Yup, it’s a few hours late. It completely slipped my mind all Saturday… and I probably should have done it late Sunday because I need to be up and tackling a class of toddlers at 9am (coffee plz), but I have many, many commitments ahead for me today and wouldn’t get time to write this until late Sunday (read: Monday) if I had put it off. Luckily for me, there aren’t that many links this week.
Best of the Week – Economics: What does $456 billion buy?
What the money spent on the war in Iraq could be going – free gas for every US citizen for 1.2 years, the ending of world poverty by 2015… take your pick. It really puts things in perspective. Is this occupation really worth it? (No.)
Education/WTF?: Lousy Test Question for Fourth Graders
Wow. As an unfortunate soul caught in the standardized testing of public education myself, I’ve seen some stupid questions on regional exams… but nothing – nothing – as bad as this. This thing is just… wow. Unspeakably awful. This is exactly why I detest multiple choice questions.
Humor: The Answer is NOT Always ‘C’
This just blew me away. A student gets 0/100 on a college exam by filling in all the ‘C’ bubbles… on a completely True/False exam. The professor’s response is great… “If all else fails, go with B from now on. B is the new C.”
Gender/Mindless Facts: “she invented” – Google Search
This doesn’t really prove anything, because men have been the dominant inventors of history (representing merely a lack of opportunity rather than skill), but I thought this was… amusing. If you Google “she invented”, the top of the page will say, ‘Did You Mean: “he invented”‘?
Web 2.0/Business: You’re Nobody Unless Your Name Googles Well (Wall Street Journal)
I’m not sure how permanent this link is – the Wall Street Journal has the nastiest habit of locking all their good articles for full-paying subscribers only a few days after their release. In any case, I thought this was a very interesting article, the idea being that in our increasingly web-centered world, having a Google-friendly (ie, unique) name is very important, because that’s becoming the new way to find out about a person.
Mindless Facts: World Subway Systems on the Same Scale
All the world’s subway systems on the same scale. It even includes the rail system of my city, Vancouver! (And Vancouver’s system is very, very small and incredibly simple – just two lines. Goes to show how comprehensive this collection is.) The widest-reaching system appears to be the Bay Area’s BART (predictable), but I’d say the best overall is in London.
Internet/Resources: The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need
There are a lot of great links here that are of use to more than just freelancers. Lots of online tools for project management, collaboration, and organization in general. These are really great.
Wow – this has probably been my quietest week yet. (But I’m not complaining; going to sleep now, kthnxbai.)
[...] HT: Wandering Ink. [...]