Best Of
Where to start, if you ask me.
- Pandora and Last.fm: Nature vs. Nurture in Music Recommenders
Two music recommenders, two philosophies: Pandora dissects each song’s “genes,” while Last.fm infers taste socially.
- David Foster Wallace Serves It Up
David Foster Wallace’s “Federer as Religious Experience” gets obsessive about the nature of tennis mastery.
- The Netflix Prize: Research Project as Product
The Netflix Prize turns a research problem into a product, using prize money, real-world data, and smart marketing to crowdsource a better algorithm.
- Bassmaster and the American Dream
Takahiro Omori’s path from sleeping in a van to winning “the Super Bowl of bass fishing” is as improbable as American Dream stories get.
- Trojan Goldfish
A 45-year trail of clues suggests that Goldfish crackers may be at the center of an extraterrestrial genetic conspiracy.
- Issues, Character, and Tuchman’s “The March of Folly”
A poll finds that many voters weigh a candidate’s character first. Barbara Tuchman’s study of disastrous leadership suggests that instinct may be sound.
- Highway Exit Numbers: When Simple Was Too Simple
Highway exits were once numbered in sequence, but adding new exits exposed the design flaw that distance-based numbering mostly solves.
- Full-Circle Guitar
At nine years old, I learned simple songs on a cheapie guitar. Several decades, guitars, and garage bands later, a young daughter has me back to simple songs.
- Review: “Fargo Rock City” by Chuck Klosterman
“Fargo Rock City” defends 1980s hair metal as ridiculous, memorable, and culturally meaningful—at least for those who lived through it.
- States with Places with English Names (or, How Much More English is New England?)
An analysis of place names in the U.S. and England shows that New England states’ place names are three times more English than those in the rest of the states.
- Banksy Breaks the Frame
Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop” mixes street art, hype, and hoax into a fresh, head-spinning take on the classic question, “What is art?”
- Review: “The Yugo” by Jason Vuic
“The Yugo” tells the odd story of America’s cheapest car: an import from Eastern Europe that became a punchline on wheels.
- The Use and Abuse of the Em Dash
The em dash is the most assertive way to set off a phrase. Used sparingly, it’s perfect for a pause, pivot, or added punch.
- Nuclear Weapons and Murphy’s Law
A 1958 report shows how researchers were thinking about what could accidentally go wrong with nuclear weapons.
- The Fastest Human in History
A parenting story about fear, trust, and the moment a child breaks through.