Interesting Links for 15-8-2011

Collected links from around the web

• David Starkey is wrong, plain and simple – @Miss_Snuffy's demolishes those defending Starkey's racism
  I've rewatched Starkey's train wreck of a Newsnight performance twice now, and I've read both Toby Young and Jerry Hayes defending what they thinks he meant to say. I suspect, actually, that they're right about what he was trying to say. But he used such racist language in such a dismissive and stupid way that he was, quite simply, wrong. Here's hoping he'll stop getting invited on shows like Question Time to rudely talk over every other panellist and refuse to let anyone else get a word in edgeways. If I never see him on TV again I'll be happy. Man's an arse.
  (tags: David-Starkey Katherine-Birbalsingh education racism london riots)
• Rethinking the Tube map - I quite like the new alternative design, makes location easier to picture
  I like the existing map, but it can't half be confusing at times. Stations that're around the corner from each other look like they're miles apart, lines that go straight up actually curve around half of London, etc. And the Overground and other new additions look stupid on it. Why not start from scratch, apply the same basic principles, and see what comes out?
  (tags: london london-underground maps design)
• Post-Conflict Potter - Foreign Policy journal covers conflict resolution and rebuilding. In the Potterverse
  "the defeat of Voldemort by Harry Potter may have been the easy part. Indeed, one might even say it was child's play. The hard work of postwar stabilization still lies ahead. " Not sure I agree with all of their proposed ideas, but I'm ten years out of date in the literature, perhaps readers with more hands on experience in the area might contribute an opinion?
  (tags: analysis harry-potter politics foreign-policy)
• Apple blocks Samsung tablet from EU markets | WTF? "the order was issued without any hearing"
  The interminable patent disputes with the higher end tech markets are really getting to me now, the whole area of law seems in major need of reform, two major trading partners are also suing each other for ripping each other off, etc etc. But to block sales of a product line without hearing or notification? Something wrong with that.
  (tags: patents Apple Samsung)
• Speculation doesn't increased commodity prices-it stabilises them
  If there's a sudden shortage in a commodity because, say, the wheatfields in Russia go up in smoke, then prices rise, partially due to speculators investing. But that rise in prices encourages more production of the commodity, seeing prices start to fall again and stopping massive peaks and troughs in prices. After a lot of reading around this, I've come to the conclusion that the futures market is actually a Good Thing within the current trade framework. This surprised me, but the evidence is clear
  (tags: economics speculation)
• Sarcastic Responses To Well-Meaning Signs | a couple are a bit off, but...
  A couple are, well, offensive, but most are well done and funny
  (tags: humour)
• The 5 Biggest Disasters in the History of Marketing Ideas - they can't count, it's 6 disasters
  Number one is two separate case studies, both ridiculously dull. Nice to see Britain punching above its weight in the stupid department again.
  (tags: marketing advertising sales-gimmicks stupidity)

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