An excerpt from OZY -
THE FIRST BLACK FIGHTER PILOT
By Jack Doyle
You never know who you’re sharing an elevator with — and back when Rockefeller Center still had elevator operators, it was easy to ignore the elderly Black man in the corner. Neither Eugene Bullard nor his neat uniform commanded the same attention as the 1950s Manhattan elites who shared his little space every evening.
But little did they know that they were sharing a lift with an American who had been smack in the middle of the most dramatic twists and turns of the 20th century. Bullard was a boxer, World War I fighter pilot, Paris nightclub owner and World War II resistance fighter. He escaped the Gestapo and was beaten by police at a civil-rights demonstration. But even for many years after his death, his legacy remained that of an unnoticed, forgotten elevator operator.
Many details of Bullard’s life remain shrouded in myth, some of which was his own making. And who can blame him? He was born in rural Georgia to a large, poor Black family, and the odds were stacked against young Eugene. His family struggled to support themselves and, by Bullard’s recollection, faced violence with terrifying frequency. A lynch mob killed his older brother, Hector, and Eugene nearly lost his life on more than one occasion to racist attacks.
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-first-black-fighter-pilot/67003?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Friday, December 29, 2017
A Jacket With Its Own Heating System
From USA Today & Reviewed -
10 helpful gadgets every runner needs in the winter
By Shelby Deering, Reviewed.com
2. A jacket with its very own heating system
Heated jackets have grown more and more prevalent in the last few years, and they’re pretty much godsends for cold-weather runners. This one has three heating areas—two in the chest and one in the back, and you can choose low, medium, or hot. Any jacket on its own can keep you fairly warm, especially once you get moving, but this is toasty right away, making it easier to get outside and move.
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Women on Amazon starting at $154.99
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Men on Amazon starting at $149.99
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/12/28/10-helpful-gadgets-every-runner-needs-in-the-winter/108977314/
10 helpful gadgets every runner needs in the winter
By Shelby Deering, Reviewed.com
2. A jacket with its very own heating system
 |
| (Photo: ororo) |
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Women on Amazon starting at $154.99
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Men on Amazon starting at $149.99
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/12/28/10-helpful-gadgets-every-runner-needs-in-the-winter/108977314/
Clean House in 2018
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
8 Types Of Toxic People To Leave Behind In 2018
Good riddance. 👋
By Kelsey Borresen and Brittany Wong
The new year is an opportunity to let go of the negative people in your life who are holding you back and weighing you down.
Whether they’re coworkers, friends or family members, setting boundaries with these toxic people ― or removing them from your life entirely ― can be difficult, but it’s ultimately necessary and freeing.
We asked experts to tell us which kinds of people you’re better off leaving behind as we head into 2018. Here’s what they had to say.
1. The Debbie Downer
The people in your life should build you up and celebrate your accomplishments ― not poke holes in them. But somehow, Debbie Downers manage to find the storm clouds in even the sunniest skies.
Got a raise at work? “That’s all? You really deserve so much more for the work you’re doing,” a Negative Nancy will reply.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bye-toxic-people_us_5a452515e4b0b0e5a7a547d9?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
8 Types Of Toxic People To Leave Behind In 2018
Good riddance. 👋
By Kelsey Borresen and Brittany Wong
The new year is an opportunity to let go of the negative people in your life who are holding you back and weighing you down.
Whether they’re coworkers, friends or family members, setting boundaries with these toxic people ― or removing them from your life entirely ― can be difficult, but it’s ultimately necessary and freeing.
We asked experts to tell us which kinds of people you’re better off leaving behind as we head into 2018. Here’s what they had to say.
1. The Debbie Downer
The people in your life should build you up and celebrate your accomplishments ― not poke holes in them. But somehow, Debbie Downers manage to find the storm clouds in even the sunniest skies.
Got a raise at work? “That’s all? You really deserve so much more for the work you’re doing,” a Negative Nancy will reply.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bye-toxic-people_us_5a452515e4b0b0e5a7a547d9?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Clever Road Signs
From USA Today -
Delaware agency's 'clever' traffic messages grab motorists' attention
USA TODAY NETWORKJerry Smith, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
One message that has garnered a lot of attention has been geared toward distracted driving: "Don't text and drive. Get your head out of your apps."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/12/28/delaware-traffic-messages-grab-motorists-attention/987619001/
Delaware agency's 'clever' traffic messages grab motorists' attention
USA TODAY NETWORKJerry Smith, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
 | ||
| (Photo: Jason Minto, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal) |
 | ||
| (Photo: Jason Minto, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal) |
One message that has garnered a lot of attention has been geared toward distracted driving: "Don't text and drive. Get your head out of your apps."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/12/28/delaware-traffic-messages-grab-motorists-attention/987619001/
Best Films
From the Washinton Post -
Cal Ripken’s favorite baseball movie, and 24 others on the best film about their profession
By Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/cal-ripkens-favorite-baseball-movie-and-21-others-on-the-best-film-about-their-profession/2017/12/25/223c8fb8-e5d0-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?utm_term=.df48a983d1dd&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Cal Ripken’s favorite baseball movie, and 24 others on the best film about their profession
By Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/cal-ripkens-favorite-baseball-movie-and-21-others-on-the-best-film-about-their-profession/2017/12/25/223c8fb8-e5d0-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?utm_term=.df48a983d1dd&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Wishful Thinking
An excerpt from the Washinton Post Editorial Board -
What a presidential president would have said about his first year
From time to time this year, we have offered alternative (read: imaginary) White House statements. We haven’t so much expected that Mr. Trump would take our rhetorical advice, though that would be welcome. Rather, we think it’s useful for all of us to remind ourselves that it doesn’t have to be this way: that presidential leadership, even if strongly partisan, can be civil, tolerant and inclusive.
The issue is substance, not form. With that in mind, we herewith offer some end-of-year presidential thoughts in chunks of 280 characters or fewer. Call it a more presidential tweetstorm:
“We got a lot done this year, I’m proud of that. Justice Gorsuch. Rolling back regulations. The corporate tax cut — it will jump-start investment and jobs. I know the economists disagree, but you know what? They’ve been wrong before, and I think they’ll be wrong this time too.”
“But as I look back, I realize I’ve fallen short. The night I won, I promised you: ‘It is time for us to come together as one united people . . . I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.’ That’s what I said!”
“Well, all Americans means all, right? Transgender people, including in the armed services. Muslims, from no matter which country. People who came as refugees. Children of immigrants. NFL players, of any race.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-his-first-year/2017/12/27/b8417f06-eb10-11e7-8a6a-80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.41698be5002c
What a presidential president would have said about his first year
From time to time this year, we have offered alternative (read: imaginary) White House statements. We haven’t so much expected that Mr. Trump would take our rhetorical advice, though that would be welcome. Rather, we think it’s useful for all of us to remind ourselves that it doesn’t have to be this way: that presidential leadership, even if strongly partisan, can be civil, tolerant and inclusive.
The issue is substance, not form. With that in mind, we herewith offer some end-of-year presidential thoughts in chunks of 280 characters or fewer. Call it a more presidential tweetstorm:
“We got a lot done this year, I’m proud of that. Justice Gorsuch. Rolling back regulations. The corporate tax cut — it will jump-start investment and jobs. I know the economists disagree, but you know what? They’ve been wrong before, and I think they’ll be wrong this time too.”
“But as I look back, I realize I’ve fallen short. The night I won, I promised you: ‘It is time for us to come together as one united people . . . I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.’ That’s what I said!”
“Well, all Americans means all, right? Transgender people, including in the armed services. Muslims, from no matter which country. People who came as refugees. Children of immigrants. NFL players, of any race.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-his-first-year/2017/12/27/b8417f06-eb10-11e7-8a6a-80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.41698be5002c
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
He's Blacker Than Tiger Will Ever Be
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
Tiger Woods’ former coach is white, woke and went to an HBCU
Sean Foley’s experience molded his views on race, diversity and golf
By Tony Starks
Sean Foley is woke. It’s a characteristic that’s unique among golf instructors, who most commonly cater to the wealthy and teach a game that is by its very nature exclusive. That’s why a conversation with Foley is intriguing, perplexing, thought-provoking and inspiring all at the same time.
Most people know he coached Tiger Woods as his swing instructor from 2010-14. What people don’t know is that he attended Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville. Or that he credits the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Nas for influencing the way he views the world.
His “awakening” came during his experience as a white Canadian at a historically black college or university (HBCU). It helped shape his philosophical love of hip-hop music and began to mold his perspective on race, equality and social justice.
https://theundefeated.com/features/tiger-woods-former-coach-sean-foley-is-white-woke-and-went-to-an-hbcu/
Tiger Woods’ former coach is white, woke and went to an HBCU
Sean Foley’s experience molded his views on race, diversity and golf
By Tony Starks
Sean Foley is woke. It’s a characteristic that’s unique among golf instructors, who most commonly cater to the wealthy and teach a game that is by its very nature exclusive. That’s why a conversation with Foley is intriguing, perplexing, thought-provoking and inspiring all at the same time.
Most people know he coached Tiger Woods as his swing instructor from 2010-14. What people don’t know is that he attended Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville. Or that he credits the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Nas for influencing the way he views the world.
His “awakening” came during his experience as a white Canadian at a historically black college or university (HBCU). It helped shape his philosophical love of hip-hop music and began to mold his perspective on race, equality and social justice.
https://theundefeated.com/features/tiger-woods-former-coach-sean-foley-is-white-woke-and-went-to-an-hbcu/
An Update on a Tortured Genius
An excerpt from the LA Times -
For all his setbacks, he still finds hope and sanity in the music
By Steve Lopez
have been a transporter and caretaker of various musical instruments for nearly 13 years. A clarinet and an electric keyboard sit in corners of my office. There’s a cello in my garage at the moment, waiting for a ride to the repair shop.
Nathaniel Ayers asked for an inventory update on Christmas morning, after I picked him up at the South Bay mental health rehabilitation center where he lives.
He brought his string bass and trumpet with him. Like I’ve said before, he’s a one-man band, and he never travels light.
It’s been this way since I met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-ayers-20171227-story.html
For all his setbacks, he still finds hope and sanity in the music
By Steve Lopez
have been a transporter and caretaker of various musical instruments for nearly 13 years. A clarinet and an electric keyboard sit in corners of my office. There’s a cello in my garage at the moment, waiting for a ride to the repair shop.
Nathaniel Ayers asked for an inventory update on Christmas morning, after I picked him up at the South Bay mental health rehabilitation center where he lives.
He brought his string bass and trumpet with him. Like I’ve said before, he’s a one-man band, and he never travels light.
It’s been this way since I met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-ayers-20171227-story.html
Folsom Prison Music
An excerpt from the LA Times -
Music rolls on at Folsom Prison 50 years after Johnny Cash made history
The 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's historic live album recorded at Folsom Prison afforded a new look inside the gates of the institution, and at the men who serve time there. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
By Randy Lewis
Irony isn’t something the residents of Folsom State Prison spend much time contemplating. But it’s not lost on Roy McNeese Jr. exactly where he spends every Tuesday. That’s when he leads music theory classes for fellow inmates looking to turn their lives around.
McNeese’s classroom is a compact space adjacent to Folsom’s expansive, echo-heavy dining hall. Prisoners wishing to hone their instrumental or vocal chops while serving time, or to learn from McNeese how to write music and better understand songwriting techniques, enter the room each week through a heavily fortified metal door — a door with two words on it:
“Condemned Row.”
Nowadays, however, stark gray cells that long ago housed Death Row inmates — before San Quentin took over housing them in 1937 — are used to store electronic keyboards, drum kits, guitar amplifiers and other gear for the prison’s music program, one of several rehabilitation programs Folsom offers.
The equipment is used by about 40 inmates who play in one or more bands at Folsom, which gained worldwide fame thanks to Johnny Cash’s career-defining 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash’s song featured a chilling confession that’s central to the song’s stark portrait of life in prison: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-johnny-cash-folsom-prison-50-anniversary-20171226-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Music rolls on at Folsom Prison 50 years after Johnny Cash made history
The 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's historic live album recorded at Folsom Prison afforded a new look inside the gates of the institution, and at the men who serve time there. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
By Randy Lewis
Irony isn’t something the residents of Folsom State Prison spend much time contemplating. But it’s not lost on Roy McNeese Jr. exactly where he spends every Tuesday. That’s when he leads music theory classes for fellow inmates looking to turn their lives around.
McNeese’s classroom is a compact space adjacent to Folsom’s expansive, echo-heavy dining hall. Prisoners wishing to hone their instrumental or vocal chops while serving time, or to learn from McNeese how to write music and better understand songwriting techniques, enter the room each week through a heavily fortified metal door — a door with two words on it:
“Condemned Row.”
Nowadays, however, stark gray cells that long ago housed Death Row inmates — before San Quentin took over housing them in 1937 — are used to store electronic keyboards, drum kits, guitar amplifiers and other gear for the prison’s music program, one of several rehabilitation programs Folsom offers.
The equipment is used by about 40 inmates who play in one or more bands at Folsom, which gained worldwide fame thanks to Johnny Cash’s career-defining 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash’s song featured a chilling confession that’s central to the song’s stark portrait of life in prison: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-johnny-cash-folsom-prison-50-anniversary-20171226-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Parents Love You Netflix
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Netflix Will Once Again Help Parents Get Kids To Bed On New Year’s Eve
No one has to know it isn’t really midnight.
By Taylor Pittman
For the fourth year in a row, Netflix will have parents’ backs on New Year’s Eve.
The streaming platform started offering its New Year’s Eve countdowns ― which can make any time, even bedtime, seem like midnight ― on Tuesday. The clips feature beloved characters from nine different shows celebrating the last 10 seconds of the year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netflix-new-years-eve_us_5a3aa024e4b025f99e140479
Netflix Will Once Again Help Parents Get Kids To Bed On New Year’s Eve
No one has to know it isn’t really midnight.
By Taylor Pittman
For the fourth year in a row, Netflix will have parents’ backs on New Year’s Eve.
The streaming platform started offering its New Year’s Eve countdowns ― which can make any time, even bedtime, seem like midnight ― on Tuesday. The clips feature beloved characters from nine different shows celebrating the last 10 seconds of the year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netflix-new-years-eve_us_5a3aa024e4b025f99e140479
Smelling Parkinson?
An excerpt from Upworthy -
This woman's nose could be the key to spotting Parkinson's early.
by James Gaines
A woman's incredible nose might help scientists detect Parkinson's earlier than ever.
Joy Milne says she was living in Perth, Scotland, with her husband Les, when she noticed that he smelled different. Milne would later describe to the BBC as a kind of heavy, musky smell. The change was subtle, but it was there none-the-less. Milne says that at the time, she nagged Les a bit about missing showers, but didn't think much more of it.
Six years later, Les was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks brain cells, causing tremors and other mobility issues. In the United States, about one million Americans live with the disease. There are therapies that can help with the symptoms, but no cure.
Her husband's diagnosis would inspire Milne to join the charity Parkinson's UK, where she was able to meet other Parkinson's patients. But something weird happened. The smell was back. And it wasn't unique to Les. She could detect it on other Parkinson's patients as well.
Milne realized she could, in essence, smell Parkinson's disease.
This is amazing, because there is currently no definitive early test for Parkinson's. The only way is to watch for symptoms, and by the time that happens, the disease has already started to impact the brain.
Milne got in touch with scientists to let them know what she was experiencing. Now, Milne's amazing nose might lead to a brand new early-detection test for the disease.
http://www.upworthy.com/this-woman-s-nose-could-be-the-key-to-spotting-parkinson-s-early?c=upw1
This woman's nose could be the key to spotting Parkinson's early.
by James Gaines
A woman's incredible nose might help scientists detect Parkinson's earlier than ever.
Joy Milne says she was living in Perth, Scotland, with her husband Les, when she noticed that he smelled different. Milne would later describe to the BBC as a kind of heavy, musky smell. The change was subtle, but it was there none-the-less. Milne says that at the time, she nagged Les a bit about missing showers, but didn't think much more of it.
Six years later, Les was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks brain cells, causing tremors and other mobility issues. In the United States, about one million Americans live with the disease. There are therapies that can help with the symptoms, but no cure.
Her husband's diagnosis would inspire Milne to join the charity Parkinson's UK, where she was able to meet other Parkinson's patients. But something weird happened. The smell was back. And it wasn't unique to Les. She could detect it on other Parkinson's patients as well.
Milne realized she could, in essence, smell Parkinson's disease.
This is amazing, because there is currently no definitive early test for Parkinson's. The only way is to watch for symptoms, and by the time that happens, the disease has already started to impact the brain.
Milne got in touch with scientists to let them know what she was experiencing. Now, Milne's amazing nose might lead to a brand new early-detection test for the disease.
http://www.upworthy.com/this-woman-s-nose-could-be-the-key-to-spotting-parkinson-s-early?c=upw1
Black Gun Owners
An excerpt from the Huffington post -
Why Black People Own Guns
HuffPost spoke with 11 black gun owners to figure out what gun ownership means in a country determined to keep its black populace unarmed.
By Julia Craven
As much as America loves her guns, she has never liked the idea of seeing them in black hands.
Before the Revolutionary War, colonial Virginia passed a law barring black people from owning firearms — an exercise in gun control as racial control. In 1857, in his notorious Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney summoned the specter of black people freely enjoying the right to “keep and carry arms wherever they went.” Surely, he argued, the founders were not “so forgetful or regardless of their own safety” to permit such a thing. When black people armed themselves against white supremacist attacks following the Civil War, Southern state governments passed “black codes” barring them from owning guns. After the Black Panthers open carried to signal to California police officers that they would defend themselves against racial attacks in the late ’60s, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a state ban on open carry into law.
In 2016, legal gun owner Philando Castile was shot after informing a Minnesota police officer that he was armed. Two years prior, Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police while holding a toy gun. John Crawford suffered the same fate in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart.
So what does black gun ownership mean in a country so determined to keep its black populace unarmed? Since the 2016 election, interest in firearms has supposedly ticked upward in the black community. Gun shops and clubs link the interest to a desire for self-protection against the white supremacists emboldened by President Donald Trump’s election.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-gun-ownership_us_5a33fc38e4b040881bea2f37?9ae
Why Black People Own Guns
HuffPost spoke with 11 black gun owners to figure out what gun ownership means in a country determined to keep its black populace unarmed.
By Julia Craven
As much as America loves her guns, she has never liked the idea of seeing them in black hands.
Before the Revolutionary War, colonial Virginia passed a law barring black people from owning firearms — an exercise in gun control as racial control. In 1857, in his notorious Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney summoned the specter of black people freely enjoying the right to “keep and carry arms wherever they went.” Surely, he argued, the founders were not “so forgetful or regardless of their own safety” to permit such a thing. When black people armed themselves against white supremacist attacks following the Civil War, Southern state governments passed “black codes” barring them from owning guns. After the Black Panthers open carried to signal to California police officers that they would defend themselves against racial attacks in the late ’60s, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a state ban on open carry into law.
In 2016, legal gun owner Philando Castile was shot after informing a Minnesota police officer that he was armed. Two years prior, Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police while holding a toy gun. John Crawford suffered the same fate in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart.
So what does black gun ownership mean in a country so determined to keep its black populace unarmed? Since the 2016 election, interest in firearms has supposedly ticked upward in the black community. Gun shops and clubs link the interest to a desire for self-protection against the white supremacists emboldened by President Donald Trump’s election.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-gun-ownership_us_5a33fc38e4b040881bea2f37?9ae
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Sleep Deprivation Can Be Deadly
An excerpt from USA Today -
Here's why sleep deprivation is toxic and will eventually kill you
Jeff Stibel
You can live for about three minutes without air, three days without water and about 21 days without food. But in between food and water, there is something else critically essential: sleep.
It turns out you can only live about 11 days without sleep. You can give it a try if you don’t believe me, but, just like the other essentials, after day 11 you will probably die.
Sleep is one of the most important things we overlook, because most of us don’t consider it vital. The problem isn’t you — it’s your brain. Brain scientists really don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to sleep. For far too long, we have known too little about why we sleep. Instead of acknowledging that fact, scientists have made up fairy tales to explain our need for sleep. They have guessed that sleep is necessary for creativity, rest, rejuvenation and recovery.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2017/12/22/heres
Here's why sleep deprivation is toxic and will eventually kill you
Jeff Stibel
You can live for about three minutes without air, three days without water and about 21 days without food. But in between food and water, there is something else critically essential: sleep.
It turns out you can only live about 11 days without sleep. You can give it a try if you don’t believe me, but, just like the other essentials, after day 11 you will probably die.
Sleep is one of the most important things we overlook, because most of us don’t consider it vital. The problem isn’t you — it’s your brain. Brain scientists really don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to sleep. For far too long, we have known too little about why we sleep. Instead of acknowledging that fact, scientists have made up fairy tales to explain our need for sleep. They have guessed that sleep is necessary for creativity, rest, rejuvenation and recovery.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2017/12/22/heres
Google Maps vs. All Others
Hands down, Google Maps is best and in this article you can see why.
https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat
https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat
Monday, December 25, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
The Instant Pot Guy
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion
The electric multicooker is a true viral phenomenon. We went to the company’s Canadian headquarters to learn why.
By KEVIN ROOSE
I went to Kanata to get a peek behind the scenes of the Instant Pot phenomenon and meet its creator: Robert Wang, who invented the device and serves as chief executive of Double Insight, its parent company. What I found was a remarkable example of a new breed of 21st-century start-up — a homegrown hardware business with only around 50 employees that raised no venture capital funding, spent almost nothing on advertising, and achieved enormous size primarily through online word-of-mouth. It is also a testament to the enormous power of Amazon, and its ability to turn small businesses into major empires nearly overnight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/business/instant-pot.html?_r=0
Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion
The electric multicooker is a true viral phenomenon. We went to the company’s Canadian headquarters to learn why.
By KEVIN ROOSE
I went to Kanata to get a peek behind the scenes of the Instant Pot phenomenon and meet its creator: Robert Wang, who invented the device and serves as chief executive of Double Insight, its parent company. What I found was a remarkable example of a new breed of 21st-century start-up — a homegrown hardware business with only around 50 employees that raised no venture capital funding, spent almost nothing on advertising, and achieved enormous size primarily through online word-of-mouth. It is also a testament to the enormous power of Amazon, and its ability to turn small businesses into major empires nearly overnight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/business/instant-pot.html?_r=0
Great Reads
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
24 Of The Most Thought-Provoking Pieces Of Writing By People Of Color In 2017
Read these before the year is over.
By Zeba Blay
This was a year of consistent bad news, a year that (for better or worse) was rife for poignant, thought-provoking and conversation-starting commentary from writers of all backgrounds. And so, for the third year, we’ve curated a list of essays and articles that defined conversations about race, pop culture, politics and identity in 2017.
These essays and articles cover a wide array of topics, from the fascinating delusion of Rachel Dolezal to the horrors of fraternity hazing to the complexities of Donald Trump’s presidency.
As always, the criteria for this list is simple: All pieces must have been written by a person of color and been published online within the last year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/24-of-the-most-thought-provoking-pieces-of-writing-by-people-of-color-in-2017_us_5a303859e4b01bdd7657e96a
24 Of The Most Thought-Provoking Pieces Of Writing By People Of Color In 2017
Read these before the year is over.
By Zeba Blay
This was a year of consistent bad news, a year that (for better or worse) was rife for poignant, thought-provoking and conversation-starting commentary from writers of all backgrounds. And so, for the third year, we’ve curated a list of essays and articles that defined conversations about race, pop culture, politics and identity in 2017.
These essays and articles cover a wide array of topics, from the fascinating delusion of Rachel Dolezal to the horrors of fraternity hazing to the complexities of Donald Trump’s presidency.
As always, the criteria for this list is simple: All pieces must have been written by a person of color and been published online within the last year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/24-of-the-most-thought-provoking-pieces-of-writing-by-people-of-color-in-2017_us_5a303859e4b01bdd7657e96a
Friday, December 22, 2017
Quote II
From the NY Times -
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/us/past-debates-echo-in-split-between-cornel-west-and-ta-nehisi-coates.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_rr_20171222&nl=race-related&nlid=38867499&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
What We Read in 2017
From Chartbeat -
2017: The 100 Most Engaging Stories of the Year
http://2017.chartbeat.com/intro
2017: The 100 Most Engaging Stories of the Year
http://2017.chartbeat.com/intro
Yes!!! - College Acceptance Letters
From Essence -
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-teens-college-acceptance-reaction-videos#1
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-teens-college-acceptance-reaction-videos#1
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Black Excellence in Science
An excerpt from OZY -
THE SEGREGATED BLACK SCHOOLS THAT DOMINATED IN SCIENCE
By Daniel Malloy
The segregation that built Sumner also fueled its excellence. The best-educated white minds of the time could become lawyers and doctors and business leaders. The cream of the African-American intellectual crop was blocked from many such opportunities, so they often became educators. In the 1930s, at a time when many white high school teachers did not have bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of Sumner’s teachers had master’s degrees, according to research by Frank Manheim of George Mason University and Eckhard Hellmuth of the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
A history of Sumner written by its students in 1935 quotes an unnamed African-American educator: “Sumner is a child not of our own volition but rather an offspring of the race antipathy of a bygone period. It was a veritable blessing in disguise — a flower of which we may proudly say, ‘The bud had a bitter taste, but sweet indeed is the flower.’”
In 1952, the school systems on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line joined the International Science Fair movement. The Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair went on to become one of America’s biggest. The prizes it handed out in the 1950s, according to Manheim and Hellmuth, went largely to Sumner students. Then the baton was picked up by Lincoln High, a Black school in Kansas City, Missouri, which dominated the competition into the 1960s. In 1963, Lincoln’s Vernice Marie Murray won a national first place in physics with a project called “Experimental Methods of Verifying Force.”
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-segregated-black-schools-that-dominated-in-science/79621
~~~~~~~~~~
Malcolm Gladwell does a podcast entitled "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" - number 8 on the list below - that does a masterful job of explaining the error in thinking that is associated with the Brown vs the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. Having been raised in segregated schools, it supports what I already knew to be true.
THE SEGREGATED BLACK SCHOOLS THAT DOMINATED IN SCIENCE
By Daniel Malloy
The segregation that built Sumner also fueled its excellence. The best-educated white minds of the time could become lawyers and doctors and business leaders. The cream of the African-American intellectual crop was blocked from many such opportunities, so they often became educators. In the 1930s, at a time when many white high school teachers did not have bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of Sumner’s teachers had master’s degrees, according to research by Frank Manheim of George Mason University and Eckhard Hellmuth of the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
A history of Sumner written by its students in 1935 quotes an unnamed African-American educator: “Sumner is a child not of our own volition but rather an offspring of the race antipathy of a bygone period. It was a veritable blessing in disguise — a flower of which we may proudly say, ‘The bud had a bitter taste, but sweet indeed is the flower.’”
In 1952, the school systems on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line joined the International Science Fair movement. The Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair went on to become one of America’s biggest. The prizes it handed out in the 1950s, according to Manheim and Hellmuth, went largely to Sumner students. Then the baton was picked up by Lincoln High, a Black school in Kansas City, Missouri, which dominated the competition into the 1960s. In 1963, Lincoln’s Vernice Marie Murray won a national first place in physics with a project called “Experimental Methods of Verifying Force.”
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-segregated-black-schools-that-dominated-in-science/79621
~~~~~~~~~~
Malcolm Gladwell does a podcast entitled "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" - number 8 on the list below - that does a masterful job of explaining the error in thinking that is associated with the Brown vs the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. Having been raised in segregated schools, it supports what I already knew to be true.
YouTube - The World's Best Film School?
An excerpt from Wired -
THE WORLD'S BEST FILM SCHOOL IS FREE ON YOUTUBE
By AUTHOR: DAVID PIERCE
Lessons from the Screenplay launched on June 8, 2016, with a video called "Gone Girl—Don't Underestimate the Screenwriter." In it, Tucker explains why screenplays matter more than you think, and dissects the techniques Gillian Flynn used in adapting her novel for the film. As Tucker narrates over clips from the movie, the corresponding lines and notes from the original screenplay appear underneath. The video blew up immediately, climbing the r/movies Subreddit and eventually landing on Reddit's front page. Lessons from the Screenplay had 8,000 subscribers after just one day, and the Gone Girl video racked up 200,000 views in a week.
With that, Tucker had found himself part of a rich, growing corner of YouTube. You could call it YouTube Film School, staffed by creators all over the platform who spend their time helping viewers understand how film and TV work. YouTube is rich with movie reviews, hilariously re-cut trailers, and haphazardly uploaded clips of dubious quality and legality. But the best channels are the ones that teach film as an art form, that help you understand why a particular cut or camera move makes you feel the way it does.
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-film-school/
THE WORLD'S BEST FILM SCHOOL IS FREE ON YOUTUBE
By AUTHOR: DAVID PIERCE
Lessons from the Screenplay launched on June 8, 2016, with a video called "Gone Girl—Don't Underestimate the Screenwriter." In it, Tucker explains why screenplays matter more than you think, and dissects the techniques Gillian Flynn used in adapting her novel for the film. As Tucker narrates over clips from the movie, the corresponding lines and notes from the original screenplay appear underneath. The video blew up immediately, climbing the r/movies Subreddit and eventually landing on Reddit's front page. Lessons from the Screenplay had 8,000 subscribers after just one day, and the Gone Girl video racked up 200,000 views in a week.
With that, Tucker had found himself part of a rich, growing corner of YouTube. You could call it YouTube Film School, staffed by creators all over the platform who spend their time helping viewers understand how film and TV work. YouTube is rich with movie reviews, hilariously re-cut trailers, and haphazardly uploaded clips of dubious quality and legality. But the best channels are the ones that teach film as an art form, that help you understand why a particular cut or camera move makes you feel the way it does.
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-film-school/
2017 Photos
From the Atlantic -
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/the-most-2017-photos-ever/548789/
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/the-most-2017-photos-ever/548789/
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Boy Calls 911 on the Grinch
From USA Today -
To save Christmas, boy calls 911 on the Grinch and then helps cops nab him
By Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. — It's actually a story of saving Christmas from the Grinch.
TyLon Pittman, a 5-year-old Mississippi boy, knew he was too little to take on the Grinch all by himself, so having identified the threat, he took action. TyLon called 911 to report that he did not want the Grinch to come steal his Christmas.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/18/boy-calls-911-report-grinch/960746001/
To save Christmas, boy calls 911 on the Grinch and then helps cops nab him
By Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion Ledger
TyLon Pittman, a 5-year-old Mississippi boy, knew he was too little to take on the Grinch all by himself, so having identified the threat, he took action. TyLon called 911 to report that he did not want the Grinch to come steal his Christmas.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/18/boy-calls-911-report-grinch/960746001/
Monday, December 18, 2017
Backpacks From Around the World
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/12/the-things-kids-carried/548105/
Sunday, December 17, 2017
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