June 13, 2016
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Amateur Auction Theorist
I am inclined to offer Mr. Vieweg from Berlin an epic poem, Hermann and Dorothea, which will have approximately 2000 hexameters. …Concerning the royalty we will proceed as follows: I will hand over to Mr. Counsel Böttiger a sealed note which contains my demand, and I wait for what Mr. Vieweg will suggest to offer for my work. If his offer is lower than my demand, then I take my note back, unopened, and the negotiation is broken. If, however, his offer is higher, then I will not ask for more than what is written in the note to be opened by Mr. Böttiger.
“Canada will not give into their fear mongering tactics...”
Robert Hall, Canadian hostage, killed by Abu Sayyaf militants in Philippines. [CBC.ca] A Canadian man being held hostage for months by a militant group in the Philippines has been killed, sources say. Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf [wiki] had warned it would kill Robert Hall today if it didn't receive a ransom of some $8 million. Sources close to the situation in Jolo, the island where the al-Qaeda-linked group is based, and within Philippine security confirmed Hall's death early Monday to CBC News. [more inside]
Broomgate sweeps curling!
A new broom is causing friction in competitive curling. The new broom, the icePad, is said to offer too much of a competitive advantage, with Olympic Gold Medalist Brad Gushue stating that it "allowed top players too much control to the point where it was actually difficult to miss some shots on line." This year's Sweeping Summit featured significant research on a number of different brush constructions and sweeping techniques, with sweeping changes expected for the broom regulations going forward. [more inside]
Evolution of Horror Movie Poster Designs: 1922 – 2009
You know what grinds my gears?
Maybe you're bothered by three-gear logos. You know, the ones where the three gears all intermesh and wouldn't actually be able to turn, thus ruining the metaphor? Well, it turns out you can create three intermeshed gears that all move together.
“Go to Astoria,” Zizo said. “That’s where the brokers are.”
"Working nine hours a day, food-cart vendors like Zamir take home as little as $400 to $500 for a six-day week. Many are new immigrants hoping to start new lives. During a brief lull in lunch service, Zamir, 22, told me he served as a translator for U.S. troops in Afghanistan before he was wounded and then awarded a visa to settle here. A generation ago, after a few years of hard work and saving, Zamir could have become his own boss. Sidewalk vending was long an option for immigrants eager to improve their lives.
That’s no longer the case. Today’s mobile food vending business is one of day laborers and shift workers who, despite hustling all week long, may not earn minimum wage." - Inside the underground economy propping up New York City's food carts By Jeff Koyen
prices.slippery.traps
Mongolia will become a global pioneer next month, when its national post office starts referring to locations by a series of three-word phrases instead of house numbers and street names. Britain-based startup What3Words has devised a system where the surface of the Earth is divided into 57 trillion three-square-meter locations, each assigned a unique word triplet. An estimated 4 billion people worldwide have no address for mailing purposes, making it difficult to open a bank account, get a delivery, or be reached in an emergency, and What3Words is intended to help solve this problem. [more inside]
The last primary
Tomorrow's primary in Washington, D.C. will mark the final presidential primary of 2016. Then, Secretary Clinton and Sen. Sanders are set to meet Tuesday night. [more inside]
“I’m 60 years old and I can’t remember anything like this.”
The Inscriptions of the Antikythera Mechanism
Researchers have decoded more writing on the 2,000-year-old Antikythera mechanism and found it may have an astrological purpose [more inside]
"Cats can hurt your feelings too" & other fantasy books
Replace all your Esses with Dollar-signs
Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn: at $26.2 Billion (!) this will be Microsoft's largest acquisition ever.
They'll be "issuing new debt" to fund it.
Shares appear to have jumped.
The shade begins
the greatest mermaid war movie never seen
SUNK - "How a Chinese billionaire’s dream of making an underwater fantasy blockbuster turned into a legendary movie fiasco." [more inside]
you should go over to IRL and post a mefi ice cream social meetup
‘Chemophobia’ is irrational, harmful – and hard to break
"We all feel a profound connection with the natural world. E O Wilson called this sensation biophilia: ‘the urge to affiliate with other forms of life’. That sense of connection brings great emotional satisfaction. It can decrease levels of anger, anxiety and pain. It has undoubtedly helped our species to survive, since we are fundamentally dependent on our surrounding environment and ecosystem. But lately biophilia has spawned an extreme variant: chemophobia, a reflexive rejection of modern synthetic chemicals."
It has become conventional wisdom among chemists that “chemophobia” is the root of many people’s trepidation about chemicals. Framing the issue as an irrational fear may not be the best way to improve chemicals’ public image, however.[more inside]
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