All apocalyptic stories are about wish fulfillment to some extent. But Red Dawn, opening today, is the purest jolt of wish-fulfillment I’ve seen in ages, about the fall of America and the rise of some plucky kids who Suck It Up and Do What Must Be Done. This is an action movie so ridiculous, it barely qualifies as having a narrative, just a river of melted cheese. It’s like going rafting in the Nacho Kingdom. More »

“Stories are the most durable texture of life for us. Not forms of societies, but stories. Stories are really what keeps everything together, in a way. When you are abandoned by stories – when you go back beyond the invention of writing, beyond the literary tradition – you feel of course lost: because one needs stories.”

Have you read your Roberto Calasso? F*ck you, go get The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony. Or, Literature and the Gods. Or his latest, La Folie Baudelaire, which Elizabeth Bachner wrote about. Calasso is a gem, and he is profiled at the Independent.

 

I hate shaving. Like seriously, it is the most annoying personal hygiene chore that a proper gentleman is supposed to undertake everyday. Mostly I hate it because it takes up a lot of time and me and razors don’t really get along.

But maybe you’re different. Maybe you love the smooth texture of a fresh shaven face everyday. If so, you might want to get this iPhone wannabe shaver.

It’s electric. It cost $40. And it looks just like an iPhone 4. There’s a metal band surrounding the glass face. Shoot, it even has a little switch on the side of the device like the iPhone mute switch, and it comes in white and black. You can charge it via USB and toss it in your travel bag for your next adventure. All it needs is an Apple logo.

 

Source: Shave Tech

Via: Gizmodo

 

According to a survey done by Nielsen, U.S. consumers aged 6-12 are significantly more interested in purchasing Apple’s iOS products over the next 6 months. The new Nintendo Wii U took the #2 spot, but lagged well behind the iPad. Meanwhile, the iPod Touch, iPad Mini and the iPhone rounded out the rest of the top 5 most wanted products for this age group.

Approximately half the children surveyed expressed interest in the full-sized iPad (up from 44% last year), and 36 percent in the new iPad Mini. The iPod Touch and iPhone are also coveted devices among these young consumers (36% and 33%, respectively). Kids are also likely to ask for dedicated gaming hardware this holiday, with 39 percent excited to own Nintendo’s just-released console offering, Wii U, and 29 percent indicating they want a device from that company’s portable DS family. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 also proved appealing, with approximately one-quarter of kids 6-12 saying they want these high definition consoles.

Nielsen also surveyed persons aged 13+ and found the iPad also topped that list. The remainder of the 13+ year old list was less dramatically in favor of Apple than the 6-12 year old group.

In a separate survey of (presumably) adults, Reuters found that one third of U.S. consumers were thinking of buying a tablet this holiday season. Amongst those who wanted a tablet, the iPad was again the most popular with 25% of respondents planning to purchase one. Second and third place went to the Kindle (15%) and Samsung (15%) tablets. Finally, Apple’s new iPad mini came in at 8% amongst respondents.

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