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Razib notes a Businessweek article: The New Gender Gap. "In every state, every income bracket, every racial and ethnic group, and most industrialized Western nations, women reign, earning an average 57% of all BAs and 58% of all master's degrees in the U.S. alone. There are 133 girls getting BAs for every 100 guys." Fascinating. Does this indicate a difference in intelligence between men and women? I don't think so; although most studies have shown the mean for women is slightly higher than that for men, the bell curve for men is wider, with more people at each extreme. It probably indicates a difference in focus and discipline which was always there, and which has been revealed by the progress women have made in gaining access to education. Of course the fact that more intelligent women are getting more education just exacerbates Unnatural Selection, since they'll tend to delay raising children.
David Burbridge does it again: Is Culture Useful. In which he asks whether culture evolved as a by product of human social evolution (to help humans) or independently (to help itself) - well he didn't exactly ask that, but that's my interpretation. Interestingly, I think the answer is "both". Which has implications for Unnatural Selection, seeing as how it is a cultural phenomenon...
If I didn't enjoy these articles so much, David would piss me off, he's doing exactly what I should be doing, posting a series of essays which together make a coherent whole. Nice work.
Walt Disney is experimenting with self-destructing DVDs. A chemical reaction causes the surface of these discs to become opaque after 48 hours, rendering them unwatchable (and un-copyable). Of course during the first 48 hours they are both watchable and copyable, so I'm not sure what this buys them. Another bogus use of technology.
 Hey, now you can rent a Segway! $20 for 30 minutes. Too bad it is only in Spokane, WA.
NYTimes: Dating a Blogger. [ via Dave Winer ] "The proliferation of bloggers has led to a new social anxiety: the fear of getting blogged." Are you afraid of me? :)
Then there is marrying a blogger; Mark Pilgrim: "saw The Matrix Reloaded last night, went running this morning, getting married in two hours. I can recommend all of these things."
Check out this funny lotto commercial. [ via Adam Curry ]
Wrapping up: A Mac made entirely of Lego. I am not making this up.
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