Surfing Minnesota

Surfing in a snowstorm may sound like a direct route toward hypothermia or certain death. But on Lake Superior, where surfers ride all months of the year, thick wet suits, gloves, hoods, booties and petroleum jelly smudged on exposed skin all form a protective shell against the crushing cold encountered by wave catchers in what is one of the world’s most unlikely surfing scenes.

All around the Great Lakes, from breaks on Lake Michigan to western New York and Lake Erie’s shore, a freshwater surfing scene has emerged in recent years. On Lake Superior, where winds swoop hundreds of miles across open water, surfers swim and paddle year-round to ride waves as tall as 20 feet, rushing tsunamis tumbling on an inland sea.

Each fall, Lake Superior’s famous “gales of November” signal the start of the cold-weather surfing season, when snow piles up in the forest and waves pop off the lake. Wind moving from a Canadian front, coursing south and west against Minnesota’s North Shore, pushes water into rhythmic waves at more than a dozen breaks along Minnesota’s lake-hugging U.S. Highway 61.

Unlike the ocean, Lake Superior has no noticeable tides or substantial currents. Its waves are hard to predict. But about 50 dedicated locals, Mr. Tema estimates, obsessively monitor a Web page maintained by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), www.noaa.gov, for hints on when the surf will rise. They click to Web cams (like www.allete.com/lakecam.htm) for a live peek at lake conditions in Duluth, then log on to surfing forums (like the one at the Superior Surf Club — click on “Forum” on the home page), where they discuss barometric pressure, wind direction and weather patterns that might give clues to when the waves are coming.

And I thought surfing Northern California in the winter was bad. Oof. I'd heard legends of this Minnesota Surf Scene, but never more than that. Definitely have to respect the dedication.

Durex Gets It On

A New Weapon in the Battle Against Drug-Tolerant Bacteria

The key to battling drug-tolerant superbugs could be keeping them awake. New research into how bacteria go dormant, allowing them to evade drugs, could lead to a method to keep them from hiding.

Bacterial infections are often hard to eradicate because a small percentage of germs are dormant at any one time. These mysterious "persisters" duck antibiotics, then awaken and multiply again after drug treatments stop.

But the mechanisms of bacterial persistence are becoming clearer, and so are ways to combat the phenomenon. A new study in Science Thursday maps out the structure and function of one major dormancy-inducer in bacteria, a protein called HipA. And it suggests how another protein, HipB, neutralizes it.

New Röyksopp album gets a cover

Junior will be released in the U.S. on March 24.

Juiced-Up Script Changed Bale's Mind About Terminator Salvation

When director McG first pitched Christian Bale on playing John Connor in Terminator Salvation, the star of The Dark Knight delivered a blunt response that might have made Batman blush.

"He told me to fuck off," McG cheerfully admitted Wednesday during a preview of the upcoming Terminator sequel at the Directors Guild of America building in Hollywood. "Christian wasn't interested in pyrotechnics."

McG persevered and eventually won Bale over, thanks to a more character-driven script rewrite from Jonah Nolan (who happend to co-write Dark Knight). Now McG has a work in progress that depicts a bleak slugfest following the rise of Bale's character from foot soldier to leader of the anti-Skynet resistance.

The behind-the-scenes revelation came Wednesday as McG unspooled never-before-seen footage from Terminator Salvation, which is set for May 23 release.

Several of the new sequences featured robotic "Aerostats" and bot-driven motorcycles that were still in "pre-vis" animation mode. An intense Bale growled like Batman in the clips, but the big revelation was Aussie actor Sam Worthington, who plays nail-tough time traveler Marcus.

"You can see in theses clips why I cast Sam," McG said, introducing a scene that showcased Worthington. "He can really hold his own in a two-shot with Christian Bale, whom I consider to be the finest actor of his generation."

McG fielded queries from reporters at the press preview, and asked a question of his own: Would fans like to hear voiceover narration from Linda Hamilton via tape recordings left behind by her Sarah Connor character from the original Terminator flicks?

McG said he plans to visit the original Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, shortly and hopes to persuade the California governor to contribute his voice to the film.

The Killers announce April/May tour dates

Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre (April 16)
Las Vegas The Joint (17)
San Jose, CA San Jose Event Center (19)
Seattle, WA Wamu Theatre at Qwest Field Events Center (22)
Victoria, BC Save On Foods Memorial Centre (23)
Vancouver, BC UBC Thunderbird Arena (24)
Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome (26)
Edmonton, AB Rexall Place (27)
Milwaukee, WI The Eagles Club (30)
Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre (May 1)
Bonner Springs, KS Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone (2)
St. Louis, MO Fox Theatre (4)
Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (5)
Cleveland, OH Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre at Tower City (6)
Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center (8)
Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena (9)

In Memoriam

Aaliyah would have turned 30 today.

Vice Squad

Russian women have one goal in life: Pleasing their men. Some guys thankfully reciprocate that devotion, but most get drunk with power and treat them like shit until they fall down on the couch crying and have to be consoled for, like, a minute.

Stuff White People Like - #35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report

The Daily Show/Colbert makes up a duo that is held in such high regard by white people that to criticize it would be the equivalent of setting the pope on fire in Italy in 1822. It just isn’t done, in fact it isn’t even considered!

White people love to make fun of politics, especially right wing politics. It’s a pretty easy target and makes for some decent humor, but white people are actually starting to believe that these two shows are becoming legitimate news sources.

“Oh, I don’t watch the news,” they will say. “I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. You know, studies show that viewers of those shows are more educated than people who watch Fox News or CNN.”

White women all consider John Stewart to be the most perfect man on the planet. This is not a debate, it is law.

The Daily Show also features guests like John McCain, writers, policy analysts, and actors. It is comforting for white people to see boring celebrities get interviewed in a funny fashion. It fills their need to do something productive, but also not work that hard at it.

Take note that Tuesday through Friday during the working week, you can break ALL awkward silences with white people by saying “did you see the Daily Show/Colbert Report last night?” At which point they will start talking until it’s time for you to move on to more interesting activities.

Fail of the Day

Slacker Radio app for iPhone

Sure you’ve got Pandora, Last.fm, and a whole slew of internet radio apps sitting pretty in the App Store but it’s hard to complain about another custom internet radio option for the iPhone.

Known for its hardware efforts, solid custom stations, and excellent website design, Slacker is basically a combination of Last.fm and Pandora–custom stations can be created based on an artist or genre, and the service is completely free to use with limitations while a subscription fee will enhance your experience a bit.

Oh, and it's also available for BlackBerry...if you're one of those.

'Dark Was The Night' compilation features a whole lot of awesomeness

Scheduled to be released on February 17, the album will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download. Sales of the record will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity using music as a vehicle to raise money and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

From today through February 1, each track will be released for one day. The first track available today is called ‘Knotty Pine’ (also the title of a short story I wrote in college, but I digress) and can be streamed at myspace.com/DarkWasTheNight.

The full release (that's what she said) is as follows:

THIS DISC:

‘Knotty Pine’ - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
‘Cello Song’ (Nick Drake) - The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
‘Train Song ‘(Vashti Bunyan recorded, written by Alasdair Clayre) - Feist + Ben Gibbard
‘Brackett, WI’ - Bon Iver
‘Deep Blue Sea’ - Grizzly Bear
‘So Far Around the Bend’ - The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
‘Tightrope’ - Yeasayer
‘Feeling Good’ (popularized by Nina Simone) - My Brightest Diamond
‘Dark Was the Night’ (Blind Willie Johnson) - Kronos Quartet
‘I Was Young When I Left Home’ (Bob Dylan) - Antony + Bryce Dessner
‘Big Red Machine’ - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
‘Sleepless’ - The Decemberists
‘Stolen Houses’ (Die) - Iron and Wine
‘Service Bell’ - Grizzly Bear + Feist
‘You Are The Blood - Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC:

‘Well-Alright’ - Spoon
‘Lenin’ - Arcade Fire
‘Mimizan’ - Beirut
‘El Caporal’ - My Morning Jacket
‘Inspiration Information’ (Shuggie Otis) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
‘With A Girl Like You’ (The Troggs) - Dave Sitek
‘Blood Pt 2’ (based on original song ‘You are the Blood’ by the Castanets) - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
‘Hey, Snow White’ (Destroyer) - The New Pornographers
‘Gentle Hour’ (Snapper) - Yo La Tengo
‘Another Saturday’ (traditional song) - Stuart Murdoch
‘Happiness’ - Riceboy Sleeps
‘Amazing Grace’ (traditional song) - Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
‘The Giant Of Illinois’ (Handsome Family) - Andrew Bird
‘Lua’ - Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
‘When the Road Runs Out ‘- Blonde Redhead + Devastations
‘Love vs. Porn’ - Kevin Drew

Child Porn Laws Used Against Kids Who Photograph Themselves

There is something deeply wrong in this country when fresh-faced, red-blooded, nubile American teenagers can't photograph and videotape themselves in the nude without child pornography charges being brought against them.

Privacy advocates say prosecutors are misusing child pornography laws by turning them against the very people they are meant to protect.

The accusation comes following a raft of recent child pornography cases against juveniles accused of photographing themselves in the nude.

This week, prosecutors in Greensburg, Pennsylvania charged six teens ranging in age from 14 to 17 with creating, distributing and possessing child pornography, after three girls were found to have taken photos of themselves in the nude or partially nude and e-mailed them to friends, including three boys who are among the defendants.

The case is only one of the latest in a spate of similar prosecutions and investigations. In Florida, officials similarly charged a 16-year-old girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend with producing, directing or promoting child porn after they photographed themselves having sex. Neither of the teens shared the images with anyone else.

I mean, come on people! The kids are alright. Let them explore their sexuality with whatever form of documentation they desire. It's like when a 19 year old is dating a 17-year-old and they bring statutory rape charges against the 19-year-old even though they were having consensual sex. Follow the spirit of the law, not the letter.

What goes through your mind when someone says "Let's go for a drink"?

Vice Squad

If you're really into shy, twitchy guys who show up at the bar by themselves but are having a hard time getting their attention, try dressing up as date rape.

Stuff White People Like - #34 Architecture

If you ask white people what they love about cities they don’t live in, they will say “restaurants,” “culture,” and “architecture.”

They just can’t get enough of old buildings or ultramodern buildings next to old buildings.

If you want to fit in with white people you need to learn about IM Pei, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and a whole swath of others. Also, be prepared to say “Bauhaus” a lot.

Once you have the basics down, you should choose a city that people are unlikely to have visited, then make up a name, and choose one of the following a) opera house, b) museum, c) city hall, d) civic center. Then put all together into something like this:

“Geary is good, but I’m more much into the work of D.F. Winterhausen, he designed the new opera house in Podgorica.” Wait for a pause and then say “In Montenegro. Have you never been?”

The white person will be left in stunned silence, reverence and respect.

The reason white people love architecture so much is that deep down they believe that they could have been a great architect. They feel the same way about other professions including: professor, writer, and politician.

Also of note, white people love big books about architecture. So if you need to get one a gift, this always goes over well because it makes them feel smart without having to read too much.

Fail of the Day

Obama-fy Yourself!

Now you can make your own Shepard Fairey "Obama" poster!

Click here, then take your picture with a webcam or upload a photo, choose your own message, and submit it to the gallery.

Something tells me half of Facebook will be full of these within a week. Let the competition for the most clever/zany/non sequitur picture & caption combo begin!

You're all so unique and special!!

Bright Idea | The Gap and Pantone T-Shop

The Gap designer Patrick Robinson has one antidote to the winter blues: a limited-edition line of T-shirts designed in collaboration with Pantone, the fashion industry’s color authority, complete with its own pop-up shop next to the Gap at 54th Street and 5th Avenue. Judging from the holiday sales reports, the cheap and cheerful crews and V-necks will add a bright spot to Fifth Avenue’s otherwise bleak mood. Think of them as Prozac for your closet.

New York Times Magzine's "The Moment" caught up with Robinson on the eve of the opening for a colorful bit of conversation.

The Moment: We’ve been seeing a lot of black on the runways lately — what made you go against the tide and opt for color instead?

Patrick Robinson: Actually, if you look at what we’ve been doing, for our last show in New York and also globally, it’s all about color. At the last show, the word “optimistic” was in the air and that is truly the core and heart of Gap. We’re all about optimism, and there is no better way to show that than in color.

TM: Painters use their palette to convey a mood. Do you think there are mood-enhancing or, even better, anti-recessionist colors in the T-Shop?

PR: We were studying Mimosa, Pantone’s color of the year, and what turns me on about this yellow is that it speaks of enlightenment. It’s also supposed to spark imagination and innovation, and that’s kind of amazing that color evokes that kind of emotion in people.

TM: Did you include your favorite color in the mix?

PR: You know, people ask me that question all the time. But it’s never one color but the sense of colors together, like when we put a color palette together — you can do a warm or a cold. For the T-Shop, the colors are a transition between cold and warm palettes and a nice mixture of both.

TM: With financial news leaving us in the dark, a bright spot of color goes a long way. Do you think we’ll start to see more color in stores and on the runways?

PR: I do think people do interesting things in tough times. In recessions, people actually get healthier. They start taking care of themselves better, and that’s the mind-set we get into here [at the Gap] when we think about people, color and clothes. People are going to do the opposite and not be in mourning, and they’ll want to be fresh and the more they are thinking about taking care of themselves, and not only thinking of money, that sense of optimism rebalances your life.

Obama's last hope to keep his BlackBerry?

One reason to curb presidential BlackBerrying is the possibility of eavesdropping by hackers and other digital snoops. While Research In Motion offers encryption, the U.S. government has stricter requirements for communications security.

"Without more details I would have to say that putting sensitive or classified information on a BlackBerry is a risky proposition," said Greg Shipley, chief technology officer at Neohapsis, a governance, risk, and compliance consultancy.

Fortunately for an enthusiastic e-mailer-in-chief, some handheld devices have been officially blessed as secure enough to handle even classified documents, e-mail, and Web browsing.

One is General Dynamics' Sectera Edge, a combination phone-PDA that's been certified by the National Security Agency as being acceptable for Top Secret voice communications and Secret e-mail and Web sites. Through three separate interchangeable modules, it works with Wi-Fi, GSM, or CDMA networks, and is dust-proof, waterproof, and rugged enough to survive repeated 4-foot drops onto concrete. Physically, it's a chunkier second cousin to the Palm Treo 750, though with an additional LCD display below the keyboard.

The price is $3,350 with a two-year warranty, a princely sum that's reflected in the Pentagon-worthy price tags for accessories: a simple adapter for a lighter plug costs $100. (Never again should you complain about how much your civilian analogue costs.)

The Sectera runs a mobile version of Microsoft Windows, including versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player. The NSA claims that the installed versions of Internet Explorer, WordPad, and Windows Messenger are good enough for data that's classified at a level of Secret.

For more secure-enough-for-Obama PDA options, click here.

National Safety Council Calls for Cell-driving Bans Nationwide

The nonprofit National Safety Council on Monday called on all U.S. states to ban the use of cell phones while driving.

The NSC, which says it counts 55,000 companies as members, compared talking or texting while driving to drunken driving and urged states to ban even the use of phones with hands-free kits.

No state has completely banned cell-phone use while driving, though 23 have passed some form of restriction, according to John Ulczycki, the NSC's executive director of communications and public affairs. The group believes it will take years to reach its goal, but it has gone through similar efforts. The NSC has spent years pushing for stronger laws on seatbelt use and drunken driving, he said.

The group said cell phone use contributes to 6 percent of all crashes, referring to a study by the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis. That represents 636,000 crashes, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year, plus a financial cost of $43 billion, the NSC said, citing the Harvard study.

Almost all driving laws in the U.S. are set by states. Car cell-phone bans have been advancing in recent years. Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have banned teen-aged drivers from using phones while driving, according to the NSC. But only six have banned the use of handheld phones for everyone, and they have all allowed the use of hands-free systems.

iPhone Opens to Some 3rd-Party Web Browsers, But Not Mobile Firefox

Apple appears to have reversed its policy of rejecting apps that compete with the company’s own iPhone web browser, Mobile Safari. A slew of alternative browsers have suddenly popped up in the App Store offering iPhone fans some new ways to browse the web.

While the change may be limited to web browsers for now, it’s nice to see Apple allowing Safari alternatives. Unfortunately, you probably won’t see Mobile Firefox or Opera Mobile in the App Store any time soon.

True alternatives to Mobile Safari — like Mobile Firefox or Opera Mobile — use different low-level code and rendering engines, meaning they would still violate Apple’s developer restrictions, preventing them from earning a spot in the App Store.

Still, some of the Safari alternatives that have made the cut look interesting. The new applications include (all links are iTunes links):

• Edge Browser — a free, chromeless browser that eliminates the address bar to offer more screen real estate to the actual webpage.
• WebMate — an almost tabbed browsing experience on the iPhone. WebMate can open new pages in the background, rather than automatically switching to them like Mobile Safari does. WebMate costs $.99.
• Incognito — an anonymous browser that covers your tracks and erases your session when you close the app (AKA porn browser for the iPhone). Incognito sells for $1.99.
• Shaking Web — uses an algorithm to compensate for bumpy commutes, claims to make webpages easier to read on the bus or subway. Shaking Web is $1.99.

WebMate looks to be the most useful of the bunch, particularly for those of us accustomed to opening dozens of background tabs in our desktop browsers.

What is the future of Mad Men?

The future of the AMC hit is in danger, according to the show's mastermind, Matt Weiner, who is not signed on to continue with the series.

"I don't know anything about next season—I don't even know if it's happening," he told us ominously at the InStyle Golden Globes afterparty, adding that the show's fate right now is "unknowable."

Sources close to the series say negotiations reached a stalemate several weeks ago, but AMC and Weiner's reps are actively working to resolve the remaining issues (among them, not surprisingly, compensation) and get Weiner on board for at least two more seasons of the ultra-hip series.

Despite the stalemate, AMC president Charlie Collier announced at the TV Critics Assocation Press Tour last week that Mad Men will be coming back this summer for the third season—with or without Weiner.

Topshop wanted to get you drunk and take your clothes off

They were, however, denied...the right to serve liquor at last night's community board meeting.

Racked reports that older community residents showed up to speak against a Topshop liquor license. However, the Topshop folk didn't show up to fight them.

Alas, you'll just have to get smashed before hand. But they'll still help you take your clothes off. You are such a cheap date.

Leonard Cohen to Play First American Show in 15 Years

Leonard Cohen has been touring Europe lately, but he has not played one single American show since 1993.

That will change on February 19, when he'll step onstage at New York's Beacon Theatre.

Here's hoping he adds more U.S. dates.

Jackie Chan the new Mr. Miyagi?

Jackie Chan may soon be teaching the unstoppable Crane kick.

Sources say that if the deal is finalized, Chan would be playing the Mr. Miyagi role to Jaden Smith, son of Chan's fellow action star Will Smith. The original "Karate Kid", released in 1984, followed young Daniel-san (Ralph Macchio) and his quest to defeat a group of martial arts bullies while under the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).

The movie would begin filming later this year. No release date has been set.

I might care about this, if not for the fact that it will star Will Smith's son.

No thank you.

Susceptibility to Colds Linked to a Lack of Sleep

People who got less than seven hours of sleep a night were almost three times more likely than those who slept eight hours or more to get sick after exposure to a cold virus, a new study has found.

Adults who spent a lot of time in bed tossing and turning were even more vulnerable, the researchers reported.

Sleep disturbances may influence the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and histamines, which are released in response to infection and play a role in inflammation and allergic reactions, said the researchers.

Diana Lauderdale, author of a recent study that found people who don’t get much sleep are more likely to develop calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, a risk factor for heart disease, said the new study indicates that quality of sleep may be at least as important to health as quantity of sleep.

Oh, and that picture shows what happens when you sneeze, so if you have to, sneeze into your arm, got it?

Vice Squad

This is what the world would look like if more time travellers set their sights on gangster rap instead of baby Hitler.

Stuff White People Like - #32 Vegan/Vegetarianism

As with many white people activities, being vegan/vegetarian enables them to feel as though they are helping the environment AND it gives them a sweet way to feel superior to others. For further evidence, note how the vegetarian world has increasing levels of extemism (no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no fish, nothing that has been cooked, etc).

Much like not watching TV, this makes white people pretty hard to deal with on a day to day basis - having dinner, going to restaurants, having them over to watch political debates all become major challenges as they will talk about how they cannot eat anything and would rather that the meat and cheese be thrown in the garbage than put into their bodies.

But wait, aren’t there white people who eat organice, grain fed, free range cattle and chicken? Yes, these white people are wracked with guilt knowing that they are eating a dead animal, contributing to rainforest deforestation, and global warming.

Whether you are dealing with a meat eater or a vegan/vegetarian, there are many ways to use this information to your advantage.

If you require a favor from a vegetarian white person, you should invite them to a dinner with your family. When your mother/grandmother offers them a dish with meat in it, they will reject it saying that they are vegetarian. When the meal is over, tell them that your mom is very embarrassed, and that in your culture rejecting food is the equivalent of spitting on someone’s grave. They will then owe you favor, this can be repeated when you need trips to the airport, someone to help you move, a small interest free loan, or a place for your friend to crash.

If you need to gain leverage with a meat eater, it’s pretty easy. They already feel guilty, just point it out.

Fail of the Day

Next-gen Prius now official, uses solar panels to keep car cool

The 2010 Toyota Prius has made its official debut at this week's Detroit Auto Show.

The company estimates it'll have a 50 MPG rating -- up from 46 MPG in the previous model -- and there's a bigger, 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine for improved highway mileage.

In addition to Power and Eco driving modes, EV Drive will let you run on battery alone for about a mile, which if nothing else should provide a little extra push for getting to the gas station when you've held off for too long.

One of the coolest (literally) new features is the optional solar panels in the moonroof that will generate power for circulating air and keeping the interior temperature from going too high.

If that's not enough, there's a remote-controlled A/C system that can run on battery alone and lets you set the temperature before you get in.

Can Slicethepie Save Music Labels?

Slicethepie is attempting to improve on that equation by seeking the wisdom of the music crowd on the internet the way Idol does it on TV.

The initiative, SoundOut, scheduled to launch Wednesday morning, will let labels audition rough demos anonymously within the system in order to determine what the public will like. If the band resonates, the label has invaluable market intel. If doesn't, the label is out maybe 50 bucks.

Obama decides to keep the current White House chef

The White House chef doesn't usually change with administrations, and sure enough, Mrs. Obama announced yesterday that the family would keep on Cristeta Comerford, who became the first woman to hold the position when Laura Bush hired her in 2005.

Download the Knife Singer's Solo Album Today

Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife has put out a solo album. The whole record is now available for digital download. Click here to get it. Enjoy!

Fever Ray:

01 If I Had a Heart
02 When I Grow Up
03 Dry & Dusty
04 Seven
05 Triangle Walks
06 Concrete Walls
07 Now's the Only Time I Know
08 I'm Not Done
09 Keep the Streets Empty for Me
10 Coconut

Straight Cash Homey

Vice Squad

Stuff White People Like - #31 Snowboarding

If one would like to meet a lot of white people, one of your best bets would be to go on a Snowboarding trip. Snowboarding is the practice of skiing sideways on one ski. White people love snowboarding as opposed to basketball or football because there is a sense that it is an alternative sport outside of the mainstream. Also too many ethnic people are skiing now. White people enjoy activities that cost a lot of money and require expensive clothes. Even though pro snowboarders make far less than football or basketball players, it is an activity that is exclusive to those who have money. Below are some of the prerequsites for snowboarding

- $500 North Face or Burton Jacket
- $200 Snowpants
- $40 wool socks from Mountain Co-op
- $60 thermal underwear from Mountain Co-op
- Living in an expensive area that is close to mountains ie) Boulder or Vancouver
- $200 Snowboard
- $100 boots
- $20 to pay for your overpriced burger
- ability to act really annoying

Fail of the Day

Are Wall Street Suicide Epidemics Real?

Last week, German investor Adolf Merckle, a multibillionaire who lost a fortune on shorted Volkswagen stock, threw himself under a train.

Two weeks earlier, Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, an heir to French aristocracy and the co-founder of an investment fund whose money vanished in Bernie Madoff’s alleged pyramid scheme, told the cleaning crew at his Madison Avenue office to clear out, sat behind his desk, and slashed his wrists with a box cutter.

Five days before that, in London, a hotel worker entered a $750-a-night suite at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower to find the body of Christen Schnor, HSBC’s head of insurance, hanging by a belt in a closet.

This spate of financier suicides is already the second such wave in a year: The first commenced with Bear Stearns research supervisor Barry Fox’s 29-story plunge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on May 22, and was quickly followed by at least two more cases in June and July.

Reports of financial professionals taking their own lives after suffering steep stock-market losses are as old as trading itself.

On May 24, 1881, a trader named Attilio Guinio drank poison after losing $200 on Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad shares; another victim of wall-street, read the Times headline. Such deaths inevitably fuel talk about mass banker suicides—a story line that formed after 1929’s Black Thursday and has gotten an airing-out after every Black Weekday since.

Now, once again, newspapers and TV anchors fret about it. Pundits from Peggy Noonan to Stephen Colbert joke about it. It’s the subject of Schadenfreude-tinged watercooler talk.

But are bear-market banker-suicide epidemics real or apocryphal?

New Honda Hybrid Contender Challenges Champ Prius

The new Honda Insight hybrid promises to revolutionize the hybrid market by making gas-electric cars affordable. But the five-door hatchback with a rock-bottom price isn't the Prius killer Honda might have hoped for.

Honda isn't saying exactly what the car unveiled today at the Detroit auto show will cost when it rolls into showrooms on April 22 (Earth Day) but it will undercut the Toyota Prius by several thousand dollars. That won't be enough to knock a car that's synonymous with hybrid technology from its pedestal, but the 2010 Insight poses the first credible threat to Toyota's dominance of the hybrid market.

It's widely expected to cost no more than $20,000, and Honda almost certainly will sell every one of the 100,000 Insights destined for North America this year. Analysts say as many as half those sales could be siphoned away from Toyota. The next-generation Prius will debut during the show.

F.D.A. Is Lax on Oversight During Trials, Inquiry Finds

The Food and Drug Administration does almost nothing to police the financial conflicts of doctors who conduct clinical trials of drugs and medical devices in human subjects, government investigators are reporting.

Moreover, the investigators say, agency officials told them that trying to protect patients from such conflicts was not worth the effort.

In 42 percent of clinical trials, the agency did not receive forms disclosing doctors’ financial conflicts and did nothing about the problem, according to the investigation, which was conducted by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services and whose results were scheduled to be made public Monday.

In 31 percent of the trials in which the agency did receive the required forms, agency reviewers did not document that they looked at the information. And in 20 percent of the cases in which doctors revealed significant financial conflicts, neither the F.D.A. nor the sponsoring companies took any action to deal with the conflicts, the investigators found.

Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the F.D.A, said the agency opposed reviewing doctors’ financial conflicts before trials because they represented just one possible source of bias.

A similar investigation by the inspector general last year found that the National Institutes of Health did almost nothing to police the financial conflicts of university professors who received federal money. And like their colleagues at the F.D.A., officials at the health institutes said they did not want to start doing so, that investigation found.

The inquiries feed a growing debate about how money that doctors routinely collect from drug and device makers may hurt patients and skew studies.

AT&T CruiseCast in-car satellite TV service launching this Spring

AT&T has announced that its CruiseCast in-car satellite TV service will be launching this Spring, and we're told to expect 22 channels initially and 20 sat radio stations to boot. It will cost $1,299 for the kit and $28 per month for the service.

To begin, the channel lineup will include Disney Channel, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live and CNBC (among others), and you'll be required to install a three pound 11.3- x 10.3- x 4.3-inch antenna on the roof of your vehicle.

Oh, and if you're looking for a little test drive before you buy in, Avis and Budget are expected to make it available in some locales for $9 a day or $63 per week.

Prince hit in Italian plagiarism case

Following a lengthy legal battle, Italian courts have ruled that Prince's 1994 song 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' "borrowed heavily" from Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino's 1983 track 'Takin' Me To Paradise'.

The case dates from the 1990s, but has only recently be made public. The latest judgement, made on January 9, was on an appeal against an original ruling dating back to 2003.

Bergonzi explained: "When we first heard Prince's song we immediately took action, but this case has been dragging on for 15 years and it isn't over yet, such is the slowness of the Italian legal system. We only decided to go public with our story now."

Although the Italian system dictates that a further "third degree ruling" is necessary before the full sentence is enforced, under the Court Of Appeal's ruling Prince must stop distributing the track in Italy.

If the duo are successful in the final ruling the American singer could be ordered to pay back royalties.

Prince and his publishers are yet to comment.

Pitchfork reviews the new live José González album

Live at Park Avenue EP earns a 7.7.

G.M. to Make Batteries for Volt in Michigan

General Motors will announce Monday that it will make lithium-ion battery packs to power the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and other extended-range electric vehicles at a new facility in Michigan. With the announcement, to be made during press preview days for the North American International Auto Show by Rick Wagoner, the company’s chairman and chief executive, G.M. becomes the first major automaker with a commitment to producing the advanced battery packs in the United States.

G.M. is also is expected to announce the opening of a new advanced-battery test facility at its global electric-vehicle engineering center in Warren, Mich.

Flight Of The Conchords songs to be available after TV debuts

Songs featured in the forthcoming second series of HBO comedy Flight Of The Conchords are set to be made available on iTunes the day after they appear on the show.

The first episode of the second series is set to air in the U.S. on January 18 – with one song from the show, 'Angels', set to be available on iTunes from January 19.

Once the ten-part series has concluded an album, featuring songs from the show plus five new tracks, will be made available on April 14.

Vice Squad

If you've ever heard someone going off about how "the kids these days" are all boring, attention-starved pains in the ass and been like "Who is this guy even talking about?" we're pretty sure this is them.

Stuff White People Like - #120 Taking a Year Off

When someone goes through a stressful experience they usually require some time off to clear their head, regain focus, and recover from the pain and suffering. Of course, in white culture these experiences are most often defined as finishing high school, making it through three years of college, or working for eleven months straight with only two weeks vacation and every statutory holiday (”they don’t count because I had to spend them with family.”)

Though you might consider finishing school or having a good job to be “accomplishments” many white people view them as burdens. As such, they can only handle them for so long before they start talking about their need to “take a year off” to travel, volunteer, or work abroad.

It is most common for the person taking the year off to use this time to travel. Generally, they will start off with a set amount of money that will use to travel for as long as possible. This explains why a white person with an $800 backpack will haggle with a poverty-stricken street vendor about a $2 dollar plate of food.

If you work with this person, be sure to give them a FAKE email address on their last day on the job or you will be inundated with emails about spiritual enlightenment and how great the food is compared to similar restaurants back home. Also, within the first five days following departure, this person will come up with the idea to write a book about their travel experience. Sadly, more books about mid-twenties white people traveling have been written than have been read.

Some of the more enterprising white people will extend their time off by working abroad as a bartender, ski lift operator, or english teacher. Their stories, emails, and publishing plans will be identical to the previous white person but will include additional stories about working and complaints about “tourists.”

Finally, there is the white person who takes a year off to volunteer at home or abroad. Though they are equally likely to write long emails about their experience, these people are often using the experience as an excellent resume pad for their application to law school. This way they are able to put off real life without the crippling derailment of a career or education.

Regardless of how a white person chooses to spend their year off, they all share the same goal of becoming more interesting to other people. Sadly, the people who find these stories interesting are other white people who are politely listening until they can tell their own, more interesting story about taking a year off.

Thankfully, there is an enormous opportunity for personal gain. You see, whenever a white person takes a year off it opens up a valuable apartment, job opportunity or admissions slot. Consider it to be the most pretentious form of affirmative action.

Fail of the Day