Brendan I. Koerner's Blog, page 82

The Comfort of Statistics

For those suffering from a grave case of ursinophobia, we provide the following snippet from Bear Facts, an informational brochure produced by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Many bears live in Alaska and many people enjoy the outdoors, but surprisingly few people even see bears. Only a tiny percentage of those few are ever threatened by a bear. A study by the state epidemiologist showed that during the first 85 years of this century, only 20 people died in bear attacks in Alaska. In...

Essential Egg Tech

Since far more learned organizations have the whole gadget scene locked down, we here at Microkhan rarely wax rhapsodic about the electronic toys that wow us. But we just couldn't help ourselves upon coming across the Egg Shell Thickness Gauge, which now sits high atop our wish list. How many hours have we spent fraught with worry that our eggshells are several millimeters short of what we truly desire? Once we save up enough loot to purchase an ESTG unit, that anxiety will be a thing of the ...

Gaming the System

When conducting business deals with their fellow private citizens, people basically tend to be honest. Perhaps this is because we all secretly fear retribution and punishment, no matter how unlikely the consequences. Or maybe it's just that we're wired to realize that society can't function if we're constantly preoccupied with suspicion. Whatever the explanation, the bottom line is this: When you purchase something from a stranger, you can be reasonably certain that he or she will make good o...

The Danites Are Coming

While we've always been vaguely aware of the Mormon film industry, we never realized that its history could be traced back to the very dawn of popular cinema. Nor were we particularly familiar with the brief silent-era vogue for movies that cast Mormons as archvillains, which BYU film historian Gideon Burton identifies as part of the industry' s "First Wave." The full knowledge on cinema's Mormon exploitation movement can be found here, via BYU Studies. (Warning: Massive PDF file.) Our...

T Minus

Mere hours to go 'til the Wired deadline, and we're scrambling. Really scrambling. Haven't cut it this close in ages, due to the sheer complexity of the material (which is heavy on neuroscience, psychology, and junkie horror stories). More Microkhan'ing as soon as we're able; in the meantime, watch the above and keep in your thoughts.

The Nollywood Math

As the late Art Buchwald would have been happy to tell you, Hollywood's accounting practices tend to be garbled at best, and borderline criminal at worst. Studio bean counters are masters of obfuscation and misdirection, with a knack for making blockbusters seem like middling hits, and profitable B-movies appear like money losers. Figuring out how everyone in the entertainment biz is able to afford endless Botox and Kabbalah lessons is a task well beyond our mental powers.

It was refreshing...

A Smirking Humanoid Named Sherman

Ttaubotneanauayean for your patience this week, as we eased up on the posting in order to tackle our crushing Wired gig. All will resume to normal on Tuesday, after we've hit our deadline.

To reward your steadfastness, we'd like to offer up a very special Bad Movie Friday entry: 1989's Millennium, starring the truly mismatched pair of Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd. We distinctly remember catching this at our local omniplex as junior-high students; it was one of the first times we ever...

Pining for Convenience

Living as we do in the heart of Atlah, we often take for granted the notion of easy access to groceries. Whenever we find ourselves lacking a can of beans or coffee filters, no big whoop—that situation can be rectified in a manner of minutes, simply by strapping on our sneakers and walking down to the nearest bodega.

The situation in could scarcely be more different. Residents of the Alaskan village have to go out of their ways to stock up on victuals—bigtime:

Shopping trips to the...

Oh, My Aching Hands…

Sad to report we're struggling mightily with our current Wired opus. Can't quite get the lede to sing, and we're getting lost in the weeds on Section One—so much controversial history to pack into just a few hundred words. Plus we've got one last interview to nail down, without which this piece might never gel. So please excuse us while we attend to pressing matters; we'll be back here as soon as we've broken through the haze.

Mines Never Sleep

From the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea, a depressing reminder about the extremely long-term dangers posed by mines:

Dozens of Second World War mines that litter the floor of the Baltic Sea will be detonated by a British company this spring in the biggest commercial mine-clearance programme in history.

Sebastian Sass, head of EU representation for Nordstream, the company behind the €7.5 billion (£6.5 billion) project, said: "We have tried to establish a corridor for the pipeline that avoids...