Category Archives: Current History

Saudi Arabians in sidewalk skiing craze – video | Sport | guardian.co.uk

The source of innovation throughout the ages: Kids with plenty of resources and too much free time.   Saudi Arabians in sidewalk skiing craze – video | Sport | guardian.co.uk.

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Photos that mimic human attention

This guy has an interesting photo technique: creating photos that are generally still photos, but have one person who is in motion. The funny thing is that it doesn’t seem that odd to look at. And the reason is that … Continue reading

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The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food – NYTimes.com

I don’t entirely blame the food companies–they are in fact giving people what they want, and it seems a stretch in a capitalistic society to ask them to promote food people don’t want. Nonetheless, they should use some of that … Continue reading

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Insight: Evidence grows for narcolepsy link to GSK swine flu shot | Fox News

Narcolepsy perhaps caused by a swine flu vaccine–this is one scary vaccine tale that has some scientific backing. Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being … Continue reading

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Notre Dame’s failure of communication

The strange, sad story of Manti Te’o gets sadder and stranger, but what seems clear to me right now is that Notre Dame did a very poor job of handling things. They seemed to think the situation was important enough … Continue reading

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Why the obsession with apocalypse? The future is bright.

On this New Year’s Day, it is fitting to ask: Why are so many people obsessed with apocalypses? Why do so many people not only believe ridiculous things like the Mayan Apocalypse, but seem to want to believe them? On … Continue reading

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Instagram Does an About-Face – NYTimes.com

Instagram reverts to previous rules. It took long enough. In a blog post on the company’s site, Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s co-founder, said that where advertising was concerned, the company would revert to its previous terms of service, which have been … Continue reading

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BBC News – Instagram “suicide note” seeks right to sell access to photos to advertisers

  Instagram signs its “Suicide Note.” They say you “own” your photos, but they can do whatever they want with it. What’s “ownership” without control? A notice updating the privacy policy on the Instagram site said: “We may share your … Continue reading

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Risk Management: The underestimated cost of Lyme disease

The New York Times Magazine has an article on Ina Drew, who was supposed to oversee trading operations at JP Morgan and was reportedly a great risk manager. But her unit lost $5 billion. To me, the underplayed role in … Continue reading

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Simpleminded science questions worthiness of family dinners

In the Sunday Review section of the NY Times, there is an opinion piece about a study that questions whether family dinners are overrated. All previous studies show that kids in families that eat dinner together regularly are more socially … Continue reading

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