links for 2009-07-31

"One of the UK's oldest Christian denominations – the Quakers – looks set to extend marriage services to same-sex couples at their yearly meeting later. The church has already held religious blessings for same-sex couples who have had a civil partnership ceremony."

"A urine test can diagnose the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia in men within an hour, enabling on-the-spot treatment."

"In traditional economics, scale typically refers to the efficiency gains that result from size. These observations were originally applied, and measured, in industrial markets. In high-technology markets, like software and the Internet, scale advantages can sometimes behave as if on steroids — faster and stronger. The mechanisms include the feedback loop Mr. Ballmer described and “network effects,” the concept that a technology or online marketplace becomes more valuable the more people use it." For search that is sorta true, but only if the system takes advantage of the network effect, in effect learning from how people use the system. I haven't seen Yahoo's or Microsoft's search do that.

"A senior American official has said there is no evidence to support keeping Sudan on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism."

"New-car shoppers appear to have already snapped up all the $1 billion that Congress appropriated for the “cash for clunkers” program, leading the Transportation Department to tell auto dealers Thursday night to stop offering the rebates. But a White House official said the program had not been suspended, creating confusion about its status. The program offers $3,500 to $4,500 for people who trade in an old car for a new one with higher fuel economy."

"But state regulatory filings offer a different picture. They show that A.I.G.’s individual insurance companies have been doing an unusual volume of business with each other for many years — investing in each other’s stocks; borrowing from each other’s investment portfolios; and guaranteeing each other’s insurance policies, even when they have lacked the means to make good. Insurance examiners working for the states have occasionally flagged these activities, to little effect. More ominously, many of A.I.G.’s insurance companies have reduced their own exposure by sending their risks to other companies, often under the same A.I.G. umbrella. Echoing state regulators’ statements, the company said the interdependency of its businesses posed no problem and strongly disputed that any units had obligations they could not pay." AIG broken from the inside.

"We’re going to descend, en masse, on our carriers. Send them a complaint, politely but firmly. Together, we’ll send them a LOT of complaints."