Graphic Display of Information
The Daily Mail maps the world with cartograms: resizing the countries according to different measures. For example, did you know that Ugandans drink the most alcohol per adult?
Wes Phillips
Bartók
I spent an afternoon interviewinghttp://stereophile.com/musicrecordings/671/">interviewing; the Emerson Quartet when they released their epic Shostakovich cycle.They were delightful. They're dedicated musicians, of course, but also witty and welcoming—just good company.
The 70 Greatest Esquire Sentences
I know it's Eskie's 70th anniversary, but the list would have been a far stronger top 50.
Shocker
The trouble with Tasers, CrunchGear explains, is "there appears to be an aggressive effort by [Taser International] to silence critics and to control data and, on occasion, manipulate statistics with the intent of preserving an illusion of safety surrounding its products."
And Another Thing That Irritates Me . . .
Charlie Brooker doesn't like his new phone.
Fixing Monk
Joe Harley sends along this YouTube goodie wherein Hans Groiner helpfully "fixes" the music of Thelonious Monk.
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The 10 Coolest Numbers
Break me a freakin' give, I muttered to myself as I clicked on the URL to the above-titled article. How stupid is this going to be?
The Birth of the Album Cover
In the dawn of the record era, album covers were based on the covers of photographic albums. Then Alex Steinweiss proposed to Columbia that it "embellish the 78 RPM record albums (covers) with original artwork (drawings and paintings)." An art form—and an industry—was born.
Iconic Equations
Quick, name your favorite equation! For most of us, it's E = mc2, but Euler's ein + 1 = 0 is the one "everyone should know."
Buddy Holly's Unreleased Apartment Tapes
I've linked to Locust Street before, but this is one of its best posts ever: a moving account of Buddy Holly's last days, with MP3s of some unreleased home recordings.