Good Reads and Links

NASA unveiled the New Blue Marble photograph of the Earth last week, which drew some criticism for setting North America front and center. Now there's an alternate version from the opposite side.

5 Terrible Inventions From Otherwise Great Inventors. Ya know, even the best players can't hit home runs every day of their lives.

It's A Shame This Super Bowl Ad Will Only Air In Canada. It's a feel-good story and will make you want to buy some... whatever it is they're selling.

The "safety net" that is supposed to catch the poorest of American before they slip to the bottom has a lot of holes in it. Existing programs have limits, are taking budget cuts, vary by state, or don't cover those who need them most.

What do you do when the star of your movie publicly disrespects an entire ethnic group that was featured prominently in the film? The producers of Mel Gibson's How I Spent My Summer Vacation came up with a particularly clever way to turn lemons in to lemonade.

This Is What A Scientist Looks Like is a picture blog aiming to refute stereotypes about scientists. What, you were expecting Doc Brown and Dr. Frankenstein?

Donald Trump unexpectedly endorsed Mitt Romney for president. Political pundits can't decide whether that's a blessing or a curse.

TRUE CRIME: The Very Strange Story of Sqeaky Fromme. She missed participating in the Manson murders, but found her crime niche a bit later.

Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, defended the defunding of Planned Parenthood by saying the charity “would never bow to pressure.” That was just before they reversed course under pressure from all sides.

A new theme park in Ilsan, just outside Seoul, South Korea features interactive adventures using Kinect technology. That's way cheaper than building rides, exhibits, and a fantasy world.

Iceland's Historic Turf Houses: The Eco-Homes of the Future? There's no warmer, greener, or cheaper building material than Mother Earth.

As the police department suffers cutbacks, citizens of Detroit are resigned to defending themselves by any means necessary. Justifiable homicide is up 79% over last year, and it was already higher than the rest of the nation.