- Gabriel Rossman on explaining the superstar effect in cultural markets. I loved the distinction between "watercooler" and "addiction" goods.
- Alexis Madrigal on the "real names" policy on Facebook. It has the striking observation that, in real life, most of the statements we make are not as tightly tied to our identity as they are on Facebook.
- This is from a few months ago, but I also found Zeynep Tufekci's reflections on whether "real names" are useful or necessary to political mobilization in repressive contexts quite thought-provoking.
- More on how the architecture of naming affects our social and political lives: Savage Minds on "seeing like a social network."
- I rather enjoyed this, on art and quantification.
- Jay Ulfelder's blog is great for people interested on questions of democratization. I especially liked his "democratization is not like growing up" post.
- A longuish meditation on Hans Blumenberg, who I once tried and failed to read. Made me want to try again.
- N+1 on singing to whales. They also have a great deal of other excellent writing.
- And your Sunday extremophile: Haliocephalobus Mephisto. Lives miles underground, where it remains in communication with the Ancient and Unnamable ones.
- [Update 8/7/2011] pictures of the gates of hell.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Endnotes
Haven't done one of these posts for over a month now, and the links accumulate. In no particular order for your Sunday reading pleasure:
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