Google Inc (GOOG), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): 8 Fascinating Reads

Happy Friday! There are more good news articles, commentaries, and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month. Here are eight fascinating ones I read this week.

Bad decisions
NBC writes on a new study about consumer choices: 

Being poor affects your ability to think, a new study shows. Those coping with severe financial stress don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with all of life’s troubles, a team of researchers reported Thursday.

They’ve done a series of tests that show when people are flush with cash, they can stop worrying and make better decisions. But having financial woes takes up so much attention, they often make poor decisions.

How to live a better life
David Roberts of Grist writes about the concept of medium chill. Read the whole article, it’s great: 

About a year ago, I was visiting with an old friend of mine who lives in Portland now. He’s helping to run a tech start-up, working 80-hour weeks, half that on the road, with barely enough time at home to maintain a relationship with his dog, much less a romance. The goal, he said, is to grow like crazy, get bought out by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and retire at 40. “It’s the big chill, man!” (No, Boomers, not the movie.)

I shook my head and laughed. “I’ll take the medium chill!”

Playing field
New Zealand found a way to stop patent trolls, writes ZDNet: 

New Zealand has finally passed a new Patents Bill that will effectively outlaw software patents after five years of debate, delay, and intense lobbying from multinational software vendors.

Aptly named Commerce Minister Craig Foss welcomed the modernisation of the patents law, saying it marked a “significant step toward driving innovation in New Zealand.”

Waning interest
CNBC viewership is plunging, writesThe New York Post:

The business news cable network posted some of its worst ratings in 20 years this month — attracting an average of just 37,000 viewers aged 25 to 54 over a 24-hour period, according to just-released ratings data.

That’s down 35 percent from a year ago, according to Nielsen, and the Comcast-owned network’s worst performance in the key advertiser demo since April 1993.

CNBC hit a peak of 162,000 viewers an hour in the key demo in January 2002.

Particularly hard-hit programs were “Fast Money,” “Mad Money” and “The Kudlow Report” — each of which saw all-time lows in total viewers this month.

Dominance
The Wall Street Journalshares an amazing stat on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): 

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) sells more online than its next 12 biggest competitors combined, including Staples and Wal-Mart, according to the trade publication Internet Retailer. Despite its greater online scale, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to grow quickly and command a hefty share of new Internet sales. Its 30% increase in North American sales in the second quarter outstripped the overall e-commerce market and some competitors as well.