A couple of interesting articles from the weekend

The NY Times Magazine carried not one but two interesting articles yesterday. The first, by Charles Duhigg, about how companies learn from and exploit your shopping habits, is here. It's pretty interesting, because whether or not you are curious about the numbers, everyone, here in the US at least, has to shop.

The second article is Nate Silver's "Why Obama Will Embrace the 99 Percent," part of a series he's working on for the Magazine in conjunction with his blog. It's a fascinating comparison of the comparative electability, as they look now, of Republican Presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. It's clearly written, with good graphics, including an interactive chart looking at chances of winning the popular vote in varying economic (and presidential popularity) circumstances, and well worth reading.