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 necessarily 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!
What if they nuked Portland?
It’s not a pretty thought, but it is a fascinating one… what if they nuked Portland? In 2012, Alex Wellerstein created NUKEMAP to answer this question and more without actual nuclear war. For example, IF you chose to nuke our shop with a Davy Crocket (20t, smallest ever built), then most of Sellwood would be left undisturbed. BUT, if you used a Tsar Bomba (100Mt, largest ever built) then everything from Longfiew WA to Salem OR would be obliterated. Put your crosshairs on any point on the planet, pick your bomb size, choose airburst or surface, track casualties and fallout, and much more. Hours of nihilistic fun!
Leif’s ends an era
(from the Oregonian) “Leif’s Auto Collision Center in Tigard is closing shop for good. Leif’s, which calls itself the largest independently owned auto shop in Oregon, stopped taking in new customers and appointments on Tuesday, owner Leif Hansen said. The shop will remain open through April to work through the 150 vehicles still under repair. Hansen, who founded the company in 1991, said …‘I’ve been working nearly every day over the last 35 years, and I’m ready to take a break.’ “
You may also be like this story from Wilamette Week or this one from The Oregonian
The Customers Who Repeatedly Buy Doomed Products
(from The Hustle) “Companies love so-called high-value customers, or brand evangelists — folks who buy products repeatedly, leave glowing reviews online, and tell everyone they know to do the same… But it turns out that not every customer who voraciously buys new products is good for business. In recent years, research has suggested that a certain fraction of consumers are particularly skilled at picking out products that are destined to fail, or get discontinued. (Think Crystal Pepsi, Clairol Touch of Yogurt Shampoo, or Cheetos Lip Balm) They’re called harbingers of failure, or harbinger customers… [and] the more they buy a product, the more likely it is to fail…”
Can you read this? Then we have a history-making job for you!
(from USAToday) “If you can read cursive, the National Archives would like a word. Or a few million. More than 200 years worth of U.S. documents need transcribing (or at least classifying) and the vast majority from the Revolutionary War era are handwritten in cursive – requiring people who know the flowing, looped form of penmanship. ‘Reading cursive is a superpower,’ said Suzanne Isaacs, a community manager with the National Archives Catalog in Washington, D.C. She is part of the team that coordinates the more than 5,000 Citizen Archivists helping the Archive read and transcribe some of the more than 300 million digitized objects in its catalog. And they’re looking for volunteers with an increasingly rare skill…”
