Theoretical physicist Dirk Brockmann used the dollar bill tracking site Where’s George to see how money moves, and create new state boundaries based on our economies. The darker the blue lines, the less likely it is a dollar bill will have crossed it.
(Source: fastcoexist.com)
—
- Jon Lee Anderson
Postscript: Hugo Chavez, 1954-2013: http://nyr.kr/13F3j3s
(via newyorker)
(Source: newyorker.com, via newyorker)
A Los Angeles ghost town
Surfridge was once a wealthy community, a coveted locale visited by Hollywood stars that just so happened to be within the domain of LAX. As the airport grew, the town shrank, and now it’s best known as the home of a rare species of butterfly.From Mike Anton’s report on the ghost town’s current status:
Weeds sprout through cracks along streets lined with majestic palms. Retaining walls and foundations of custom homes peek through the brush. Rusty utility lines that have wiggled their way above ground bake in the sun like scattered bones.
Two throttled-up passenger jets simultaneously take off from LAX and soar overhead, the thundering cacophony a reminder of why the community of Surfridge was forced to disappear.Read more on the town’s decline, and newfound efforts to reinvent the area, here.
Photos: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
"— After David Ogilvy’s now-infamous 10 tips on writing and Henry Miller’s 11 commandments of writing, here comes a list of rules for writers from George Orwell circa 1946. (via explore-blog)
“Some of the tricks being use to seduce us are subtle, and awareness is key: the gentle canned music; the in-store bakery aromas; the soft drink coolers by the checkout lanes; the placement of some of the most profitable but worst-for-you foods at eye level, with healthier staples like whole wheat flour or plain oats on the lowest shelf and the fresh fruits and vegetables way off on one side of the store.
But there is nothing subtle about the products themselves. They are knowingly designed - engineered is the better word - to maximize their allure. Their packaging is tailored to excite our kids. Their advertising uses every psychological trick to overcome any logical arguments we might have for passing the product by. Their taste is so powerful, we remember it from the last time we walked down the aisle and succumbed, snatching them up. And above all else, their formulas are calculated and perfected by scientists who know very well what they are doing. The most crucial point to know is that there is nothing accidental in the grocery store. All of this is done with a purpose.”
— Michael Moss, excerpted from Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
(l)oo(k)ing for a good idea, a good photo, a good story, a good meal, a good laugh.
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