An intriguing and entertaining list. Thanks for posting it.
I found #6 hilarious. I had never heard of a "spite house", but I see from the wiki article that they go back hundreds of years. It makes me want to build one just to get the U.S. total up to an even 20. (But I like my current neighbors, so I'd have to move someplace where I hate them.)
Regarding #9, I see that it comes from France. There is something uniquely weird about the French way of looking at the world, especially when it comes to "big picture" things like philosophy, design, and vision statements. You can see this also in #3.
Items #12-#14 are stunning in what they indicate about what ancient Greeks were capable of in technology and art.
I notice on the spite house list that most of the houses don't meet the definition of spite house on the page, specifically the bit about not being meant for actual occupation. That made me chuckle.
Incidentally, for some reason when I saw this article title in my inbox I was fully expecting it to be an essay about short pants one could wear in January. I clicked it anyway, because that is how much I believe in you.
Or how brain dead I am halfway through the work day. Your call.
For (10), the air quality idea, you talk as though the problem is just obtaining a warning of a drop in air quality and it's obvious what one should do if one does happen to receive one:
• Is this obvious because it's dealt with elsewhere on this blog?
• Or dealt with elsewhere in some common source most readers would be familiar with?
• Or is it a cultural thing, like how in places where it snows every winter people just drive carefully, carry snow chains in their car boots, etc. but in places where it only snows once a decade everybody tries to drive like normal and there are loads of crashes?
• Or is it just so bleeding obvious it doesn't need discussing by anybody, anywhere, like wearing suncream when it's sunny*?
In any case, I find myself at an embarrassing loss; I wouldn't have a clue what to do if I were notified that air quality had suddenly dropped in my area! Am I insufficiently widely-read, or am I being kinda dumb, or has concern for air quality simply not reached my local culture yet?
(And more pertinently: what /does/ one do when air quality drops? Where do these extras DALYS I could be getting come from? Stop using open fires, diesel cars and incense? Stay indoors with the windows shut as much as possible? Wear a gas mask to the pub?)
Didn't mean to imply anything is obvious, but I guess what I'd recommend is: (1) close windows, make sure air purifiers are on (2) if going for a walk or running etc. during the day maybe shift into late afternoon when air quality is usually (counterintuitively) best (3) if air quality if really poor, consider shifting outdoor activities to other days. (4) but also don't go crazy since exposure to moderately poor air for short periods of time isn't that big of a deal. (See also: https://dynomight.net/air/)
For somewhat selfish reasons I'm annoyed that "what is the actual health impact of notionally-moderate drinking (780 drinks per year!!) among otherwise-healthy people" is such a poorly studied question
An intriguing and entertaining list. Thanks for posting it.
I found #6 hilarious. I had never heard of a "spite house", but I see from the wiki article that they go back hundreds of years. It makes me want to build one just to get the U.S. total up to an even 20. (But I like my current neighbors, so I'd have to move someplace where I hate them.)
Regarding #9, I see that it comes from France. There is something uniquely weird about the French way of looking at the world, especially when it comes to "big picture" things like philosophy, design, and vision statements. You can see this also in #3.
Items #12-#14 are stunning in what they indicate about what ancient Greeks were capable of in technology and art.
Cheers!
Thanks for writing this up!
I notice on the spite house list that most of the houses don't meet the definition of spite house on the page, specifically the bit about not being meant for actual occupation. That made me chuckle.
Incidentally, for some reason when I saw this article title in my inbox I was fully expecting it to be an essay about short pants one could wear in January. I clicked it anyway, because that is how much I believe in you.
Or how brain dead I am halfway through the work day. Your call.
For (10), the air quality idea, you talk as though the problem is just obtaining a warning of a drop in air quality and it's obvious what one should do if one does happen to receive one:
• Is this obvious because it's dealt with elsewhere on this blog?
• Or dealt with elsewhere in some common source most readers would be familiar with?
• Or is it a cultural thing, like how in places where it snows every winter people just drive carefully, carry snow chains in their car boots, etc. but in places where it only snows once a decade everybody tries to drive like normal and there are loads of crashes?
• Or is it just so bleeding obvious it doesn't need discussing by anybody, anywhere, like wearing suncream when it's sunny*?
In any case, I find myself at an embarrassing loss; I wouldn't have a clue what to do if I were notified that air quality had suddenly dropped in my area! Am I insufficiently widely-read, or am I being kinda dumb, or has concern for air quality simply not reached my local culture yet?
(And more pertinently: what /does/ one do when air quality drops? Where do these extras DALYS I could be getting come from? Stop using open fires, diesel cars and incense? Stay indoors with the windows shut as much as possible? Wear a gas mask to the pub?)
*Yes, yes, I know. Not going there, save to say that I did like both the SSC article (https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/23/ssc-gives-a-graduation-speech) and the Mau Kilauea Tropical House Remix (https://m.soundcloud.com/mad-house-19/baz-luhrmann-wear-sunscreen-mau-kilaueas-tropical-remix-1)
Didn't mean to imply anything is obvious, but I guess what I'd recommend is: (1) close windows, make sure air purifiers are on (2) if going for a walk or running etc. during the day maybe shift into late afternoon when air quality is usually (counterintuitively) best (3) if air quality if really poor, consider shifting outdoor activities to other days. (4) but also don't go crazy since exposure to moderately poor air for short periods of time isn't that big of a deal. (See also: https://dynomight.net/air/)
Thanks most awfully!
"Pepsi GALAXY"
I wonder how much this cost Pepsi? How many people were involved? Did this company ever do this with another company (I would suppose so...)?
They apparently were paid $35 million to rebrand Tropicana orange juice, which has been called the "worst rebrand in history": https://cremedemint.com/blog/industry/the-worst-rebrand-in-history-how-to-avoid-tropicanas-famous-failure/
(But sadly no other insane explanatory documents seem to be known.)
For somewhat selfish reasons I'm annoyed that "what is the actual health impact of notionally-moderate drinking (780 drinks per year!!) among otherwise-healthy people" is such a poorly studied question