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!
Deny KPOJ- Epilogue
KPOJ as we know it is dead, but as you probably know we filed a protest of its license renewal with the FCC. 335 people signed, and KPOJ’s lawyers told us to stuff it. But, before we move on to the possibilities of XRAY-FM we thought we’d give you the good news that there are other people trying to hold radio stations to the “public interest” standard. As we posted our petition, we got a call from Sue Wilson, a wonderful lady who is fighting the renewal of KDND in Sacramento (a woman died during their “Hold your wee for a Wii” contest) and WTMJ in Wisconsin (a mouthpiece for Scott Walker during the Union-gutting and recall days). Her organization, Media Action Center, has been active for years in bringing attention to issues of media ownership, consolidation, and abuse. She has an interesting story to tell, and we think you might enjoy hearing it. So check out Sue first, but then, on to XRAY!
Clever tricks to make life easier
Last September we did a Popcorn Short on LifeHacks, clever tricks that you can use to make your life easier. These are great little ideas collected from all over the Web, most of which can be explained with only one picture or one sentence. We just ran across another batch of them we thought we’d share, so here are 15 more LifeHacks you need to know. There’s always at least one stand-out idea in these things, and the winner this time is the easy method to cut grapes, olives, or grape tomatoes. It involves two tupperware lids and an absolute minimum of sliced fingers!
Enter the after-life in style
Death isn’t fun, but it doesn’t have to be silly. We spend thousands of dollars embalming our loved ones and building elaborate, cabinet-quality wooden homes for their eternal rest. But the beautiful boxes are buried and rot along with the body, and it turns out that the formaldehyde used in embalming is a carcinogen that eventually leaches back into the environment. What a waste, when our loved ones could use Jae Rhim Lee’s Infinity Mushroom Death Suit instead. She’s developing this suit to take advantage of mushroom’s amazing ability to break down and recycle organic material, inexpensively and with no environmental downside. It’s an elegant idea that may make you rethink your own plans!
The Polar Vortex explained in 2 minutes
Don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but most readers of Your Car Matters have recently been buried in snow. With all the snow blanketing the US, the climate change deniers have been trumpeting how this somehow disproves the idea of global warming. Blessedly, actual science has answers for anyone who takes the time to listen. In this case it takes about 2 minutes to hear White House science advisor and physicist John Holdren explain what the Polar Vortex is, what it does, and why it is just one of many expected results of global climate change. Next?
