This Week’s Articles of Interest to Nicole

In Summary (200 words or less)

 

1. The Quantified Spouse

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/quantified-spouse-movement_n_2567459.html

Some spouses are crazy and taking the quantified self-movement too far...tracking their spouses eating, sleeping, and even pooping.

“Christine, a 20-something New Yorker who asked to be identified by her first name, had plans to move in with her boyfriend, and the couple spent every minute outside of work searching for a new apartment -- or so Christine thought. She logged into the Kindle account they shared to read an e-book she and her boyfriend had started in tandem, only to discover he’d plowed several hundred pages ahead, while she was still just two chapters in.”

Clearly a deal breaker....REALLY?

 

2. The Boy with a Thorn in His Joints

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/magazine/the-boy-with-a-thorn-in-his-joints.html?_r=0

Three year old gets arthritis. Doctors prescribe steroids. They don't work. Mom tries alternative stuff like Omega-3 pills, probiotics, some leaky gut stuff (which turns out to be a real issue), and waits 6 weeks. Kid gets worse. Then on the 7^th day of the 6^th week, kid wakes up and can walk again. Remission. The article also talks about a topic I am into: fecal transplants. This is a topic de jour as people learn how important bacteria are for our bodies. Actually, we are bacteria vectors, no individuals.Well written and you really cheer for this mom.

 

3. Anarchist Calisthenics, Harper’s

http://harpers.org/archive/2012/12/anarchist-calisthenics/

Cute article about how people in Germany follow the rules and how one town put in round abouts which turns out to make people drive better. Fewer accidents. Interesting, as they put in a round about in my hometown of Kalispell that every one hates. I would like to see the numbers. From a book by James C. Scott, Two Cheers for Anarchism.

 

4. A Lifetime of Tag
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578269991660836834.html

These guys, including a priest from Montana, have been playing tag with each other for decades. They buy plane tickets and surprise one another. They enjoy life. Cute.

 

5. They Cracked This 250-Year-Old Code, and Found a Secret Society Inside | Danger Room
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/all/

This one was super interesting about a strange code from the 1700s. The pictures are very interesting and the history of secret societies that is included is fascinating. The article falls down at the end a bit, but ending stories, or anything is difficult, so don’t let that stop you from reading the article.