Cool stuff that’s too small for a big article…
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!
TimeLapse Beauty of Portland
A frequent theme on our Facebook page is the overall awesomeness of Portland, but this video may sum up everything in 4:42. “‘Weathering Spring – Portland Time-Lapse’ is an artistic documentation of the Portland spring using time-lapse photography. It is a culmination of nearly 3 months of work, over 64,000 photos making up 83 different time-lapse clips, 800 GB of hard drive space and one very exciting spring season in Portland. The video provides an epic visual roller coaster ride through the city’s stormiest days on into the night displaying glimmering city lights and intense traffic and back into the daylight with those beautiful spring days that lead us into the long awaited Pacific Northwest summer.” Enjoy!
Is Idiocracy our future?
Are we too stupid to govern ourselves? Maybe. A recent Cornell University study suggests that an unfortunate flaw in democracy may be that most of the public is too stupid to pick the right candidate. The idea of democracy depends on a majority of citizens recognizing the best political candidate or policy, and then voting accordingly. However, research led by Professor David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, indicates incompetent people are inherently unable to judge the competence of other people, or the quality of those people’s ideas. Prof Dunning said: ‘Very smart ideas are going to be hard for people to adopt, because most people don’t have the sophistication to recognize how good an idea is.’
5 Ways New Car Dealerships Try To Rip You Off
Profit margins on new cars are surprisingly small, so Dealers are under more and more pressure to squeeze every deal for all it’s worth. Not all of them slide into dishonesty but some do, and knowing their tricks can help you defend yourself. This article has 5 of the current tricks you might not know. After you’ve armored-up here, please let us refer you to one of the most popular pages on the Tom Dwyer Website… “Buying A Car”. This page has all our best advice on buying New OR Used cars, all based on our years of experience. From selection and negotiation of a new vehicle to getting rid of your old jalopy, it’s all in one place. And we have our own tips to avoid getting ripped off, too.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Occupy!
The third birthday of the Occupy movement passed quietly on September 17. Here’s a chance to check in both on where they were then and where they are now. This link will take you to an article we wrote during the occupation, with interviews of Occupiers who didn’t quite match the media stereotype. This link will take you to the website for Occupy Portland (yes, they still exist) and their ongoing activities. One of the major initiatives of the continuing National Occupy movement is eliminating exorbitant student debt, and this link will take you to a site that explains it all. Society hasn’t changed and the 99% are still getting the short end of the stick… isn’t it time to take another look at Occupy?
