Sunday, May 18

A Second Look (Internet edition)

Two posts that hint toward a shaky future for Facebook.

Who Needs Another Social Network? (Bits Blog)
Did Microsoft Overpay for Its Facebook Stake? (DealBook Blog)

Earlier: Facebook: destined for obscurity?

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Charter Communications joins the band of Internet service providers spying on their users. Also, computer security expert Bruce Schneier on the importance of data privacy.

Charter to Snoop on Broadband Customers' Web Histories for Ad Networks (Threat Level Blog)
Can Charter Broadband Customers Really Opt-Out of Spying? Maybe Not (Threat Level Blog)
Our Data, Ourselves (Wired)

Earlier: The end of privacy

Tuesday, May 13

Returning purity to sports

The Doping Dilemma (Scientific American)
How We Would Fight Steroids If We Really Meant It (Freakonomics Blog)

Two articles that attempt to address the question of how to combat doping (the use of performance-enhancing drugs) in sports. The first piece, from Scientific American, makes a case for why there is so much pressure to dope in the world of professional cycling, and then constructs strategies designed to change the incentives for doping such that there is a strong incentive not to dope. The second piece, from the Freakonomics Blog, provides a creative, remarkably simple solution for discouraging doping... I like it! (The commenters on their blog are far less enthusiastic about the plan, however, and provide some great commentary.)