Links

Steve Yegge at Google talks about the features of the Next Big Language. He apparantly has inside information about the language corporates are likely to make a big push for. The comments seem to suggest Javascript 2.

Kevin Smith’s top 10 films of 2006.

Malcolm Gladwell argues that knowing less can be an advantage. This is based on a study in which kids in the US were asked which was a bigger city: San Antonio or San Diego. Many didn’t know. Kids in Germany were asked the same. Most knew: San Diego was bigger. Why? Because they’d heard of San Diego, but not of San Antonio.

P.S: A comment mentions that the actual difference in population between these cities is only 2%. So maybe the US kids were right to be unsure…

India Poised: a video featuring Amitabh Bachchan. Here’s the transcript.

There are two Indias in this country. One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been recently showering upon us.

The other India is the leash.

One India says “Give me a chance, and I’ll prove myself.”

The other India says “Prove yourself first, and maybe then, you’ll have a chance.”

One India lives in the optimism of our hearts.

The other India lurks in the scepticism of our minds.

One India wants.

The other India hopes.

One India leads.

The other India follows.

These conversions are on the rise. With each passing day, more and more people from the other India are coming over to this side. And quietly, while the world is not looking, a pulsating, dynamic India is emerging.

An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure.

An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods, but buys out the companies that makes them instead.

History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it’s taking a turn.

This is that rarely ever moment. History is turning a page.

For over half a century, our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, fallen, rolled over, got up and dusted ourself, and cantered, sometimes lurched on.

But now, in our sixtieth year as a free nation, the ride has brought us to the edge of time’s great precipice.

And one India, a tiny little voice at the back of the head, is looking down at the bottom of the ravine, and hesitating. The other India is looking up at the sky and saying, “It’s time to fly.”

How to hurt the RIAA.

… I think its high time that the RIAA is not referenced by its name but rather by its members. Imagine how much it would hurt someone like Sony if each time a bad article, comment or story reached the masses it had the words representing Sony in the title. Enough of that would force a brand to leave the RIAA group because it was too damaging to their brand name.

Here are the RIAA members, headed by EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner.

A map of GDP per square kilometer across the world.

Firstly, views on the Apple iPhone: great. Next impression: not so great. You can’t use it with your eyes closed. And yesterday, Cisco sues Apple for iPhone trademark infringement. In a video on intellectual property, James Boyle at Duke Law School says, when a company starts suing over intellectual property, it’s a good time to dump their stock.

A bunch of kids draw a collage of Angelina Jolie. Interesting kids’ project for schools.

A cool psychology experiment. A student asks someone for directions. People carrying a door pass between them. Students switch. They check if the person giving directions has noticed that it’s a different person. Many people don’t notice the switch.

How hackers are using Google to pwn your site. Includes a very practical example of how to use Google Code Search to hack a MySQL account.