“I knew I was going to hit him, and I knew he was going to die.” … “You see a trespasser near the tracks. You have no way of knowing whether he’s going to wave at you or jump in front of your train,” he says. “Even if they see someone standing or lying on […]
Did you know?
In disasters not involving fire, panic is rarely the cause of fatalities, and even when fire is involved, such as in the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, in Southgate, Kentucky, research has shown that people continue to help one another, even at the cost of their own lives. That and other useful/interesting/unsettling tidbits about […]
Posted by Ben on April 29, 2012
https://www.swordbilled.com/did-you-know-2/
“I am Paolo Di Lauro, and I am a shopkeeper.”
I’m not sure why this sort of thing is such a constant source of fascination for me, but it is: In the summer of 2005 there was such quiet on the northern front that Neapolitans assumed Di Lauro was back in charge. This was good news rather than bad. People did not know about his […]
Posted by Ben on April 25, 2012
https://www.swordbilled.com/i-am-paolo-di-lauro-and-i-am-a-shopkeeper/
Shorter “Six degrees of aggregation”
It’s the network. Taken together, the badgeholders serve as voluntary traffic wardens for what truly makes Huffington Post so valuable to a company like AOL: Not brand. Not content. But access to the HuffPost network. (Six degrees of aggregation: How the Huffington Post ate the Internet)
Posted by Ben on April 23, 2012
https://www.swordbilled.com/shorter-six-degrees-of-aggregation/
Family Redwood
Ambitious. Clever. Topical? Well, I suppose that depends. But a pretty excellent literary undertaking, on the whole. The simply-named Lord of the Rings Project attempts a family tree of every character mentioned by J.R.R. Tolkien. (via Coudal Partners Blended Feed, if you know what I mean. Oh. You don’t? Er, here: coudal.com)
Posted by Ben on April 3, 2012
https://www.swordbilled.com/family-redwood/
A Beautified Apached Index – h5ai
Like this idea. Not sure I have an application for it (yet), but I approve of the concept.
Posted by recommended on July 26, 2011
https://www.swordbilled.com/a-beautified-apached-index-h5ai/
How Christian Gerhartsreiter Became Clark Rockefeller – WSJ.com
Excerpted / adapted from The Man in the Rockefeller Suit A fascinating read.
Annotations:
But the newcomer had sucked them in by acting as if he were better than they were. “He’s…
Posted by recommended on July 18, 2011
https://www.swordbilled.com/how-christian-gerhartsreiter-became-clark-rockefeller-wsj-com/
Call for Contributions to an Essay Collection: Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye
This could end up being painfully dull, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt…
Annotations:
The editor is currently seeking proposals for an essay collection inve…
Posted by recommended on July 10, 2011
https://www.swordbilled.com/call-for-contributions-to-an-essay-collection-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye/
The Connected States of America
A spectacular interactive infographic put together by folks at MIT that shows the connections bridged by cellphones (and others not bridged). (via Andrew Sullivan)
Annotations:
T…
Posted by recommended on July 8, 2011
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-connected-states-of-america/