Seeing Tibetan Art Through Social Tags - An interesting paper on social tagging. What can tags tell us about how images are perceived by diverse cultures? [more inside]
posted by tellurian on Aug 22, 2008 - 6 comments

Whatever the market will bear. Did you know that Amazon.com charges you different prices for the same goods depending on who you are (and what your browser cookie shows?) This was news to me, but the WaPo and CNN reported it in 2005. [more inside]
posted by ikkyu2 on Apr 15, 2008 - 72 comments

Westnet - A brand new look, but the same old feel. (The third link appears to be safe for work, but I won't make any guarantees)
posted by furtive on Jun 2, 2005 - 9 comments

American values brought to you by the letters... In the Islamic world the USA doesn't appear to be making too many friends recently. But is it all a big misunderstanding? Perhaps the middle east simply need to learn more about American values. Who can teach them about American culture, morality, and cookies? You'd be surprised...
posted by kaemaril on Sep 3, 2003 - 16 comments

Misunderstanding the joke.
posted by zedzebedia on Apr 18, 2002 - 15 comments

Here's a damning indictment of the (mis)use of regression analysis in the social sciences.

[Y]ou may have fallen for a pernicious form of junk science: the use of mathematical models with no demonstrated predictive capability to draw policy conclusions. These studies are superficially impressive. Written by reputable social scientists from prestigious institutions, they often appear in peer reviewed scientific journals. Filled with complex statistical calculations, they give precise numerical "facts" that can be used as debaters' points in policy arguments. But these "facts" are will o' the wisps. Before the ink is dry on one study, another appears with completely different "facts." Despite their scientific appearance, these models do not meet the fundamental criterion for a useful mathematical model: the ability to make predictions that are better than random chance.
posted by electro on Feb 12, 2002 - 11 comments