Sounds like what ifttt has become, in a way.

Lets you crosslink multiple sites services together via their APIs to create 'internet macros'

Also of note on the modern side of things:

Philip Glass - Known for composing several soundtracks for movies/shows, can vary from more ambient, relaxed pieces to very aggressive and repetitive minimalism, "Like he wants to punch you in the face or something."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imbwn6iVryQ - Glassworks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il4VDf-ugPI - Metamorphosis 1 (series of 7 piano pieces based on repetitions of the same sets of notes rearranged differently)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmX_GgozpQs - Einstein on the Beach (more aggressive, mathematical)

Johan Johannsson - Icelandic neo-classical composer, incredibly haunting and stripped down pieces. Known for also incorporating unusual instruments/samples (such as his composition IBM 1401, which uses samples from a instructional video for the IBM 1401 printer.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7pjz3Vr_4 - Fordlandia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBw_wSoVQrY - IBM 1401 Processing Unit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Rfkhg7s_M - The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World (If you watch nothing else, watch this. It's a piece produced for a movie about the coal miners of Britain in the early 1900s. Powerful would be an understatement.)

Max Richter - An even more modern composer, he stands solidly in neo-classical along with Johannsson. Has a tendency to include some elements of electronica in his works, many of his pieces use very fuzzed out samples made to sound like old style radios. Wrote the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed film Waltz With Bashir, and also Shutter Island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3A0FwAhGWA - Infra 4 (best listened in order)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Kybxu7fiQ - Infra 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rluU6BGpKw - The Nature of Daylight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TRskpDol_4&feature=resul... - Iconography

Hopefully some people see this and my linkspam isn't to waste. These really are great composers

I'd be interested to see what that looks like today, given how dynamic the populations of major social sites such as Reddit have been lately.

"He’s even found that foreclosure hotspots tend to be focused in places with the least location efficiency – in spread-out subdivisions, where a family already stretched to the limit can go broke driving 10 miles each way for a gallon of milk."

Not surprising, but that really hits home. I live in a moderately affluent town, and I can see the change as I wander from sub-division to sub-division. I would caution though that the correlation the author is drawing has many other factors that affect it. I don't hear so much about the driving distance as it is just the social expectations of people - newer, nicer houses are built in these cul-de-sac littered areas, so people try and purchase them even though they can't afford it.

The idea that most restaurants serve essentially the same food is very interesting. I hadn't really stopped to think about it but reflecting on it, it's true. It's very hard to notice when you're not specifically paying attention to it, more so when you don't eat at a particular place regularly.