- "Noisy" Package Belonging To Passenger Arrested Monday Was A Bagel
- A Florida math professor was removed from a US Airways airplane in Boston and arrested after passengers accused him of placing a package making weird noises in the overhead bin.
It turns out the "suspicious" package was a plastic bag containing a bagel and cream cheese, keys, a wallet, other food items and a hat…
- Angry Birds board game is a real thing and I want it!
- [Destructoid - Jim Sterling]
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- Visualization deconstructed: New York Times "Mapping America"
- [O'Reilly Radar - Sébastien Pierre]
…In this first post in an ongoing data visualization series, I'll take a closer look at the New York Times' Mapping America interactive map of the American census data….
Maps were catalyzers for the development of human societies. Cartography quickly evolved to display not only the shapes of the land but also location-specific data, such as temperature, population or tax income. By overlaying location-specific data on top of topographic maps, cartography provided a tool for everyone to take a step back, and discover their environment in a way they couldn't imagine before.
Data visualization is all about extending the concept of cartography to mapping any kind of data, whether numerical, spatial, textual or social.
- Why I Didn’t Delete Tiger Beatdown
- [Tiger Beatdown - Sady]
They only do it if you’re good. Seriously. They only do it if your work reaches people, and convinces people, and if they literally cannot frame an opposing argument that they think might have any chance of winning. They can’t beat you in an argument; that’s why they abuse you… after all of [the threats you receive], there is actually one threat scarier than ALL of that: The threat that you’re right, and you’re going to win.
- Today's Teh Stoopit
- [Echidne of the Snakes]
[On a recent Israeli study.]
The popularizer's conclusion?
"Bottom line, ladies? If you're looking for arousal, don't turn on the waterworks"
Hmm. Here's my alternative interpretation:
"It's good to know that when you first hear your father has died the men in the room won't try to hump you, right?"
…it seems like a very useful and common-sense conclusion that another person's tears will reduce your sexual arousal. Something tear-worthy is happening and perhaps it's an important survival cue to pay attention to.
This stoopit popularization is what us chicks and ladies get all the time, though. That's why I keep writing about it.
- Fundamentalist History: The Political Right and the Origins of America
- [The Pursuit of Harpyness - annajcook - reviews Jill Lepore’s The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle Over American History]
Part historical analysis, part personal narrative…
…by juxtaposing the stories of Revolutionary-era Americans…with stories about present-day [Tea Partiers], Lepore [suggests that their] movement is telling a story about the American Revolution that is …ahistorical quasi-religious magical thinking…
Those on the left…argue that history should be more inclusive, …less a celebration of those in power and more an interrogation of how they got to have such power, and at whose expense?…
…the Tea Partiers…resist this democratizing impulse… [and] challenge what they see as the mainstream… on behalf of the powerful rather than the disenfranchised.
- Interstellar Travel Not Possible Before 2200AD, Suggests Study – Technology Review
- A new estimate of the amount of energy needed to visit the stars suggests we won't have enough for at least another two centuries
- Introducing WPmob Lite: A New Powerful and Elegant Mobile Theme for WordPress Sites
- If you need a quick and easy-to-customize solution for mobile visitors, WPmob Lite is a solid option.
- Today’s Schoolchildren Guess What ’80s and ’90s Technology Does
- [Geekosystem - Robert Quigley]
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- Rare Tamarin Monkeys, or Muppet Babies?
- [ZooBorns - Andrew Bleiman]
Less than a year after giving birth to baby Orolito, a pair of golden lion tamarins at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo welcomed two more little tufts of orange hair on December 27, 2010. The babies, whose sexes have yet to be determined, are clinging to mom, Brie, and dad, Cumin, and seem to be doing well. The Zoo is fortunate to have had three Golden Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) born in the last 10 months, as they are among the most endangered mammals on earth.
- Rep. Hurt Will Repeal Health Reform, Incoherently Explains Why He Will Keep His Own Gov Health Care
- [Think Progress - Lee Fang]
Hurt tried to initially deny that he received any special health care and that his plan is available to the public.
…Members of Congress on average receive a $700 a month taxpayer subsidy for their private health insurance plan, which they can choose through a highly regulated exchange offered by the government.
[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
The Of interest (Fri, Jan 7th, 11am) by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.