Link roundup

1. News Corp does enough terrible things that you shouldn't have to make up claims.

2. Google's first social network Orkut was briefly very popular in Finland:
Orkut [the Google engineer who built orkut] is Turkish, so we had no idea when we launched it that in Finland evidently that same word means “multiple sexual climaxes.” When people saw a product called orkut, they thought it was a dating service or sex site, and it took off quickly. As soon as they saw what it actually was, interest cooled somewhat.
3. To take a screenshot on an iPhone, hold down the lock button and the home button at the same time for about one second until the screen flashes white. Via.
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Image roundup


Ministry of Magic access point.




Most popular names in Europe for newborns.




Grains of sand - - one of the many terrific magnified photographs by Gary Greenberg that are available as prints. Via.




"Easter eggs" from The Dark Knight Rises poster. Via.



Image from The Anthology Project, I believe.




There's Waldo.




Rapture wallpaper.




Solar system.
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Dragonpuncher 3: The Punchening



Dragonpuncher 3: The Punchening - - from a recent Conan O'Brien episode.

*Previously: Steven Seagal is "Cockpuncher."
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Link roundup

1. St. John's new prize basketball recruit is named God's Gift Achiuwa.

2. A detailed, lengthy analysis of the wisdom of building a Death Star and actually using it to destroy a planet. For example:
So, the Emperor and Tarkin focus on making one really huge, high-impact investment: The Death Star. They throw in Alderaan as part of that investment. This doomsday weapon will supposedly free up their resources to spend less on administration, personnel and infrastructure, and continue to function without a Senate. It seems like a big investment until you realize how much they save by not actually having a functioning government.

This is an attractive option even today, as politicians look to pay for tax cuts and handouts to core constituencies by laying off or cutting salaries and benefits for bureaucrats and government workers, as well as by skimping on infrastructure.

The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t work. The underpaid, undermotivated, poorly managed stormtroopers can’t even track down the Empire’s most wanted fugitive androids in an extremely sparsely populated area where they have undisputed control. If Tatooine still had meaningful senatorial representation and local government, Luke never would have gotten off the planet. Whole systems just break away and form not just a resistance, but a giant frickin’ fleet of spaceships that destroy not one, but two death stars. The failure of leadership is so total and complete that Tarkin is killed in his own fortress and the Emperor is murdered in his own office by his own right-hand man.
3. Guide to utilizing Chrome, including various useful extensions.
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