Culture


Losing Height to Europe

I spend a lot of time around the sports of basketball and rowing and, though dealing with a biased sample, I thought Americans were getting taller. There seem to be more and taller women and men in these programs then in the past.
But Burkhard Bilger reports in this weeks New Yorker that this is not the case across the population as a whole:

By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the country seemed set to regain its eminence. The economy was expanding at a dramatic rate, and public-hygiene campaigns were sweeping the cities clean at last: for the first time in American history, urbanites began to outgrow farmers.
Then something strange happened. While heights in Europe continued to climb, Komlos said, “the U.S. just went flat.” In the First World War, the average American soldier was still two inches taller than the average German. But sometime around 1955 the situation began to reverse. The Germans and other Europeans went on to grow an extra two centimetres a decade, and some Asian populations several times more, yet Americans haven’t grown taller in fifty years.

One possible reason:

In a recent British study, one group of schoolchildren was given hamburgers, French fries, and other familiar lunch foods; the other was fed nineteen-forties-style wartime rations such as boiled cabbage and corned beef. Within eight weeks, the children on the rations were both taller and slimmer than the ones on a regular diet.

This may not be the whole story but it certainly provides food for thought and, I think, individual action.
Via Newmarks Door.


Downloading has an Impact on Music Sales

The impact, though, is very small and in some cases positive:

This estimated effect is statistically indistinguishable from zero despite a narrow standard error. The economic effect is also small. Even in the most pessimistic specification, five thousand downloads are needed to displace a single album sale. We also find that file sharing has a differential impact across sales categories. For example, high selling albums actually benefit from file
sharing.

So, as has been recently mentioned here the content providers and in particular the RIAA might want to take another look at their business models. Perhaps the artists should consider whether they really want to be involved with the RIAA members.
On the other hand Newmark’s Door links to this study which argues that there is a significant impact. I hope Craig does take a closer look at the two studies and write something on their comparative validity from a technical perspective.
Initial link to the Strumpf Oberholzer-gee study via Boing Boing.


Free Culture Discussion

Read along with Lawrence Solum a he discusses Free Culture:

This is the first of eight posts on Lessig’s book–a sort of blogospheric book club. You are invited to read along, and to send your comments on the book, my posts, or on the comments of other readers.

The class reading schedule may be a bit agressive if you are not an academic (faculty or student) but if you are at all interested in intellectual property issues and the internet you will be well served to join in.
Via Lawrenc Lessig.
Update: Lawrence Lessig discusses the rationale for the free offering.
Update (3/31): Tech Law Advisor notes that a Wiki of Free Culture has been created.


Contradictions

Krispy Kreme’s announcement may reflect a rational attempt to broaden their market as well as a response to the obesity police:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, long known for its high-calorie treats, says it plans to offer a low-sugar doughnut to attract dieters and diabetics.
Exactly how low the sugar content would be was unclear Thursday.

However, if I’m going to buy a donut, which is not often, it is going to be the real thing. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Via The Storm.