September 2011
1 post
The Waffle House Index →
“When a hurricane makes landfall, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relies on a couple of metrics to assess its destructive power.
First, there is the well-known Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. Then there is what he calls the “Waffle House Index.”
Green means the restaurant is serving a full menu, a signal that damage in an area is limited and the lights are...
August 2011
1 post
How To Sleep On A Plane →
“If you can sleep on a plane, after all, you must have a higher consciousness that doesn’t stew about cramped quarters or fellow passengers. […] Is it too grandiose to say that the airplane sleeper is in touch with his humanity in a profound way?”
July 2011
1 post
Purchases From Spam E-Mails →
“While doing some spam research a couple of years ago, we did a series of test purchases from spam e-mails. We bought pills, software, cigarettes, et cetera. We were a bit surprised that almost all of the orders went through and actually delivered goods. Sure, the Windows CD we got was a poor clone and the Rolex was obviously fake, but at least they sent us something. We were carefully...
June 2011
1 post
Gerrymandering
This is a map of Illinois’ new Congressional districts.
The red marker is my apartment.
Yeah, that’s pretty bad. And Bobby Schilling of the 17th is a lot less interesting than Aaron Schock… But at least it’s not as bad as the 17th was before:
May 2011
2 posts
Blood Turbine: The Most Metal Medical Technology →
February 2010
1 post
The Poor Pay Higher Prices For Things Than The... →
“This research undertakes a carefully designed and detailed empirical study to gain insights into (1) the extent of price differentials between wealthy and poor neighborhoods; (2) what induces such differentials, especially the nature and intensity of competitive environments, including mass merchandisers like Wal‐Mart; and (3) their relative impacts. It finds a price differential of about...
January 2010
1 post
Free Publicity: Who do we help? →
“The difference is this: Our current President is listening to what your requests are, and wants to hear them. Steve Jobs doesn’t give a fuck about you. I promise.”
December 2009
7 posts
Sibling Warfare →
“There’s a theory in the sibling psychological literature called “deidentification,” which finds that siblings aren’t so much choosing their own identity as choosing what not to be in response to who their siblings are. In The Bin Ladens, Steve Coll describes the necessarily complicated dynamics that result when one father has 54 children. Most of the Bin Laden...
Dances With Aliens →
“Avatar is a fantasy about ceasing to be white, giving up the old human meatsack to join the blue people, but never losing white privilege. Jake never really knows what it’s like to be a Na’vi because he always has the option to switch back into human mode. Interestingly, Wikus in District 9 learns a very different lesson. He’s becoming alien and he can’t go back. He...
Hug Life →
“Years ago, I did a story on Tupac, and I tracked down some poems he wrote when he was in high school. They were all about flowers and sunsets and warm kisses. Before there was thug life, apparently, there was hug life. Who knew?”
What English sounds like to foreigners. →
Delaware: Rogue State →
“Aside from its tradition of self-interestedness, Delaware has historically distinguished itself primarily by its retrograde approaches to race, political reform, and the administration of justice. In 1798 it effectively barred blacks—slave or free—from even entering a county seat on Election Day. As residents of the last Union state to ban slavery, most Delawareans sympathized...
November 2009
10 posts
October 2009
117 posts
Luzhkov Takes Snow Fight to the Sky →
“Moscow will blast clouds from the sky this winter to save money on snow removal, a city official said Wednesday, but the plan threatens to anger the surrounding region, which would have to cope with the extra powder.
[…]
He said that using the Air Force to prevent massive snowfall would be three times cheaper than using the regular system of trucks and snow-melting stations.
The...
Cops in Central Illinois... →
“A Clinton police officer was fired Tuesday for violating department rules by viewing hard core pornography on his squad car computer.
[…]
According to the commission’s ruling, Hurst broke department rules by viewing a total of 27 hours of what was described as hard core pornography on city-owned mobile data terminals. Through his actions, Hurst failed to conduct his official...
Is Barack Obama Muslin? →
What is best in life? →
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
Q: What is the most ghetto Walmart in America →
“Answer
There is not a Wal Mart that is designated the most dangerous in the U.S., but any of the ones in Detroit are rather crime ridden. ChaCha on!”
Man Pleads Guilty to DUI in La-Z-Boy →
“Anderson has one prior DUI conviction, though it is unclear whether it occurred in a chair of other vehicle, says the USA Today.”
When Writers Speak →
“Speaking of dinner, when the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt told a friend, a Parisian doctor, that he wanted to meet a certifiable lunatic, he was invited to the doctor’s home for supper. A few days later, Humboldt found himself placed at the dinner table between two men. One was polite, somewhat reserved, and didn’t go in for small talk. The other, dressed in ill-matched clothes,...
Leck Mich Im Arsch →
bestofwikipedia:
Leck mich im Arsch is a canon in B-flat major composed by Mozart, with lyrics in German. It was one of a set of at least six canons probably written in Vienna in 1782. Sung by six voices as a three-part round, it is thought to be a party piece for his friends. An idiomatic translation would be “Kiss my arse”. The scatological title and lyrics have been used as evidence to...
