Monthly Archives: September 2009

Elena Filatova bikes through the Dead Zone of Chernobyl, chronicling – and photographing – the devastation left behind: As I pass through the check point, I feel that I have entered an unreal world. In the dead zone, the silence … Continue reading →

British schoolteachers are having a rather hard time grading essays with sentences such as “i noe u dnt noee mii,i donno huu u r” (I know you do not know me, I do not know who you are) and “ma … Continue reading →

In the context of the Formula 1 driver deliberately crashing his car at 300+ kmph, some other examples of fraud – with guts: On April 21, 1980, a 26-year-old New Yorker named Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line in the … Continue reading →

Recipe for thousands of awkward situations: There are certain misconceptions regarding the jargon people use in drafting such ads. Many are still unaware that a “homely” girl doesn’t mean she happily does the household chores. ‘Homely’ means ‘unattractive’. Look up … Continue reading →

The steel city of Pittsburgh, where G20 leaders are meeting, ironically, to talk climate change, has a Past: Its air heavy with smoke and smog from hundreds of factories, Pittsburgh used to be once described by a local writer as … Continue reading →

Microsoft’s new promotional video encouraging people to throw their own Windows 7 launch house party: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cX4t5-YpHQ&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] From a blog on the Washington Post: As you can see below, our four implausibly perky, demographically balanced hosts — standing in a spotless … Continue reading →

Anyone with a portfolio of “3 or more stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds” is eligible to apply. The worst performers over the past 2 years will receive: 1st Place: All expenses paid dream vacation for 2 to Rome, Italy, “the … Continue reading →

Business schools have changed little over the past year, in spite of the contribution of their philosophy of business, risk and finance to the 2008 bubble. What must they do? More history classes would help. Would-be business titans need to … Continue reading →

Warning: Only for New York Times junkies. George Packer, writing in the New Yorker in March upon the appointment of Ross Douthat to the Op-Ed list, on the existing panel of columnists: With the whole world undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime upheaval, … Continue reading →

(via the Wall Street Journal)