Enlarge Pemba Dorje Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images Unidentified mountaineers descend from the summit of Mount Everest over the weekend. Four climbers were killed trying to make it down the 29,035-foot summit. Pemba Dorje Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images Unidentified mountaineers descend from the summit of Mount Everest over the weekend. Four climbers were killed trying to make it down the 29,035-foot summit. It's called the "traffic jam." The weather near the summit of Mount Everest clears, and everyone who has ploughed up the slopes leading to the world's highest peak tries to climb to the top at once. There are only a few hours to complete the last steps over the narrow way before climbers must turn back for the safety of their camps. Sometimes they run into trouble in ... Continue reading →
00:00/00:0000:00 Things are easier said than done, or so the old adage goes, and we couldn't agree more. That's why we do The GOOD 30-Day Challenge (#30DaysofGOOD), a monthly attempt to live better. Our challenge for May? Sleep better. If you use apps to measure things like your exercise and eating habits, you know how self-quantifying can help inform your daily decisions and contribute to better quality of life. Consider adding one of these sleep-tracking apps to your regimen. They examine your sleep patterns, offer visualizations of your sleep data, and even offer personalized suggestions for getting a better night's rest. Lark users wear wristbands armed with sensors that measure sleeping patterns. The data is transmitted via Bluetooth to your cell phone, then analyzed by ... Continue reading →
Perhaps it's a sign you and your friends have "made it" when no one quibbles about who owes what when the check arrives after dinner out. But in this economic climate, who can blame diners on a budget for picking apart the check drink by drink to pay exactly what they owe? The problem is doing the math speedily and accurately, without killing the mood. While a variety of check splitting apps already exist, none may work quite as well—or look quite as nice—as Billr, a new app created by a team of founders with extensive experience living on a budget: college students. The product is a collaboration among Rhode Island School of Design designer Ivy Hu and Brown students Stephen Poletto and Nicholas Shulman, ... Continue reading →
Designer Robin Falck has created his very own micro home that is small enough to be built without a permit in Finland. According to Finnish regulations, you can bypass the permit process if the structure is smaller than 96 or 128 square feet (depending on where you build). With the help of a couple of local architects, Falck was able to make his original designs a reality and the result is this simple and stylish rural retreat. « Back to Finnish micro house is small enough to build without a permit Continue reading →
I’ve been doing this fiction-writing thing on and off for about ten years. Lately, it’s been more “on,” since I’ve been lucky and a lot of things are clicking, falling into place, making sense, etc. One thing that has become incredibly important to my writing, to the actual production of sentences that turn into paragraphs that turn into scenes that turn into stories, is the space I have found to write in. It’s a library. Previous to that, I wrote in the bedroom with the door closed. But it’s too cozy in there. I would get into my writing trance and get sleepy, and then fall asleep. It was embarrassing. And what a waste of time! I work a full time job and have about ... Continue reading →
