Recommended Readings 080810 ~ On Universities, Laptops, Tools, TinyTech, Economies, Health, God, Dogs, Flying, Poverty, Explosions, Censorship, New...

Intellectual eye-candy of the week...

• Newsweek's Stefan Theil writes about The Campus Of The Future: To better compete, a few bold leaders are rethinking their schools from the ground up.
• Bryan Appleyard writes in the Sunday Times how Fat-Cat Multinationals Got Scared [and broke the $100 laptop].
• Jessica Bruder in the NYTimes covers powertool drag races in My Belt Sander Can Beat Your Circular Saw.
• David Rejeski of the Projct on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars opines on Big questions on tiny, tiny technology in the Boston Globe.
• Niall Ferguson of Harvard comments in the FT about How a local squall might become a global tempest.
• Marcus Leroux in the Times describes the amazing story Built in the garage: how kidney doctor put together home-made dialysis machine to save a baby.
• The Times features excerpts from Brian Kolodiejchuk's collection of Mother Teresa's writings entitled 'I feel unwanted by God'.
• Boston dogs rent-a-dog writes Anjali Athavaley in the WSJ article entitled An Idea Whose Time Has Come: The Time-Share Dog: Monica Had 2 Families, 2 Names, Much Love; Boston Bans Short Pooch Leases.
• John Schwartz checks out cool gadget flying machines in NYTimes article From Comics to James Bond To a Liftoff in the Backyard.
• It's expensive to be poor writes Kevin Lewis in his Globe Uncommon Knowledge Ideas column.
• USA Today's Gary Strauss writes 'Mythbusters' hosts relish blowing up stuff on TV.
• Speaking of blowing things up, Asra Nomani writes in the WSJ that You Still Can't Write About Muhammad about Random House canceling a book about the prophet's underage wife for fear that it would "incite acts of violence". Right, that's modernity and civilization for you.
• Another installment in the How to Get the Biggest Bang for $10 Billion series in the WSJ.
• Interesting to read Carol Hymowitz's piece in the WSJ that IBM Combines Volunteer Service, Teamwork to Cultivate Emerging Markets.
• Finally, Nicholas Kulish writes in the NYTimes from Friedrichshafen that In Germany, a City's Famed Industry Now Helps Keep It Afloat about the renewing zeppelin industry.