Leave those kids alone
From the Boston Globe: Leave those kids alone. What could be more natural than a mother down on the rec-room floor, playing with her 3-year-old amid puzzles, finger-puppets, and Thomas the Tank Engine...
View ArticleSimpsons win over Kenyan carvers
From the Beeb: Simpsons win over Kenyan carvers. A group of carvers in western Kenya are looking forward to the first Simpsons movie hitting big screens around the world, even though they are unlikely...
View ArticleUncertain future looms for ancient Thai silk
From csmonitor.com: Uncertain future looms for ancient Thai silk. Deep in the steamy thicket of low-rise wooden houses of this city’s Ban Khrua Muslim quarter, the din of teak hand looms thudding and...
View ArticlePacific tribesmen come to study Britain
From the Independent: Strange island: Pacific tribesmen come to study Britain. In March this year, a British TV company invited a small tribe called the Kastam, from the tiny South Pacific island of...
View ArticleIsolated tribes
From the Guardian: ‘We said to them, ‘Come closer’ but they said to us, ‘Go further back”. "First just one came out, then two, then three, four, five, six, seven, but there were more than that in...
View ArticleUndercover restorers fix Paris landmark’s clock
From the Guardian: Undercover restorers fix Paris landmark’s clock. It is one of Paris’s most celebrated monuments, a neoclassical masterpiece that has cast its shadow across the city for more than two...
View ArticleMichael Schumacher drives taxi in airport dash
From the Telegraph: Michael Schumacher drives taxi in airport dash. It seems that you can take Michael Schumacher out of racing, but you can’t take racing out of Michael Schumacher. The seven-time...
View ArticlePenniless India trek is underway
From the BBC: Penniless India trek is under way. A man has started a two-and-a-half year walk from Bristol to India without any money – to show his faith in humanity. Equipped with only a few T-shirts,...
View ArticleThe kotatsu
From The kotatsu: a different way of thinking about tables. The kotatsu looks rather like a coffee table and is comprised of four parts: 1) the wooden structure, 2) a heating element that hangs in the...
View ArticleThe best way to board a plane
From physorg: The Best Way to Board a Plane. "I remember waiting in line to scan my ticket inside the terminal, I believe it was at the Seattle airport," Steffen told PhysOrg.com. "I remember being...
View ArticleOn hiring interns
How would you select a few interns if you had lots and lots of applicants? Seth Godin blogged about his approach. Unable to just pick a PDF or two, I invited the applicants to join a Facebook group I...
View ArticleWhy some kids aren’t heading to school today
Here’s a bit from Tony Woodlief’s article, Why Some Kids Aren’t Heading to School Today. We decided when we got married that our home would be better than what we knew as children. The foundation is...
View ArticleAtoms and Aldus
From typogrphy.com: Atoms & Aldus. Last week I mentioned the atomic pen, which scientists used to construct some awfully tiny letters one atom at a time. These are small letters indeed: measuring...
View Article8,000 Beduin stake their claim as the lost tribe of Barack Obama
From The Times Online: 8,000 Beduin stake their claim as the lost tribe of Barack Obama. He has a host of relatives in exotic locations from Hawaii to Kenya, and during his run for the American...
View ArticleJapan’s master of an ancient Muslim art
From The Japan Times: Japan’s master of an ancient Muslim art. For Kouichi Honda, writing a beautiful line is what life is about. Getting every detail right — the subtle curves, the varying thicknesses...
View ArticleFloating shelter opened for Prague’s homeless population
From Radio Praha: Floating shelter opened for Prague’s homeless population. Prague city hall came up with the innovative idea of a floating shelter for the homeless, when it found it difficult get the...
View ArticleHomeless by choice, student learns self-reliance
From the LA Times: Homeless by choice, O.C. student learns self-reliance. After a long day of film classes, working at the Apple Store, rock climbing at the gym and finishing homework in the student...
View ArticleThe masked man
This is utterly fascinating. From The Province: The Masked Man. For several centuries, the Chewa men of Malawi have reaffirmed their brotherhood through a secret masked society. But Doug Curran is...
View ArticleAn accidental invasion
From The Guardian: Liechtenstein: no retaliation for Swiss ‘invasion’. The Swiss army is not renowned for its aggressive expeditionary adventures — but it does appear to have accidentally invaded...
View ArticleStudents assessed with Wikipedia
From the BBC: Students assessed with Wikipedia. Students at a UK university are working on the Wikipedia online encyclopedia as part of their degree course. Postgraduates at the University of East...
View ArticleHow you can take a break and help others
From csmonitor.com: How you can take a break and help others. Travelers who want to infuse their trips with service to others may be outnumbered by sun-seekers lounging on the beach, but the trend of...
View ArticleSign language cell phone service created
From physorg.com: Sign language cell phone service created. The world’s first sign language dictionary available from a mobile phone has been launched by the University of Bristol’s Centre for Deaf...
View ArticleWine labels with Braille text
From Radio Praha: Czech wine company produces labels with Braille text. Studying wine labels can be a daunting business if you are not a connoisseur and if you spend hours making up your mind what to...
View ArticleLe Mont Solaire
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society: Le Mont Solaire. This past September the French army installed 600 one meter square reflective panels in the shape of Roman numerals on the sands...
View ArticleSpain’s collection agents practice public humiliation
From csmonitor.com: Spain’s collection agents practice public humiliation. Jose Romero remembers the farmer from Alicante. The man owed money – a lot of it – and Mr. Romero sent one of his agents to...
View ArticleSocial lending gains net interest
From the Beeb: Social lending gains net interest. Pouring your cash into the far reaches of the world wide web may sound like a crazy idea. After all, the internet has seen its fair share of nasties...
View ArticleFirstborn children are the cleverest?
From New Scientist: Firstborn children are the cleverest. Firstborn children score significantly higher in IQ tests than their younger siblings, according to a large study of 250,000 military draftees...
View ArticleTree drawings
What does it look like when a tree does some drawing? Like this. Drawings produced by pens attached to the tips of tree branches, as the branches move in the wind the tree draws on to a panel or...
View ArticleThe sheer hell of bossy Britain
From the Guardian: The sheer hell of bossy Britain. Last month, the public address system at Earl’s Court tube station in London was served with a noise abatement order. Passengers, it seems, had had...
View ArticleHow to talk someone out of a damaging cult
Here’s a bit from an article published at The Conversation: The most important piece of advice is to not criticise, condemn or judge, even if you have serious concerns. Instead, focus on why this...
View ArticleA privately-funded experiment in a universal basic income
From reason.com: A Privately Funded Experiment in a Universal Basic Income. A U.S.-based group is preparing a pilot program in Kenya that will test the effects of a universal basic income—the...
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