Snapzu Life & Personal Interests: May 2017

Wednesday 31 May 2017

Nomadic bookseller travels all over France with his tiny library on wheels

We’ve seen a number of tiny home constructions put to all sorts of good use, but this French nomadic library on wheels is très chic. Built by tiny home specialists La Maison Qui Chemine, the Librairie Itinérante (traveling bookstore) is a custom-made tiny home built for an altruistic bookseller who travels the all over France delivering books to small villages that don’t have their own libraries or bookshops.
Read more: http://inhabitat.com/nomadic-bookseller-travels-all-over-france-with-his-tiny-library-on-wheels/?source=Snapzu

7 Ways to Maximize Misery

How to make yourself sad.
Read more: https://snapzu.com/jasont/7-ways-to-maximize-misery?source=Snapzu

10+ Master-class balloon animals by Japanese artist Masayoshi Matsumoto.

Incredibly intricate animal and insect sculptures. Matsumoto doesn’t use markers, stickers or any other supplementary material. Ever. His multi-colored animal kingdom is made purely out of blowing and twisting balloons.
Read more: https://www.demilked.com/balloon-art-masayoshi-matsumoto-japan/?source=Snapzu

What Makes The Spelling Bee So Hard

This week, 291 children, ranging from a single kindergartner to 124 eighth-graders, will assemble in National Harbor, Maryland, for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Since 1996, young spellers have attempted to spell over 14,000 words — from abactor to zymurgy. Twenty-five percent of those words, over 3,500, have been misspelled. Oliver Roeder sifts through all 21 years’ worth of errors, looking for reasons that some of the best spellers in the world stumbled when the stakes were highest.
Read more: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-makes-the-spelling-bee-so-hard/?source=Snapzu

There’s a dark side to meditation that no one talks about

The practice is not all peace, love, and blissful glimpses of unreality.
Read more: https://qz.com/993465/theres-a-dark-side-to-meditation-that-no-one-talks-about/?source=Snapzu

Chocolate is not a super food

Listen: we all want to believe that we make good choices. It doesn't matter if I douse my lettuce in fatty salad dressing, it's still good for me. Yes, there is an awful lot of sugary granola in my yogurt but hey, it's Greek yogurt. And maybe I do eat a lot of chocolate, but so what? It's good for my heart!
Read more: http://www.popsci.com.au/science/chocolate-is-not-a-super-food,463192?source=Snapzu

David Barton: The fact that there is no mention of God in the Constitution is proof it’s not a secular document

Religious Right psuedo-historian David Barton spent a good portion of his “WallBuilders Live” radio program today insisting that the absence of any mention of God in the U.S. Constitution is proof that it is not a secular document. ‘Well, the word “God” isn’t in the Constitution,’” Barton said. “There’s a reason for that and it doesn’t mean it’s secular, it means just the opposite.”
Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/05/30/david-barton-the-fact-that-there-is-no-mention-of-god-in-the-constitution-is-proof-it-is-not-a-secular-document_partner/?source=Snapzu

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Where are you living?

You can live in the past or the future. But the most satisfying place to live is the present
Read more: https://snapzu.com/christinefield/where-are-you-living?source=Snapzu

Chasing the Harvest: ‘If You Want to Die, Stay at the Ranch’

In this oral history, a former sheepherder describes the loneliness and medical hardship he experienced while tending sheep in California’s Central Valley. By Heraclio Astete, with journalist Gabriel Thompson.
Read more: https://longreads.com/2017/05/17/chasing-the-harvest-heraclio-astete/?source=Snapzu

How a dog's diet shapes its gut microbiome

Studies of the gut microbiome have gone to the dogs -- and pets around the world could benefit as a result. In a new paper, researchers report that the ratio of proteins and carbohydrates in a canine's daily diet have a significant influence on the balance of microbes in its gut. Researchers observed that dogs fed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet had enriched microbial gene networks associated with weight loss in humans.
Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170124111352.htm?source=Snapzu

Your steak isn’t leaking blood — here’s what that red liquid really is.

Stop being grossed out over that red liquid leaking from your steak.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/red-liquid-leak-meat-myoglobin-not-blood-2017-5?source=Snapzu

First Came Normcore. Now Get Ready for Gorpcore

Declaring oneself seriously outdoorsy and politically aware. By Jason Chen.
Read more: https://www.thecut.com/2017/05/new-fashion-trends-normcore-gorpcore.html?mid=twitter_cut?source=Snapzu

The reasons you can't be anonymous anymore

In today’s hyper-connected world, it is becoming harder and harder for anyone to maintain their privacy. Is it time we just gave up on the idea altogether?
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170529-the-reasons-you-can-never-be-anonymous-again?source=Snapzu

Blog Post Ideas: Maximize Your Reach with the Right Topics

A blog is only as effective as its posts. Rand offers six paths you can take to make sure your posts resonate with your audiences.
Read more: https://moz.com/blog/blog-post-ideas-whiteboard-friday?source=Snapzu

Trump’s Ignorance Is Radicalizing U.S. Historians

They’re in great demand by the media. But will many Americans even believe what they’re saying, or accuse them of partisan bias? By Graham Vyse. (May 3, 2017)
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/142471/trumps-ignorance-radicalizing-us-historians?source=Snapzu

Mousetrap sniffs out graffiti and alerts train staff.

Sydney Trains is using a new technology named Mousetrap to sniff out graffiti vandals and alert the police. (2015)
Read more: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mousetrap-sniffs-out-graffiti-in-sydney-315214?source=Snapzu

91-year-old man spends 56 years building his own cathedral alone.

Former monk Justo Gallego Martinez has been constructing his own cathedral in Mejorada del Campo, Spain, since 1961. He had no prior knowledge of architecture and hadn't laid a brick in his life, yet his project currently stands 131ft tall, and acts as a wonderful reminder that faith overcomes everything.
Read more: https://www.demilked.com/monk-builds-cathedral-justo-gallego-martinez-mejorada-del-campo/?source=Snapzu

Monday 29 May 2017

The remains of Brooklyn’s disappearing industrial waterfront

Graffiti artists had begun covering the empty warehouse in elaborate murals, and in 2016, a partial vacate order was placed on the buildings next door for illegal dumping of asbestos and other hazardous waste. Several other major violations were also cited in 2016 at the property’s southernmost warehouses, which had become a canvas for large-scale graffiti works. None of these violations appear to have been resolved, and the entire campus is currently being left wide open to the elements.
Read more: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/3/16/14939144/gowanus-brooklyn-photo-essay-industrial-waterfront?source=Snapzu

How Do Children Become Narcissists?

I am often asked “What type of parenting leads children to grow up with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder?” Or “Are the children of Narcissistic parents at risk of becoming Narcissists themselves?” I thought that I would use today’s post to shed some light on this issue. How Does Someone “Get” a Narcissistic Personality Disorder?
Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/understanding-narcissism/201705/how-do-children-become-narcissists?source=Snapzu

Alone on the Open Road: Truckers Feel Like ‘Throwaway People’

President Trump ignited a national discussion of blue-collar jobs. Truck driving, once a road to the middle class, is now low-paying, grinding, unhealthy work. We talked with drivers about why they do it. By “Trip Gabriel.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/trucking-jobs.html?source=Snapzu

Shakespeare’s Genius Is Nonsense

What the Bard can teach science about language and the limits of the human mind.
Read more: http://nautil.us/issue/48/chaos/shakespeares-genius-is-nonsense-rp?source=Snapzu

7 Myths About Washing Your Produce - Modern Farmer

Break the myths of produce cleaning: how to appropriately wash your veggies and fruits.
Read more: http://modernfarmer.com/2015/01/7-myths-washing-produce/?source=Snapzu

The Merry Life of Dragnet Surveillance

In the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013, a grudging acceptance was made by the Obama administration that something had to be done about a roguish surveillance complex unhinged from its foundations. The National Security Agency had overstretched its powers… By Binoy Kampmark.
Read more: http://dissidentvoice.org/2017/05/the-merry-life-of-dragnet-surveillance/?source=Snapzu

A New Report Shows That School Segregation Is Alive And Well

And the Trump administration’s school-choice policies will only make the problem worse. By Edwin Rios.
Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/more-than-one-in-three-black-students-in-the-south-attend-an-intensely-segregated-school-trump-devos?source=Snapzu

Paris launched a contest to re-design its derelict, disused and defunct spaces.

Three abandoned metro stations, two defunct underground nightclubs, a forgotten art nouveau shopping arcade, an old Renault garage, a disused water reservoir, and a post office, these are just a few of the 34 incredible hidden sites of Paris being presented as a creative canvas for potential designers, architects and urban planners as part of “Reinvent Paris 2”
Read more: http://www.messynessychic.com/2017/05/25/paris-launched-a-competition-to-re-design-its-derelict-disused-and-defunct-spaces/?source=Snapzu

Ancient Chinese Medicine Blocks Sperm From Egg

It's safe, natural, has no side effects, and works — even after conception.
Read more: https://www.inverse.com/article/31600-birth-control-contraception-plant-folk-medicine-sperm-block-egg?source=Snapzu

Muscular men less likely to support social and economic equality, study suggests.

Physically stronger men are less in favour of social and economic equality than weaker men, new research from Brunel University London indicates.
Read more: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Muscular-men-less-likely-to-support-social-and-economic-equality-study-suggests?source=Snapzu

‘I wasn’t cock-a-hoop that I’d fooled the experts’: Britain's master forger tells all

Shaun Greenhalgh has turned his hand to everyone from Leonardo da Vinci to Lowry. He’s been to prison, but has never revealed the whole picture. Until now. By Simon Parkin.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/27/wasnt-cock-a-hoop-fooled-experts-britains-master-art-forger?source=Snapzu

Salvation Mode

Visually mesmerizing, intellectually engaging, and nearly decommodified, screensavers reveled in a stillness and rapture that’s gone missing in technology. By Zack Hatfield.
Read more: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/05/23/salvation-mode/?source=Snapzu

Americans' Savings Make Wealth Managers Rich

There was an interesting and slightly scary article in the Wall Street Journal recently, in which reporter Andrea Fuller tries to find out what fees she’s paying to the financial adviser who manages her money. At long last, after a torturous experience with the company, she finally manages to find out how much she’s paying -- 1.4 percent of assets every year, with 0.85 percentage point of that going to the advisers who manage her investments, and 0.55 percentage point to the funds they invest in.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-16/americans-savings-make-wealth-managers-rich?source=Snapzu

A pit bull bit the head of a 3-week-old Michigan girl, fatally injuring the infant just minutes after an adult checked on her. An autopsy confirmed the bite killed Susannah Jean Murray. An adult found her bleeding with a severe head injury at her home in Grand Rapids on Thursday evening.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/27/pit-bull-bites-kills-3-week-old-girl-michigan/351459001/?source=Snapzu

We've received word from Uber that the Kalanick family suffered a tragic event this weekend. CEO Travis Kalanick's parents were in a boating accident...
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/27/tragedy-strikes-as-uber-ceo-kalanick-loses-mother-in-boating-accident-father-in-serious-condition/?source=Snapzu

John Bevis explores the various feats of cunning and subterfuge undertaken by the Kearton brothers — among the very first professional wildlife photographers — in their pioneering attempts to get ever closer to their subjects.
Read more: http://publicdomainreview.org/2017/05/17/stuffed-ox-dummy-tree-artificial-rock-deception-in-the-work-of-richard-and-cherry-kearton/?source=Snapzu

Google debuts a new way to follow your footsteps around the web

New machine-learning tool aims to deliver even more information to Google’s advertisers about your ‘consumer journey’
Read more: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/05/25/google-debuts-a-new-way-to-follow-your-footsteps-around-the-web/?source=Snapzu

My Adventures With the Accountants of Germany

On freelancing and paying taxes in Berlin. By Vanessa Ellingham.
Read more: https://thebillfold.com/my-adventures-with-the-accountants-of-germany-1199dd80ed4e?source=Snapzu

Accused of underpaying women, Google says it's too expensive to get wage data

Google argued that it was too financially burdensome and logistically challenging to compile and hand over salary records that the government has requested, sparking a strong rebuke from the US Department of Labor (DoL), which has accused the Silicon Valley firm of underpaying women.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/26/google-gender-discrimination-case-salary-records?source=Snapzu

Saturday 27 May 2017

Alice in Chains - Nutshell (MTV Unplugged)

One of the best Alice in Chains performances ever.
Read more: https://snapzu.com/ChrisTyler/alice-in-chains-nutshell-mtv-unplugged?source=Snapzu

Gregg Allman, Influential Force Behind the Allman Brothers Band, Dies at 69

The singer, keyboardist and songwriter was a founder of the Allman Brothers Band and a composer of songs like “Whipping Post” and “Midnight Rider.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/arts/music/gregg-allman-dead-allman-brothers-band.html?source=Snapzu

What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's doesn't have to be your brain's destiny, says neuroscientist and author of "Still Alice," Lisa Genova. She shares the latest science investigating the disease -- and some promising research on what each of us can do to build an Alzheimer's-resistant brain.
Read more: https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_genova_what_you_can_do_to_prevent_alzheimer_s#t-824245?source=Snapzu

In a first, marijuana substance reduces seizures for some epilepsy patients in clinical trial

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a component of cannabis reduces seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy, marking a significant step in efforts to use marijuana and its derivatives to treat serious medical conditions.
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/first-marijuana-substance-reduces-seizures-epilepsy-patients-clinical-trial/?source=Snapzu