Interesting Links for 13-7-2011

[andrewducker]

• Schools don't seem terribly suited to an age where both parents work
  (tags: school children education uk)
• The lost continent off the coast of Scotland - and its link to ancient climate change.
  (tags: scotland climatechange)
• A new rule for Science Fiction DVDs
  (tags: scifi BrianCox funny webcomic)
• Flywheels for cheaper hybrid cars and for energy storage
  (tags: energy cars electricity storage)
• Tryptophan depletion seems to be connected to autism
  (tags: autism tryptophan serotonin)
• Singapore building massive desalination plants using new more-efficient methods
  (tags: water singapore technology)
• Johann Hari suspended by The Independent
  (tags: johannhari independent)
• Teens prefer caffeinated drinks - even if they can't taste it.
  (tags: caffeine teenagers)
• HTML5 Parsing in IE10
  (tags: internet microsoft browser html html5)
• Cheques not be scrapped after all. I don't think I've seen my cheque-book in five years.
  (tags: banking cheques payment uk)
• It is now one year since we discovered Neptune
  (tags: neptune astronomy solarsystem)
• 100 Firefights, Three Weeks: Inside Afghanistan’s Most Insane Fight
  (tags: war afghanistan military usa taliban)

Comments

[andrewducker]

I've been terribly disappointed by the whole Johann Hari thing. When I first encountered him he seemed like a breath of fresh air, but then I started encountering critiques of his facts, and more and more things seemed dodgy, or underresearched. And then when it came to this I just threw my hands in the air entirely.

Because, yes, passing off things as being part of an interview when they weren't is just plain wrong.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

I seem to be way less bothered by what he did (morally at least, if not ethically) than most, but I never thought his particularly brand of journalism really fitted with the Independent anyway. He always struck me as more of a Guardian man.

[anef.livejournal.com]

Moderate defence of Hari. I completely agree that sloppy research is bad and he should do better. Some of his writing is knee-jerk socialism and not thought through. But as an Independent reader I like to get Guardian-style opinions. And I really don't get the fuss about the interviews - nobody's suggesting he's lying or misleading the public about what these people said - just when and where they said it. He's a journalist, not an academic - I think it's acceptable.

[andrewducker]

I don't accept journalists misleading the public about anything.

Sorry, it's just something I find unacceptable in general.

[doubtingmichael.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether he was deliberately misleading, or just assuming people wouldn't mind or care. I don't think he should have done it, but I have seen claims that seem too extreme to me. For instance, a year or two ago there was a big fuss about "misleading" BBC television interviews, and one of the offences was that when they showed the interviewer nodding in agreement, they were actually filmed nodding after the interview was over! I mean, they nodding at the time as well, but that was a different nod.

They only did it because these were shoestring interviews with only one camera available. Presumably if the BBC hadn't been doing that, then the same people would have told them off for wasting money on two cameras.

[andrewducker]

Oh, I'm no demanding his head on a plate. I'd have settled for him apologised and promising never to do it again.

Which he's done, so I'm fairly happy.