Wonders of the World

We were discussing recently the goal of being photographed jumping in front of all Seven Wonders of the World. Turns out there are at least seven lists of seven wonders of the world.

Harvard Book Store for sale

I just received an email noting that the Harvard Book Store is for sale. I know that online book sales has limited the ability for book stores to succeed, but I personally think that Harvard Book Store is the best in the world. I hope this sale doesn’t affect its standing.

Xiaotu Zhang of Grand Sichuan

New York Magazine has an interview with Xiaotu Zhang, founder of Grand Sichuan in New York City, who has some interesting things to say about Chinese cooking. And which NYC Chinatown is best? Flushing, of course.

Brijit closes

The long-form article summarization service Brijit decided to close its doors today. It would appear that their business model (paying people to summarize long-form news articles) was not viable. I may be in the minority, but I used the tool as a clipping service, subscribing to feeds of articles about the industry (Facebook, Social Networks, etc.). I’m really sad to see it go; it was one of the only tools I actually used on a regular basis. You can still get access to their archives.

Cheese addicted middle schoolers

Cheese is a mixture of heroin and over-the-counter cold medication. An NPR story this morning covered the epidemic usage of this drug among Hispanic elementary school children in Dallas. Cheese is extremely cheap — only $1 or $2 a dose, and “well within a middle-schooler’s lunch budget.” Dr. Carlos Tirado at the University of Texas had the following chilling quote:

“We didn’t know what to do with a 9-year-old in opiate withdrawal, or what the treatment ramifications of that are. Do you send a 9-year-old to an AA meeting?”

Unbelievable stuff.

The Wire, Google Maps edition

You may have come across a Google Street View shot of a fellow getting caught counting money. Some folks over at reddit have done some sleuthwork to uncover multiple angles, and multiple different deals done by the same fellow. With multiple license plate numbers.

Social networking around the world

French newspaper Le Monde has a nice infographic of social networks around the world, Réseaux sociaux : des audiences différentes selon les continents. Unlike search, which has been dominated by two players and a few local upstarts, this map looks like patchwork.

I love you but you love meat

It’s hard to live under the same roof with different dietary constraints. Some people adapt, some people supplement, some people grow apart. In my experience, adaptation (and embracing of cuisine) is a very good predictor of the longevity of a relationship. I have a valentine this year because my fiancée adapted.

Obama: not bubble-sort

Nerds will find humor in this Eric Schmidt/Barack Obama quote about sorting:

Pretending to be a technologist isn’t always advisable here, but Obama gave a convincing answer on his visit to the Googleplex in November when he was asked by chief executive Eric Schmidt about “the most efficient way to sort a million 32-bit integers,” a problem in computer coding. (Obama apparently had been given the question in advance and was told it stumped McCain on his visit to Google.)

Without missing a beat, Obama said, correctly, “I think the bubble sort would be the wrong way to go.” Then he smiled.

“C’mon, who told him that?” Schmidt asked.

(thanks alan)

The future of vinyl

The Financial Times has a nice piece on the reuse of a former EMI record plant by Portalspace Records. The photo slideshow with accompanying British voiceover is well worth the registration to FT.com. It’s great to hear some optimism from people in the industry still pressing records.