Feb 4th

1. “Research Shows Placebos May Have Place In Everyday Treatments”

http://www.npr.org/sections/health/

This is a podcast on how placebos can have a place in the medical field. It tackles the morality of prescribing placebos. The ritual of seeing a doctor and getting help triggers centers in the brain that lead the mind to think it is on its way towards recovery. Since patients can not be deceived into thinking they are taking actual medication for their ailments, this presents an ethical issue. Maybe the medicine is a little white lie, not a little white pill.

 

2. “Racism evident behind some US social media”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20500031

There is a video on here about racism in social media. The video mostly focuses on Facebook and Twiiter, so the footage is mostly centered around young adults. The clip of the college student burning the Obama campaign poster board was appalling. Although racism has been run out of public domain, racism has made its way into our Twitter feeds and status updates. It shows how much progress still needs to be made in this country. It is especially disheartening since things like the riot at Mississippi happened on campus, in our nation’s schools.

 

3. “2012: THE YEAR IN PICTURES”

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/30/sunday-review/2012-year-in-pictures.html?ref=multimedia#/?slide=23

In this photo gallery, there are about five pictures for every month of the past year. It shows important scenes from around the world. I think people like these overviews because it puts everything in perspective. It is not just about major political figures, catastrophes, and war – but about the tightrope walkers, brides, and children as well.

 

4. “How Movie Recommendation Systems Work”

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rated-x-how-movie-recommendation-systems-work#

This is a fun, interactive piece about how movies are suggested for the individual. It is effective because it mimics the format they are usually in. The algorithms these systems work under are described in a way where the reader does not find it tedious to learn about the ins-and-outs of figuring out an almost key part of our preferences. It is almost as if we had a film savvy friend to guide us to what they know we would be interested in.