Links October 2013

Wired has an interesting article by David Samuels about the Skybox, a small satellite (about the size of a bar fridge) that is being developed to provide cheap photographs of the Earth from low orbit [1]. Governments of major countries will probably try to limit what they do, but if they can prove that it’s viable then someone else from a different jurisdiction will build similar satellites.

Alice Dreger gave an interesting TED talk about the various ways that people can fall outside the expected genetic sex binary [2].

The short film “Love is All You Need” has an interesting way of showing the way that non-straight kids are treated [3].

The Guardian has an interesting article by Ranjana Srivastava about doctors and depression [4].

Don Marti wrote an interesting post about believing bullshit as a way of demonstrating group loyalty [5].

Zacqart Adam Green wrote an interesting article for the Falkvinge blog about the way that the Ouya gaming console can teach children about free software and political freedom [6]. Read more at www.ouya.tv [7]. It’s a pity that the Ouya is not conveniently sold outside the US and the UK, with shipping it would probably cost a lot more than $99 in Australia.

Tim Chevalier wrote an interesting post for Geek Feminism about the unintended consequences of some codes of conduct [8].

Tim Chevalier wrote an interesting Geek Feminism post about Wikipedia describing how the Neutral Point Of View is a way of representing the views of people in power [9].

Ramin Shokrizade wrote an interesting article for Gamasutra about the “Free 2 Play” (F2P) techniques [10]. The concept of F2P games is that the game can be installed for free but requires regular small payments to make the game easier, apparently some people pay $3000 per year or more.

The TED blog has an interesting interview with Jack Andraka, a teenager who invented a new test for pancreatic cancer (and also ovarian and lung cancer) that is cheaper, faster, and less invasive than other tests [11]. The blog post also has a link to Jack’s TED talk.

• [1] http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/startup-skybox/
• [2] http://www.ted.com/talks/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html
• [3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ROXTFfkcfo
• [4] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/doctors-depressed
• [5] http://zgp.org/~dmarti/misc/believing-bullshit/
• [6] http://falkvinge.net/2013/06/27/oh-boy-more-ouya-hype/
• [7] https://www.ouya.tv/
• [8] http://tinyurl.com/q4lfp27
• [9] http://geekfeminism.org/2013/07/11/when-who-you-are-is-off-topic/
• [10] http://tinyurl.com/nbto4vm
• [11] http://tinyurl.com/l384e2s