A Toddlers Rules Of Possession
| November 17, 2011
Author: luapo
Chinese Pay Raises Will Make Your Electronics More Expensive
| November 17, 2011
This year forget buying your tech in the post-Christmas sales. Because a 20 per cent increase in Chinese minimum wage is gonna hike up electronics prices come January.
In fact, the increase is only hitting the Guangdong province of China. Doesn’t sound too big a deal, right?
Wrong. Because that one province has been the making of China. As a result, it’s filled with big electronics firms and state-owned companies, as well as plenty of smaller and medium-sized private firms. That means it accounts for a huge share of Chinese industrial output. It also makes it hugely influential, and means the rest of China is sure to follow suit and raise wages across the board.
The knock-on effect is that anything made in China is going to get more expensive — and that means most of the gadgets you’re planning on buying are gonna get pricier, too.
Five hidden messages in the American flag
| November 17, 2011
Aptly – given its national anthem is about the flag – the Stars and Stripes is a key part of America’s identity. It hangs in classrooms and in courtrooms, on state buildings and suburban porches.
It has been the national flag since 1777. And the flag that inspired the anthem was enormous. Measuring 30 by 42 feet (9 x 12.8m), it was raised over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Its 15 broad stripes and 15 bright stars inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner, the song that became the national anthem.
I drew some tweets – The Oatmeal
| November 17, 2011
Killing Pets for Insurance Money
| November 16, 2011
First it was spurious claims for whiplash and other injuries, then it was “crash for cash”. Now a new type of fraud is affecting the insurance industry – pet scams.
Dishonest claims on animal policies almost quadrupled last year, making it the fasting growing area of insurance crime. Figures from the Association of British Insurers show there was £1,929,900 worth of pet insurance fraud detected last year – up from just £420,000 in 2009.
Insurers believe frauds include owners getting rid of the animal – by selling it or even killing it – then claiming a payout for early death. The animal may never have existed in the first place.
Dutch National Ballet – Human Brain
| November 16, 2011
Rutger Hauer, The Dutch National Ballet and Amsterdam’s creative community make brains from people, an Idea Worth Doing.
