Being sick this week I had a lot of time to read, but most if it went into Bruce Sterling’s Hacker Crackdown and Joe Dunthorne’s Submarine. Anyway, here we go:

• “Did ‘Star Wars’ become a toy story? ":http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/08/12/star-wars-was-born-a-long-time-ago-but-not-all-that-far-far-away-in-1972-filmmakers-george-lucas-and-gary-kurtz-wer/
  I admit to being quite a Star Wars nerd, the Han shot first kind who pretends Episode I-III never happened and who actually sat through the entire Holiday special. If you are remotely like me, this article providing some insider information by Gary Kurtz will be quite an interesting read.
• Computers and Mathematical Notation
  Interesting thoughts on how programming languages (J in this case) could influence mathematical notation by Turing Award winner Kenneth E. Iverson
• Common Programmer Health Problems
  Some sane advice we all occasionally are guilty of ignoring.
• We Are All Talk Radio Hosts
  On strawberry jam, reasoning and cognitive bias.
• The Millennium Development Goal that really does work has been forgotten
  Sure, we’ll help you. Just not in a way so that you eventually can help yourself.
• The Anthropology of Hackers
  Outline of anthropologist Gabriella Coleman’s course about hacker culture at NYU.
• Ten things to look for in a circumvention tool
  By Roger Dingledine of Tor fame.
• This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Wumpus
  Example chapter from the upcoming book Land of Lisp (PDF).
• In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises
  The first residents are starting to move into Masdar, a planned city built in Abu Dhabi. There seems to be some discussion about how much of a “real” city Masdar will be, but then Dubai didn’t feel like a “real” place to me either, but more like a soulless agglomeration of skyscrapers and shopping malls.