links for 2011-09-21

The emergency quantitative easing programme rolled out after the financial crisis boosted the economy by as much as 2%, the Bank of England said today, adding weight to calls for more money printing.

Silicon has a whole valley named after it. But what about the silent heroes of modern technology? Rare earth elements—a set of 17 related metals, mostly shunted off to a tacked-on lower line of the periodic table—are crucial to the way we live now; responsible for miniaturizing computers and headphones, powering hybrid cars and more. Increasingly important to technology, they're also playing a larger role in geopolitical maneuvering.

Hastings has clearly been right about the advent of video streaming, which is just getting started. The problem may be that he's too far ahead of his customers. Some people obviously stream video today, especially young viewers. But many still don't, and people don't like to be forced to change. They'd rather do it at their own pace. Apple is a phenomenal success because it has mastered the art of guiding people toward delightful new experiences while allowing them to feel the discoveries are their own. Netflix has proven to be clumsier. It got impatient while trying to guide its own customers toward video streaming. It's trying to force viewers to adopt the technology of the future, instead of deftly helping them migrate to it on their own. Hastings' vision, however, isn't just for Netflix in 2011 or 2012.