Most popular last week

Aside from exploding lava lamps and fallen "Jeopardy!" champs, the lists of most read and most e-mailed articles for Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2004, don't have much in common:

Top picks (most e-mailed articles):

1. Ken Jennings: Let's hear it for the nice guy!
2. Seattle's Stranger hits a nerve and readers rally
3. Kent man killed by exploding lava lamp
4. Study on dogs yields hope in human paralysis treatment
5. Free credit reports start Dec. 1
6. Doris Nelson, 1924-2004: Death of cozy Alki eatery's owner may force closure
7. More thirtysomethings are putting off the marital knot
8. Shopping for a digital camera? Here's what to look for
9. Bush administration proposes 80% cutback in protected salmon habitat
10. Our Place in the World: U.S. mortgages its sovereignty

Top clicks (most read articles):

1. Kazaa offering free Internet-based calls
2. Prince allegedly gives mock Nazi salute
3. Study on dogs yields hope in human paralysis treatment
4. Diana was insecure about her intelligence
5. Ken Jennings ends 74-game 'Jeopardy!' win streak
6. First baseman foremost among Mariners' pursuits
7. School bus driver fired for stem cell talk
8. It's on to a third count in Washington's governor race
9. Kent man killed by exploding lava lamp
10. Ken Jennings: Let's hear it for the nice guy!

Musicians and the Net

A Pew Internet & American Life Project survey found that musicians are "embracing the Web as a tool to improve how they make, market, and sell their creative works."

"At the same time," Pew notes, "they believe that unauthorized online file sharing is wrong and that current copyright laws are appropriate, though there are some major divisions among them about what constitutes appropriate copying and sharing of digital files. Their overall judgment is that unauthorized online file-sharing does not pose a major threat to creative industries: Two-thirds of artists say peer-to-peer file sharing poses a minor threat or no threat at all to them."

The survey involved 2,755 musicians, songwriters and music publishers, including many independents. "We always hear the views of successful artists like the Britneys of the world but the less successful artists rarely get represented," report author Mary Madden told BBC News.

Smarter traffic lights

Here's an idea: traffic lights that intelligently adapt their timing to reflect actual traffic conditions.

According to Nature:

The catch (there had to be a catch) is that this control wouldn't be handed over to individual drivers. Instead they would exercise it collectively. If a large enough convoy of cars approached a red light, this would force the light to turn green, while the other lights at the junction turned red.

Carlos Gershenson at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, outlines his theory in a preprint published on Arxiv. He says his system of traffic lights would be able to adapt to changing traffic conditions, allowing it to find a better switching sequence than one imposed rigidly on all situations.

(Via Slashdot.)