What I’ve been reading this week:

– The collapse of the Damien Hirst art market (Economist) — Hirst has made hundreds of millions of dollars from selling stuffed sharks and diamond-encrusted skulls to those with even more money. But it seems his fans have been more investors than art lovers. When he started flooding the market with more creations, and bypassing dealers, prices plummeted. So was it a bad move by an artist businessman? Or was it the action of an artist trying to reclaim control of his works from the market?

– Will systempunkt be the blitzkrieg for stateless terrorist groups? (Global Guerillas) — I think it already is. The real question is its efficacy. John Robb points to the threatened Koran burning as an example of the social pressure points that can be exploited to cause broader system chaos and collapse.

– neo lebowski — The Matrix meets the Dude in this YouTube mashup. I wonder how the Church of the Latter-day Dude feels about this.

– We have the technology to build the world’s first bionic kidney (Discover) — I suspect there’s more of a market for bionic livers in North America.

– Life always finds a way (Life, Unbounded blog) — To go extinct. In fact, it seems life is prone to extinction.

– What the paparazzi drive (Globe and Mail) — Satisfying the needs of both stakeout and speed. And camera platform. The existence of the paparazzi troubles me. The fact they’re driving nicer cars than me troubles me even more.

– Geek and Gamer Girls Song (Break music video) — See, ladies, all you need to do to attract guys is engage in some role-playing games. Also, I want to be Seth Green. Following in the esteemed tradition of Do You Wanna Date My Avatar (YouTube) and Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury (YouTube).