Jay-Z's Got 99% Problems, and a Barclays Center Protest Is One
Jay-Z has drawn the ire of Occupiers yet again. But this time, the 99 percent will take their beef with the rap mogul to the Barclays Center, turf he partially owns.
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Discovered: Video games can help dyslexic kids read; pregnancy increases foot size; around 100 million sharks are killed annually; mammalian sperm swims upstream.
Jay-Z has drawn the ire of Occupiers yet again. But this time, the 99 percent will take their beef with the rap mogul to the Barclays Center, turf he partially owns.
Today in books and publishing: Elvis' bible sells for nearly six figures; international Jewish book battle; marketing JK Rowling; do we need a "new adult" genre?
Discovered: Uncertainties about the uncertainty principle; seals hunt for glowing fish; Kinsey Institute app concerns lawyers; deserts in danger.
Steve Jobs and Barack Obama had their differences, but the President still cited Jobs during his DNC speech. One commenter appreciated the mention.
Today in books and publishing: a Japanese man stole 1,170 library books; Zadie Smith profiles Jay-Z; Proust audiobook coming; DJ Junot Díaz.
Discovered: Dads who snooze with baby have lower testosterone; popular kids are more likely light up; reruns boost mental health; is acupuncture safe?
Today in books and publishing: the Portnoy's Complaint author will be profiled; lit-trolls run amok; Kobo announces new e-readers; a debate on bookselling economics.
A commenter steeped in theatre compares the podium performances from Ann Romney and Michelle Obama.
Discovered: The functions of 'junk' DNA; time slows for athletes; tigers go nocturnal to live alongside humans; and, no, we can't see the future.
The organizers behind the disastrous Bloc music festival in London last July are finally talking about what went wrong. Their statement reads like a how-to guide for ruining music festivals.
Today in books and publishing: former Komen executive criticizes Planned Parenthood; Geoff Dyer on Joseph Conrad; Brooklyn Book Festival breaks record; comic strip entered in DoJ suit.
Today, we looked at the literary shortcomings of authors who fake glowing reviews of their own books. Unlike those bland sockpuppeteers, our commenters praise themselves with style.
Discovered: looking at violent images is unhealthy; a smart carpet; the gene that could be responsible for Internet addiction; infrared camera finds public drunks.
Lately, authors have been caught sockpuppeting, the cute term for the ugly practice of faking favorable reviews, on Amazon to inflate ratings of their own work. But these writers who fictionalize for a living aren't very good at making their phony reviewers seem real.
Today in books and publishing: Newspaper pulls book serialization critical of football team; science fiction awards announced; mapping DFW's world; Tesco buys e-bookstore.
Discovered: Troubled kids more likely to become addicts; reconstructed human relative; fallible robots are better teachers; glass shape affects alcohol consumption.
Today in books and publishing: ASI lures in writers with stock publishing consultant; Franzen essay to be staged; publisher settlements; Junot Díaz loved Encyclopedia Brown.
Discovered: Few people experience information overload; signing forms at top deters liars; mysterious disease detected in Missouri farmers; mite poop causes rosacea.
Now that Clint Eastwood has been confirmed as tonight's surprise speaker at the Republican National Convention, here's what we think he might say, based entirely on his tough guy movie roles.
Today in books and publishing: Amazon's fresh out of Kindle Fires; on the 'authenticity memoir'; states ready to end e-book suit; controversial Paterno bio sells like hotcakes.
Discovered: Antarctic ice methane could hasten global warming; tuning an instrument also tunes the brain; NASA survey finds millions of potential black holes; low-cal diets don't improve lifespan.
Today in books and publishing: University of Missouri Press revived; Lois Lowry follows up The Giver; Errol Morris' new book maintains Jeffrey MacDonald's innocence; the feds probed Bradbury.
Today, Jen Doll examined the latest urban foraging trend: eating city squirrels. One commenter lets us know how the gamey little creatures taste.
When the nutritional rap against sugar went viral last year, an out-of-print book called Pure, White and Deadly became extremely valuable. So why isn't anyone republishing it?
Discovered: Circadian clocks; separating oil from water; hi-res images from Mars; tissue that's half-living, half-machine.
Today in books and publishing: Alan Garner finishes trilogy after 50 years; Pankaj Mishra's response to the West; Fifty Shades in translation; shady dealings in self-publishing.
Discovered: Chimps pick their fights; marijuana damages young minds; learn while sleeping; arctic sea ice takes a dive.
With the GOP descending on Tampa, the black heart of death metal country, Reuters tried to construct a conflict between Republicans and headbangers. But death metalheads seems unbiased in their hatred of politics.
Today in books and publishing: Michiko Kakutani pans Zadie Smith's NW; revisiting Henry James; John Jeremiah Sullivan talks with The Guardian; Apple to sell government e-books.
A commenter explains why brunch isn't undoing America.
Discovered: A new forensic process that predicts perps' phenotypes; the secrets of slime mold; stem cell research upheld; the universe is like a milkshake.
Americans can't get enough of PSY's bizarre hit "Gangnam Style." But, as they do with most K-Pop songs, they're hilariously mishearing its lyrics.
In order to circumvent nagging peer reviewers, South Korean scientist Hyung-In Moon created an elaborate network of fake email addresses and nonexistent experts in his field. Unsurprisingly, all these fake researchers confirmed the perfection of his research.
Today in books and publishing: Who will win the Nobel Prize in Literature?; British charity to hold Fifty Shades book burning; why would anyone make a 9/11 coloring book?
Discovered: slugs have violent sex; as men age, they're more likely to conceive autistic children; your boss is more productive than you; a very old, very strange star.
Today in books and publishing: NASA dedicates Mars landing site to Ray Bradbury; Katie Couric has a crush on John Grisham.
Discovered: early risers are healthier than night owls; robots take one more step toward self-awareness; antibiotics expand our waistlines; octopi are conscious.
Today in books and publishing: Cloud Atlas sweeps China; Kindle lands in India; China Miéville is cautiously optimistic; Martin Amis talks to Slate.
For its 15th anniversary, Pitchfork surveyed readers about their favorite albums to come out since 1996. The problem is, when music is broken down to statistics, things get pretty predictable.
Discovered: A gene that makes teens easily persuadable; the evolution of fireflies; NASA announces new Mars mission; the Mayans may have brought on their own demise.
Today in books and publishing: Self-published YA novel called racist; alleged embezzlement at MSU bookstore; Dwight Garner dissects Paterno; Glenn Beck re-releases The Jefferson Lies.
Discovered: Wearable "smoke"; aphids convert sunlight into energy; "bigfoot" spider found; pro-ana blogging can be a support network.
Today in books and publishing: An excerpt from Michael Chabon's latest novel; pricey e-books hit the top of the charts; the myth of Gen-Y illiteracy; Irvine Welsh accuses the Man Booker Prize of classism.
Discovered: Two new owls; tobacco use still hugely prevalent in developing world; microthrusters pack macro power; panfried meat linked to prostate cancer.
Today, Jen Doll unpacked a study that shows the use of selfish, ego-driven pronouns like "me," "you" and "I" outpacing collective, inclusive pronouns like "we" and "us." In the comments section, one reader noted a potential source for the rise of "you" in contemporary fiction.
Today in books and publishing: Nick Horby says Fever Pitch didn't make football middle class; William Gass' gruff acceptance of e-books; Tampa bookstore for sale; Apple won't settle with DOJ.
Discovered: A camouflage robot; judges give shorter sentences when they believe in the science behind psychopathy; a contraceptive pill for men; developing 3D printers for test-tube meat.
Today in books and publishing: Molly Ringwald talks up her novel; Thurber Prize finalists; Jerry Sandusky is working on a book in prison; what Ira Glass is reading.
Mattel's apparently gender-bending Barbie, co-designed by and resembling a famous drag queen, looks a lot like any other Barbie.
Discovered: A record-breaking galaxy cluster; how squids change hue; the way our brains deal with waste; engineering better toilets.
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