This is It: Morning Report 12/31/13
"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something." - Neil Gaiman
Pictured Above: An empty Times Square, or on New Year's Eve, the calm before the storm.
Relevant and less-than-relevant goings-on from around the interwebs:
- The Land of the Screened: The latest of Edward Snowden's whistleblowing efforts on the overreaching NSA's surveillance program; or how your government has spied on you. [Ars Technica]
- The Chinese are Coming! The Chinese are Coming!: The latest trends from China headed west. Though we're not exactly sure they'd trust the United States, and for good reason. [The Next Web, Wired]
- Class is in Session: Harvard wants to lend you a hand with those new year's resolutions. [The Atlantic]
- You, Me, and We: The personal individual essays that spoke to or affected our larger human narrative. [Salon]
- Heat Check: How certain emotions influence body-specific activity. [The Atlantic]
- Shut Up: Stop saying these things. [Lake Superior State University]
- F*ck Yeah, America: The year in cursing. [Deadspin]
- Amazing Humans: Us straight cruising through the past year, doing cool people things. And in remembrance of the flames that flickered out in 2013, and the legacies they left behind. [Luc Bergeron, NYT]
Also, did you know... New Year's Eve Resolutions dates back to the ancient Babylonians. [DailyBeast!]