Bwel1985

From the Post:

It takes just one hour, six minutes and 48 seconds before the average woman’s feet begin to feel the agony of being strapped into high heels, a study has found.

And some can’t even make it that long — with 20 percent of women saying the pain kicks in after just 10 minutes. But nearly half of all women admit they are willing to suffer for fashion and cram their tootsies into the too-tall shoes, the survey by Britain’s College of Podiatry found.

The school surveyed 2,000 men and women. Only 12 percent of men said they would purposely wear uncomfortable shoes.

My friend bought new shoes not too long ago and complained that they were "uncomfortable" on day one of wearing them, and I said something sensitive and understanding like, "yeah, no shit." I rarely wear heels, and I still live with the assumption that shoes will hurt me for a little while, until I break them in, at which point they will hurt me a little bit less, hopefully. And after that hour, six minutes, and 48 seconds, things just go numb, right? Right? Isn't that normal???

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Officials with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network voted in an emergency meeting to create a new avenue for children seeking lung transplants.

"Obviously Google had to have a good reason to shut Reader down. The company has reams of data on how we use its products, and would not shutter a product that was providing sufficient food to its info-hungry maw. While some users remained devoted, the usage numbers just didn’t add up. The announcement shouldn’t have been too unexpected. Google hadn’t iterated on the service for years. It even went down for a few days in February. But there’s another reason Google decided to put its RSS reader to death. According to Mountain View, most of us simply consume news differently now than when Reader was launched."

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“Never forget that honor, like character, is what you do when nobody is looking.”

For all its life-wisdom and creative inspiration, commencement season could use an adjustment of the reality radar and address some of our time’s most uncomfortable yet pressing issues in those speeches designed to send graduating seniors off into the real world they are about to reshape. Though integrity is a common theme in such messages — curiously, especially in decades-old ones like those by Richard Feynman and Bill Watterson — integrity’s most gruesome failures are rarely discussed. But that’s precisely what President Obama, who is no stranger to inspirational graduation speeches, did in his 2013 U.S. Naval Academy commencement address when he brought into the limelight the devastating epidemic of rape in the military — a military in which 26,000 sexual assaults were reported last year, a female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire, and those who have the power to change things fail to do so; a military whose willingness to curtail such dehumanizing violence has not evolved but dramatically devolved since the Civil War.

Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime — they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong. That’s why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they have no place in the greatest military on earth. So, class of 2013, I say all this because you are about to assume the burden of leadership. … And those of us in leadership, myself included, have to constantly strive to remain worthy of the public trust. As you carry forth … we need your honor — that inner compass that guides you not when the path is easy and obvious, but when it’s hard and uncertain; that tells you the difference between that which is right and that which is wrong. Perhaps it’ll be the moment when you think nobody is watching — but never forget that honor, like character, is what you do when nobody is looking.

(Nearly half a century ago, Joan Didion wrote, “Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.”)

A mere day later, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel took the podium at West Point and echoed President Obama in addressing the 215th graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy:

You will need to not just deal with these debilitating, insidious, and destructive forces but, rather, you must be the generation of leaders that stop it. This will require a commitment to building a culture of respect and dignity for every member of the military and society. Sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal of sacred oaths and sacred trust. This scourge must be stamped out. We’re all accountable and responsible for ensuring that this happens. … These crimes have no place — NO PLACE — in the greatest military on earth.

But more than a decade before Obama and Hagel, long before the full devastating scale of the problem was known, Terri Spahr Nelson — a decorated United States Army veteran and psychotherapist specializing in sexual trauma recovery — writes in For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military, a series of stirring interviews with assault survivors:

We can and should learn from the insight of those who experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment by military personnel. Maybe then we will fully learn what needs to be done to improve the military’s response to the victims, to the offenders, and to this issue. We might also learn how to put a stop to this cycle of abuse. As one veteran and rape victim asked, “Hasn’t this gone on long enough?”

Indeed, it has gone on long enough. This enduring problem has cost lives and careers. We cannot afford to lose another life at the hands of continued indifference or power failure. These stories need to be told not to degrade the military, but as a step toward addressing the problem and restoring honor and integrity within the Armed Forces. After all, there is no honor without truth.

She cites a nineteen-year-old female soldier raped while on active duty:

I was prepared to be a prisoner of war or worse for my country. I wasn’t prepared to have my superiors and comrades sexually abuse me. I must admit that a chaplain I told my story to in 1996 said something I had not realized. He said, “Your comrades were your enemy and you were in a combat zone.”

Nelson adds:

Sexual assault and harassment are deeply rooted in today’s armed forces. The problem is further complicated by a system that has been unable or unwilling to effectively address this issue over the years. Far too many military leaders have turned their heads to the ongoing abuses and far too many victims have been further harmed by a culture that perpetuates and minimizes the abuse. These types of response represent a breakdown of values, a disconnection from the military’s true mission, and a loss of honor for those involved.

So, why now? How come this deeply rooted malady is only reaching critical cultural awareness and eliciting a call of action, from the President no less, now? It is, no doubt, in large part thanks to the remarkable film The Invisible War (watch online), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and which exposed, with heartbreaking humanity, the military’s most disgraceful cover-up as a problem that isn’t just a military problem:

The film has sprouted the sister nonprofit Not Invisible, which empowers all of us to take action and demand, at last, change. You can join me in donating to the Not Invisible Coalition here.

Thanks, Sue

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Shortly before his retirement at 60, Tatsuo Horiuchi picked up a copy of Microsoft Excel and started making art with it. His art does not look anything like you'd expect Excel art to look:

Tags: art   Excel   Tatsuo Horiuchi

I want people to read my book that just launched. Everything in here helped me survive when I was ready to kill myself. Helped me thrive. I believe in the message more than I believe in making any financial benefit from this book. My desire is that the message helps people. Below is the first page of the book, detailing the offer I’m making.

As far as I know I’m the first person to ever make this sort of offer to readers. [Note: Claudia begged me not to do this].

(“Choose Yourself! – be happy, make millions, live the dream” by James Altucher. Foreword by Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter)

Here is the link to the book.

From the first page of the book:

HERE’S THE DEAL

I don’t need to make a dime off of this book. The ideas in the book have already made me wealthy in many ways. What I really care about is that as many people as possible read this book and understand this message, even if it puts my own personal investment at risk.

Here’s how I’m going to try and create a situation where as many people as possible get this message:

I know nobody values books—or anything—that are given away for free. So, I’m not going to do that. This isn’t one of those ineffectual self-help books designed to look good on your shelf. You either read the book and use these ideas, or you shouldn’t bother. That’s why you have to front the purchase price. But, if you can prove to me that you have actually read the book, I will give you your money back. It’s an investment that’s all upside on your part.

How do you prove to me you’ve read the book? Do the following:

Within the first three months of the official publication date, do these two things:

1) Send me a copy of the receipt to IReadChooseYourself@gmail.com. There is a kindle version, a paperback, and an audio version and they all cost different amounts. I need to know what you paid.

2) Then chose one of the following to send together with the receipt:

- You can write an honest review anywhere you want.

- You can take a photograph of yourself reading the book.

- You can write me a testimonial or an email asking me questions that show you’ve read the book.

If you can think of other ways, that’s fine too. The point is: prove to me you read the book, and get your money back. Or, you can tell me to give it to a charity. This is the charity I will give it to: WomenForWomen International.

I’m a man of my word. If every single person who buys the book takes advantage of this opportunity, then I will lose money on it (since Amazon takes their cut). But I’ll be just as happy because it means the message will spread and you, the people who read the book, will be helped.

I know I was helped. This book has worked for me.

I chose myself.

You should like Thought Catalog on Facebook here.

Show creator Mitch Hurwitz advises against binge-watching the new season, but TV critic David Bianculli begs to differ. He says hidden identities and perplexing mysteries unfold slowly, and watching everything in one sitting helps make those connections even clearer.

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But some may be skipping needed care altogether, expert says

It’s starting. It’s starting. It’s starting!!!

Get pumped. Get in the mood. Get out your pretty sandals and toe nail polish. It’s TIME!

…I’m talking about summer… and not the dreaded jean short, bikini life-styling, good beach hair part of summer that is totally stressful. I’m talking about peaches. With fresh peaches and ripe tomatoes, summer is set! Also, jean shorts are dumb… they’re either getting shorter or I’m getting older. They’re probably getting shorter… just sayin’.

This salad is a summer celebration. Yea… I said it. Also.. there’s bread and butter in this salad because a) I can’t help myself, and b) it’s delicious!

Let’s talk!

Let’s talk about my first sighting of heirloom tomatoes and yellow peaches in the grocery. It’s a bit early for tomatoes but I just had to treat myself. The peaches have an early summer tartness and I can’t wait to get into July to enjoy their candy sweetness.

Also… can we talk about how bread belongs in every salad ever?

In this salad concoction, big bite-sized hunks of bread are sautéed with butter and olive oil Once they’re toasty good, we toss in a load of salted and shelled pistachios, a good sprinkling of sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.

Don’t eat this straight from the pan like I did. Bread and nuts aren’t considered a real salad without lettuce.

Peaches are sliced. Tomatoes are diced. Bread is readied. Mozzarella crashes the party.

The usual summer suspects.

Salads are meant to be shared.

Sidenote: I wish guys knew these seven very special words… “Do you want to split a salad?”.

That phrase could really be a game-changer in the dating world. (I’m not wrong.)

This salad is entirely satisfying. It’s leafy green and dressed very simply with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It’s topped generously with warm, toasty, and crunchy bread and pistachios. Fresh peaches and tomatoes shine bright… totally ready to show off their summer-selves. When it comes to salads, I under-dress the leaves and heavily season the top with salt and pepper.

It’s summer. Let’s get all up in it!

Well, it looks like I’ve switched telephone plans yet again. And more importantly, a good chunk of the country will probably be doing so in the near future as well… for the days of the $100 phone bill are numbered.

Throughout most of the 2000s, Mrs. MM and I relied on various AT&T plans for our mobile phone needs. In 2010 I joined the smartphone camp with an expensive iPhone 4 and a data plan. Then in October 2012 she untethered us from the corporate behemoth and we carried both of our smartphones into the $10.00 per month utopia of an Airvoice Wireless plan.

Since then, we’ve been happily enjoying this inexpensive mobile phone service, which has met our limited needs so far. But secretly, I have been itching to test out a competing full-featured mobile phone service called Republic Wireless, because it offers unlimited talk, text, data, and some other benefits detailed below for the spectacular price of $19 per month.

Although I have done fine with a combination of Airvoice and FreedomPop to this point, running a blog of this size does tend to increase your mobile voice and data use. People email and call me more than before, and comments need approving every day. With a summer and fall of busy cross-country travel coming up, and Mrs. MM limping along with an old broken flip phone due to the accidental destruction of her almost-as-old iPhone 3, I figured we could do a bit of optimization. A new phone with the unlimited $19 service for me, while my iPhone 4 would go to the lady and remain on AirVoice at $10 per month. Plus, it would be a great chance to evaluate the Republic service in detail, so I could write a review for you.

The only drawback was that I’d have to buy myself one of the required $259 Motorola Defy smartphones to do it.
Update: As of June 11th, the price of this phone has dropped to $199 ($209 including shipping), with an additional $50 discount if you’re adding a second line. 

I was almost at the point of purchase anyway, when fate intervened nicely: Someone from Republic Wireless contacted me through this blog, and asked if they could send me one of those fancy phones for free, in exchange for checking out their service*. I approved the shipment, transferred over my existing phone number, and started doing a bit of testing in the Money Mustache laboratory.

Everything was working relatively well, although I did have a few technical questions I wanted to ask. I sent them to my contact within the company, and in a short while my new telephone rang. It was David Morken, none other than the CEO of Republic Wireless (and a larger related company called Bandwidth.com) on the line. He answered my questions for 30 minutes, and also put me in contact with some of their senior engineers, who answered the rest of my queries about their signal processing and future technology plans.

At this point, I realized we’re dealing with a different kind of mobile phone company here. It’s run by real, intelligent people who are excited by the chance to change this country’s entire communications landscape.

I’ve been using Republic Wireless exclusively for over a month now. It really works, and it really is a $19-per-month no-contract unlimited smartphone plan. Nobody is counting your minutes or your megabytes or sending you frightening monthly statements as thick as phone books – you just pay your nineteen bucks and use the thing as you see fit. It works all over the United States, because the company uses the Sprint network for all your calls and data when you are out and about with the phone.

The clever twist with this service is that when you are at home (or in many cases at work), with the phone connected to a wi-fi network, all calls are routed over the Internet instead. This makes those calls virtually free for Republic to provide, and it makes them better for you as well, because you are not subject to the common problem of poor phone reception inside a house or office building. This is ideal for me, since I have weak cellular reception but strong wi-fi in my basement office at home.

Even more appealing to me is the fact that my phone will now work seamlessly while visiting relatives or staying in hotels in other countries. As long as you can find a wi-fi network, you can make and receive calls for free. None of your US friends even know what country you’re in, and there will be no-nonsense regarding “long distance” or “roaming” charges. If you need to make true international calls while in wi-fi, you can do it by installing the Google Voice application, which handles them for only a few cents per minute.

Update: In June, I took this phone across the US on a road trip and found the expected voice and data access everywhere I went. But when I crossed the border into Canada, I was surprised to find that voice and texting (but not data) continued to work – for free due to an agreement Republic has made with Bell Canada. For me, this is a major bonus, as I have traditionally spent my summers in Canada with no mobile phone service because of AT&T’s ridiculous roaming rates.

True cellular calls are not possible in countries beyond US and Canada with the Republic phone, but given the cost of international roaming, you’re better just buying a SIM card locally and popping it into a compatible old phone that you buy separately.

So if the service works well, and the company seems honest and ethical, what are the drawbacks?

First of all, the word unlimited comes with an unspoken asterisk. You see, Republic is offering this ridiculously low price on the basis that many people will end up offloading a lot of their use onto Wi-fi. When you use the Sprint voice and data network, they have to pay for your usage. If you stream Pandora Radio for 8 hours every day over the Sprint network, or watch YouTube videos endlessly on the commuter train, the company will lose money on you. So there’s a sense of responsibility where you try to be a good community member and not waste the family’s resources. There’s even a little report card where you can check how much you’re using compared to the average user:

The company indicates that if you go consistently overboard on data use, you could be booted from the family, although this is very rare. However, checking your email and web surfing at will is perfectly within reason. (Music and video can burn through data over 100 times faster than just using the web to read things).

It’s almost as if David Morken is your Dad, and you don’t want to let him down. This is quite a different feeling from, say, having an AT&T account where you’d welcome any opportunity to ding the company after years of them screwing you.

 But what about the Phone?

For many, the face of their phone plan is the phone itself. And with Republic, that face currently is a smartphone you’ve never heard of called the Motorola Defy XT.

The Defy is your run-of-the-mill touchscreen iPhone copycat. It’s black, it has all the usual amenities like WiFi, GPS, accelerometer, front and rear cameras, the ability to record, play, and edit music and videos, and of course access to the sum of humanity’s knowledge in your pocket at all times.

When compared directly to the recent iPhones, it has the disadvantages of a dowdier shape, slower response to touches, and lower quality microphone and cameras, and screen. It also can burn through battery power more quickly (I need to charge mine every day), and mine tends to crash every week or two, requiring a reboot (vs. once every few months with the iPhone).

At 480×854 pixels, the Defy falls short of the ultrafine 640×960 resolution on the iPhone 4, although it still handily whomps the iPhone 3 and other previous-generation phones. I took these three side-by-side pictures for comparison:

And the remaining disadvantages are partially offset by the fact that it has an easy-to-access microSD card slot (no more of Apple’s “$100 for 8GB more memory” nonsense), a user-swappable battery, and a water, dust, and shock-resistant design. I have verified that last claim by carrying the Defy in the sawdusty pocket of my construction pants for the past month, getting it rained upon thoroughly, and dropping it accidentally without a case on the bamboo, slate, and concrete floors throughout my residence. It still looks and works like new.

Another big positive in my book is that it runs Google’s Android operating system, which is far more flexible than Apple’s IOS to most techies, which makes it more fun to use.

For example, when you want to add a few hundred MP3s to your phone for mobile partygoing, you plug it into your computer and it appears as an external hard drive, just as it should. Drag in the files and folders, and you’re done. None of these ridiculous concepts like “itunes”, “libraries”, or “syncing”, although the Google Play system can make things as automatic as you like, with all your files stored in the cloud if you choose to put them there.

Another benefit of Android is the thorough integration with Google stuff in general. Google Maps Navigation is a pleasure to use: you tap one button and speak “Arches National Park”, and it generates fully interactive directions that update as you drive. Similarly, you can speak all your search queries, text messages, and even dictate entire emails, and it will very accurately transcribe them onto the phone, potentially saving a lot of finger-pecking. My iPhone 4 didn’t have any of that.

We could go on and on about the subtle differences between the various smartphones, but the bottom line is that they are all plenty amazing. Sufficient to make any human pass out due to Awesomeness Overload if you took one back in a time machine to just the year 2006. To fret over the remaining differences is to fall prey to the tragedy of Tiny Details Exaggeration Syndrome, which is a fate I wish upon no Mustachians.

And if you’re not satisfied with the 80% perfect Defy XT, Republic Wireless even has a solution for that: within just a few months, they are rolling out three new phones of varying fanciness – the top of which is apparently one of the iPhone-shaming superphones that have been coming out these days.

They have agreed to send me one of those beauties when they become available, and at that point I’ll give it a thorough evaluation, since it will be targeted to people who actually care about the finer points of cutting edge hardware. As much as I try to keep fancy gadgets from dominating my own life, I still find it awfully fun to dig into them in detail when I have a good excuse to do so.

So in summary, I can enthusiastically recommend Republic Wireless to anyone who needs more voice and data coverage than a pay-as-you-go plan offers. Just as Pandora set a $3.00 per month ceiling on my music expenditure, Republic has now boldly capped the US cellular market at $19 per month. If you’re paying more than this, you should switch. Like, now.

Even if you have a remaining contract, call your company, find out what the termination fee would be, and do the math. You’ll probably find it is hugely profitable to just pay it and immediately switch to $19 per month, rather than going on at your current rate. The savings for many people will be over $1000 over the life of a contract.

You can learn more and even sign up at republicwireless.com

Bonus for You: Here is a referral link that will allow you to get your first month of service ($19.00) free: http://referrals.republicwireless.com/a/clk/5HjG8N

Once you are signed up, you can generate referrals for your own friends, triggering additional free months of service on both sides. With a persuasive demeanor and a sufficient supply of friends, you could amass up to two years of free phone service like this (they cap the reward at 25 months).

Bonus from a Reader: One of my biggest peeves with the stock configuration of the Republic phone was the text messaging. When texts come in, you get an alert sound, but the text message doesn’t pop up – it just briefly scrolls through the notification bar and it is gone. You need to manually load the texting app and go dig up the message to reply. And if your phone is idle with the screen off, you get no visual notification at all!

This flaw caused me to miss several messages, including an invitation to a beer-fueled Friday Night game of Bocce ball, at a nearby park that overlooks the mountains while the summer sun sets behind them. I was not pleased.

The solution? Install the free HandCent SMS app. It makes the text messaging system work in a useful and intuitive manner. Initial setup brings up a box about signing up for a handcent services account, but I cancelled out of all of that and found the app still works without any account.

 

 

 

* While this blog does not do paid reviews or endorsements, I am occasionally lucky enough to accept free things that I would have bought anyway (books, bikes, computers, energy-saving things, fitness stuff, financial services, etc.) They may or may not get reviewed on the blog, depending on how useful they could be for readers.

 In this case I get no payment or referral fees from Republic for this review or the link above. The free phone didn’t influence my review, because this blog now earns enough to buy anything it wants for review, so everything is effectively free.  I just think they are a good company.

 

Does drinking to much coffee make you insane? Sure, why the hell not.

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To say he grew a pair might be putting it a bit strong. But last week, McCrory rebelled for the first time against some of the more extremist measures being advanced in the General Assembly. by Will Huntsberry To say he grew a pair might be putting it a bit strong. But last week, Gov. Pat McCrory rebelled for the first time against some of the more extremist measures being advanced in the General Assembly: a Senate budget that raises taxes on poor people and a bill that would renege on a contract regarding Dorothea Dix Park with the City of Raleigh.…

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Executive produced by Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, The Act of Killing is a documentary directed by Joshua Oppenheimer about a group of Indonesian mass murderers.

In The Act of Killing, Anwar and his friends agree to tell us the story of the killings. But their idea of being in a movie is not to provide testimony for a documentary: they want to star in the kind of films they most love from their days scalping tickets at the cinemas. We seize this opportunity to expose how a regime that was founded on crimes against humanity, yet has never been held accountable, would project itself into history.

And so we challenge Anwar and his friends to develop fiction scenes about their experience of the killings, adapted to their favorite film genres -- gangster, western, musical. They write the scripts. They play themselves. And they play their victims.

Wow. (via @aaroncoleman0)

Tags: crime   Joshua Oppenheimer   movies   murder   The Act of Killing   trailers

‘He who is contented is rich.’ ~Lao Tzu

By Leo Babauta

One of the most important things I’ve learned in the last 7 years has been how to find contentment.

It’s been a long journey, but I’ve enjoyed it. I struggled with feeling bad about my body, feeling insecure about myself, doubting my abilities to make it without an employer, doubting myself as a writer, not believing I had discipline or the ability to change my habits.

And all this led to other problems: I sought happiness and pleasure in food, beer, shopping, distraction, TV. I procrastinated, I let my health get bad, I smoked, I was deeply in debt, unhappy with my work, never exercised, and ate lots of junk food.

Not a pretty picture. But if I’d never been in that place, I wouldn’t understand how to get out of it. And so I’m grateful I was there. I’ve learned a lot, about myself and about how to find happiness in who I am, what I have, who I’m with, what I do, and all that’s around me.

And now, I’d like to share that with you.

I’ve written a free book called The Little Book of Contentment: A guide to becoming happy with life & who you are, while getting things done. I share it with you today, in hopes that it will help a few of you, or maybe many, who struggle with being happy with yourselves and your lives. It’s a more common problem than you might imagine, and if I can help just a little, that would be amazing.

I hope you like the book.

Table of Contents

1. The Agreement
2. The Root of the Problem
3. The What & Why of Contentment
4. The Path of Contentment
5. Contentment Isn’t Doing Nothing
6. Comparing to What You Don’t Have
7. Watch Your Ideals & Expectations
8. Advertising & Fantasies
9. Build Trust
10. Love Yourself
11. Trying to Find Happiness in External Sources
12. Where Happiness Comes From
13. Finding Happiness Within
14. Our Reactions to the Actions of Others
15. Don’t Tie Your Self-Worth to Others’ Actions
16. Become Whole In a Relationship
17. Self-Happiness & Meeting Others
18. Jealousy of Others
19. Techniques for Self-Acceptance
20. FAQ
21. Conclusion
22. Summary of Action Steps

The book is uncopyrighted.

Download the Book

You can download the book for free in several formats:

• PDF version (406K) – right-click and select “Save As” to downoload to your computer
• Epub version (for the iPhone/iPad and other ebook readers) (84K)
• Kindle version (Note: To add it to your Kindle, first make sure your Kindle is connected to your computer via USB. Then, copy the downloaded file to the “documents” folder of your Kindle. It will appear on your Home screen.)
• Mobi version (have not tested)

Please note that you shouldn’t download this book unless you plan to:

1. Set aside an hour to read this book. Not put aside, but actually read it. Close everything else on your computer and give yourself an hour of undistracted time to read this book.
2. Put the method into action. Immediately.
3. Practice the skills daily, just a few minutes a day. In a short time, you should have some basic skills that help you to be content, less angry, less stressed out.

Questions & Answers

Q: How much does the book cost?
A: It’s free.

Q: Do you give refunds?
A: Yes.

Q: Can I read it on my iPad or iPhone?
A: Yes. Download the epub version, then drag into iTunes on your computer. Then sync the iPad or iPhone with iTunes on your computer, and the book should now appear in the iBooks app on your iPad/iPhone. Detailed instructions.

Q: When & how can I get it on my Kindle?
A: It’s now available for the Kindle! (Download here.) To add it to your Kindle, first make sure your Kindle is connected to your computer via USB. Then, copy the downloaded file to the “documents” folder of your Kindle. It will appear on your Home screen.

Q: What if I don’t want to commit to an hour of undistracted reading time, or putting it into action?
A: You shouldn’t download it. I’ve written this book for people who actually want to read it and use it.

Q: Who designed the book? It’s brilliant!
A: I know, right? I did, and I will admit my design skills are best described as “humble”.

Random Access Memories finds the French duo changing its music-making process in an effort to make its songs sound more human. To that end, Daft Punk enlists guest stars such as Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.

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The very funny Danny McBride and Maya Rudolph recreated some of our classic Awkward Family Photos for GQ’s comedy issue. We’ve included the originals as well below!

(sourced from GQ.com)

The Illinois Senate has voted to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which if signed into law would make it the second-most-populous state after California to do so.

[Photographs: Robyn Lee]

I can't believe we've never held an official standard potato chip taste test. I mean, we've tasted every flavor of Zapp's chips, went all tingly-nosed for a salt and vinegar chip taste test, got down and dirty with kettle style chips, and even did a primer on some of the better spicy chip brands out there. But regular chips? Not a peep.

Until now.

This week we gathered around the kitchen table to taste our way through a half dozen of the most widely available brands in order to determine who makes the crispiest, crunchiest, saltiest snack in town.

The Contenders

• Whole Foods 365
• Lay's [www.fritolay.com
• Wise [www.wisesnacks.com]
• Utz [www.utzsnacks.com]
• Herr's [www.herrs.com]
• Trader Joe's [www.traderjoes.com]

The Criteria

The potato chips were tasted blind by a panel of 14 tasters who were asked to rate the chips on a scale from 1 to 10 in four different categories:

• Potato Flavor: Do the potato chips really taste like potato, or do they taste like plastic or cardboard? Does the flavor of the grease overwhelm the potatoes?
• Saltiness: Are the chips properly seasoned? Do they completely lack salt, or are they wading in it?
• Crunch: How crisp are the chips when you bite down on them? Do they have the quiet crunch of stepping on a cockroach (or fortune cookie), or are they as loud as a thousand Sun Chips bags being crumpled simultaneously?
• Overall: How do all these other factors come together? Are the chips good? Would you serve them to your kids at pool party or bring them camping?

The Results

When we're talking traditionally thin, thin potato chips (as opposed to, say, thicker kettle-style chips), it turns out that crispness is king. Tasters overall ranking of chips was nearly exactly in line with their Crunch Factor rating.

Saltiness was also extremely important. Our winning brand was rated the saltiest by a good margin—rated nearly 35% saltier than its next closest competitor.

As for potato flavor, turns out that it's not as important as we initially thought. It makes sense, I suppose. Traditional potato chips are so darn thin that it's hard to imagine being able to pack much flavor into them, particularly when they are well saturated with oil.

What does this mean? It means that the ideal potato chip is really just a vehicle to deliver salt, grease, and crunch into us.

The Winner: Lay's (7/10)

"This is by far my favorite," said more than one taster. The winner by a strong landslide, it's hard to tell how much of it has to do with our childhood appreciation of the classic Lay's chip—eating one instantly brings me back to picnic hikes, pool parties, and summer camp—and how much of it is true quality, but the fact remains: When people think of their platonic ideal of a potato chip, Lay's is what's in their heads whether they know it or not.

Ultra salty, ultra-crisp, and just the right thickness for downing by the bagful.

2nd Place: Herr's (5.7/10)

The Pennsylvania brand came in with a strong showing in second place, with a potato flavor ranking that edged out Lay's, though it wasn't quite as crisp or salty. There's a reason that Karen and Jim go on an episode-long hunt for them in NBC's The Office.

Oddly, of all the chips, Herr's were the ones with the least actual descriptive feedback from tasters other than just the generic "these are good" or "yum," along with one "I'd like these with tuna salad."

3rd Place: Wise (5.6/10)

Does anyone else remember when Wise chips used to have the owl logo on them along with a joke with the answer on the inside of the bag? I swear, if they'd never gotten rid of that then Lay's might now be shaking in their boots, because Wise chips are pretty damn good as it is. The clear winner in terms of potato flavor, just a touch more salt and crispness would have given them the edge.

Some tasters mentioned that because of the thinness of the chips, they almost dissolve onto your tongue as you eat them. This is not a bad thing.

4th Place: Whole Foods 365 (5.25/10)

These chips were an outlier in terms of appearance and flavor. Significantly darker and toastier tasting then the other pale chips, Whole Foods 365 had decent crunch and clean flavor. Though they came in last place in terms of saltiness, they came in second place in terms of Crunch Factor—one of the only two chips to buck the Crunch is King pattern.

5th Place: Utz (5.08/10)

Utz' chips had a slightly strange texture to them. Rather than crisp and bubbly like the others, they had an oddly mealy texture, almost like a Pringle. Could it be the type of potato? The method of slicing the chips? The way they were fried? The world may never know. But we do know that even with their strange texture, they're still plenty snackable.

Indeed, we probably wouldn't turn down any of the ones we tasted in the taste test except for...

6th Place: Trader Joe's (3.5/10)

A clear loser, trader Joe's had some crunch going for it, but the overall flavor was described as everything ranging from "somewhat cardboard," (by four different tasters!) to "like stale potatoes," or "this is kinda weird. Is it potato?" to simply "blech." It's the only brand we wouldn't recommend buying.

Our Tasting Methodology: All taste tests are conducted completely blind and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample 1 first, while taster B will taste sample 6 first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets ranking the samples for various criteria that vary from sample to sample. All data is tabulated and results are calculated with no editorial input in order to give us the most impartial representation of actual results possible.

About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.

By Leo Babauta

There’s a tendency to get caught up in the tasks of our day, the urgency of what’s coming up, the distractions of being online.

And we forget to smile.

In the rush of the day, the stress of wanting things to happen a certain way, we lose the enjoyment of each moment.

In every moment, there’s the capacity for happiness. It’s not that we need to be ecstatic, full of pleasure, excited or even joyous each and every second of the day. Who needs that kind of pressure? And it’s not that we can never feel sadness or anger or stress. It’s that we can feel happiness, in some form, any moment we like, even in the midst of stress or sadness.

And it’s exceedingly simple. We just need to remember to smile.

You can smile in each and every moment.

OK, maybe you don’t need a smile on your face all day long — your cheeks will feel tired. But we can smile more, and in between physical smiles, we can have an internal smile.

Try an internal smile now: have a calm, unsmiling face, but think of the miracle of this moment, and find a thought to smile about. Feel the smiling feeling inside. Isn’t that amazing?

What do you have to smile about in this moment?

Some ideas:

• You have someone in your life who cares about you.
• There is beauty all around you, in many forms.
• You are generous, compassionate, and good-hearted.
• You have someone you can help.
• You have eaten today.
• You can move.
• You can see the sun shining.
• You can appreciate the leaves of a tree, rain falling, wind blowing.
• You can taste chocolate.
• You get to spend time with someone you love.
• You have music in your life.
• You get to create something.

And so on. You probably don’t have all of these, but you might have one or two, and if so, that’s a more than good enough cause to smile.

You’ll forget to smile in some moments, because your mind gets caught up in stories about the past, stresses about what might happen in the future. None of this is happening right now — it’s just movies playing in our heads.

Instead, remind yourself of what’s happening right now, and see the beauty in it, see the reason to smile. And then smile, externally and internally.

This changes your day, because now instead of being caught up in stress and stories, we are present, and happy. We can be content with every moment.

It changes your life, because too often we miss the smile-ability of life when we are not paying attention.

Agarrar a burrazos – to kick someone. We also say agarrar a patadas
Bochinche or zafarrancho – a big fight
Brujos – the residents of Escazú. They are more commonly called Escazuceños
Ceci – short for Cecilia (a woman’s name)
Chainear – to clean something
La Chota – joking or ridicule. The verb chotear means to make fun of someone.
Como un ajito – something that is very clean or white
Echarse a alguien – to murder somebody. Matar is a more common expression.
Echarse flores – to praise oneself
Filazos – to be slashed with a knife
La fuerza roja – Costa Rica’s fleet of red taxis
Meneón – a big shake like an earthquake
Pezeteños – the residents of San Isidro de General/Pérez Zeledón
Ponerle – to make a big effort
Porteador – an informal taxi driver
Visita de águila – to have eyesight like an eagle

Tiquismo of the week (Costa Rican expression)
Bloguear – to blog someone. A bloguero is a blogger and a bitácora is a type of blog
Vejestorio – We use this word to describe an old person or object

Boom.

Take note: The machine does not always know where it's going

FWIW, Mr. DeConnick: I think this one’s right up there with Hawk Guy’s “This looks bad.”

Billboard (via Miss Info) has a stream of Talib Kweli's fifth album, Prisoner of Consciousness, which is officially out today and features guest spots from Kendrick Lamar, Nelly, and Busta Rhymes (who has a new-ish song out, too), among others. Enjoy.

Talib Kweli's also on Instagram, by the way. And everywhere else.

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See more posts by Edith Zimmerman

3 comments

An amazing bit of camouflage from the orchid mantis:

Seeing it move around is eerie. See also the bee orchid. (via @faketv)

Tags: insects

1. Laugh constantly. Laugh freely. Laugh at every moment in your life. Laugh when it is appropriate. Laugh when it isn’t. Laugh when it fucking hurts like hell. Laugh when the happiness escaping your throat is as smooth as a whiskey seven. If you cannot laugh when you’re beat down. When you are hurt. When you are two seconds away from inhaling a pain that will drown you, you will never survive.

2. Orgasms are by far, hands down, the best thing for your complexion. Don’t waste money on some ridiculously overpriced face wash. Lancome is a lie. So is Cover Girl. Instead, put your fingers to work. Go pay the thirty or fifty bucks for a bunny that’s guaranteed to get you off. Become comfortable enough with an individual to sleep with them on a daily basis. Just cum consistently and your pores will thank you.

3. A cob salad has more calories than a double cheeseburger. Don’t kid yourself.

4. A girl can never own too many stilettos. Yes, they will hurt. Yes, they will cost almost as much as your rent. Yes, while they were once undeniably beautiful you will inevitably wreck them thanks to countless nights plagued with tequila and bad decisions. It doesn’t matter. They will make you feel beautiful when you can’t stand to look at yourself in the mirror. They will make your legs appear longer, your form appear slimmer, and your ass appear Brazilian.

5. Argue. Debate. Disagree. That is the only way you will become privy to the beauty that is an organic learning environment. Keep an open mind. Listen. Nod at the appropriate time. Stand up for yourself when necessary and shut the fuck up when you should. A coalition of different viewpoints is essential to true understanding. Be prideful enough to lend verve to your voice and humble enough to know when your voice is cracking.

6. Music will save you. It will also kill you. Certain songs will repair gaping holes in your heart while others will send you back two years ago; when you were in his arms, kissing his lips, and resting your head on his shoulders as he strangled his fingertips with your hair. Regardless, music is a constant reminder that it’s okay to feel. It is okay to remember, to reminisce, and to be sad. It’s okay to cry laugh smile lose control scream dance become far too sentimental forget. To. Just. Be. Hiding behind intoxicating melodies and beautiful breakdowns is the universe’s permission to feel. So close your eyes and turn up the volume.

7. Tequila will do one of two things. A) Make you fall in love with everyone. And I mean everyone. Or B) Make you ridiculously protective to an almost violent degree. You despise the man who gave your best friend a second glance. You automatically distrust the poor sap who offered to buy your roommate a drink. You are ready to throw down for their honor, dignity, and virginity. No, it doesn’t matter that they lost it years ago. 

8. Champagne will give you the worst hangover of your life.

9. Wine will make you wish you were Mormon.

10. Jäger will, without a doubt, make you do that one thing you boy-scout-honor-swore you’d never. Ever. Do.

11. Reading is pivotal. Another human being’s syntax is the soul’s water. While walking a mile in another’s shoes is impossible, caressing a stranger’s paperback spine is the closest you will ever get to fully understanding another human. So sink into a chair every once in a while. Sit outside in the sun. Cuddle up next to a lover. A window. A fireplace. Just read.

12. Don’t you dare read on a damn Kindle. Your fingertips need to feel the pages. Your nose needs to smell the pine sacrificed in the name of literature. Visit your library. You will feel intellectual, organic, and sexy.

13. It is okay to be alone. In fact, everyone should be at least once. Surround yourself in the silence that is independence. Stop looking for someone so that you may find yourself.

14. It is essential in one’s life to experience a one night stand. The awkward morning-after will remind you that you aren’t made for consistent promiscuity. The allure of a dirty night with a relative stranger will make you feel like Pamela incarnate.

15. Craigslist is the perfect example of both the rise and fall of society.

16. You are capable of handling situations you couldn’t have possibly imagined. Fathers will disown you. The love of your life will sleep with someone else. The person who made you will hit you. Your best friends will die. A man will ignore your fervent “no” and take what he wants. And still you will find yourself filling your lungs when situations should have left them empty. It is in those moments that you’ll remember there isn’t anything you cannot overcome.

17. There isn’t anything you will be capable of overcoming without your friends.

18. The cure to any discomforting situation or painful realization or heavy moment within one’s life, is driving. Nothing will take away the feelings of failure like a never ending road, a rolled down window, a six speed manual, a music collection of epic and speaker-destroying proportion, and (of course) a pack of cigarettes. Drive until you have left it all behind you. You will eventually have to return to it all, however the miles you’ve put between you and a rude reality will strengthen your resolve.

19. The ones you love the most will hurt you the most. Mothers will be incapable of protecting you when they should. The most important man in your life will hurl hurtful words in your direction. Best friends will write words dipped in resentment. You will reach out to someone in tears, scared and alone, only to have them decide it is too much and disappear. Forgive them instantly. Love them regardless. And know that you, despite your best efforts, have hurt them too.

20. Talk dirty in bed. Get over being uncomfortable and push past the urge to compare yourself to a mediocre porn star. While between the sheets with a fantastic lover, say everything you have ever wanted to say or do or have felt. Those words will assist you both in obtaining levels of pleasure previously believed to be nothing more than a filthy fairytale.

21. Slow dance. Don’t leave your youth in a middle school gym.

22. Whatever you do, do not pass out on the bathroom floor of a gay bar. Enough said.

23. It is okay to ask for help. It is okay to swallow your pride, choke down your guilt, chew on your inadequacies, and realize that you cannot do everything by yourself. Everyone needs help at one time or another. Including you.

24. You are not confined to the family god gave you. You have the beautiful ability to hand pick your own. College friends will become your sisters. Ex-boyfriends’ fathers will become your own. Best friends of your brothers will become baby brothers one, two, and three. Cherish them, protect them, and allow them to do the same.

25. Enjoy having too much. Too much Jack Daniels. Too much love. Too much dancing. Too much work. Too much procrastination. Too much time. Too much responsibility. Too much insecurity. Too much coffee. Too much doubt. Too much of not enough. Realize that overindulgence is the key to neutrality. Realize that a painful destruction is essential to the construction of something wonderfully beautiful. So take one shot too many. Stay out until six thirty, when you have to be at work at nine. Tell them that you love them, even when you know it is too much.

26. Girls poop. Yes, it can rival a man’s in both stench and quantity. Get over it.

27. Make fun of yourself. When others do, it will help it hurt less.

28. Remember how blessed you are. You can be covered in bruises and overflowing with emptiness. You can be lost, alone, and fantastically hurt. However, it can always. Always. Be worse. And for countless others, it is. So after you have tended to your bruises and replaced the smallest amount of emptiness with a tangible satisfaction. After you’ve been found and are standing next to another and your hurt has diminished. Be thankful.

29. Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness, lied. Sometimes, it takes money to find yourself at a concert with friends or three sheets to the wind or atop a needle sharing scenery with those that have never experienced it before. Pay for it anyways. Sign the check that makes your stomach turn. Eventually you will look back on those moments and realize that you would have paid twice that amount.

30. You can plan and scheme and write in a neat little notebook. You can create numerous lists that await the swift line of completion, but it won’t matter. Nothing will end up the way you thought it would. Things will happen that you couldn’t have possibly foreseen. Life doesn’t care about the plan. The scheme. Your neat notebook. Or your fifty lists.

Including this one.

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image – porschelinn