(cross-posted at robertnspicer.com)
In his book The Age of Reform historian Richard Hofstadter argues, “Third parties are like bees: once they have stung, they die.” In contemporary politics Ross Perot is the textbook example of Hofstadter’s characterization. Bob Woodward noted in his 1994…
Using Google’s latest design language, this ‘Google Time’ concept by Adrian Maciburko is a nice idea for a super-simple take on the kinds of features such a device might have, including voice and touch interfaces. (via Look at how great a Google smartwatch could be - The Next Web)
Nothing you do matters as much as you think. Your greatest achievements aren’t yours at all, they’re accidents and jokes. You’re a puppet, the universe does the work, and it gets the most done when you’re moving the least. Surrender, flow, relax. Don’t be hard on yourself, don’t put pressure on yourself, life is just a chain of experiments and results, and you’ll be perfect when you’re dead.
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| — | Dan Harmon (via dustinmartian) |
What does space smell like?
It’s strange to think that the near-vacuum of space could have a smell, and stranger still that humans—atmospheric creatures—can actually experience it. Astronauts have consistently reported the same strange odour after lengthy space walks, bringing it back in on their suits, helmets, gloves and tools. It’s bitter, smoky, metallic smell—like seared steak, hot metal and arc welding smoke all rolled into one. NASA have asked a chemist, Steve Pearce, to reproduce the smell to use during acclimatization training, mapping out the likely chemistry using natural materials to mimic the odor for accuracy. It’s believed that the smell is caused by high-energy vibrations in particles that mix with the air when brought inside. In the future, we might even recreate the smell of the moon, Mars, Mercury or any place in the universe, provided we have the right chemical information. In fact, we can even recreate the smell of the heart of the galaxy—astronomers searching for animo acids in Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud in the middle of the Milky Way, have reported that due to a substance called ethyl formate, it smells and tastes of raspberries and rum—much more pleasant than seared steak and metal.
Price is not the only issue for DirecTV. The satellite broadcaster is also unhappy with how much content Viacom puts online for free. Pay TV distributors such as DirecTV are pressuring programmers to avoid putting a lot of content online for free out of fear that consumers could eventually decide to cut the cord to their pay TV service.
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DirecTV drops more than a dozen Viacom networks over fee dispute Viacom wants about 2 cents per day per subscriber. Or, you know, less than you typically drop on the ground every month because carrying pennies is a hassle. |
