New York Times Article Skimmer
H’s gchat status brought to my attention the New York Times Article Skimmer prototype. It’s supposed to give the experience of “reading the Sunday Times, spreading out the paper on a table.” Rather, it gives me a headache.
On widescreen monitors the article boxes are too wide. On any screens, “skimming” becomes “head-turning”. I would rather see articles in a list:
Normal Layout: Eyes scan each article from left to right, head moves down the page between articles
Article Skimmer: Head moves left to right as well as down. Uncomfortable.
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The Singer Solution to World Poverty (circa 1999)
“A” pointed me out to this article by Peter Singer. I’d link “A” here, but she doesnt have a blog, website, etc. The article describes some moral ponderings, not at all unlike the standard examples from Professor Sandel’s Justice class here at Harvard. Does Bob divert a train to save a child at the expense of a new Bugatti he saved up years for?
The difference is the extension to charity? Do you skip an expensive dinner ($200) so that you can help one malnourished child become healthy? When do you stop? At $1000? At one-fifth of your income? Or do you wait until you’re a billionaire and then make headlines by donating all of your money?
I agree with many of Singer’s points, but I think it takes a rather one-sided view of the entire situation. Won’t Bob’s incentive to work extra or harder be diminished if he knows all the money is going to charity? Does throwing money at charities really solve the original problem? What do you think?