Crude diplomacy : Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil Iraq is now trying to recover its glory, with plans to quadruple production or more. This could transform the global oil industry; it also threatens two other founding members of OPEC. Saudi Arabia might have to share its leadership of the organisation and Iran faces an even greater setback. Close … Read More

A round the time of the stock market lows in March 2009, an acquaintance, who is in his mid-fifties, was chatting about the economy in general and, unsurprisingly, touched upon the market downturn. He asked about my investments and I mentioned that (since I was invested solely in stock index funds) I had a paper loss to report too. I … Read More

In case you have not seen it yet, this is the world’s smallest fish, and world’s smallest vertebrate, Paedocypris progenetica , a tiny skinny tranparent and distant cousin of the carp family. It was found in the peat swamps of Sumatra, an island in Indonesia, and reported by Dr Maurice Kottelat of the National University of Singapore and team report … Read More

For those of you who are new SBSM readers & subscribers, here’s a list of noteworthy posts you probably missed from one year ago. I try to put together a post like this each month to introduce new readers to old content that might be worth reading. What I Learned About Google Blog Search at SMX West Kelsey Forecasts Mobile/Local … Read More

A chart marking the first anniversary of the stimulus package makes a case for the Obama administration’s effectiveness at saving jobs. It was exactly one year ago today that Barack Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , into law. With the unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, the White … Read More

Finding time to enjoy cultural events like the Olympics can be a big challenge in your already-busy life, can’t it? These infrequent-and-thoroughly-engaging events bring up questions of time choices, time priorities, time boundaries, you name it! The first thing to remember is that your time is finite. Adding something to your day means, realistically, that you’ll need to cut something … Read More

With its latest building in Lausanne, Switzerland, Japanese architecture firm SANAA has proposed a new shape for education in the 21st century. The Japanese architectural duo SANAA is best known for designing the new home of New York’s New Museum, a haphazard stack of blocks on the Bowery. Their newest building, which opens its doors next week, has every bit … Read More

Today at an Indian arms fair, manufacturer MetalTech revealed this tiny armored vehicle, inspired by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008. In those attacks, 17 security personnel died, prompting the creation of this little battery-powered wonder, christened the Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart (ATAC). The diminutive vehicle is designed for hotel hallways, stadiums, and other tight places where traditional security vehicles … Read More

San Francisco-based FarmsReach pairs farmers up with buyers for sustainable local food systems, helping buyers source produce locally and support healthy farms. Founded in 2007, the online marketplace opened its public beta version in February 2009. It currently serves the San Francisco Bay Area and a few other regions, but aims to be nationwide by the end of this year. … Read More

In one corner: Christian Castillo, owner of Failbook.com , who embedded the popular site Failbooking.com –a hub for LOL-worthy Facebook updates–to “show what the domain could be used for.” In the other: Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh , owner of Failbooking.com, who claims Castillo “was trying to confuse and defraud our users by marketing the content and site as his … Read More