Link Roundup

• Graphical visualization of text similarities in essays in a book - Data visualizations intrigue me. With the vast amount of information we have available, we need to find new ways of looking at and processing it. This one does a good job, besides being pleasing to the eye.
  
• Politics 2.0: Hack the Vote - The idea of this article (though maybe not the exact way it's presented) is spot-on. I really think that there are enough people out there who would like to vote for an independent (or at least a non-Democratic/Republican) to make it viable for them to win, if those voters would stop worrying about "wasting" their vote.
  
• Unnatural Selection - A cool micro-biography of Nikolai Vavilov. It's interesting to look at the ways that history, politics, and culture have limited (and accelerated) the progress of science and technology.
  
• Algebra - it's everywhere - I think it's probably a good thing to make it "standard" for algebra to be taught in 8th grade. There will, of course, be people ahead of and behind the curve, who should be pushed further or given extra time/tutoring. (In fact, honestly, I think that algebra should be taught much earlier. Arithmetic without algebra is like knowing how to drive without knowing how to get anywhere.)
  
• Bottled Water Demand May Be Declining - I've always thought that buying water bottles was a bit stupid if you have access to a tap, especially if you have a filter (sorry, Mom), so I'm glad to see that people are starting to figure it out. Maybe the whole Nalgene bottle ordeal will help the situation out
• 35 of the Most Unique & Creative Sofa Designs - A neat gallery. I especially liked the slinky couch. I wonder how hard it would be to build one.
• Why ban poems about knives? - O, bureaucracy and overprotectionism! It seems fairly obvious to me that the less you expose your kids to, the less they'll be able to handle later. Obviously, there are limits on this (you don't show your two-year-old Saw) but people tend to take things too far.
  
• Eating Bugs - This is an oldish article (I remember reading it at the doctor's office a while back) but it presents an interesting idea. What if peoples' aversion to eating bugs was entirely social? Could the next generation be raised entomophagous?
• Save the planet by cutting down on meat? That's just a load of bull - While London's mayor is probably correct when he says that the root cause of most environmental problems is overpopulation, his point is rather moot— there is very little that the those who hear the UN's advice can do to reduce world population, but everyone is capable of cutting out a serving of meat per day (assuming they eat meat). I would hope for a little better than this petty reactionism from an important politician, but then again, he is a mayor.
• And finally, a laugh: Wondermark #441; In which Politics exhilarate