Weapon of Mass Destruction: Morning Report 11/14/13

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi

Pictured Above: Björn Waldegård, nicknamed "Walle," was a former Swedish rally driver and inaugural winner of the World Rally Championship, back in 1979. He once famous rivals with Sandro Munari, a rivalry that came to a head when, run by the same team, he disobeyed orders and overtook Munari to claim victory at the 1976 Rallye Sanremo. He'd leave the Lancia team after the race, joining Ford instead.

Relevant and less-than-relevant goings-on from around the interwebs:

  • Snapchat rebuffed a $3 billion offer — $3 billion in cash mind you — offer from Facebook. Apparently a Chinese e-commerce giant values them, 2 year-old them, at $4 billion. What in god's name are those young twenty-somethings thinking? What in god's name in Tencent Holdings (the Chinese company and potential investors) thinking? What in god's name was Mark Zuckerberg thinking? Maybe their plan to cultivate their own is a good one. [WSJ, Engadget]
  • On Tuesday, we discussed how converging your networks wasn't necessarily a great idea. Today, a neuroscientist offers his theory on how these very networks become conscious, like humans, or perhaps more appropriately, earthworms. [Wired]
  • Weapon X: How the government weaponized the internet. [Wired]
  • Star constellations, as seen from outer space. [National Geographic]
  • As you might have already suspected, the TSA is playing a game of chance. [Ars Technica]
  • Awesome Alert: The premiere of Behind the Line, a series of videos where athletes look back and reflect on a line, jump, or session. Makes you want to hit the slopes, doesn't it? [NYT]
  • Five-Ring Mess: Russia is ruining the Olympics. [Outside]
  • Bourbon Breakdown: A booze-y family tree, for the hooch of the season. [GQ]

Also, did you know... In 2011, a Swede was arrested for splitting an atom in his kitchen. It was a "hobby" and he even blogged about it. He was only arrested after contacting Sweden's radiation authority, who, in turn, contacted the police. He was asking if what he was doing was, indeed, illegal. [The Guardian]