Don't Mess with Massachusetts: "According to a 2011 Harvard study, while reading proficiency in Mississippi is comparable to Russia or Bulgaria, Massachusetts performs more like Singapore, Japan, or South Korea. Often better: Massachusetts students rank fifth in the world in reading, lapping Singapore and Japan, and needless to say, every state in the union. In math, Massachusetts slots in a global ninth, ahead of Japan and Germany. (Some international educational studies rank Shanghai and Hong Kong as separate countries; if this wasn’t done, Massachusetts would likely rank two places higher.)"

rm * plus bad backups added up to Pixar almost losing Toy Story 2. Shudder!

The Climate Fixers: One of the scariest articles on global warming I've read, both in laying out the likelihood and consequences of warming, and the risks of trying to prevent it through some drastic intervention (e. g. a man-made Pinatubo).

Ricochet Kills 3: Slightly disturbing that I find this so addictive.

Fun video of a woman from France trying to figure the definition of hipster. Of the many definitions I’ve seen, I think this one might be my favorite.

Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys:

On average, 24 horses die each week at racetracks across America. Many are inexpensive horses racing with little regulatory protection in pursuit of bigger and bigger prizes. These deaths often go unexamined, the bodies shipped to rendering plants and landfills rather than to pathologists who might have discovered why the horses broke down.

Oof.

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth: "The superhero origin story of Joss Whedon goes like this…"

Photographic Specimens by Michael Mapes. Here’s an example, but to really appreciate it be sure to click through for the side view:

Pretty cool video on Photobooth, a tintype portrait studio.

The NFL: The No Future League: "The fact of the matter is this. The average American lives to be 75. The average pro football player lives to be 55. And statistics suggest that the longer a player stays in the game, the more likely he is to die at a young age."

I Think You're Fat: A. J. Jacobs on Radical Honesty.

New trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. Dark!

India’s Vanishing Vultures: “There were so many vultures then that you can’t even think they could decline,” he said. “Oh, don’t remind me of those days; it is so painful for me. Just to imagine that they would become rare was impossible. What happened to them? What have we done with them? Now there are dogs. They eat anything, live or dead. There are dogs on the ground but the skies are empty.”

It’s Too Heavy:

Wow, Matthew Cusick’s map collages are fantastic. I think this might be my favorite:

Great Planet Money this week delving into whether it makes economic sense to replace the dollar bill with a dollar coin.

Can You Make Yourself Smarter?: Hopeful. I always like to hear that we might be able to train something long thought immutable.

The Valve Employee Handbook may be the greatest employee handbook ever written. It is certainly the only employee handbook I’ve ever read for fun.

I was reading this little piece, which is the best musical instrument?, and this bit caught my eye:

What complicates matters further is the sheer variety of instruments. We began creating them ridiculously early (the earliest extant flute is 67,000 years old) and have never stopped. Recently I’ve been to concerts featuring virtuosi on both a six-stringed electric violin and the hang, a Swiss-invented steel drum of beguiling sensuality. Neither existed 20 years ago.

Never heard of the hang, so turned to YouTube, and lo, it’s a pretty cool thing!

Apparently they are hard to come by. There’s a variant by a US maker, Pantheon Steel, but those are distributed via lottery (and cost $1,800). They sound deeper.

I had kinda given up on supercuts, but this one turned my head. All the DoubleOh in the Bond movies: