Popcorn Shorts

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!

Inside the first Flat Earth convention

There’s been no new discovery prompting a re-examination of Copernicanism, but people with a sense of humor discovered flat-earth crankology and started making tongue-in-cheek arguments in support.  These arguments dripped through the InterTubes to create a tidal wave of uninformed experts that crested in Birmingham, England, at the first-ever Flat Earth convention.  If you don’t believe the Earth is flat then join us on a walk through Birmingham… it’s only the first of many things you won’t believe.

• Inside Britain’s first ever Flat Earth convention where conspiracy theorists discuss ‘proof’ our planet is shaped like a disc and that ‘gravity doesn’t exist’
• I watched an entire Flat Earth convention for my research- here’s what I learned
• What it’s like to attend a Flat-Earth convention
• Conspiracy theorist: You can’t fall off flat Earth edge due to ‘Pac-Man effect’
• Looking for Life on a Flat Earth: What a burgeoning movement says about science, solace, and how a theory becomes truth.

Wells Fraudo is still having… difficulties

Bloomberg News pointed out that Wells Fargo Bank is having a hard time putting their ethical difficulties behind them.  Wells Fraudo hasn’t “gotten ahead of its problems” because they’re features, not bugs. Judging from their decades-long string of convictions and settlements, their business plan is to commit crimes until they get caught, pay the fines as a cost of doing business, and pass the expense along to their shareholders. As the article says, “An ad campaign that says “trust us” isn’t very convincing when scandals keep emerging.”

How Fake Video will warp our minds

Fake video isn’t just coming, it’s here.  It’s now possible to create video of any person speaking any words you care to put in their mouth, in their own voice.  Fake video will put fake news on steriods, and it’s not just the social implications we have to worry about.  Fake video has real, specific, neurological effects on our brain that no fake media until now has touched…

Get up to $1200 from Dish Network

Bet you’ve never WISHED you got a telemarketing call from Dish Network!  But it’s different now.  18,066 telephone numbers were phoned between May 11, 2010, and Aug. 1, 2011, and if you were one of them then you could get up to $1200.  Go to https://kccsecure.com/dishclassaction-Lookup/Home/PhoneForm to see if you’re eligible.