A new era? Iranians erase 'Death to America' graffiti from wall of former US embassy in Tehran

Slogans against America are being erased from walls on the street of Tehran, Iranian media has reported in recent days. Iranian news sites have published pictures of a person wiping off graffiti that reads,"Death to America," also from the walls of where the US embassy was formerly located prior to its closure after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LQ04wj

Living Small: The Psychology of Tiny Houses

For a very small, but growing number of people, diminutive dwellings are making dreams come true.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1FeypNZ

Why Stoicism is one of the best mind-hacks ever

As legions of warriors and prisoners can attest, Stoicism is not grim resolve but a way to wrest happiness from adversity.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Jyzgx4

A Gleeful Foreboding

It’s strange how much modern people secretly crave weather-related disasters—the blizzard that shuts down a city, bringing travel and commerce to a halt, the tropical storm that knocks out power, leaving millions in the dark. People of earlier centuries rightly feared such events and earnestly prayed to be delivered from them. Now there's an excitement that begins building the moment we hear of such a storm. By Clark Strand.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1X8GgYD

Not quite there yet

I was sent this list of 10 “biblical” beliefs that poison Christians, hosted on a site that opposes ‘spiritual abuse’. It’s a weirdly twisty look into the views of a fairly liberal but clearly fervent Christian — I actually agree with them that a lot of these beliefs are actively harmful, but the reasoning they use to reach that same conclusion is odd, to me. That makes it interesting to read, because it provides a peculiar perspective on concerns that are familiar to atheists.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JImUiP

Does atheism have to be anti-religious?

We tend to understand atheism as a war between religion and science - but in earlier times atheism was both more complex and more rich, says philosopher John Gray.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JIi9pp

The real secret to learning a language online

One of the founding miracles of the Internet was that it connected people around the world. But without a common language, that connection didn’t mean much. The Internet mirrored an increasingly globalized society in which not being able to speak a language could mean being locked out of a culture... By Nithin Coca.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LPzNOS

Talking to ourselves: the science of the little voice in your head

If we want to understand what’s happening in the brain when people ‘hear voices’, we first need to understand what happens during ordinary inner speech. By Peter Moseley.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1X80XUA

10 foods you should never, ever eat

Why you might want to skip eating certain apples, canned coconut milk and 9 other commonly consumed comestibles.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1fSiGgU

The Core of the Christian Faith Isn’t Intellectual, It’s Emotional

Religious conviction originates from the emotions first, then the intellect. That’s why the reasons they give us for the things they believe seem so weak to us and so strong to them. They feel the heat of their own personal commitments, and it predisposes them to accept things with far less support than it would require for anyone else to accept them. These beliefs were likely built upon a foundation of emotion during a period of time in which the believer was open and vulnerable to persuasion.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1fSiGgS

How To Replace Your Training Program With A Real Learning Culture

Everyone hates all-day mandatory training. Here's how to encourage learning a different way.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Ex0zcj

News Photos for the Last Day of August

A look at the best news photos from around the world.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1MYFp7W

Silent Reading Doesn't Exist

In the wake of disaster, a writer listens to the voice in his head.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LP0l2y

Nestle: Forced labor has no place in our food supply chain

Nestle says "forced labor has no place in our supply chain" following a U.S. class action lawsuit that alleges the Swiss food company knowingly supported a system of slave labor and human trafficking to make its Fancy Feast cat food. Nestle didn't deny the allegations in an email Sunday to The Associated Press but said its guidelines require suppliers to respect human rights. It outlined steps Nestle has taken to rid forced labor from its seafood supply chain.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LOW3bn

30 Things to Watch Out For in an Art Rep

There are a lot of great ones out there but there are also some bad ones, so what follows are some important points illustrators should think about when deciding to approach one, and how to protect yourself from getting fleeced. I really feel they should work FOR YOU, not the other way around. You are not their employee, and they are not your boss. They should also not push projects on you that you have no interest in, or treat you as an extension of their brand.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KA5Ssr

Remarkable illustration of Paul Kuczynski (87 photos)

Satirical art by Polish designer.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KA5RER

Daredevil performs backflp on the edge of 700m high ‘Troll’s Tongue’

Those who don't like heights should look away now. Because, if the idea of standing near the edge of a piece of rock jutting out over a 700 metre drop is enough to give you sweaty palms, these pictures of a daredevil doing a backflip are likely to send you into a full blown panic attack. Luckily, Toby Segar had no such fears when he decided to perform the stunt on the edge of Trolltunga - or 'Troll's Tongue' - in Norway.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1IAhhCi

How not to wear high heels

Hungarian electro artist Yvein Monq soundtracks Kinopravda’s sunny short, in which models take a tumble in everything from conceptual stilettos to party heels.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LOLULQ

The Myth of the New Orleans School Makeover

The takeover by charter programs hasn’t helped the worst-off kids. By Andrea Gabor.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1PHjNMt

This videogame glitch wants to be an artist too

Over the weekend, Willy Chyr encountered a rare and beautiful demon inside the code for his upcoming spatial puzzler Relativity. Beyond being a mere bug, this unknown corruption has emerged from a new shader Chyr was toying around with while creating a series of conceptual screenshots he deemed the "Rorschach Test Series."
Read more: http://ift.tt/1PHjNfI

Mary Shelley Biographer Charlotte Gordon on the Life, Loves, and Legacy of the Influential 'Frankenstein' Author

Happy 218th birthday to Mary Shelley, Frankenstein author, feminist, and daughter of writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. The lives and esteemed works of both Marys were recently explored in the book Romantic Outlaws, a fascinating dual biography written by Charlotte Gordon. Our own Sarah Seltzer called the text “immense, and immensely readable.” Flavorwire spoke to Gordon about Mary Shelley’s creative legacy...
Read more: http://ift.tt/1N5nMVC

Mob molls of New York City: Female companions of Mafia men

Take a fascinating look at the female companions of the Mafia, who not only put their lives on the line being associated with some of the most dangerous men in the world, but who also acted as their accomplices in some of the most deadliest crimes.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KnLRGV

"Destiny - House of Wolves - Lord of Wolves Shotgun" by Mark Van Haitsma

A model that I had the pleasure to work on for Destiny. This was a collaboration with Rajeev Nattam, who did the orginal combatant model.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Fd0nJS

Longer lasting ice-cream developed by scientists

A protein to make the frozen dessert melt more slowly has been discovered by physicists at Edinburgh and Dundee universities
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KXy58g

Bizarre new fashion trend in Asia of wearing nothing but a plastic bag

A new bizarre fashion trend suggests you may have been overlooking the ultimate clothing item. People in Taiwan are stripping naked and posing in nothing other than a plastic bag.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JwEgCj

Best Blueberry Muffins - Once Upon a Chef

Bursting with fresh blueberries with a tender, cakey crumb and sparkling sugar crust, these really are the best blueberry muffins. I’ve tried fussier recipes that call for mashing some of the blueberries into the batter or even swirling homemade blueberry jam into the mix, but there’s no need for all that — this simple recipe tops them all. As you …
Read more: http://ift.tt/1hrxrIt

The ‘Fight for $15′: It’s not just about raising wages at McDonald’s, it’s about a living wage for everyone

The Fight for $15 is giving McDonald’s a stark choice – either sit down and work together with us to find a way to lift up hundreds of thousands of low-wage McDonald’s workers or face continued economic war. That warning is not without heft. Already, as a result of the Fight for $15’s prodding, Brazilian prosecutors are investigating alleged wage theft, child labor and unsafe conditions at McDonald’s franchised operations, while the European Union is investigating...
Read more: http://ift.tt/1NSbtv2

Denali or McKinley? How a 19th century political ‘joke’ turned into a 119-year-long debate

There was no reason why a gold prospector of little consequence should have been able to christen America's tallest peak. But the name "Mount McKinley" stuck
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JwhN8v

Central banks can’t save the markets from a crash. They shouldn’t even try

Alarming data from China was met with a soothing hint about monetary policy. But treasuries cannot keep pumping cheap credit into a series of asset bubbles
Read more: http://ift.tt/1UhjsXL

A Village on the Verge of Being Swept Away

Two decades ago, the people of this tiny village came to terms with what had become increasingly obvious: They could no longer fight back the rising waters. Their homes perched on a low-lying, treeless tuft of land between two rivers on Alaska’s west coast, residents saw the water creeping closer every year, gobbling up fields where they used to pick berries and hunt moose.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1IydK7C

Climbing - Footwork

Article by Chuck Woodward; videos by Dan Crowe
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KWynft

Crack Climbing

Good face climbers can interpret complex hand and foot sequences, moving efficiently from one body position to the next constantly shifting their center of gravity relative to their hands and feet. Crack climbing sequences, however, are often repetitive, ascending the seam of the crack like an inchworm. Of course, body position is still important in crack climbing, but perhaps the greater challenge for the aspiring crack climber is figuring out how to create "holds" from vertical cracks.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JGfUr8

This Stunning Mountain House in India Has Mies-Modern Vibes

Reinforced concrete is Sonar's structural—as well as aesthetic—workhorse, and he favored it for its similarity to the colors of the surrounding landscape. And, within the box, Sonar arranges an organic flow of domestic functions rather than creating rigid divisions in the 4,305-square-foot residence. However, the best part—and the reason why it's called Panorama House—are the full-height windows that frame uninterrupted views of the landscape, the changing seasons, and torrential Indian monsoons
Read more: http://ift.tt/1UgW5NY

Step inside a restaurant where no one takes your order or serves you

I must admit that I fully expected to dislike Eatsa, a new restaurant slated to open next week in San Francisco with a sleek, 21st-century take on the famous Horn & Hardart Automat. In the late 1980s, when I was a summer intern in New York, working in the Daily News Building, the last remaining Horn & Hardart Automat was right around the corner. The cafeteria chain that operated in Philadelphia and New York was in its twilight then...
Read more: http://ift.tt/1UgTm74

Are we all 'a little bit' OCD?

Clinical psychologist Uta Frith explores the many manifestations of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and why it differs from traits like fastidiousness
Read more: http://ift.tt/1UgQy9W

The Xenomorph Rex Would Be the Most Terrifying Dinosaur Ever

3D illustrator Oliver Pabilona based himself on some fan art by artist Stjepan Šejić (nebezial) to create a hair-raising version of a T-Rex/Xenomorph hybrid.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Q2Abbh

(The Husband's) Secrets and Self-Perception

I was about five minutes into the audiobook. Some mummy-mafia/schoolgate nonsense of the kind I diligently dodge. Brow furrowed, I pressed stop and Googled the title. Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. I don’t know how it ended up on my phone, I don’t know why I kept listening, and I know without any doubt at all that it was the best book I read in 2014.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Kn1oXs

The biggest mistakes people make when choosing a life partner

Thinking about how overwhelmingly important it is to pick the right life partner is like thinking about how huge the universe really is or how terrifying death really is—it’s too intense to internalize the reality of it, so we just don’t think about it that hard and remain in slight denial about the magnitude of the situation.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LECuzP

Watch: A 1-Minute Video Shows The Completion Of Gaudí's Sagrada Família

A new video imagines what the Barcelona's Sagrada Família will look like when it's finished in 2026.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Kn0tpP

The Science Of Why You Should Spend Your Money On Experiences, Not Things

You don't have infinite money. Spend it on stuff that research says makes you happy.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Vq5MXu

13 'How did you get that?' wildlife photos from Tin Man Lee

Tin Man Lee has only been taking photos in a serious way for about 3 years — but you'd never know it by looking at his portfolio.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1LExQ4R

500 Days Alaska to Argentina - The Modern Motorcycle Diaries

Read more: http://ift.tt/1LMJOMC

How Fishermen's Bragging Rights Gave Birth To Fine Art

In 19th-century Japan, fishermen found a foolproof way to record trophy catches. The method was known as gyotaku, or "fish rubbing," and allowed fishermen to print inked fish onto paper — creating a permanent record of their size. They used a nontoxic sumi-e ink, a black ink traditionally used in both writing and painting which could be easily washed off. Once the print was made, the fish was either released, if it was still alive, or sold at market.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1fQbXDY

Why Are So Many Christians So Un-Christian?

Many right-wing Christians vilify the poor, in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. Why the hypocrisy?
Read more: http://ift.tt/1VpVvKO

Books Coming Early September

Clive Cussler's new Fargo adventure publishes on Sept. 1.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1UgkDXt

34 Indigenous Crops Promoting Health and Feeding the World

Food Tank has compiled a list of indigenous fruits, vegetables, and grains that are nutritious, delicious, and contribute to sustainable livelihoods.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1ErTJ7H

The Evolution of Magazine Covers

A look at how we’ve changed in the past 100 years
Read more: http://ift.tt/1JFIV6f

The busboy who cradled a dying RFK has finally stepped out of the past

In June, Juan Romero did something he hadn't done in decades. He celebrated his birthday, going out to dinner with his family in San Jose. "I always dreaded when June was coming up," said Romero, 65, who has struggled for most of his adult life to let go of his crippling memory of an American tragedy.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1KmNKUc

A College Curriculum on Your Bookshelf: 50 Books for 50 Classes

It’s officially back-to-school time, and we all know what that means: sitting in class, writing papers, getting sweet knowledge delivery before running off to the latest kegger. But what about a more practical method of study? Yes, in this case I am using the word “practical” to describe reading literature.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1N3lrKY

The SerendipitiBus

A group of eight recent grads renovated this clunker of a bus into a beautiful RV and took it thousands of miles around the States.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1idg0fv