Daily Links for October 10th through October 12th
All excerpts are quoted from the respective link(s).
- How Rewards Can Backfire and Reduce Motivation | PsyBlog – Yet psychologists have long known that rewards are overrated. The carrot, of carrot-and-stick fame, is not as effective as we've been led to believe. Rewards work under some circumstances but sometimes they backfire. Spectacularly.
- 100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words – Ars Technica – The anxious rhetoric around new technology is really quite shocking in its vehemence, from claims that the player piano will destroy musical taste and the "national throat" to concerns that the VCR is like the "Boston strangler" to claims that only Hollywood's premier content could make the DTV transition a success. Most of it turned out to be absurd hyperbole, but it's interesting to see just how consistent the words and the fears remain across more than a century of innovation and a host of very different devices.
So here they are, in their own words—the copyright holders who demanded restrictions on player pianos, photocopiers, VCRs, home taping, DAT, MP3 players, Napster, the DVR, digital radio, and digital TV.
- mcamposfinal.png (PNG Image, 1872×1224 pixels) – Scaled (64%) – It appears cracking a Masterlock has always been easy. With this infographic, it's gotten easier.
- Americana That Barack Obama Has Made Un-American – Barack Obama – Gawker – It's been getting kind of confusing keeping track of what's truly American anymore, so we came up with a handy list of things that are socialist and foreign because Barack Obama has soiled them, by doing them.
- Why Apple & Google Win – and Your Company Doesn’t – Common sense dictates that the easier something is to accomplish, the more readily it will be passed along. What information do you ask your customers to submit? And of that, which is really necessary? Less is more.
- 50-years-exploration-huge.jpg (JPEG Image, 3861×1706 pixels) – A large graphic detailing 50-years of space exploration.
- Innovation: The psychology of Google Wave – tech – 09 October 2009 – New Scientist – Early reviews have been positive, and demand for invitations outstrips supply (Google says ours is still on the way). But even for those who have tried and liked it, Wave's potential is still hard to assess. The problem is that most talk about it is focussed on technology, not people.
