Just like it says, Popcorn Shorts is about the kind of things we think are really interesting, but don’t really need a large article to explain them. From the sublime to the ridiculous, check in here for crunchy bits of info you’ll love to munch. By the way, much (but not all) of 
our delicious Popcorn comes from articles we’ve posted on our Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, please stop by and “Like” us and we’ll keep a fairly-constant-but-not-frequent-enough-to-be-annoying stream of these coming to your virtual door!
The only ads you’ll ever WANT to see
You may remember the once-a-year special about the CLIO awards, recognizing the most creative ads from around the world. It’s been a while since that’s been on, but despite the daily evidence the people working in advertising remain very creative. This series of ads on Quora.com covers print, billboards, video, and some other venues that defy categorization. There are hundreds of funny and thought-provoking ads for you to flip through, and we promise you’ll leave laughing.
If the Feds won’t help, maybe local government can
The feeble prods of the Feds did nothing to make banks write down underwater mortgages. People face foreclosure, neighbors face neighborhood blight, and cities face tax vacuums and crime magnets. A new movement would use the power of eminent domain to help. Cities would use eminent domain to force sales at current market value, and then resell them to the owner at current market price and mortgage. Everyone wins but the banks, who can only recoup the fair value of the house instead of the fraudulently inflated one. Read the Bill Moyers report here.
A settlement that even embarrassed Halliburton
Oh so quietly, the BP Apocalypse court battle is continuing. Halliburton recently decided to plead guilty to destroying evidence (although as we pointed out in our Facebook post, no individuals are being held responsible) and received a $200,000 fine. If you’re keeping track, that’s about .0007% of their 2012 revenues, or about a $.28 fine for someone making $40K. This was so obviously insignificant that Cheney’s alma mater company added a “voluntary” donation to the National Fish and Wildlife Service of $55 million… about $77 for a $40k individual. Read all about it here.
An amazing new world for wheelchair users
Wheelchairs are an old technology, going all the way back to the 6th century BC. You might think they haven’t changed much because there’s not much change to be made, but take a look at this radical rethink by Matia Robotics. The video shows a person paralyzed from the chest down rising from their bed, getting easily into the “wheelchair” by themselves, and then doing all the things we take for granted… shopping, cooking, cleaning, going to the bathroom, interacting with friends, and more. Matia is taking orders now for shipment at the end of 2013.
