Exasperated Calculator: Star Trek & Economics

[A 4-mile streetcar route would supposedly boost Cincinnati’s economy by $2 billion](http://www.reason.com/blog/show/123001.html). A good example of why you need to always stop and think about what a result implies in the real world. $2 billion is about $6,500 per resident.

[The problems of universal screening when your test isn’t perfect](http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/think_positive.php). Human beings are, in general, really bad about thinking about rare events. This is a good example of the counter intuitive results these situations can throw up.

[How do views on economic management ability affect voting?](http://possumcomitatus.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/does-economic-management-influence-the-primary-vote/). Short version: being seen as good (or bad) can increase (decrease) the ALP vote, but doesn’t move the coalition vote around much.

[Al Gore rules out a run for president in 2008](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/17/2062367.htm). It’s a pity. He’d make a great president. But his time has passed, so I suppose I should move on.

A little something for my Austalian Public Service readers: [a USB powered whack-a-mole game](http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/01/usb-powered-whack-a-mole-annihilates-productivity/). Should fill in the days until November 26.

[A good sumary of mechanism design theory](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/10/mechanism-desig.html). Pretty simple at the end of the day: complicated mechanisms are normally unnecessary.

[A history of religion in 90 seconds](http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html). The contrast between the early spread of Christianity and Islam is quite fascinating.

[A Japanese building with a 200-foot drop ride built into the middle](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/architecture/beautiful-japanese-building-to-be-covered-in-puke-311143.php). It does look quite nice, but (as the linked post points out) clean up could be a bit of a worry.

[Apparently all the cool graph theorists use fake names on their papers](http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2007/10/15/5455305.aspx). By the way, all my physics papers are published under an assumed name too, but that’s for different reasons…