The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health has just released its final report which, though I have not read it in detail (it’s pretty long), seems to have some powerfully-worded recommendations and calls-to-action with regard to improving health outcomes across the globe. I appreciate how they don’t shy away from [...]
Monthly Archives: August 2008
Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?
August 28, 2008 – 8:56 am
Short answer: probably yes.
Longer answer: from the National Bureau of Economic Research, whose newsletter is alwasy full of interesting tidbits.
Havana before and after Castro
August 27, 2008 – 10:20 pm
I try not to plagiarize Boing Boing too much, but they just post so many interesting things.
Havana Before Castro
Dr. Philip Zimbardo, architect of the famous Stanford prison experiment, is doing a new study on helpful behaviour.
Flickr set of food characters eating self-cannibalizing.
Richard Dawkins reads his hatemail:
New bike(s)
August 26, 2008 – 7:11 am
Picked up my first roadie ever a few weeks ago, with the eventual goal of converting it to a fixed-gear or single speed for use mainly in the winter. But the more I ride it, the more I just want to ride it all the time. I bought it off craigslist via a pleasant exchange [...]
Village of Makkinga has no traffic signs
August 25, 2008 – 7:08 am
Quote:
It’s normal that you don’t need traffic signs… When you’ve changed the little village into a human place with social interaction between the citizens, of course you don’t need traffic signs.
Here’s to my two friends who start their masters in urban planning at McGill University this fall: let’s have more Makkingas!
Some reflections on Aurora, browser of the future
August 24, 2008 – 6:31 pm
Let me say first that this is some amazing conceptual work. Coming up with something that is genuinely new (or, depending on your metaphysics, at least seems so) is difficult work. It is rare that something comes along in the world of desktop software in general and web browsers in particular that can be called [...]
Content Management Systems – a look back in time
August 23, 2008 – 7:58 am
At work, we’re planning a website redesign. Okay, less of a redesign and more of a realignment. Our current site has been around since 2004 and though it is still serving us fairly well (four years isn’t a bad lifespan for a website of this kind), we’re beginning to outgrow it, as our research agenda [...]
On climate change and not wrestling with pigs
August 23, 2008 – 1:28 am
The saying goes, ‘Never get into a wrestling match with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.’
Unfortunately in the case of climate change debate, the temptation is difficult to resist. There is a small army of well-funded pseudo-scientists and PR hacks dedicated to spreading as much misinformation as possible who end [...]