The Mathamagicians among you may recognize the humor as that of Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth. Originally a book by the same name, The Dot and The Line was made into a short animated film in 1965. It went on to win the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

I'd been looking for a copy of the film ever since I happened upon the book back in university. Then one day thanks to YouTube; there it was. Enjoy.

LINKS GOOD ON 2006-12-14

TED talk by Economist Steven Levitt

What's TED? "It's like going back to college for three or four days a year, and you get all the best professors, and they can only talk for fifteen minutes."
-- Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal

An economist at the University of Chicago and author of the bestselling book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt explores the question "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?" Thanks to a grad student "on the inside," Levitt elucidates the economic workings of an inner-city gang.

This is pretty much chapter 3 from his book, and the entire thing is worth checking out. You might also appreciate the Freakonomics Blog, a great collection of observations from Levitt and his co-author Stephen J. Dubner.

LINKS GOOD ON 2006-12-14