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Saturday, February 11

11th Feb - Weekender (Diversion)

Here are the weekend's off-topic reads.

PEOPLE & PSYCHOLOGY
FBI File on Steve Jobs Probed Apple Founder’s Drug Use, Character TIME
The FBI’s 191-page file on the late Steve Jobs — released Thursday — reveals that the feds were keenly interested in the Apple founder’s character, as well as his past drug use and criminal history. The FBI opened an investigation of Jobs in 1991, because he was under consideration for a presidential appointment to the President’s Export Council under George H. W. Bush.

FBI Noted Jobs’s Drug Use, Reality DistortionBB

Paul Krugman vs. the WorldBusinessweek
The escalating battle of ideas between the Nobel Prize-winning economist and his illustrious peers

Seven habits of spectacularly unsuccessful CEOs: The hall of shameFinancial Post
Each of these men and women have earned the right to be part of this distinguished club. Many of their choices have been befuddling. Their attitudes at times have been head-scratching. Their arrogance has been breath-taking.

Using Imagery as a Solution to Potentially Flawed Decisions Made Under StressHistorySquared
acute stress enhances selection of previously rewarding outcomes but impairs avoidance of previously negative outcomes...Solutions: imagine a calming scene and/or the worst outcome before deciding.

BOOKS
Book Bits For SaturdayThe Capital Spectator

FiveBooks Interviews: Philip Plait on the Wonders of the UniverseThe Browser
The astronomer and author of the acclaimed Bad Astronomy blog gives us a superbly informative beginner’s guide to the galaxy, taking in the birthdate of the universe, solar flares and much, much more

POLITICS & STRATEGY
The neocons’ big Iran lieThe Salon
The right-wing hawks who thought Iraq would be a cakewalk think it'd be easy to attack Iran. Real soldiers say no.

What the Russian Protests Can -- And Can't – DoForeign Affairs
The current protests in Moscow are too weak to radically change the country’s politics by themselves. Nevertheless, they will continue to erode Putin’s legitimacy. Even if the wins the March 4 election, he will not enjoy the same monopoly on power that he used to.

TECHNOLOGY
Earth Station: The Afterlife of Technology at the End of the WorldThe Atlantic
The Jamesburg Earth Station is a massive satellite receiver in a remote valley in California. It played a central role in satellite communications for three decades, but had been forgotten until the current owner put it up for sale, promoting it as a great place to spend the apocalypse. It stands feet from a trailer park and down the road from a Buddhist retreat. This is the story of one of the old, weird ties between Earth and space.

Attacks on Android Devices Intensifytechnology review
Rising security incidents and poorly defended phones suggest 2012 could be a risky year for smart-phone users.

Here’s What Apple and Google Are Fighting Over: Search Goes Mobile by 2016 - AllThingsD

Robot readable worldvimeo
How do robots see the world? How do they gather meaning from our streets, cities, media and from us?

OTHER
Every World Press Photo Winner From 1955-2011Buzzfeed
Every year since the World Press Association gathers in Amsterdam to pick a picture of the year. Here's every photo that's won from the past 55 years or so. Powerful stuff. Hat tip Virpi K.

Photos of dogs underwaterDangerous Minds
Startling. Hat tip Antti E.

Food waste: beating bourgeois etiquetteeuobserver.com
nearly 50% of edible and healthy food is wasted every year in the EU by households, supermarkets, restaurants and the distribution chain. Meanwhile 79 million citizens live beneath the poverty line and 16 million rely on food aid.

On the Web No One Cares If You Write Like a Dog: Michael KinsleyBB
Nothing, though, prepared me for the dazzling brilliance of Felix’s
blog item this week about the quality of writing on the Internet. It’s bad, he says, much of it, but that’s good.

The logic of a Thomson Reuters takeover of the Financial TimesThe Guardian
It makes sense: the two titans of business information, Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, competing for a great news brand