B-List

A couple of culture-related items that have been candidates for blog
posts, but didn't seem to fit anywhere.  So I've lumped them together
as part of a mid-year clearance...


1. "The science of Eurovision - a song for eurovisiopsephology"
  <http://network.nature.com/people/scottkeir/blog/2008/05/26/the-
     science-of-eurovision-a-song-for-eurovisiopsephology>

Refers to the following paper:
"Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results
Reveals Shifting Patterns of Collusive Voting Alliances."
  <http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/2/1.html>

"The voting patterns in the Eurovision Song Contest have attracted
 attention from various researchers, spawning a small cross-disciplinary
 field of what might be called 'eurovisiopsephology' incorporating
 insights from politics, sociology and computer science... In
 particular, the period since the mid-90s has seen the emergence of
 large geographical voting blocs from previously small voting
 partnerships, which initially appeared in the early 90s."


2. "World Telephone Cultures"
  <http://www.netjeff.com/humor/item.cgi?file=HelloOnTelephoneWorldwide>

Looks at the differing approaches to phone call procedure and etiquette
from around the world.