Links for 2011-03-30

"The problem with Wonders of the Universe is betrayed by its title. The word "wonders" suggests that the Universe is wonder-ful, or even, in a word which has cropped up in the series a few times, "awesome". No authentic British person would ever use the word "awesome" without being paid a lot of money to do so. It just doesn't ring true.

I reckon it doesn't do to be too impressed by anything as a matter of fact (especially if its accompanied by awful music), but there is a particularly good reason for not being taken in by all this talk about "Wonders", and that is that the Universe is basically a load of rubbish."

"These scenes, taken from a live album recorded in Boston and packaged in a new three-disc box set that also contains deluxe reissues of Vs. and its 1994 follow-up, Vitalogy, came in the midst of the most ascendant period of Pearl Jam's career. By the end of '94, when Vitalogy became the second fastest-selling album ever behind Vs., Pearl Jam would be the uncontested most popular rock band in the U.S. But, unlike practically every other group that's ever held that distinction, Pearl Jam (or rather Vedder, who was in the process of becoming Pearl Jam) didn't want it. "

"Before he was famous, before he painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, before he invented the helicopter, before he drew the most famous image of man, before he was all of these things, Leonardo da Vinci was an artificer, an armorer, a maker of things that go "boom".

And, like you, he had to put together a resume to get his next gig. So in 1482, at the age of 30, he wrote out a letter and a list of his capabilities and sent it off to Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.

Well, we at TheLadders.com have tracked down that resume"

"The whole idea of an American business trying to make a profit off of a product its hired professionals create on a daily basis is a truly brave and intrepid strategy," said media analyst Steve Messner, adding that NYTimes.com's extremely risky new approach to commerce--wherein legal tender must be exchanged in order to receive a desired service--could drastically reduce the publication's readership. "To ask NYTimes.com's 33 million unique monthly visitors to switch to a cash-for-manufactured-goods-based model from the standard everything-online-should-be-free-for-reasons-nobody-can-really-explain-based model is pretty fearless. It's almost as if The New York Times is equating itself with a business trying to function in a capitalistic society."

"Brag about the Rams' serious bracket-busting skills when you celebrate their unpredicted appearance among the unstoppable Final Four teams of the 2011 Men's Basketball Tournament with this clever There Goes My Bracket tee. It features a crumpled ball of paper graphic over stylized "There Goes My Bracket!" lettering and the school's logo. This tee makes sure that everyone knows you're more than proud to see such an upset!"