The New Literacy   (0)
"As the school year begins, be ready to hear pundits fretting once again about how kids today can't write—and technology is to blame. Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have replaced carefully crafted essays, and texting has dehydrated language into 'bleak, bald, sad shorthand' ... [but the] first thing she found is that young people today write far more than any generation before them." (Quicklink)  •  9:06am  •  

Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women – Telegraph   (0)
"The results showed men were slower and less accurate after trying to impress the women. The more they fancied them, the worse their score." The reverse was not true. (Quicklink)  •  9:06am  •  

100 Famous Rock Guitar Riffs in one take and under 8 minutes   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  11:40pm  •  

A little depressing indeed   (0)
I saw Halley's comet when it passed in the 80s... I was really young at the time, but I still remember my dad taking me outside to see it. (Quicklink)  •  9:38am  •  

This is s failed robbery attempt with multiple cameras   (0)
Hilarious. (Quicklink)  •  9:38am  •  

Home is where the brain is   (0)
SF Mag article about Indians in Silicon Valley. (Quicklink)  •  9:38am  •  

Best Husband Ever   (0)
Funny YouTube video. (Quicklink)  •  8:37pm  •  

Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools   (0)
Yep, I'm livin' it. *sigh* (Quicklink)  •  8:37pm  •  

Folding Plug System   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  7:46pm  •  

YouTube – Usain Bolt 200 Metres Final, New World Record 19.19 sec   (0)
Wow. Just, wow. (Quicklink)  •  11:42pm  •  

The Longest Poem in the World   (0)
Made from rhyming couplets sourced from Twitter (Quicklink)  •  11:42pm  •  

YouTube – Usain Bolt 200 Metres Final, New World Record 19.19 sec   (0)
Wow. Just, wow. (Quicklink)  •  7:48pm  •  

The Longest Poem in the World   (0)
Made from rhyming couplets sourced from Twitter (Quicklink)  •  7:48pm  •  

Singaporean Stanford PhD now a cabby   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  8:57am  •  

Secrets of Magus : The New Yorker (1993)   (0)
A really long, but really fascinating and well-written piece about Ricky Jay. You must also check out his rather eruditely presented show: Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants. Utterly brilliant. (Quicklink)  •  8:57am  •  

Web companies personified   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  10:46am  •  

Stross-Krugman Transcript from Anticipation World Con in Montreal   (0)
Long but worthwhile, intriguing reading. Krugman is a Nobel Prize winning economist and columnist for the New York Times. Stross is a Hugo award-winning science fiction author. (Quicklink)  •  6:08pm  •  

This Week In Layoffs: 08.15.09 – Above the Law   (0)
Finally, some good news. (Quicklink)  •  10:11am  •  

Dinner at El Bulli: In comics   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  9:36am  •  

The FT interviews Jared Diamond over lunch   (0)
(Quicklink)  •  9:36am  •