Is this surprising? Their developers make direct changes to production code without a staging environment or a release management/testing process. They see this structure as an asset, making them more “agile” and less bureaucratic. Maybe so. But there are also disadvantages, such as small errors more easily compounding into huge problems.

This AP article is poorly written and confusing, but I support the sentiment, and have for years. Four year college is not the right path for everyone, and our society loses out on skilled tradespeople, pushes young people into needless debt, and generally devalues a good blue collar work ethic on favor of bachelors degrees that are not always prudent or useful.

Radio Boston deciphers the pedestrian crosswalk buttons in Boston and Cambridge, with mixed results. This was very frustrating to me last weekend when my parents were in town, as the behavior I was used to from North Cambridge did not apply in East Cambridge and in downtown Boston, and there didn’t seem to be any consistent pattern to the Boston signals, not to mention the Boston drivers who had little respect for pedestrians, and pedestrians who did not mind jumping in the way of moving cars. No doubt these various problems feed on each other in annoying and dangerous ways. For an example of the worst of all worlds, just try driving (or walking!) through Central Square.

Time Magazine profiles Revolution Foods, a for-profit attempting to improve the abysmal American school lunch program by using economies of scale to provide meals incorporating fresh, natural ingredients. Amazing to find out how little the government pays per subsidized lunch. The TV show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (no relation to the company) has also been eye-opening, in it’s own way.

A Financial Times article describes how video game technology has replaced or supplemented military training across all US service branches. The costs are lower, the training prospects better, the exercises far safer, but there is a hidden danger: when a gamer makes the transition from video game war to real war, how can he understand how the stakes, and the consequences, have changed?

The nascent Tea Party movement continues to show its reach and influence, and the Republican Party is learning how to align itself with and harness the energy of the movement to push its agenda. Scott Brown’s defeat of lethargic Martha Coakley in Massachusetts was a strategic triumph that caught a distracted and stretched Democratic Party completely off guard. Either this defeat will wake up the Democrats and spur them to rally around some legislative reforms that appeal to the “working man” for a series of quick wins that restore the faith of the voters, or it will cause them to fragment even more and sustain sweeping losses in the midterms. I can’t say I’m optimistic about their chances, and it is disappointing that neglect of the economy has once again put the kibosh on badly needed health care reform, doubly unfortunate as unemployment stays historically high.

An audio slideshow of the few highs and many lows, and the prospects for the future. Like many “year in review” pieces, this one emphasizes that once the health care reform finally passes, things will become easier, and it will be looked back upon as a crowning achievement. Except that as of today, health care reform may be headed for defeat.

The economy, the health care debate, campaign mistakes, and some fortuitous timing of polls. But mostly I’m amazed the WSJ article isn’t massively biased…

A columnist in the New York Times Magazine argues that in our current economic climate, with rampant speculation, risk-taking, strategic bankruptcies, failures, and all sorts of other destabilizing and socially detrimental actions being undertaken by large corporations, homeowners have no “moral obligation” to stick with their underwater mortgages. Many people are choosing to walk away from their houses and mortgage payments, and I tend to agree that it is only fair for the little guy to play the same sort of games so popular among greedy hedge funds, investment bankers, and the rest of the people who have done so much to destroy our economy and hurt so many people.

The Times argues for plant welfare. That’s my gut reaction whenever I hear talk about the awfulness of humans killing animals for food, clothing, or supplies. We have to eat something, and, animal cruelty concerns aside, animal protectionists never stop to explain why are animals more deserving of life than plants.

This Harvard experiment points out how oblivious we are to some changes in our environment. There is also a secret second experiment of sorts hidden in the video, check the comments to see if you were fooled.

All I can say is, about time!

Only 8% of internet users today click on banner ads. Ethan Zuckerman asks how it will change the social media landscape when there is no one left to click the ads.

Julian Sanchez’s spoiler-filled review of the 2005 film Serenity looks at it from an interesting angle.

Remarkable. And very cute. (via Yoni)

The discovery of oil transforms a country — usually for the worse. For Norway, due in large part to chance, everything worked out differently.

You can’t get more succinct than that…