Several articles in this month’s The Atlantic concern themselves with data gathering, both computerized and humanized.

A More Perfect Poll tells me that online polls are more accurate than the telephone pollsters I hang up on. I find this somewhat hard to believe, but I’ve always been astounded that telephone polls work, so why not?

The Robot Will See You Now is anchored by the story of IBM’s Watson making medical diagnoses and the tricky business of distilling the internet into truth.

Anthropology Inc. is a pretty in depth piece about ReD, a marketing consultancy that focuses on the social side of things. Less spreadsheets and graphs. Buried somewhere in here is the idea that what you’re selling and what the customer is buying aren’t the same thing. The article touches on this a couple times, but it’s more about the methodology than the results.

Also, of interest is Elegy for the Minibar. Cutting through the romantic puffery, a pretty cool history of the hotel room minibar. Doesn’t say much about why they’re disappearing. Fraud and theft detection are mentioned, but is it really any wonder hotels have decided they’re more trouble than they’re worth? Little vodkas go disappearing, so they add crazy electronic sensors to detect the slightest disturbance and bill you, such that you’re likely to be charged just by opening the door and jostling the contents. Then you call the credit card and chargeback the room charges. There’s still an opportunity here, I think. Like mini in room vending machines. Harder to steal from and less likely to have legit billing disputes.

Bonus fun article about flaming cocktails: Getting Toasted.