Links of the Week: Supersized Edition.

Handpicked for your reading pleasure (and education):

History & Economics

• An alternative view of life in the Americas before Columbus arrived. Written by Charles C. Mann and published in the The Atlantic: “1491.”
• A superficial but correct reminder that Mises was right and we’ve been digging ourselves deeper: “The Man Who Predicted the Depression,” by Mark Spitznagel.

Web Practice

• David Shea explains how to isolate images from their backgrounds using Photoshop.
• A simple URL parsing regex from John Gruber.
• The men of HTML5 Doctor have created a handy guide for remembering and using the new elements, the HTML5 Glossary.

The Intersection of Culture and Technology

• Two more prescient essays from Clay Shirky: “A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority” and “Local Bookstores, Social Hubs, and Mutualization.”
• Cameron Moll decries American Apparel’s distasteful advertising.
• Wunderkind Aza Raskin proposes the browser handle identity and login functionality rather than sites themselves. Count me in.