But increasingly I think these issues --how we move "freely" online, or more properly, how we pay one way or another -- are actually the leading edge of a much bigger discussion about the relationship between our digital and physical selves. I don't mean theoretically or psychologically. I mean that the norms established to improve how often people click ads may end up determining who you are when viewed by a bank or a romantic partner or a retailer who sells shoes.

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/im-being-followed-how-google-and-104-other-companies-are-tracking-me-on-the-web/253758/

a 250-qubit quantum computer would contain more bits that there are particles in the universe.

"Whereas psychologists tend to view humans as fallible and sometime even self-destructive, economists tend to view people as efficient maximisers of self-interest who make mistakes only when imperfectly informed about the consequences of their actions."

http://neurosciencenews.com/economics-brain-how-people-make-decisions/

"The fundamental problem in all this is there are a lot of different opinions in town as to whether the trustees are sort of willfully evil or just incompetent,"

http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/351-old-sparks-bitter-dispute-mass-221843513.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

"Coach told us there's no offense, no plays, just play,"

http://m.espn.go.com/ncb/gamecast?gameId=320542132

The secret was the timing: If new proteins couldn’t be created during the act of remembering, then the original memory ceased to exist. The erasure was also exceedingly specific. The rats could still learn new associations, and they remained scared of other sounds associated with a shock but that hadn’t been played during the protein block. They forgot only what they’d been forced to remember while under the influence of the protein inhibitor.

Ambulances weaved through narrow backstreets to ferry the injured to hospital, dodging burning trash bins and the running battles between rioters and police.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/02/12/greek-debt-deal_n_1271524.html

The reason that upper-middle-class children dominate the population of elite schools is that the parents of the upper-middle class now produce a disproportionate number of the smartest children.

http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/the-truth-about-income-inequality-in-america/252892/

If she has turned herself into what she thinks we all want, then we resent her for thinking so lowly of us.

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/02/lana_del_rey_and_the_new_culture_of_failure/singleton/?mobile.html

"I've come to the conclusion in my 11 years in Congress that it isn't necessarily a difference in philosophy between Republicans and Democrats -- there's a difference in philosophy between urban and rural," Rehberg said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/02/02/denny-rehberg-child-labor_n_1250207.html

Yet another pragmatic argument in favor of the belief in immortality appeals to the need to find meaning in life. Perhaps Miguel de Unamuno’s Del sentimiento tragico de la vida is the most emblematic philosophical treatise advocating this argument: in Unamuno’s opinion, belief in immortality is irrational, but nevertheless necessary to avoid desperation in the face of life’s absurdity. Only by believing that our lives will have an ever-lasting effect, do we find motivation to continue to live. If, on the contrary, we believe that everything will ultimately come to an end and nothing will survive, it becomes pointless to carry on any activity.