lifeadelica

inothernews: SAMPLE STALE More than 40 years after the first...

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:55:42 -0400

SAMPLE STALE More than 40 years after the first Apollo mission landed on the Moon, vials of lunar dust were found sitting inside a warehouse at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, untouched since being brought back to Earth by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and having been studied by scientists for possible pathogens. (via Space.com)

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:26:43 -0400

oldloves: Bill Murray on Gilda Radner: “Gilda got married and...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:39:17 -0400

oldloves:

Bill Murray on Gilda Radner:

“Gilda got married and went away. None of us saw her anymore. There was one good thing: Laraine had a party one night, a great party at her house. And I ended up being the disk jockey. She just had forty-fives, and not that many, so you really had to work the music end of it. There was a collection of like the funniest people in the world at this party. Somehow Sam Kinison sticks in my brain. The whole Monty Python group was there, most of us from the show, a lot of other funny people, and Gilda. Gilda showed up and she’d already had cancer and gone into remission and then had it again, I guess. Anyway she was slim. We hadn’t seen her in a long time. And she started doing, “I’ve got to go,” and she was just going to leave, and I was like, “Going to leave?” It felt like she was going to really leave forever.

So we started carrying her around, in a way that we could only do with her. We carried her up and down the stairs, around the house, repeatedly, for a long time, until I was exhausted. Then Danny did it for a while. Then I did it again. We just kept carrying her; we did it in teams. We kept carrying her around, but like upside down, every which way—over your shoulder and under your arm, carrying her like luggage. And that went on for more than an hour—maybe an hour and a half—just carrying her around and saying, “She’s leaving! This could be it! Now come on, this could be the last time we see her. Gilda’s leaving, and remember that she was very sick—hello?”

We worked all aspects of it, but it started with just, “She’s leaving, I don’t know if you’ve said good-bye to her.” And we said good-bye to the same people ten, twenty times, you know.

And because these people were really funny, every person we’d drag her up to would just do like five minutes on her, with Gilda upside down in this sort of tortured position, which she absolutely loved. She was laughing so hard we could have lost her right then and there.

It was just one of the best parties I’ve ever been to in my life. I’ll always remember it. It was the last time I saw her.”

- from Live from New York: an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

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Fri, 17 May 2013 11:48:58 -0400

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Thu, 16 May 2013 03:59:51 -0400

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Sun, 12 May 2013 20:44:33 -0400

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Sat, 11 May 2013 22:35:09 -0400

funnyordie: The 25 Most Unfortunate Names in Sports History You...

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:10:12 -0400

funnyordie:

The 25 Most Unfortunate Names in Sports History

You made it to the big leagues! Now everyone will see your name in lights! Kids will proudly wear your jersey to school! Hold on, your name is what?!

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Fri, 03 May 2013 14:59:32 -0400

nevver: Kiev

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:18:24 -0400

Waone and Seth Globepainter

Waone and Seth Globepainter

nevver:

Kiev

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Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:46:43 -0400

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Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:03:21 -0400

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Sun, 14 Apr 2013 10:30:38 -0400

futurejournalismproject: The Bitcoin Bubble’s Bursting Earlier...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:30:35 -0400

futurejournalismproject:

The Bitcoin Bubble’s Bursting

Earlier this month people began noticing that Bitcoin, the digital currency, was exploding in value. This isn’t the first time. As the Wall Street Journal explained back in 2011, Bitcoin at that time was the world’s fastest-gaining currency. They also provided a good explainer about how Bitcoin actually works:

If returns like those seem otherworldly, perhaps its because Bitcoin is a world unto itself. To recap, it’s is a purely online currency with no intrinsic value; its worth is based solely on the willingness of holders and merchants to accept it in trade. In that respect, it’s not so different from fiat currencies like the dollar or Euro, but whereas governments back such money, Bitcoins lack central control.

In another way, the appeal of the Bitcoin echoes the appeal of gold. Istead of a central bank, a computer algorithm dictates their supply. Today there are six million Bitcoins, a number that will grow at a steadily slowing rate until it approaches 21 million, but no more. As with gold, some see such limited supply as built-in protection against inflation that could result from runaway government budget deficits. Gold, of course, has been a store of value for thousands of years and has at least some industrial use, whereas Bitcoins are brand new and exist only on the Internet.

Back when the WSJ wrote this article, a bitcoin was worth $30. Yesterday, it hit $250.

Today, people are cashing in their chips and it’s tumbled (as of early this afternoon) back down to $190.

But let’s get to some good Bitcoin reading. Here are items that have crossed my radar over the last few days:

MIT Technology Review: Cryptocurrency — The bitcoin, a virtual medium of exchange, could be a real alternative to government-issued money—but only if it survives hoarding by speculators. James Surowiecki dips into the currency’s background and history. See also Joshua Davis’ New Yorker article, The Crypto-Currency, about the mystery behind Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto… if there really is, or was, a Satoshi Nakamoto.

Slate: Will Bitcoins Make Me Rich? — A dispatch from inside the digital currency bubble. Farhad Manjoo withdraws $1,027.51 to buy himself a couple of coins.

Felix Salmon, The Bitcoin Bubble and the Future of Currency. Written just last week, Salmon notes that although the value of all bitcoins surged past $1 billion for the first time, it is/was a classic bubble, but still had “fascinating implications for anybody who cares about payments, or currencies, or trust.”

Business Insider: There’s Someone Called ‘The Bitcoin Billionaire’ Who’s Randomly Giving Out Thousands Of Dollars On Reddit.

Quartz: Why Bitcoin “millionaires” could accidentally become tax felons. Hint: capital gains.

Image: Screenshot, Real Time Bitcoin Market Data, by Clark Moody.

Look How Quickly the U.S. Got Fat (1985-2010 Animated Map)

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:30:46 -0400

Look How Quickly the U.S. Got Fat (1985-2010 Animated Map)

"I scare myself when I look in the mirror. Let them kill us as we have nothing to lose. We died when..."

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:26:54 -0400

““I scare myself when I look in the mirror. Let them kill us as we have nothing to lose. We died when Obama indefinitely detained us. Respect us or kill us. It is your choice. The US must take off its mask and kill us.””

- Faiz al-Kandari, a Guantanamo hunger striker.

About 28 prisoners are currently on hunger strike at the prison, up from 21 prisoners last week. But the official count is much lower than what defense lawyers have reported, citing a majority of the 166 prisoners are on a hunger strike. Three have been hospitalized & 10 are being force-fed through tubes.

Read more about the Guantanamo hunger strike here.

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Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:17:59 -0400

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Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:08:03 -0400

"Reporters Say Exxon Is Impeding Spill Coverage in Arkansas"

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:16:14 -0400

"Reporters Say Exxon Is Impeding Spill Coverage in Arkansas":

motherjones:

Well that sounds familiar.

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Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:45:28 -0400