More than 160 people died as a direct result of the Joplin, Missouri tornado, which occurred a year ago this week and demonstrated the degree to which we remain playthings for nature at its most violent. Tornado survivors emerged after heavy winds to find the apocalypse had come to visit. Houses were leveled. Buildings smashed. Cars had been flung like toys to lean against the few trees that had not been splintered, or to lie on top of debris piles. Thousands were left homeless, and those who lived were plagued by questions: Like how? As in, how did anyone at all survive such devastation? It was in the wake of this question that the stories emerged—about The Butterfly People. The tale took different forms—a mother ... Continue reading →
The iPhone comes with this great little app called "Find My Phone." Launch it from a computer and the software will use your phone's built-in communication tools to locate the device on a map. This is great if you've simply misplaced your phone. But what if it's actually been stolen? Our own Jared Keller discovered the perils of tracking down your phone. He knew roughly where it was -- an apartment building in northeast Washington, DC -- but had no idea how to get it back. The Washington police were not interested in going door to door in a big apartment building looking for some kid's phone, and besides nine other cell phones had been stolen on the same night. The problem isn't specific to ... Continue reading →
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By David BenoitFacebook�s continued fall has put the social network on pace to be one the worst large U.S. IPO starts in the past five years. Bloomberg The social network�s much ballyhooed offering was in the midst of its second-straight day of declines, dropping as low as $30.98 today. That would have been an 18.5% drop from its IPO of $38. The stock has recovered somewhat, recently down 3% to $33. That also marks a 13% decline from its IPO price, equal to the worst three-day start for an IPO that raised over $1 billion since 2007, according to Dealogic. There have been 23 U.S. IPOs over that size since 2007.� Through the first three sessions, only asset-manager Och-Ziff Capital performed as poorly, losing 13% ... Continue reading →
In this video, Woody Allen reads “Not A Creature Was Stirring,” his Shouts & Murmurs piece from this week’s issue. Continue reading →
Not too much wrong with this Maryland license plate — unless you're a Nationals fan. (State of Maryland) According to some funny and etymological reporting by the Baltimore Sun, the following are words you will never see on a Maryland license plate, as specified by the state’s Objectional Plate List: HEROIN TOILET FBI CIA KILLALL SAFESEX PIMP CHUMP BUNS The paper notes that it could not print a list of all the banned words for a reason that seems rather obvious: Many of the words are really, really bad. How does a word get banned from the plates? Explainer: “State law allows the MVA to deny tags that have a scatological or sexual meaning; use curse words, epithets or obscenities; carry a ‘fraudulent or deceptive ... Continue reading →
Twitter uses the t.co domain as part of a service to protect users from harmful activity, to provide value for the developer ecosystem, and as a quality signal for surfacing relevant, interesting Tweets. Back to Twitter Learn more Continue reading →
