Linkwad.

1. I desperately wanted this to be wrong.
2. It’s not great for a product when “It really doesn’t suck” is the best defense you can make. Somewhat ironically, here’s a former-Amazon-turned-Googler who thinks Amazon’s done at least one thing much better than el Goog.
3. Does this mean Ezra Klein and I are getting married on the same day? Hey, also, if you didn’t know why posting has been sparse lately: I’m getting married.

Linkwad.

1. An excellent post on how superheroes and villains come to their wealth and power.
2. Harvesting hydrogen from wastewater.
3. Neutrinos go faster than the speed of light, possibly, shattering pretty much everything we thought we knew about anything, maybe.
4. I imagine “the sudden death of a guinea pig, shocking enough in itself, can also place the hapless owners outside the law” is the most unlikely phrase you’ll read today. Things like this and Sweden’s “heavy metal disability” go way past “nanny state”–maybe “diaper state” would be more appropriate. Also, click through for a thoroughly adorable photo and caption. Via Yglesias.
5. Bonus: hello, Quipu!
   

Shivers down my backbone.

Add earthquake to my “list of disasters lived through (Update: and subsequently got me out of work early!)”

“Invent yourself.”

Over the weekend, Emily told me that Elon Candea, a former college classmate of ours, had joined a cult:

Dr. Phil aired an expose on a Native American guru Clemente Suriano who goes by the name of Golden Elk.  The group lives in Chimayo, New Mexico and family members believe that Clemente Suriano is a dangerous cult leader.  The show featured three women as they tried to reconnect with family members they believe joined the cult and were subsequently forced to cut contact with them after doing so.
…
Joining the panel and sharing her beliefs regarding Clemente Suriano and his hold over his followers was Golden Elk’s ex-wife Kelly Suriano. … Suriano stated that Clemente Suriano exhibited extreme control over the members of the group.  She indicated that at one point he told one of the members to punish himself and the follower beat himself in the face.  She also stated that Iris and Leisa’s children, Elon and Ashley are now known by the names Kangaroo and Perla.

The Dr. Phil segments are here. I never really knew Elon very well, but he was a really talented breakdancer and was always interesting to talk to. It seems odd that he’d get ensnared by what seems to be a Z-list cult leader. Obviously, I hope he’s able to break free, though I have no idea how likely that is–and if he’s actually been involved for 3 years, the odds don’t seem good. Anyone with more information about cult member escape rates, please chime in. Update: Weird-subject expert Brendan Koerner doesn’t think it’s too likely, either.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what my esteemed alma mater had in mind when they came up with the slogan.

Linkwad.

1. Although Matt Yglesias has a very good point about rising relative incomes and wedding costs, it’s cold comfort to the soon-to-be-married. Also, the answer to his last three questions is “Well, yeah.”
2. Stuxnet was probably a bad idea for reasons exactly like this.
3. Glenn Greenwald thinks Obama really wanted the awful, terrible, no-good debt ceiling deal.
4. An introduction to the Internet freedom movement.