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Link Category: Class Is In Session

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1. You Don't Have the Right to Be Unhappy

   RSAnimate

   "Let's put a smile on that face!"

   Issue #55: September 7, 2010

2. Origins of Punctuation Marks

   Neatorama

   Question: How did we get the question mark?

   Issue #54: August 31, 2010

3. Questions to Ask When Developing a Fictional Character

   Suite101

   How's that novel coming along?

   Issue #53: August 24, 2010

4. A Brief History of the Bikini

   Slate

   Swimmers in Sicily in the 4th century were much more liberated on the beach than swimmers of the 19th and early 20th.

   Issue #52: August 17, 2010

5. What Caused the Economic Crisis?

   A brief overview of the reasons most often offered.

   Issue #51: August 10, 2010

6. History of Emoticons

   Good

   :-)

   Issue #50: August 3, 2010

7. Learn About Sudan

   The Economist

   In three minutes, that is.

   Issue #49: July 27, 2010

8. Online Dating Stats

   BuzzFeed

   It's big business.

   Issue #48: July 20, 2010

9. Visualizing the Internet

   BBC

   The "top 100" chart puts the power of Google into perspective.

   Issue #47: July 13, 2010

10. 11 Predictions That Back to the Future Part II Got Right

    11 Points

    In the film, Doc and Marty traveled forward in time to 2015. These are some things the film got right about the future.

    Issue #46: July 6, 2010

11. Online Pornography Statistics

    Online Schools

    In case you were wondering.

    Issue #45: June 29, 2010

12. What Makes Reading a Magazine Reading a Magazine?

    Bonnier

    It's not just the content, is it? This video explores the relevant physical dimensions.

    Issue #44: June 22, 2010

13. Michelangelo Hid Anatomical Illustrations in Sistine Chapel Painting

    R. Douglas Fields, Scientific American

    The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was considered a work of other-worldly genius even before this discovery, but this is just ridiculous.

    Issue #43: June 15, 2010

14. Illustration of Art History

    Zoom in for more detail.

    Issue #42: June 8, 2010

15. History of the Telephone

    Web Urbanist

    Early mobile phones never cease to look hilariously absurd in retrospect.

    Issue #41: June 1, 2010

16. What Actually Goes on When You Pop a Balloon?

    BBC

    Balloons explode so quickly that the human eye can't detect the intricacies of what actually happens. A super-slow motion video shows us what we're missing.

    Issue #40: May 25, 2010

17. How Did the Berlin Wall Really Fall?

    Marcus Walker, Wall Street Journal

    Who played the biggest part in causing the Berlin Wall to be torn down? Gorbachev and Reagan, or was it perhaps Ehrman and Brinkmann?

    Issue #39: May 18, 2010

18. 10 Simple Google Search Tricks

    New York Times

    You can dismiss these as tricks that only web geeks use -- at your peril.

    Issue #38: May 11, 2010

19. Common Misconceptions About Publishing

    Charles Stross, antipope.com

    Author Charles Strauss provides a refreshingly straightforward overview of how book publishing really works.

    Issue #37: May 4, 2010

20. How to Pronounce Authors' Names

    Diesel Bookstore

    Give this a once-over before your next cocktail-party engagement.

    Issue #36: April 27, 2010

21. British General Election Briefing

    Ben Schott, The New York Times

    A helpful overview of the candidates for prime minister, plus some of the oddities of the British electoral system.

    Issue #35: April 20, 2010

22. Understanding Rap

    Hip-hop lyrics get the Urban Dictionary treatment on this website, which explains the meaning behind slang-ridden rhymes.

    Issue #34: April 13, 2010

23. How to Think About Logos

    Charlie B. Johnson, Graphic Design Blog

    Visual examples help to drive home the message.

    Issue #33: April 6, 2010

24. Justice

    Michael Sandel

    The first class that Harvard made available on the web provides a fascinating introduction to moral reasoning. What is the right? Is torture ever justified?

    Issue #31: March 23, 2010

25. Happiness Riddle: Experience vs. Memory

    Daniel Kahneman

    Are you living your life happily or are you happy about your life?

    Issue #30: March 16, 2010

26. Random, Interesting Facts

    Learn Something New Every Day

    We can't say these "facts" are particularly useful, but they are fun.

    Issue #29: March 5, 2010

27. How Many a Second?

    So Many A Second

    So many.

    Issue #26: February 12, 2010

28. The History of Birth Control

    Newsweek

    Not a big fan of condoms? Maybe consider one of the Medieval alternatives.

    Issue #25: February 5, 2010

29. The Apple App Store Economy

    GigaOM

    If you're wondering what this whole iPhone app craze is all about, this smartly-designed overview should make one thing clear: It's big business.

    Issue #23: January 22, 2010

30. Simple Rules for Typography

    fred design

    Next time you're tempted by Wingdings, consult this primer on how to use legible, attractive typography for print and web.

    Issue #22: January 15, 2010

31. Materials that Make a Mockery of Science

    David Dietle, Cracked

    Even if you hated chemistry, you might find these interesting.

    Issue #21: January 8, 2010

32. Does Falling in Love Make Us More Creative?

    Nira Liberman and Oren Shapira, Scientific American

    Suffering from writer's block? Maybe you need a little romance.

    Issue #20: December 22, 2009

33. Ira Glass on Storytelling

    The Transom Review

    The host of This American Life breaks down the elements of a good yarn.

    Issue #18: December 11, 2009

34. Caffeine and Calories

    Information Is Beautiful

    Something to think about next time a Frappucino piques your interest.

    Issue #17: December 4, 2009

35. Do Babies Born in Winter Months Face Difficulties?

    Justin Lahart, Wall Street Journal

    It would seem so, but mainly because they have a slightly higher likelihood of being from families with tighter finances.

    Issue #16: November 27, 2009

36. The History of the Internet in a Nutshell

    Cameron Chapman, Six Revisions

    Al Gore is conspicuously absent from the chain of events.

    Issue #15: November 20, 2009

37. How Do You Define Sex?

    BBC News

    It's not as straightforward as you might think.

    Issue #13: November 6, 2009

38. If the World Were a Village of 100

    Toby Ng Design

    Interesting statistics to make one sit back and ponder.

    Issue #11: October 23, 2009

39. Closing Time

    Rich Cohen, The Believer

    A timely and insightful history of the American automobile industry.

    Issue #8: October 2, 2009

40. What's Happening to Women's Happiness?

    Marcus Buckingham, Huffington Post

    Why hasn't the rise of feminism made women happier?

    Issue #7: September 25, 2009

41. How Do Blind People Dream?

    Stephen Juan, The Register

    If someone is blind from birth, he dreams mainly in words and sounds.

    Issue #6: September 18, 2009

42. The Crisis of Credit Visualized

    Jonathan Jarvis

    Ever felt confused about what has actually happened to the US economy over the past few years? If so, this video may help.

    Issue #1: August 14, 2009