Tuesday Links: May 19th, 2009

Hey folks–after a few down weeks, I’m getting back to regular blogging.  These items brought to you by the free stream of the new Wilco album, available on the band’s site (highly recommended…though the stream seems to have gotten choppy since i first listened).

• Kudos to the Mint team for developing a strong personal finance blog to serve their users (and attract new users).  This post on “Investing 101: Common Stock Quote Metrics Defined” is perfect: straightforward and useful.

• I’m intrigued by KeyRingThing, a service that allows  you to combine frequent shopper/loyalty program cards (currently in my wallet: Harris Teeter VIC card, CVS ExtraCare card, and Barnes and Noble Member card) into a single credit card-sized page.  My current system is less than ideal: cutting cards down into just the essentials (barcodes) and stuffing the shards of cards in my wallet.  I might try KeyRingThing instead.  Do you carry loyalty cards?  Which do you use regularly?  Would combining them be worth $2.97?  (HT: LifeHacker)

• Sean at Tactical Philanthropy drew my attention to a new magazine for social enterprise.  It’s called Beyond Profit, and you can flip through the inaugural issue online here.

• This “a day in the life of brand recognition” is a fascinating exercise: documenting brands you encounter throughout a typical day.  (HT: Kottke)

• I’m a sucker for anything with a headline like “In Defense of Liberal Arts,” and this post by Lane Wallace (guest blogging in Andrew Sullivan’s absence) is no exception.  I love this thought in particular:

Yes, the U.S. needs technical expertise to keep pace, economically and technologically. But we also need innovators and entrepreneurs creating break-through concepts and businesses. And while knowledge in an area is important, I’d argue that the most important trait a pioneering entrepreneur needs is the confidence to buck convention; to believe he or she is right, despite what all the experts say.

• I like the instinct behind these ideas for transforming the 1,900+ auto dealerships set to close into greener spaces for business, community, or even nature.  As always, the dream vision for many of these spaces is likely prohibitively expensive; nevertheless, it’s neat to think about how these soon-to-be empty lots could be more than abandoned blights on the edge of a cities and towns.  I’d like to see other creative ideas for how to use the existing (albeit hastily-constructed) structures.

• Astronauts have performed minor miracles all week repairing the Hubble space telescope for the last time.  Unsurprisingly, some incredible images have emerged:

Image courtesy of NASA.  On a related note, it makes me really happy to imagine the astronauts floating around their living area watching the new Star Trek movie.