Morning Reading, selected articles of interest from various publications.

The Story Behind the Story – The Atlantic
In both instances, Richmond’s political bias made him tone-deaf to the context and import of Sotomayor’s remarks. Bear in mind that he was looking not simply to understand the judge, but to expose her supposed hidden agenda. […]
A look at the full “Latina woman” speech at Berkeley reveals another crucial misinterpretation.
To his credit, Richmond posted as much of the speech as copyright law allows, attempting to present the most important sentence in context. But he still missed the point. Sotomayor’s argument was not that she sought to use her position to further minority interests, or that her gender and background made her superior to a white male. Her central argument was that the sexual, racial, and ethnic makeup of the legal profession has in fact historically informed the application of law, despite the efforts of individual lawyers and judges to rise above their personal stories—as Sotomayor noted she labors to do.
Read Article

Lina’s comment: Very thoughtful and revealing article. I admit I was caught up in the superficial reporting about judge Sotomayor. I am glad this article shed a different light on her views (and on journalism as it is practiced today).

Next Little Thing 2010 – Wireless electricity.
A physics professor, Soljačić dug into the problem and learned that if you could get two magnetic fields to resonate — to sing the same note, in effect — they could transfer an electric current. With two large magnetic coils, he found a way to throw 60 watts across a room, powering a lightbulb. MIT, his employer, quickly patented the technology and encouraged Soljačićto start a company.
Read Article and Read full story

Lina’s comment: I am looking forward to this one taking off! Combined with each building & structure having its own power source (nuclear?…or future invented), so distribution of power for long distances is negligible, it is how I imagine the future will (and should!) be.
Update: Grid-less power is near!