grahm on Wine
The Californian winemaker gives us a fabulously eclectic reading list for understanding and enjoying the world of wine
Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/randall-grahm-on-wine)
Featured Special Report
(http://thebrowser.com/reports/after-aurora)
Guns in America
How does one make sense of the killings in Newtown and Aurora? And will Americans, will President Obama do anything to stop it happening again? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/after-aurora)
Reader Recommendations
MattGreenAfPak (http://twitter.com/MattGreenAfPak) We speak to Haji Khairullah. The US says he is a Taliban financier; he says he's just an honest businessman. #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) t.co/ZhzGKnjO More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)
Book of the Day
Book of the Day (http://thebrowser.com/recommended/race-between-education-and-technology-by-claudia-goldin-and-lawrence-f-katz)
The Race between Education and Technology by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F Katz
Timothy Noah says (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/timothy-noah-on-inequality-crisis) : "Goldin and Katz’s insight was the fact that for the computer revolution the US education system was no longer keeping up with marketplace demands" FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)
Video of the Day
PAL-V Maiden Voyage
(http://thebrowser.com/videos/pal-v-maiden-voyage)
They promised us flying cars. And guess what? Here's a flying car. More videos (http://thebrowser.com/videos)
Quote of the Day
Penelope Trunk, on listening (http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2012/12/14/the-truth-about-good-listening-skills)
"I get bored with the idea of becoming a better listener. Why would I do that when interrupting people is so much faster?"
More quotes (http://thebrowser.com/quotations)