Links for 01-11-2010

• Fly by Wire - "Langewiesche convincingly shows that the Airbus fly-by-wire system helps a lot of pilots avoid the consequences of their sloppiness. He fails to show that it made any difference to U.S. Airways 1549. Despite this failure, the book is well worth reading. "
• Myths of the American Revolution | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine
• TinkerX » Blog Archive » In which I change the plot of “Avatar” by less than 15% and improve it at least 250%
• Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more - Not sure how digestible this is in automated form but lots of data in any case.
• A Peek Into Netflix Queues - NYTimes.com - Like Mad Men. Vicky Christina Barcelona shows a skewing toward educated urban (although in this case also spilling over into higher-end Western suburbs in the case of Boston.
• Tenser, said the Tensor: Weygand or de Gaulle? - I had never realized thatb this was a matter of controversy with respect to Casablanca.
• FT.com / Columnists / Lunch with the FT - Lunch with the FT: Stewart Brand
• The Oscars - No More Que Será Será - Give Doris Day an Oscar - NYTimes.com - "Doris Day symbolizes what so many of us first loved about movies — a stylish escapism, grounded with feeling and heart. She has done her part for the movies. Now it’s the academy’s turn to do its part for her."
• Of soda, pop, and "coke" - Brainiac - The Boston Globe - What people call soft drinks generically around the country. (Tonic also used to be a common generic term around Boston.)
• Inspiration: 80+ Amazing WWII Allied Propaganda Posters | Vectortuts+
• Google to mobile industry: ‘F*ck you very much!’ • The Register - ""It’s Google’s autistic approach to relationships," one senior phone exec told me this week. "They don’t know what hurt they’re doing, and they don’t care.""