STORNÄS Buffet – antique stain, 163×90 cm – IKEA Yes, I really did just spend a portion of my lunchbreak browsing the ikea website for new furniture, and yes, I am bookmarking this one so I don't forget. What of it?
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis | MetaFilter This account of the various means of launching nuclear weapons that would result in death for the lunching crews is creepy enough, but the really chilling bit is here: "two Soviet nuclear torpedoes were loaded into their tubes to fire against American forces at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Had one of them been launched, it would have inevitably caused a nuclear war. According to one account (and we don't know if it's true), the decision to launch the nuclear torpedo on the submarine B-59 came down to a sort of vote between the three senior officers on board. All three had to agree to launch the torp. Two voted yes, one voted no." Like he says, it may well not be true. But it is absurd to me that we live in a world where there is even the chance that it is true.
Is R v John Terry value for money? « forthedefence This is a really good food-for-thought post. On the one hand: it is absolutely not acceptable that John Terry use racist language. On the other: because of his media stature, a trial that cannot possibly result in anything more than a fine – if I've understood the matter right, a fine of not more that £2,500 – that, for another defendant would be a half-a-day in court job, is going to be a five day multi-media three-ring circus, with police presence and the whole works. Is this really worth the cost to the taxpayer. (FWIW, I think it just about is, but I am forced to admit that there's a strong "don't bother" argument.)
PHP solves problems. Oh, and you can program with it too! I am a PHP coder. It is, in truth, the only programming language I'm any good at. Well, OK, maybe javascript, too. I got into it because I wanted to get things done, and PHP maybe it very, very easy for me to do that. I'm not the sort of person who learns new languages for fun, so PHP is where I've stayed. But the reason I've stayed is because I've never found anything I wanted to get done that I couldn't do in PHP. Which suggests to me that the hate it gets from "proper" programmers is basically, so much bullshit. So I liked this article.
"Obamacare" explained very well. via reddit.com Just in case anyone reading this is confused about what the healthcare reforms in the US mean. Basically, if you read this, and are still opposed to them, then I can only assume that you are someone who would like more people to die. In which case, perhaps you could help the rest of us out by setting an example.
The Strongest Woman In America Lives In Poverty This is really saddening. While I don't this sporting prowess should automatically equally riches, the simply fact is that this is an inequality – other olympians can and do get plenty of sponsorship. Her achievement is no less remarkable, and yet it's pretty clear that the reason she doesn't get sponsorship is because her sport means she doesn't conform to a beauty standard. (Bet male weightlifters don't have the same problem.)
Circumcision ruling condemned by Germany’s Muslim and Jewish leaders | World news | guardian.co.uk Cat, meet pigeons. As an atheist, I do oppose what amounts to mutilation on religious grounds. I mean, I wouldn't be allowed to cut my hypothetical child's earlobes off, just because I believed they were bad, would I? So why should this be different? Hint: if an answer rests on "tradition" it is probably not going to persuade me.
The 5 Craziest Policies In Texas Republicans’ 2012 Platform | ThinkProgress The oppose teaching critical thinking in schools, which is just mindblowing. Critical thinking is almost the only useful thing I learned in school! Still, as someone (I forget who) remarked on Twitter – they are, at least now being open about what they want, which is basically a load of stupid people who will do what they say.
The care and feeding of software engineers (or, why engineers are grumpy) | NCZOnline I would absolutely kill to be certain that from 1:30 to 5:30pm I would not be interrupted by anyone, and could just get on with work. If I could implement just one recommendation from this (very resonant) article at my company, this would be it. Hack days, meeting free days, these would be lovely, but the really big one would be interruption free time.