Below are simple links to other interesting stuff I've come across on the web in the last day or two; they may or may not concern literature or photography, or indeed the arts at all. You can click here to learn more about how I compile this list and what software I use, if you're interested.

America's popularity is rebounding faster than expected
Good news for flustered Americans: Turns out that Obama's recent Nobel Prize is just the latest sign of a US on the rebound in the eyes of our global neighbors, with polls around the world showing a better image of our country at this point than anyone had expected. Maybe there's something to be said for the idea of the mere rejection of Bushism being a powerful action simply unto itself.

What does Japan's new government actually mean for international relations?
For those who don't know, Japan recently elected a new party to hold national power for the first time in literally half a century; and since it's been so long since this party has held the national reins, no one's quite sure what exactly it means as far as future policy decisions. Here, an interesting and informed article on the subject from Foreign Policy magazine, arguing that we will likely see Japan both instigate a move towards a new "Asian Union" along the lines of the EU, while still fostering the special relationship it already has with the US.

Spain strives to be on the international mainstage again
A great article from the always fascinating GlobalPost.com, on the various ways that Spain right now is trying to prove itself worthy of being a significant player on the economic world stage.

Former HarperCollins CEO starts new eBook company focusing on older books
Interesting -- former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman has decided to launch a new publishing company (along with film producer Jeffrey Sharp) dedicated to getting older books by significant authors back into print, via electronic means. It'll be interesting to see if this corporate-entrenched team can actually strip away the usual corporate bureaucracy that sinks most eBook companies (including overpaid executives, too many executives, too long a lead time for titles, and too much money spent on marketing).

Facebook makes it easier to create funny little apps, block funny little apps
Uh-oh -- Facebook this week stripped away many of the requirements for creating new apps that rely on that person understanding coding and the Facebook API, meaning that we're about to see an explosion in new stupid little "What Buffy character are you most like?" quizzes and the like. But to counter this, they're also this week making it a lot easier to BLOCK these apps from appearing on your Wall as well, now letting you block not only individual apps with one click of a button but entire families of apps. (Most of the quizzes you see at Facebook are designed off one major program that generates the quizzes themselves, with users able to simply plug in their own questions and options to create a "new" one. Facebook now lets you block all quizzes at once that come from one of these major quiz apps, and not have to block every single quiz made from them one at a time.)

NYT's Michiko Kakutani rips Jonathan Lethem a new assh-le
Concerning Lethem's new novel, Chronic City: "Tedious," "overstuffed," "a lot of pompous hot air," "pretentious," "clumsy," "insipid," "a curious move backwards [in Lethem's career]," "coy," "juvenile," "annoying," "tiresome," "lame," "unsatisfying," "a strangely detached and lackadaisical production that sorely tries the reader's patience." Gee, Michiko, why don't you tell us how you really feel?