Wednesday News: Eink device sales down; Researcher suggests former slave turned deputy marshal was the real Lone Ranger; and in some areas domestic violence is falling where male UE is rising
Publishing NewsAmazon / eink / multicultural / Multifunction-Device / Tablets10 Comments
Was Bass Reeves — a former slave turned deputy U.S. marshal — the real Lone Ranger? – Now this is a western I’m dying to read. Bass Reeves is a former slave who purportedly killed his owner and then escaped to the Indian Territories. He lived amongst the tribes and eventually became a deputy Marshall. His exploits sound larger than life but one researcher says that many of the accounts have verifiable sources.
After his conversation with Shoeboot, Burton became obsessed with finding out everything he could about the mysterious lawman. He knew Bass Reeves had killed 14 men during his career and captured 3,000 felons — once bringing in 17 men at once. Burton says he first set out to disprove some of the overly dramatic stories about Reeves but each time came across information that seemed to back them up.
And could shoot an outlaw in the neck from a quarter mile away. National Post
Amazon is working on displays that Apple and Samsung can’t match – Quartz suggests what others have speculated on for some time and that is Amazon’s purchase of Liquavista signals the production of color eink screen with the speed of a tablet but the power consumption of an eink device. A perfect marriage of visual technology and computing hardware. But these types of devices have been long promised and never delivered upon. What I did find interesting to share is that eink consumption declined by 28% in 2012 whereas tablet sales grew by 78%. Quartz
When Male Unemployment Rises, Domestic Violence Rates Fall – In some European countries, males have suffered greater percentage decline in employment than women. This has resulted in a lowering of domestic violence. At first this seems counterintuitive.
The results showed that the 3.7 percentage point increase in male unemployment during the time caused a decline in the incidence of domestic abuse by 12 percent. Meanwhile, the 3 percentage point increase in female unemployment increased domestic violence by 10 percent. The correlation held for all kinds of abuse, but it was stronger for physical violence.
Though it’s not proven, the theory that Jonathan Wadsworth, a University of London economist and study co-author, suggested to explain the phenomenon is that when male unemployment in an area is high, more men — having either lost their jobs or fearing job loss — are likely to try to stick with their partners in order to ensure some semblance of income stability. And to keep their partners from leaving them, those that have abusive tendencies are more likely to abstain from violent behavior. Meanwhile, when female unemployment is high, women might similarly be less likely to leave men who are predisposed to abuse, and so reports of domestic violence would rise.” Olga Khazan – The Atlantic
I’m currently planning to stick with my 4-year-old Kindle keyboard for as long as it works, but if a colour e-ink device came out, that might actually tempt me to upgrade.
The study on male unemployment and domestic violence is fascinating. See, those people who think social research is pointless and only tells you what everyone already knows? Not so.
Bad News For Outlaws is a great recent book for young readers about Bass Reeves from Carolrhoda Books. I’ve always loved the title. Alas, it’s only 40 pages long or so :)
I second @Carolyne ‘s recommendation of Bad News for Outlaws, read it to my 2-5th graders last school year, and ever single one was riveted by his story. Great conversations about Slavery, law enforcement and the presence and history of Africans Americans in the Old West. The book has great appendices with lots of material for students who want to learn more about him and the time period.
That is a handsome man. And THAT is a serious moustache.
I would have said, if asked, that domestic violence increases when male unemployment rises. Glad to see I’m wrong.
I hope we’re not going to lose our dedicated ereaders! I have no interest at all in reading ebooks on a tablet.
I love my dedicated ereader and would be sorely disappointed if they went away. This year I went from my basic $79 Kindle (which I passed on to my mom) and moved up to the Kindle Paperwhite which I love.
I’m not sure how he could’ve been in disguise with that moustache. Maybe that picture was taken during a slow period. The linked article cites another book about him – Black Gun, Silver Star.
A friend of mine, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, wrote a children’s nonfiction book called Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal. It’s won a number of awards and is definitely worth a read!
I’d heard that domestic violence can go down when UE rises because women leave. I’d read that men (without money/jobs/resources) in this economic climate were having a helluva time finding women.