Who Gets Hitler's Profits?

"Hitler did produce a last will and testament leaving his inheritance to his three siblings. But the German state of Bavaria seized all of Hitler's property after the Third Reich fell in 1945, and it currently owns the rights to his estate."

Ooh, Is That Hitler?
by Christopher Beam
http://www.slate.com/id/2217231/

Question of the Day: Smoking

How bad is smoking (think of all the people who smoke around the world) for the environment? If everyone stopped smoking would it help the environment in a significant way?

On Ebay and Fakes

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/04/department-of-unintended-consequences.html

On the Female Orgasm

http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14664-7/how-women-got-their-curves-and-other-justso-stories/excerpt

Alex Tabarrok TED Interview

http://blog.ted.com/2009/04/the_future_of_c.php

Debate: Is it Wrong to Buy Sex?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc2WCT92h-A&feature=channel_page

Should Restaurants Charge for Bread & Butter?

After this reading this, maybe it isn't such a bad idea after all...

Our Nightly Bread
by Frank Bruni
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/our-nightly-bread-2/

"Green" Barbecuing - Which Meat?

"In general, pig meat is greener than beef, mutton or other ruminant meats. For one thing, pigs don't expel methane from their digestive tracts throught the day. They also reproduce more efficiently: Although a cow or sheep may give birth to a single offspring a year, a sow typically has 20 to 30, meaning fewer resources are expended on breeding stock. Finally, pigs take a lot less time - and therefore less feed - to reach their market weight."

The Kindest Cut
by Nina Shen Rastogi
http://www.slate.com/id/2217022/

Michelin Guide Coming to Kansai

"A team of seven Japanese inspectors has been in the area since autumn 2007, anonymously testing and retesting the 1,000 restaurants that are currently under consideration. Each inspector goes through roughly 600 restaurants per year."

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20090424d2.html

10 Countries in Deep Trouble

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Countries-in-Deep-usnews-14971805.html;_ylt=AuUZnr4HvLaviL2JzPrLplwazJV4?.&.pf=real-estate

How Many Visits to a Restaurant Before Reviewing It?

Todd Kliman: With a new place, my general rule of thumb is to go at least three times, sometimes four, occasionally five.It's not a science. There are no firm rules. Sometimes, you know all you need to know about a place after two visits. And sometimes, it takes five to really get a grip on things.Restaurants with pretensions to the big-time often are harder to judge after one visit than ethnic spots, which are usually much more consistent.The former have a lot of moving parts, and it takes time for all those gears to move as one. Sometimes, they never move as one.Should you start recommending it?Why not?Although be mindful that one of the laws of nature -- and it always happened to me before I became a critic, always, without fail -- was that if you tell people how good a place is, they will invariably come back and tell you they were disappointed.So much of why someone responds poorly to a rec or a review, has to do with expectations -- with what a person builds that place up to be in his or her mind.Do friends turn against friends on account of a bad rec?I doubt it, although I guess anything's possible.Remember the premise of "Art," the Yasmin Reza play? The friend turning on the friend on account of his love for a crappy piece of art?

New: Google News Timeline

Search news like a map...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/163476/google_news_timeline_a_glorious_intriguing_time_sink.html

Check it out here:
http://newstimeline.googlelabs.com/

Guide to Living to 100

10 Health Habits That Will Help You Live to 100
by Deborah Kotz
http://health.yahoo.com/featured/7/10-health-habits-that-will-help-you-live-to-100/

Newest Sport: "Stacking"

Well, it's been around awhile, but starting to get more attention...Perhaps because one doesn't need a lot of fancy equipment - great for a recession sport.

Stacktacular
by S. James Snyder
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1891737,00.html

Fact of the Day: Earnings Per Swing

"A-Rod earns roughly $10,000 per swing."

Thrift Nancy
by Nancy Gibbs
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891527,00.html

Happiness Quote of the Day

"Once you reach the median level of income, roughly $50,000 a year, wealth and contentment go their seperate ways, and studies find that a millionaire is no more likely to be happy than someone earning one-twentieth as much."

Thrift Nation
by Nancy Gibbs
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891527,00.html

Analyze Your Netflix Purchases

See if you are saving money or optimizing the survive...

http://toys.flagrantdisregard.com/netflix.php

Infographic: How Long Will Our Resources Last?

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2605/26051202.jpg

What's Made in the USA?

"America still produces more good than any other country - $1.6 trillion worth, according to the federal Burea of Economic Analysis. While some analysts predict that China will soon overtake the US as the world's leading producer, America currently accounts for about 20% of all manufacturing output."

What We Make:

*Chemical products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, soaps, paints, and fertilzers ($250 billion in 2007; employes 830,000 Americans)

*Transportation equiptment including motor vehicles and parts, aerospace products, trains, and ships ($195 billion in 2007; employes 1.4 million Americans)

*Processed food, beverage, and tobacco products including cookies, coffee, cigarettes, and prepared meals ($175 billion in 2007; employs 1.7 million Americans)

*Computers and electronics including computer peripherals and communications equipment ($146 billion in 2007; employs 1.2 million Americans)

-Parade Magazine, Intelligence Report (April 19, 2009)

High-Speed Rail Coming to the US?

See a map of the potential corridors...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/16/A-Vision-for-High-Speed-Rail/

The Rooftop Revolution: "Feed-In Tariffs"

Are feed-in tariffs the wave of the future?

The Rooftop Revolution
by Mariah Blake
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0903.blake.html

The Apparel Industry

"US apparel manufacturing started in New England and New York in the 1800s, shifted to Pennsylvania, then headed south after the turn of the century to states where labor was cheap and unions were eak. From there, it jumped the border to even cheaper labor pools in Mexico and the Caribbean."

US Apparel: Nearly a third of US apparel imports came from China in 2008. Asia and Latin Amerioca rounded out the top ten.

1. China (32% of imports)
2. Vietnam (7.3%)
3. Indonesia (5.63)
4. Mexico (5.61%
5. Bangladesh (4.8%)
6. India (4.3%)
7. Honduras (3.6%)
8. Cambodia (3.3%)
9. Thailand (2.4%)
10. Hong Kong (2.2%)

-From May 2009 National Geographic

50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time

http://brainz.org/50-most-brilliant-atheists-all-time/

Video: Gold Rush Returning to California

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/13013672

Food Ordering Magic

It appears that the mere presence of salad on a restaurant menu makes people want to orderfrench fries...

http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/04/choosing-foods-salads-french-fries-and-supplements/

How Hostage Negotiations Work

"Although it's more of an art than a science, researchers have created models to predict whether a negotiation will succeed. One such model measures three parameters: Context—was there violence when or before the police arrived? Containment—is the hostage-taker isolated without room to move around? And conversation—is there an ongoing meaningful dialogue? If two of the three parameters are met—i.e., no violence, containment, or meaningful dialogue—then the situation will usually end without injury."

Let Him Go! Please?
by Christopher Beam
http://www.slate.com/id/2215831/

Map: Vanishing Jobs

Another map of job losses...

When Did Your County's Jobs Disappear?
by Chris Wilson
http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/

Fat Tax on Planes

"If United can swap out a row of three normal coach seats for two wide ones, two fat people should be able to buy those seats for an extra 50 percent instead of an extra 100 percent. That's the simplest nonbinary solution. But if the flight is full, or if swapping out a seat row is too difficult, here's an alternative: Let other passengers sell part of their seat width to those who need it."

Charge the Large
by William Saletan
http://www.slate.com/id/2216304/

Why No Spending? "Social Proof"

"Psychologists explain that people fall prey to what is known as social proof. The most famous study pointing at the effect was done in the 1960s by psychologist Stanley Milgram. He had one or two people stand on a busy city block in New York and stare up at a sixth-floor building window. Most pedestrians ignored them. But when he had 15 people stand and stare at the window, nearly everyone walking down the street looked up at it, too...The phenomenon is at work now...When people are uncertain, a funny thing happens: they don't look inside for answers anymore because all they see is confusion. They look to see what other people in this situation are doing. That's a way to reduce my uncertainty about what I should be doing."

When You're Flush, But Acting Flat Broke
by Michael Rosenwald
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041503791.html

Prize of the Week: Pritzker

The highest recognition for architects...It is awarded annually to a living architect and regarded as architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

http://www.pritzkerprize.com/

Mathematics of Relationships

"He has an almost mathematical approach to assessing relationships, and once even computed the costs for a girlfriend, mistress, prostitute and wife — mistresses turn out to be most expensive by the hour; wives, by the year; girlfriends are cheapest all around."

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/04/business-arrangements-i-would-bet-against.html

Who Loves Truth Most?

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/04/who-loves-truth-most.html

Sin Investing vs. God Investing

"The Vice Fund (VICEX), a mutual fund which invests in the so-called 'sin' industries like distillers, casino operators and cigarette companies, has lost 42% over the past twelve months. That's actually four percentage points worse than the Standard & Poor's 500 index overall. Meanwhile the Ave Maria suite of mutual funds, which invest only in companies that comply with certain Roman Catholic values, have done better. The Ave Maria Growth Fund is only down 33%. It's beaten Vice by nine points and the S&P by five. It's hardly a miracle -- but maybe enough to raise eyebrows on Wall Street, a secular place where the usual invocation is 'let us prey.'"

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/another-kind-value-investing/story.aspx?guid=6A370DD9-F1D4-448C-AF87-ABD300D33588&dist=SecMostMailed

On Food in Portugal

"If you prefer Michelin 'two-fork restaurants' to their starred alternatives, Portugal is the eating country for you. I haven't seen a single Chinese restaurant. It is Lusaphone eating: for your foreign options, you can find Brazilian, Mozambiquean (good chicken), Cape Verdean, and excellent Goan."

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/04/portuguese-notes.html

Lyme Disease & Politics

A trailer to the soon-to-be-released movie about Lyme Disease, "Under Our Skin." I'd be interested to learn more about the politics of the disease that is mentioned in the trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxWgS0XLVqw

Infographic: The Story of Beer

http://www.manolith.com/2009/04/15/history-lesson-the-story-of-beer/

Chart: How the Goverment Spends Your Money

Wow.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5927/wallstatsdatlarge.jpg

Kitchen Porn

Eight of the most outrageous food gadgets money can buy...

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/04/8-amazing-kitch.php

Geography of the Recession

Cool NYTimes map of the recession by county in the US (updated March 19 with January data).

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html?ref=business

Learning From Mistakes in Stock Picking

Some wise advise...

http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2009/04/14/why-im-down-more-than-80-and-how-to-avoid-my-mista.aspx

Predicting Marriage Success With Year Books

"Overall, the results indicate that people who frown in photos are five times more likely to get a divorce than people who smile."

Smiles Predict Marriage Success
by Clara Moskowitz
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090414/sc_livescience/smilespredictmarriagesuccess

Law Firm Layoff Tracker

Scary but fun...

http://lawshucks.com/layoff-tracker/#ytd-chart

Are Elevators Environmentally Friendly?

Energy and Elevators
by Nina Shen Rastogi
http://www.slate.com/id/2215513/

How Yellowtail Destroyed Aussie Wine

"The biggest problem is that Australia has made itself synonymous in the minds of many drinkers with cut-rate, generic wines...In 2001, Filippo Casella and his son John launched a line of wines called Yellow Tail, whose colorful label featured that iconic Australian, the wallaby. The appealing packaging, combined with the decent quality of the wines and the low price ($7), proved to be a masterstroke: In just three years, Yellow Tail became the most popular imported wine in the United States, with sales of around 4 million cases annually...However, what was good for Yellow Tail wasn't so great for the Australian wines as a whole. For one thing, Yellow Tail spawned a legion of imitators, and retail shelves were soon crawling with "critter" labels featuring penguins, crocodiles, and other regional fauna. At the same time, Yellow Tail's success prompted rival Australian brands to focus even more of their efforts on the budget category. As a result, consumers came to equate Australia with wines that were flavorful but also cheap and frivolous, a perception that became a major liability when those same consumers got interested in more serious stuff; rather than looking to Oz, they turned to Spain, Italy, and France."

Not Such a G'Day
by Mike Steinberger
http://www.slate.com/id/2215153/

To Twit or not to Twit

Should you be Twittering?

"Eh, go ahead and give it a try if you like, but there's nothing lame about waiting to see whether Twitter pans out."

Do I Really Have to Join Twitter?
by Farhad Manjoo
http://www.slate.com/id/2215829/

Does an Advanced Degree Help in a Recession?

Help, My Degree is Underwater
by Emily Bazelon
http://www.slate.com/id/2215830/

Map: Real-Time Shoe Sales

From Zappos...

http://flowingdata.com/2009/04/09/zappos-maps-sales-in-real-time/

Terrorism = Healthy?

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2009/04/threat-of-terrorism-boosts-peoples-self.html

TED Video: Dan Dennett on Cute, Sexy, and Sweet

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_dennett_cute_sexy_sweet_funny.html

TED Video: How to Grow Fresh Air

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html

TED Video: Fulfilling the Dream of Flight

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ueli_gegenschatz_extreme_wingsuit_jumping.html

TED Video: Can Design Save Newspapers?

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jacek_utko_asks_can_design_save_the_newspaper.html

TED Video: John Wooden on Success

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html

Cool New Things to do With a Mobile Phone

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_pogue_on_cool_phone_tricks.html

"Brownlining"

"Mr. Teasdable is a 'brownliner,' one of the growing ranks of fly fishermen who try to catch whatever lives in the much close to home - in drainage canals, cemented urban riverbeds and murky farm-runoff canals."

On Fly Casting's Urban Frontier, The Fish Are Big, the Water's Dirty
by Justin Scheck
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123742286341478873.html

TED Video: Predicting Iran

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita: Three Predictions on the Future of Iran, and the Math to Back It Up
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bruce_bueno_de_mesquita_predicts_iran_s_future.html

Which are the Most Neurotic States?

Neurotic: tending to be emotionally unstable.

Can you guess the states?

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/04/which-are-the-most-neurotic-states.html

Predicting the Future? The LEI Index

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI)

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/04/07/the-crystal-ball-that-could-make-you-rich.aspx

Electricity Grid Penetrated by Spies

"Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials. The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls."

Electricity Grid in US Penetrated by Spies
by Siobhan Gorman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html

Traits That Billionaires Share

Want to become a billionaire? Be born in September, drop out of college, do a stint at Goldman Sachs, and have parents who are good at math...

*First, a significant percentage of billionaires had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

*Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few billionaires were born in December, traditionally the month with the eighth highest birth rate.

*More than 20% of the 292 of the self-made American billionaires on the most recent list of the World's Billionaires have either never started or never completed college.

Billionaire Cluster
by Duncan Greenberg
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106866/Billionaire-Clusters

SOBS - The New Power

"The Consortium of Behavioral Scientists is a secret advisory grou pf 29 of the nation's leading behaviorists...the existence of this behavioral dream team - which includes best-seling authors Dan Ariely of MIT (Predictably Irrational) and Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago (Nudge) as well as Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman of Princeton - has never been publicly disclosed, even though its members gave Obama white papers on messaging, fundraising and rumor control as well as voter mobilization."

How Obama is Using the Science of Change
by Michael Grunwald
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html

SOBS - The New Power

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html

Economics of The Indian Dating Scene

"Indian parents used to think it a plus to marry off their daughters to Indian men living in wealthier countries, including the U.S. and Britain. But as India has grown more affluent in recent years, the demand for overseas Indian grooms has been fading. While India's economy is also slowing down, it is still growing, and layoffs aren't as widespread as in the West."

Ineligible Bachelors: Indian Men Living In the US Strike Out
by Shefali Anand
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123896998996190775.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

Odds of Dying in a Terrorist Attack

*You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
*You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
*You are six times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
*You are eight times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
*You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
*You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
*You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
*You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
*You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
*You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
*You are nine times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
*You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

http://eyewashstation.blogspot.com/2007/11/odds-of-dying-in-terrorist-attack.html

Pic: Cool Bookshelf

Which state is the hardest to fit a book in?

http://topcultured.com/hot-stuff/coolest-bookshelf-ever-and-10-more-that-rule/

The End of Poverty?

It looks promising...

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254890

Fact of the Day: Tariffs

"Tariffs are one percent of American tax revenue, but once were half."

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254924

Daunting Figures for Sushi

Prime Numbers: Sushinomics
by Daniel Pauly
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4679

Boat Dump

"Boat owners are abandoning ship. They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright. The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats."

Boats Too Costly to Keep Are Littering Coastlines
by David Streitfeld
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/business/01boats.html?_r=2&hp

On Understanding Washington

So simple yet so right:

"To understand what Washington is actually up to, you have to watch what is does, not what it says."

Outrageous Fortune
by Allan Sloan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033003227.html

Peru = New Food Capital of the World?

"It's easy for Peruvians to be particular about their seafood. Fed by the icy, nutrient-rich Humboldt Current, the waters off the Peruvian coast are the most bountiful fishing grounds in the world...The prestigious Madrid Fusion culinary conference anointed Lima 'the gastronomic capital of Latin America.'... Hundreds of years of immigration have created a natural fusion of Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese influences."

Marinated in the Morning or Grilled at Night
by Jane Black
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033100844.html

Nigerians = World's Most Fashion Conscious?

"Lagosians, though, manage to keep their brilliantly colored clothes (traditional and Western) clean through it all. People look neat and presentable every day here, because in Lagos, you have to. Appearances matter everywhere, but Nigerians—and Lagosians in particular—are the most status- and style-conscious people I've ever been around."

Lagos, Africa's Mega City - Dapper, Dandy, and Pissed Off
by Will Connors
http://www.slate.com/id/2214412/entry/0/

Why Do The Most Totalitarian Countries Always Have the Most Democratic-Sounding Names?

"Soviet influence. After the 1917 October Revolution, the newly established Soviet regime couldn't very well keep the moniker 'Russian Empire,' which connoted czarist rule. But 'Russia' plain and simple wouldn't get at the seismic shift envisioned by the Bolsheviks. So, like the French in 1792—who tagged on the word Republic to mark the end of monarchic rule—the Bolsheviks called their new nation the 'Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic.' ...After World War II, countries influenced by the Soviets or forcibly occupied by the Red Army started adopting the 'People's Republic' tag line instead."

The Undemocratic People's Republic of Korea
by Juliet Lapidos
http://www.slate.com/id/2215156/

The End of Voicemail?

"But in an age of instant information gratification, the burden of having to hit the playback button — or worse, dial in to a mailbox and enter a pass code — and sit through 'ums' and 'ahs' can seem too much to bear...Research shows that people take longer to reply to voice messages than other types of communication. "

You've Got Voicemail, But Do You Care?
by Jill Colvin
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/fashion/02voicemail.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=you%27ve%20got%20voice%20mail&st=cse

Why Money Messes With Your Mind

"They made three discoveries: hungry volunteers were less likely to donate to charity than those who were satiated; those primed to have a high desire for money, by having imagined winning a big lottery, went on to eat the most candy in a taste test; and people whose appetites had been piqued by sitting in a room with a delicious smell, gave less money in a game situation than those who played in a normal-smelling room."

Why Money Messes With Your Mind
by Mark Buchanan
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.200-why-money-messes-with-your-mind.html?full=true&print=true

Nollywood

"Nigeria is Now the World's Most Prolific Filmmaker."

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?contentID=254935&knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=127&FREM=Y&sid=1&mid=28341

Idiot's Guide to Pakistan

"Everyone in Washington is talking about Pakistan, but few understand it. Here’s how to dazzle the crowd at your next Georgetown cocktail party."

The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan
by Nicholas Schmidle
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4782