A notebook of useful things
Demonocracy is an interesting little site which provides graphics for visualising all those hard-to-visualise economic data. Here for instance are the trillions of dollars of debt owned by eleven of the world’s top debtor nations, stacked in 100-dollar bills.
Fortune Magazine published this map of undersea internet data infrastructure around the globe. Continue reading
Der Spiegel published a chart showing the effects of a breakup of the euro. Will it ever come to this?
Nature Biotechnology (2012) doi:10.1038/nbt.2269
On 7th March, US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta, testifying before a Senate committee, declared that “it is not clear what constitutes the Syrian armed opposition – there has been no single unifying military alternative that can be recognized, appointed, or contacted”. He was right. Continue reading
In 1937, the BBC were to cover the Illumination of the Fleet at the Spithead Royal Naval review with live commentary by Lt Cdr Thomas ‘Tommy’ Woodroffe. Pre-transmission naval hospitality had been lavish, and Woodroffe was already listing heavily to port, awash in pink gins.
What followed was a masterpiece. The full eloquence of his commentary is a monument to radio broadcasting, full of long gaps, repetition, vagueness, and sudden changes of tone from obsequious to aggressive, against the whistling crackle of vintage radio.
There’s nothing between us and heaven. Nothing at all.
At this point Woodroffe was faded out and replaced by music. He later denied being “lit up” himself, claiming to have been affected by the emotion of the occasion – possibly the first recorded example of broadcaster euphemism.
Nature reclaims the city. Photos of Fukushima exclusion zone, one year later.
And here’s Chernobyl after 25 years.
The time for analyses is over. You’re better off burning your money and arming yourself with a bow and arrow. There may not be many mammoth still roaming the wastelands but at least you’ll die with dignity.
Last Updated at 17:33 GMT
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