Karl Marx bank cards prove hit in eastern Germany


Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, some eastern Germans are once again carrying round images of Karl Marx - if only in their pockets.

The disappearance of communist former East Germany has not deterred them from using credit cards emblazoned with the image of the man who foretold the end of capitalism and the triumph of communism.

Karl Marx bank cards

reuters.com

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"Estonian Mafia" looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs


While Estonia’s prowess in cyberconflict and cyberdefense has grown in recent years, so too has its startup scene. After all, Skype was created in Estonia in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft for $8.5 billion last year.

Its success has inspired a new generation of Estonian startups, often collectively referred to on Twitter as the #estonianmafia, which were pitching themselves at the Latitude 59 conference held last week at Tallinn University of Technology. This university campus is also the location of Küberneetika, the Institute of Cybernetics, a Soviet-founded facility that dates back to the 1970s and became the first home of Skype decades later.

arstechnica.com

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Fettleibige Leiche löste Brand in Krematorium aus


Nach dem Brand im Krematorium beim Grazer Zentralfriedhof Mitte April ist nun die eher ungewöhnliche Brandursache aufgedeckt worden: Die Verbrennung einer stark übergewichtigen Leiche führte zu einer Überhitzung in der Filteranlage.

orf.at

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Analysis: JPMorgan dips into cookie jar to offset "London Whale" losses


JPMorgan Chase & Co has sold an estimated $25 billion of profitable securities in an effort to prop up earnings after suffering trading losses tied to the bank's now-infamous "London Whale," compounding the cost of those trades.

CEO Jamie Dimon earlier this month said the bank sold corporate bonds and other securities, pocketing $1 billion in gains that will help offset more than $2 billion in losses. As a result, the bank will not have to report as big an earnings hit for the second quarter.

reuters.com

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Facebooks Fiasko


Der "Facebook-Fluch" setzt sich fort: Nach der elektronischen Panne zum Börsenstart stürzte die neue Aktie des sozialen Netzwerks am zweiten Tag dramatisch ab. Kritiker bemängeln, der Handelsplatz Wall Street sei außer Kontrolle geraten.

Die Wall Street hat ein neues Ratespiel: Wie tief kann die Facebook-Aktie trudeln? Viele tippen auf 30 Dollar, andere auf 20 Dollar. Pessimisten wetten sogar hämisch auf "sechs bis sieben Dollar", ein Siebtel des kurzzeitigen Höchstpreises - ein Wert, den sie anhand der Bewertung anderer Silicon-Valley-Riesen wie Apple und Google herleiten.

spiegel.de

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Facebook shares sink 11 percent as reality overtakes hype


Facebook shares sank 11 percent in the first day of trading without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors down almost 25 percent from where they were Friday and driving others to switch back to more established stocks.

reuters.com Morgan Stanley cut Facebook estimates just before IPO

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The James Randi Educational Foundation Gives Teachers a Hand


New York City was recently the host to the North East Conference on Science and Skepticism, or NECSS which is pronounced “nexus.” NECSS ran over three days and included some great events outside of the conference in different venues in NYC. Saturday April 20th was a full day of panels and presentation, including a live taping of “The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe” with special guest James “The Amazing” Randi. NECSS was a great event for anyone who enjoys science and critical thinking.

One panel in particular that was of interest to me was Critical Thinking Education. On the panel were DJ Grothe, president of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), Dr. Meghan Groome from the New York Academy of Science and Marc Barnhill, who teaches critical thinking at New York University. All three panelists have been involved in teaching critical thinking either in traditional classroom settings or as part of workshops for adults and educators.

wired.com

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The Illusion of Choice


Bow down to your corporate overlords! You don't know who they are? Just click on the picture below to see the few companies that own most of the products on which you rely, and then ask yourself what kind of freedom you have when so much of your choices depends on stuff going on behind the curtains inconspicuously serving the interests of corporate greed...

Illusion of choice

logodesignlove.com

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Peter Glaser: "Auf ewig Dein" - bis übermorgen


Im Internet-Zeitalter werden Informationen, Marken und auch menschliche Beziehungen immer toleranter, man könnte auch sagen: opportunistischer. Nichts will sich mehr festlegen – Undo forever.

Forscher an der Universität Cambridge haben eine Methode entwickelt, mit der sich Papier, das mit einem Laserdrucker bedruckt wurde, wieder „entdrucken“ läßt. Das Verfahren, das mit verschiedenen Arten von Lasern funktioniert, soll die Wiederverwendung des Papiers ermöglichen. Man muß es dazu nicht erst wegwerfen und schreddern. Die klimaschädlichen Emissionen der Recycling-Industrie ließen sich durch das Entdrucken um die Hälfte reduzieren.

Kurier

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Thousands gather in Oslo to sing song Anders Breivik hates


Up to 40,000 Norwegians have staged an emotionally charged singalong in Oslo near the court building where Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for the murder of 77 people in a protest organisers said showed he had not broken their tolerant society.

"It's we who win," said guitar-strumming folk singer Lillebjørn Nilsen as he led the mass singalong and watched the crowd sway gently in the rain. Many held roses above their heads, and some wept.

guardian.co.uk

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Are You A Badass?


As regular listeners know, we here at Thunk Tank are committed to saluting the badasses and feats of badassery that make this world a more interesting place to live. Some listeners may be confused, however, as to what exactly makes an individual or a particular accomplishment badass. In order to clarify the criteria by which we evaluate candidates for This Week in Badassery, and to help listeners determine whether they themselves are badass, we’ve created this simple quiz. Just answers these six questions and total your score at the end to determine whether or not you are a badass.

Are You A Badass?

wfmu.org

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Look at These Fucking Boots!


Last month we went to the dusty city of Matehuala, Mexico, in the northern state of San Luís Potosí on the high plateau of the Huasteca Potosina, in search of the pointiest long-toed cowboy boots ever made. Over the past year, the botas vaqueras exóticas phenomenon has overrun the rodeo dance floors and clubs of this area, much to the dissatisfaction of Mexicans who critique the fashions of their countrymen on hotly trafficked style blogs.

But we were told we were too late, that the wrongly maligned wearers of what are by far the most wondrous footwear we’ve ever seen had been replaced with short, square, “pig-nosed” boots by stubby contrarians.

Martín Hernandez Rodriguez (red shirt), Saul Nicolás Coronado (black shirt), and Gabriel Rodriguez Flores (white shirt) are a dance crew from Buenavista.

vice.com

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