P.S. (Pretty Sweet) » Articles and News

Ageless

allie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:59:06 +0000

News of the weird (and creepy): a girl who doesn’t age. Sixteen years old, and she still looks like a toddler. “In the long term, the idea that the aging process might somehow be manipulated raises serious questions about what human beings might do with that knowledge. ‘Clearly, that’s the science fiction aspect of it. …We can’t have continued reproduction and people who don’t age.’”

Night Owls FTW

allie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:22:28 +0000

This is quite possibly the most vindicated I have ever felt. In my life. “Smug early birds take note: Night owls actually have more mental stamina than those who awaken at the crack of dawn, according to new research. …After 10 hours of being awake, the early birds showed reduced activity in brain areas linked to attention span, compared with the night owls. The early risers also felt sleepier and tended to perform tasks more slowly, compared with the night owls, when their level of alertness was measured.” Via the Globe and Mail.

Slam

allie — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:16:32 +0000

I bookmarked a NWT article back in February that I just got around to reading. You know, I really should’ve been one of the students in this test. I’m all too often paralyzed by the paradox of choice — an inability to eliminate options for fear that I’ll “miss out” on something. Tierney: “They should have ignored those disappearing doors, but the students couldn’t. They wasted so many clicks rushing back to reopen doors that their earnings dropped 15 percent. Even when the penalties for switching grew stiffer — besides losing a click, the players had to pay a cash fee — the students kept losing money by frantically keeping all their doors open.” I’m not sure which of the five simple rules this falls under, but I’d say it’s somewhere between #2 (free your mind from worries) and #3 (live simply).

Futurism via Ray Kurzweil

allie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:38:40 +0000

“Scientists imagine they’ll keep working at the present pace. They make linear extrapolations from the past. When it took years to sequence the first 1 percent of the human genome, they worried they’d never finish, but they were right on schedule for an exponential curve. If you reach 1 percent and keep doubling your growth every year, you’ll hit 100 percent in just seven years.”

Walk the Walk

allie — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:48:52 +0000

Well it’s about time someone figured this out: shoes are bad for you. So beautiful but so bad. Bad for your wallet, bad for your feet, just bad overall.

Paperless Check-In

allie — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:18:22 +0000

I look forward to the day when I can swipe my iPhone under the barcode reader at the airport and go on my merry way. And what a merry way it will be.

Super 50

allie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:45:19 +0000

How many ways can you say Super Tuesday? 50 U.S. newspaper front pages, nearly all of which indicate McCain’s surging popularity and democratic ambivalence between Hillary and Obama. My favorites (based solely on design) are the Chicago Sun-Times (very un-newspapery) and the San Francisco Chronicle (love the individual maps).

Gmaps + Twitter Primary Coverage

allie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:42:08 +0000

Are you seriously going to tell me that Ron Paul didn’t take so much as 1% of West Virginia? I find that extremely hard to believe.

A Moment of Silence

allie — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:23:52 +0000

Let us all take a moment of silence for Blueprint magazine. Martha announced the cancellation this morning — and then proceeded to accuse readers of being responsible for its demise. Apparently we crazy Millennials don’t read things printed on paper anymore. Oh, but the marrying types among us do, because Blueprint will be relegated to a pullout in Martha Stewart Weddings and will be aimed at newlyweds. Call me crazy, but aren’t newlyweds done with wedding planning magazines? Most of all, I feel badly for all of the young women who relocated to the Big Apple to work on this publication. Some of them will remain on staff to continue Bluelines and work on the pullout editions, but that will be a small subset to be sure.

Disastrous Day Inside

allie — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:13:41 +0000

No more generic fortune cookies that are more likely to contain a truism than an actual oracle: enter Wonton Food. “Today is a disastrous day. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

Singlism

allie — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:05:01 +0000

Leslie Talbot’s tirade against “singlism” is spot-on in several respects, but some of these can be difficult to distinguish amongst her angry diatribes. “As a single homeowner, you can pay the same sale price, down payment, mortgage interest and property tax as that lovely couple in the identical house down the street — but should you choose to sell your home, you are entitled to only half the maximum capital gains exemption they will receive.”

Singles Cities

allie — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:02:01 +0000

Forbes proves me right: Portland is not an especially great place for singles. Ranked number 32 of 40 for singles — and 38th for cost of living — but made 22nd overall. At the top of the list for singles? New Orleans, Memphis, Austin, LA and San Francisco. However, there are separate rankings for “singles” and “young professionals”, and I’m not entirely certain why. For young professionals, the top is dominated by the likes of New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, LA and Washington, D.C.

Aquafina

allie — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:44:07 +0000

“Aquafina comes from same place as tap water.” Yes, and then it goes through a seven-stage filtration system! I’m failing to see why people are so appalled.

Testosterone and IQ

allie — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:41:48 +0000

“…High-school age adolescents with higher IQs and extremely low IQs were less likely to have had first intercourse than those with average to below average intelligence.” Worth reading all the way through, despite some disorganized writing; the conclusion is not integrated into the story but is arguably the most interesting part of the article.

Math Doesn’t Suck

allie — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:34:20 +0000

Danica McKellar of The Wonder Years writes a math book targeted toward junior high girls. “If I’m teaching girls that do love to make cookies and do love fashion — that they can use math as a part of that — you think that’s me saying, come on girls you belong in the kitchen, you belong shopping? Or, do you think it’s me showing them how math is part of all their life, even the part they thought it had nothing to do with? … In the introduction and other places in the book, I reinforce the idea it’s OK to be girly. It’s fun to be girly and being smart is part of who you want to be. ” I very much respect her for being so unabashedly brazen about this topic. Because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to listen to someone tell me how strange it is that I majored in computer science but love shopping, sewing and Domino magazine.

Merge

allie — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:17:35 +0000

To have and to hold, to Tivo and to Netflix: the WSJ discusses couples and their need to merge their digital services. “For Stephen and Denise De Chellis of Gaylordsville, Conn., living under one roof hasn’t been a problem, but sharing one Netflix account has. Ms. De Chellis likes to use the DVD-by-mail service to rent romantic comedies. To sneak in the science-fiction and anime he prefers, Mr. De Chellis has taken to covert early-morning updates of the Netflix queue.”

Missed

allie — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:27:33 +0000

Several things I observed but didn’t blog from a couple weeks ago: higher IQ in firstborns (NYT), reflections on change and sameness (Rebecca Sower), the most beautiful, relevant admissions website I’ve ever seen (and I hate that it belongs to my alma mater’s rival) and Type Camp.

Scientifically Shallow

allie — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:57:29 +0000

20% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. Umm, seriously?

Presidential Approval

allie — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 17:23:27 +0000

Apparently Clinton is the only president in the last 60 years to leave the oval office on a high note — a high approval rating note that is. Reagan came close to matching his inaugural approval rating upon departure, but Clinton is the only one to exceed his.

Today’s Sexy Headlines

allie — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 23:59:09 +0000

It was a sexy news day today: “Cleavage: The Owners Manual”, courtesy of ABC News, and “Porn Effect”, an AP article through CNN.