Links ...

1. Jeffrey Young in CHE: Supercomputers Let Up on Speed -- With big money and competitiveness at stake, smarter—not faster—designs may be winners.

2. Derek Thompson interviews Daniel Gilbert: What Is the Secret to Happiness and Money? Follow these principles: 1) Buy more experiences and fewer objects. 2) Don't worry about insurance. 3) The frequency of happy events matters more than their intensity.

3. Jonah Lehrer in Espn.com: True Grit. An extended essay on K. Anders Ericsson's work on expertise, and Angela Duckworth's grit.

   [Lehrer's article frames the research by talking about some of the famous quarterbacks in American football. If he were to use bowlers for this purpose, he would pick those -- like Ian Botham, Glenn McGrath, Anil Kumble, and Muthaiah Muralitharan -- known for their consistent and accurate bowling (for an example from the other end of the spectrum, he might pick Shaun Tait). From the current crop of bowlers, I think his choice would be Lasith 'Slinga' Malinga who, apparently, practices his yorkers by hitting a pair of shoes placed at the crease where batsmen stand. In today's Mumbai-Delhi match three of Malinga's five wickets fell to his toe-crushers. Awesome.]

4. Gretchen Cuda-Kroen in NPR: Being Bilingual May Boost Your Brain Power.

   See also: Being Bilingual: Beneficial Workout for the Brain by David L. Wheeler in CHE.

5. Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Science and Ethics: How can you have a university without a philosophy department?