5 Intriguing Things
1. This guy mapped the microwave tower networks used for high-frequency trading.
"I’ve researched and written about high-frequency trading (HFT) since 2012, and am quite aware of the microwave networks used by some fast players, but I did not know that as of January 2013 Jump Trading owned a tall tower in Belgium – in my backyard. Belgium being in the middle of the problem, geographically speaking, I decided to investigate the presence of microwave networks owned or used by the big HFT players here in Europe for my holiday homework. If Jump has a tower, competitors are all around – it’s just a matter of where . My question about the towers was 'Can I Have Them All?' and thus my investigation, perhaps obsession, began." (sniperinmahwah.wordpress.com)
2. The model of addiction that's most prevalent in American culture may not be right.
"The average cocaine addiction lasts four years, the average marijuana addiction lasts six years, and the average alcohol addiction is resolved within 15 years. Heroin addictions tend to last as long as alcoholism, but prescription opioid problems, on average, last five years. In these large samples, which are drawn from the general population, only a quarter of people who recover have ever sought assistance in doing so (including via 12-step programs). This actually makes addictions the psychiatric disorder with the highest odds of recovery. While some addictions clearly do take a chronic course, this data, which replicates earlier research, suggests that many do not." (substance.com)
3. Probably best not to centralize protest organizing on an app anyhow.
"A fraudulent smartphone app claiming to coordinate the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement has circulated online, a group of programmers said on Wednesday. The spyware is disguised as an application for Android smartphones or tablets, Code4HK, a group of coders trying to improve government transparency in Hong Kong, said... Once downloaded and installed the application requests access to information on users’ contacts, browsing history, approximate location, text messages, and phone call history." (scmp.com)
4. I will never get tired of reading about the Krakatoa eruption.
"Think, for a moment, just how crazy this is. If you’re in Boston and someone tells you that they heard a sound coming from New York City, you’re probably going to give them a funny look. But Boston is a mere 200 miles from New York. What we’re talking about here is like being in Boston and clearly hearing a noise coming from Dublin, Ireland. Travelling at the speed of sound (766 miles or 1,233 kilometers per hour), it takes a noise about 4 hours to cover that distance. This is the most distant sound that has ever been heard in recorded history." (nautil.us)
5. Digging deep into the Heaven's Gate suicide cult's preserved website.
"Today, at first glance, the fully functional, 17-year-old website seems like just one more of the many GeoCities-era relics that litter the internet. Visitor counts, flashing text, Word Art gradients; the whole gang's here and then some. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find that almost every link adds yet another layer to a wildly extensive dogma, totally earnest in its interweaving of disembodied space aliens, Jesus, secret UFOs, prophets to whom aliens speak, comets coming to save us, and the suicide it takes to get there." (gizmodo.com)
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
comestibles. The usual word is food or eatables. See WORKING & STYLISH WORDS.
The Most Distant Sound