Book Of Norm

This is one of the most interesting articles I have ever read. Long story short: Mankind may be around because of our domestication of dogs. And our eyes. Read on. MARGINALIA Do the Eyes Have It? Dog domestication may have helped humans thrive while Neandertals declined Pat Shipman We all know the adage that dogs are man’s best friend. And we’ve all heard heartwarming stories about dogs who save their owners—waking them during a fire or summoning help after an accident. Anyone who has ever loved a dog knows the amazing, almost inexpressible warmth of a dog’s companionship and devotion. But it just might be that dogs have done much, much more than that for humankind. They may have saved not only individuals but also our whole species, by “domesticating” us while we domesticated them. One of the classic conundrums in paleoanthropology is why Neandertals went extinct while modern humans survived in the same habitat at the same time. (The phrase “modern humans,” ...

Planetary Sciences has announced that it is already up and running (with about 25 employees) and looking for growth in their Asteroid mining business. There have also been a lot of stupid headlines floating around ($1 Trillion Company etc) because of the immense value on earth of all the rocks in space. The point (and why this is the first company to try it) is that it is very expensive to get minerals from space to earth - precisely why we are not already doing it. But Planetary Sciences has a smart business model: they will start by building and selling a small yet effective space telescope. They will use it to look for profitable rocks. However, they will also sell it to others for use in whatever way a space telescope is needed (probably the same way they use telescopes in NYC - looking at your neighbors).

Often, us in the US can't get access to lots of the cool and quirky vehicles coming out of the UK (which is really all the UK automotive industry has left at this point). The reason is that very few of them meet US crash test and emissions regulations (there are rules in the UK which let small producers skirt these regulations - in the US a company like Morgan would have to follow the same rules as Toyota). But in this case.. the Morgan tricycle counts as a motorcycle (because of that odd 3 = 2 regulatory stance in the US), and so has to meet motorcycle safety regulations which... umm... means it has to have brakes and a headlight. But the Morgan is so much more - its freaking awesome. One of the coolest vehicles ever There will be three US dealerships - but the big news is that you can actually get one. Sure, it's a $40,000 toy - but I would buy this over a Porsche 911 in a second. 

This is not good. Supercars in China are hitting massive speculation - selling for 4-6x what their prices are in the west. One of the last Aston Martin One77's recently sold for $6 million. Which is just stupid, considering it is already massively overpriced (it's not a real supercar like the Veyron - it's a hotted up DB9 with a carbon fiber body). This car is not worth $6 million. What comes after rampant speculation by the very wealthy on items of conspicuous consumption? Usually a huge crash in the market. Here is the article: Imported premium vehicles in China are sold at prices much higher than those in the Western countries, largely because of dealers' windfall profits and speculative behavior amid slower economic growth, insiders and market watchers noted Thursday. The comments came as a number of ultra-luxury cars showcased at the Auto China 2012 were sold out Thursday when the exhibition first opened to the public. A customized ONE-77 supercar ...

Friendster was the first, and I mean the first, social media site. It was Facebook before there was Facebook... until Facebook ripped them off. Most Americans probably think Friendster is just a plot device for "The Social Network" at this point, and probably have not heard the name other than that since about 2003. But.... this is the new Friendster, and one day it is going to be bigger than Facebook: Yes, its a gaming site. But not just any gaming site. It was acquired by e-payment provider MOL Global in 2009. This led to its reincarnation as a top online gaming destination for countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It just emerged from a new beta... and is pulling in a lot of users. Its remaining vestiges of its social networking past -- you can still add friends, after all -- are gamified with reward points. Moreover, owner MOL Global has added e-payments to the mix, letting users buy Friendster Coins to purchase virtual goods. Given predictions that the A...

Here's an odd one: the Republican controlled legislature in NH has passed a bill allowing those with a medical marijuana prescription to grow their own. The Democratic governor has stated he is going to veto the bill. But see - here is the difference (and what a lot of national news stories like this one from Reason ignore): NH Republicans are more or less libertarians. They believe in small government across the board. This means they should (and do) support a bill which lets people do whatever the hell they want (live free or die, woot woot).

Quiz: What's the fastest way to become a US Ambassador? 1) Lifetime of service in the state department 2) Prominent private citizen, strong member of national diaspora, spent significant time on public and private councils etc fostering connections between the two countries 3) Raise money for Obama And... the 3's have it. By a mile. Sad. This White House is completely for sale: Hope and Change indeed. Major Obama ‘bundler’ nominated for Dutch ambassador’s post D.C. lawyer  Timothy Broas , who has funneled more money to the political campaigns of President Obama than nearly anyone else, last week was nominated by Mr. Obama to become the next U.S. ambassador to  the Netherlands . As a campaign “bundler,”  Mr. Broas  collected more than $500,000 for Mr. Obama’s 2012 campaign, raising money from family members, colleagues and other wealthy associates. Four years ago, he assisted Mr. Obama’s successful bid for the presidency by raising between $200...

Great article from the WSJ: basically, it is getting pretty hard to support Obama, even for liberal papers. His handling of the economy has been idiotic. His personal rights track record is spotty. His corruption track record (how many fund raisers and lobbyists have official positions now? Over 100 I think) is terrible. And he's an ass. Read on Obama the Unseemly A more aggressive press corps might have motivated him to preserve his dignity. Article Comments (463) MORE IN  OPINION  » Email Print Save ↓ More smaller Larger By  JAMES TARANTO There's been a lot of talk of late about how "cool" Barack Obama supposedly is. But people are starting to notice the man has no class. "Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing 'staycations' because they can't afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family's 17 lavish vacations around the world and don't want their tax dol...

Ok ok, wind farms on their own are not causing climate change. But... turns out they do cause local warming. Not that big a deal now, but if you wanted to get to baseline kind of levels of wind farms, it would (one more reason why wind power makes less sense than Gingrich's campaign). Wind farms can cause climate change, finds new study Wind farms can cause climate change, according to new research, that shows for the first time the new technology is already pushing up temperatures. Wind farms can cause a rise in temperature, found a study in Nature.   Photo: Alamy By  Louise Gray , Environment Correspondent 6:00PM BST 29 Apr 2012 745 Comments Usually at night the air closer to the ground becomes colder when the sun goes down and the earth cools. But on huge wind farms the motion of the turbines mixes the air higher in the atmosphere that is warmer, pushing up the overall temperature. Satellite data over a large area i...