Good stuff

Hooray for the weekend! And what better time to think about good stuff? I've been saving up items for this list for a while ...

First up: Chance magazine, co-published by the American Statistical Association and Springer-Verlag, is about statistics and the use of statistics in society. Go to their site and click on "Feature Articles" in the left-hand panel. There's a bunch of interesting stuff. For example, an article presenting research on whether automobile airbags save lives (it suggests they may not). And with the Winter Olympics on, how about an article on testosterone abuse among athletes?

Next on the good stuff list, check out one of my favorite blogs — it's funny, thought provoking, and well written. You know, if you look at the TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem, you'll see that a few blogs are hugely popular. But it's been my experience that there are some hidden gems out there. Many people who don't read blogs seem to think that it's a big waste of time. And sure, there's a lot of junk out there. But it's not all that hard to find the good stuff.

Related to the blog is the podcast, and related to the podcast is the video podcast. Have you watched Rocketboom? It's a highly entertaining and unpredictable 5-minute weekday report produced in New York City. They recently held an auction on Ebay for a week of advertising on Rocketboom: it went for $40,000!

I have to admit that I love a good deal. And there's no better deal than free. For mysterious reasons (i.e. what's the business model?), there are some wonderful free services on the internet. Two of my favorites are protopage, which is a fabulous customizable homepage, and openomy, which provides you with 1 GB of free file storage! I highly recommend both.

And last on my list, I've nearly finished reading an excellent book, The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. It explores the surprising ways we make choices and how they make us feel. Unlike some social science books written for a popular audience, Schwartz is neither self aggrandizing (like the author of Freakonomics), nor does he overstate his case (like the author of The Tipping Point). Perhaps best of all, he provides practical suggestions on how the research findings he details can be applied to improve the quality of our daily lives.

So that wraps up my list of good stuff. Please feel free to contribute your own in the comments. And have a great weekend!