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The text message that's crashing iPhones

Oh, thanks for that.

May 27, 2015 at 6:33PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Here's the story behind the iPhone text message that makes your phone reboot. Cult of Mac:

My daughter sent it to me yesterday. She found it unnerving, which didn't stop her from trying it out on everyone she knew. As one of the commenters says:

My money's on young, bored, Russians.

GEEK The top story on Digg this morning appears to have been chosen for its subject, not the brilliance of the prose. It's high-school quality. Remember how you padded out an essay with meaningless opening paragraphs? Did you begin the piece with an assertion that was undone by your first example?

Criminey. The turning-out-of-pockets communicates poverty, not ignorance.

That's two paragraphs spent on nothing. Will the third paragraph reveal the point? We press on:

Literally everybody will say "phwoar." While rubbing their thighs. It was really thigh-rubbing good.

If this makes you despair about the quality of writing on the internet, read Sadie Stein's short tale about an old man and a pineapple request. You will feel much better.

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ART I had no idea the same guy did all the early Elvis Costello albums, or that he was a legend in the industry, or that he killed himself in 1983. Barney Bubbles was his professional name; Colin Fulcher was his given name. Says wikipedia about his demise: "He had considerable personal and financial worries. His sleeves were being rejected by musicians, such as Elvis Costello." Wonder what he would have designed for "Goodbye Cruel World." Just looking at that cover you knew it was a dud.

SCIENCE! The movement to get rid of people never goes away. FastCo asks: "These Photos Tackle An Uncomfortable Question: What If There Are Just Too Many People On Earth?" Here's one of the photos:

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

You're supposed to think that's pollution instead of steam. The countryside doesn't seem particularly overcrowded, does it? Anyway:

I wonder why! Ehrlich's predictions were so spot-on. You can read the entire book online here, which would seem to be preferable; the resources required to print it out, and the industrial infrastructure required to tote it around the planet, would seem to be contrary to its intention.

An excerpt:

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

States with mandatory retirement assistance programs that require younger workers to pay for the older ones. Next question?

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VotD Since I've been complaining and snarking a lot, here's something nice: five seconds of cute bears, wrestling.

Awww.

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jameslileks

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