Andy Woodruff of Bostonography.com details a project to create a crowdsourced map of Boston’s historic neighborhoods:

There are many questions to be asked here. Where are the areas of consensus? Where are the disputed zones? Where are the no-man’s lands? etc.? Let’s tackle these one at a time in a series of posts and maps. Today we look at consensus.

I was fortunate enough to spend the past week in Boston for a conference related to my Ph.D. research. I stayed in the Back Bay district in a very cool Brownstone from the turn of century and spent a good portion of my free time walking around the city. I absolutely loved the distinct nature and personality of each neighborhood and was left wanting to learn more about their respective histories. This leads to the planned future posts from Woodruff:

So while the neighborhood summaries above rely on edges to describe the maps, let’s also think about the areas represented by the shapes and what’s inside them. What are the characteristics of these areas? Why are they the shapes that they are? Why is consensus easy or difficult in different areas? What is the significance of the differences in opinion between residents of a neighborhood and people outside the neighborhood?

This work should produce some interesting social conclusions. I can’t wait to see the outcome.

Mathematician Ian Stewart, in an interview with Business Insider:

Equations definitely CAN be dull, and they CAN seem complicated, but that’s because they are often presented in a dull and complicated way. I have an advantage over school math teachers: I’m not trying to show you how to do the sums yourself. You can appreciate the beauty and importance of equations without knowing how to solve them.

Bingo. Instead of viewing equations as groupings of esoteric symbols, read them as a description of the physical world - their elegance will shine through.

Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic:

Whence came pants? I’m wearing pants right now. There’s a better than 50 percent chance that you, too, are wearing pants. And neither of us have probably asked ourselves a simple question: Why?

The answer has to do with horses. Since I don’t ride horses, this should serve as proof to my wife that it’s acceptable to wear shorts in the winter.

The last paragraph will leave you with an interesting thought to ponder.

Gillian Shaw, The Vancouver Sun, on Samsung opening a new Canadian retail store that looks awfully familiar:

While it might be regarded as Samsung taking a page from Apple’s book, with Apple stores already well established across Canada, Samsung would see it as writing its own new chapter.

“These stores are based purely on our own time and place and space,” said Politeski.

Right. And I am the opposite of a socially-awkward, technology-obsessed, no-rhythm, can’t-dance nerd.

Speaking of photos that I love, The Atlantic fetures photos of Nebraska storms:

Award-winning photographer Camille Seaman, best known for her earlier work depicting massive polar icebergs, recently turned her lens on another incredible natural phenomenon - storm clouds above the American Midwest.

The colors are so good. These photos make you appreciate the natural and structured beauty that exists in chaotic situations.

I’m a sucker for old photos. Check out this collection from C.C. Pierce that depict Los Angeles from 1886 to the 1920s.

Emil Protalinski, TechSpot.com:

Apple moved from $151,063 profit per employee in 2008 to $419,528 per employee in the past 12 months. This pushed it to first place, taking the crown away from Google.

That’s a lot of dough.

Also of note, profit-per-employee in 2012 as compared to 2008: Apple - 280%, Google - 180%, and Microsoft - 130%.

Erin Griffith, writing for PandoDaily, on MacMillan’s future publishing plans:

Macmillan Publishing has taken an entirely different route altogether. It’s one that, until now, has remained relatively under the radar. The company hired Troy Williams, former CEO of early e-book company Questia Media, which sold to Cengage. Macmillan gave him a chunk of money and incredibly unusual mandate:

Build a business that will undermine our own.

This is a smart move. A company should never tie themselves to a particular product. Products are finite - as they die, so goes the company (see RIM). Instead, a company should make products that reflect their values and goals - those are timeless.

Judge Colin Birss, in a decision favoring Samsung in their ongoing litigation with Apple:

They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool,” he said. “The overall impression produced is different.

That’s probably not how Samsung defended their products in court. A win’s a win?

Dave Winer on Twitter’s pseudo warning to 3rd-party clients:

Conclusion – corporate APIs are good for the corporations that own them, and bad for everyone else. I would be reluctant to develop on any corporate API unless I was prepared to have my work completely deleted or obviated or usurped by the platform vendor. You really don’t have any power. However it’s impossible to avoid them. But try to. And don’t be a crybaby when you get hurt.

This falls in line with an earlier piece about Twitter shifting toward a more locked down API in favor of traditional advertising. I think Winer is too doom-and-gloom, but the heart of his argument is spot-on.