- HarperCollins Builds Auto-Destruct Into Library eBooks
- [Geekosystem - Max Eddy]
Let’s pretend we live in a world where digital objects are forced to reflect the utility of a real-world analogue. For instance, we could say that this blog is a lot like a newspaper, and require that it be sold at news stands, get ink on your fingers, would require the destruction of an entire forest, and only be durable to last a few days. “This world is ludicrous!” I hear you cry. But this is the world in which book publisher HarperCollins wants us to live.
- Zoo Miami Makes History with Giant Otter Pups
- [ZooBorns - Andrew Bleiman]
For only the second time in history, Giant River Otters have been successfully bred at a North American zoo.
Awww, look at their dopey little faces.
- Tell NYC: Don’t Arrest Me for Carrying Condoms
- [Change.org]
New York City is a tad schizophrenic when it comes to condoms. Sure, you can pick them up for free in bars and clubs all around the city (they even have an NYC logo), an attempt to combat high rates of HIV/AIDS by promoting safe sex. On the other hand, carrying condoms can get you arrested.
It seems too absurd to be believed, yet law enforcement in New York, as well as San Francisco and Washington, D.C., use possession of condoms as evidence for arrest and prosecution of suspected sex work…
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- iPad Lets Scientists Drag, Pinch and Swipe Real Molecules
- [Wired: Science - Lisa Grossman]
Using laser beams to control individual molecules is a precise, difficult operation rendered nearly impossible by the limitations of the computer mouse.
Unless you have the right iPad app.
New software called iTweezers lets scientists drag molecules around the screen as easily as shooting angry birds at pigs.
…Theoretically, scientists could be sitting on the couch with an iPad at home moving beads or molecules in the lab. But so far, the method hasn’t made it out of the University of Glasgow physics lab. The researchers hope to bring it into other labs to help biologists and chemists…
- Two New Polls: Majority Support Continued Funding of Planned Parenthood.
- [RHRealityCheck.org - Jodi Jacobson]
- The Associated Press: APNewsBreak: Wis. layoff notices to come Friday
- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday that he will issue layoff notices to 1,500 state workers on Friday if his proposal forcing them to pay more for benefits and taking away nearly all their collective bargaining rights isn't passed by then.
Walker also said in an interview with The Associated Press that he is negotiating with Democrats who stymied passage of the bill by leaving the state for changes to the proposal that would get them to return. Walker said he won't compromise on the collective bargaining issue or anything that saves the state money.
- BBC News – Will Cheryl Cole’s Newcastle accent work in America?
- "Americans have two British accents that they recognise – standard-issue received pronunciation and Cockney, as long as the latter isn't too pronounced. No-one over there can understand strong northern accents."
…This is because US audiences tend to identify the British accent with notions of social standing and refinement rather than geographical location, according to London-based film critic Ray Bennett …
…Marina Tyndall, a voice coach specialising in accent and dialect, rejects the notion that some vocal styles are intrinsically clearer to American listeners than others…
Cole, she says, could quite easily accommodate her accent to unfamiliar Stateside ears without abandoning it. Techniques she suggests include "chunking" words into shorter phrases with brief pauses, allowing listeners time to catch up – and using facial expressions and pitch changes to signpost key words.
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- Independent Afghan paper forced to fold after attack on Hamid Karzai
- Afghanistan's small band of independent-minded media outlets is a little smaller with the demise of Kabul Weekly, a lively newspaper that claims it has been put out of business after daring to criticise Hamid Karzai.
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- Oil nations ‘must share wealth’
- Citizens of oil producing nations must see more benefit from their country's national resources, billionaire investor George Soros has told the BBC.
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- Baby Anteater Is Insanely Adorable
- Have you ever seen a baby anteater? We didn't know they came in baby! The cuteness is painful. Painful, but in a good way.
- VIDEO: Egypt’s prime minister resigns
- Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has resigned, the country's ruling military council has announced in a statement.
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[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 (Thu, Mar 3rd, 5pm) 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.