Popular Elsewhere
A look at the stories ranking highly on various news sites.
. This new word seems perfect to explain a phenomenon a popular Independent article says is on the rise: showing off about something while simultaneously couching it in terms of self deprecation. You'll find a humblebrag on Facebook or Twitter as, the theory goes, in real life when we want to share our achievements we can get away with it with the help of body language.
The article has a few choice examples:
If you could ask a US president a question in confidence, what would it be? (Don't be a dummy like me and ask for his tie!)
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Remember when limos were cool? Now they're pretty lame!! Every time I ride in one I feel corny... Glad it's 3:30 am
The obligatory animal story appearing on the most read lists has a little extra today. Well, a mouth, a nose and an eye extra, to be specific. Guardian readers are finding out that a has managed to make it to the grand old age of 12-years-old. And that is as unusual as his face, so has earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Almost as pleasing is his name: Frank and Louie.
It's over 150-years-old, but is being touted as a photograph of John Travolta. As a popular Daily Mail story explains, a seller on eBay has an and now is hoping to cash in - surrounded by mutterings of reincarnation. But the Daily Mail warns the picture doesn't come cheap. "The photo is listed at $50,000 or nearest offer, and while it has a large price tag comes with free shipping and gift wrapping." Good luck with that.
Farhad Manjoo's fear-fest - that - continues to get Slate readers clicking. Now he's claiming that that most human of tasks - thinking - could also be done by a robot. And the people who should be worried, it seems, are scientists as new discoveries have already made my computers that eluded biophysicists. Manjoo makes no bones about his reservations:
"This should terrify scientists. If robots can now outsmart us, what's left for people to do?"
15:09 UK time, Friday, 30 September 2011
