This is the first in a (hopefully) daily collection of links to interesting stories that I have read. I’m going to try to vary what I post in order to keep things fresh, but keep in mind that I am but a man, and as a man I can only have so many tastes.

Understanding the Paradox of Thrift

The result of this is an overall fall in the average level of income. And that means that even with the share of income being saved going up, the actual level of savings can be going down and we can truly end up in the toilet.

Twitter, Communication, and My Intermittent Inner Luddite

It’s one thing to take calls, check texts tweets, or the news when out and about by yourself. But it has become the norm to take them when meeting with others. That reduces the quality of the interaction and sends a message that the person you are with is merely an option, other options are ever present and must be assessed, maybe exercised.

Dieting? Put Your Money Where Your Fat Is

Six co-workers joined them in another weight-loss competition. “I told them this was going to be dirty,” Mr. Ee said. There were weekly weigh-ins by an outside record keeper. Mr. Ee finished second in that bet, after losing an additional four pounds. Along the way, Mr. Ee’s officemates enjoyed taunting one another with comments like, “Are you sure you want to eat that bagel?” and “Why don’t you get a cheeseburger for lunch and I’ll get a salad?”

Is There Intelligent Life on Television?

No one ever needed a guidebook to I Love Lucy. If you couldn’t tell Fred Mertz from Ricky Ricardo, you probably couldn’t read in the first place. But with contemporary shows such as Lost, even devoted fans find themselves bewildered by Byzantine plot twists, abrupt character reversals, and dark thematic developments. Accordingly, they welcome whole books that try to sort out what is happening in their favorite shows and to explain what it all means. The fact that we now need books to explain our favorite TV shows suggests that the best products of the medium have developed the aesthetic virtues we traditionally associate with books—complex and large-scale narratives, depth of characterization, seriousness of themes, and richness of language.

Thinking With Portals: Creating Valve’s New IP

Our hope was that by the end of the Portal, players would know GLaDOS better than any boss monster in the history of gaming. Though we knew at some point the player would have to meet and destroy her, we thought it would be even more satisfying if players got a chance to cause her some emotional pain along the way.