BuzzFeed:

My advice to TV shoppers has evolved: Consider the off-brands. Are you building the ultimate home entertainment system to show off to your friends? Then sure, shell out for the Samsung. But if you’re not…perhaps it’s time to take a look at one of those sub-$350, 40-plus-inch TVs.

Purists will scoff but he’s not wrong. And with “good enough” TVs coming down in price, it makes it less and less likely Apple will be interested in trying to sell their own high margin sets.

BBC News:

Erwin Perzy III knows a thing or two about making it snow – it’s the family business.

The 57-year-old Austrian is the grandson of the man widely acknowledged as the inventor of the snow globe. His grandfather, the first Erwin Perzy, came up with the idea by accident in 1900.

Mass production started in Vienna in 1905, and 108 years later, the company – Original Vienna Snow Globes – is still going strong.

There’s something a little bit magical about a well done, well made snow globe.

NBC World News:

Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church.

It’s easy for some of us to dismiss this as silly but the story has a great quote in it from an Icelander. He says, “I got married in a church with a god just as invisible as the elves, so what might seem irrational is actually quite common.” So who are we to say Icelandic Elves don’t deserve protections?

Nasa:

In December of 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to leave our home planet and travel to another body in space. But as crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders all later recalled, the most important thing they discovered was Earth.

It can be argued the picture, “Earthrise”, was the one photo that changed the earth the most. It expanded our understanding and concern for the planet we live on.

Looking Up:

There’s something special about the quality of sound when it snows. Those who live in parts of the world that experience snowfall know it well — an eerie, muted stillness that you hear from your bed, which betrays the season’s first snowflakes before you fling open the curtains in excitement.

Thos of us lucky enough to live where it snows are familiar with this phenomenon. Knowing why it happens doesn’t detract from the wonder of it. Thanks to Jeff Carlson for the link.

The Verge:

“At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections.” a spokesperson said to Billboard.

Waah…

Buzzfeed:

In early 2014, a series of devastating catastrophes bring about Armageddon. Papers of record like the New York Times soberly report this news.

Utterly hilarious. Thanks to Ian Betteridge for the link.

Monday Note:

Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s CEO, predicts the end of subsidies because “wireless operators can no longer afford to suck up the costs of customers’ devices”.

I don’t know if Stephenson is speaking out of cultural deafness or cynicism, but he’s obscuring the point: There is no subsidy. Carriers extend a loan that users pay back as part of the monthly service payment. Like any loan shark, the carrier likes its subscriber to stay indefinitely in debt, to always come back for more, for a new phone and its ever-revolving payments stream.

Lots of interesting tidbits in this piece and it’s interesting to see how many media outlets unquestioningly repeated Stephenson stupid “end of subsidies” comment.

Mental Floss:

“Yes, Sir, this is Colonel Shoup,” he barked.

Nothing but silence in response.

“Sir? This is Colonel Shoup,” he said.

Silence again.

“Sir? Can you read me alright?”

Finally, a soft voice on the other end.

“Are you really Santa Claus?” a little girl asked.

I love this story and delighted in telling it to my “new” 12 year old. She knew NORAD tracked Santa but she didn’t know why.

Macworld:

I left Facebook nearly four years ago because of its casual attitude toward its users’ privacy and nothing I’ve seen since has convinced me that this was a mistake. So, I sympathise. Fortunately, it’s easy to leave.

How much you want to bet we find out at some point in the future Facebook hasn’t actually deleted your account – they’ve just made it so you can’t see it any more?

Pacific Standard:

If you were a fan watching at home, here’s what you saw:

After a 52-yard drive in the fourth quarter, Army quarterback Carl “Rollie” Stichweh faked a handoff and raced into the end zone at Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia. Army fans erupted with cheers. The Midshipmen hung their heads. Then, seconds later, bewildered fans at home watched as Stichweh did exactly the same thing. Again, the cheers. Again, the downtrodden Midshipmen.

“This is not live! Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!” CBS announcer Lindsay Hunter hollered to television audiences as the handoff replayed. But still, confused viewers called stations to ask whether Army just tied the game.

Imagine you were watching the 1963 Army vs Navy game. Imagine how confusing instant replay would have been. All sports fans owe a huge debt of gratitude to Tony Verna.

Delaware Online:

While shooting football in the snow makes for fantastic photos, it’s also the most challenging scenario a modern photojournalist can find themselves in. Cameras today rely so heavily on autofocus for sports that snow renders them functionally useless.

Imagine trying to photograph someone standing behind a waterfall. Even if you can see them clearly, no matter what you do your camera focuses only the water. The same went for every thick snowflake between me and the players on the field, and when you consider there were thousands falling every second the challenge was daunting.

This was a fun game to watch and this guy got some spectacular shots in amazingly difficult photographic conditions.

New York Times:

SantaCons of years past have been distinguished by sexism, drunkenness, xenophobia, homophobia and enough incidents of public vomiting and urination to fill an infinite dunk tank. Despite these rampant violations, the departing police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, recently praised SantaCon, claiming that it “makes New York New York.”

So “sexism, drunkenness, xenophobia, homophobia” are what make New York be New York? Bull.

Star Trek:

The Starship Enterprise NCC-1701 was the first fictional spacecraft to carry on the name of many vessels in English and U.S. history. There were actually two ships in the English Navy called the HMS Enterprize (and that’s not a typo). The first was from 1743 and the second sailed in 1775. Fast forward to the U.S. Pacific Fleet during WWII and the USS Enterprise CV6 was our first Aircraft Carrier to carry the name Enterprise. In 1955, the second USS Enterprise CV65 took to sea. She was a massive aircraft carrier and the first of our nuclear-powered fleet. Fast forward again to 1967, and a new USS Enterprise would to take us into space… with Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek.

But every true Star Trek fan knew all of this already, didn’t they?

These videos are always amazing. It’s basically a short movie made out of clips from movies released in 2013. Nick Bosworth is an editing genius.

Here’s video of a Christmas tree harvest using a helicopter at the Noble Mountain Tree Farm outside of Salem, OR. I had to check with a helicopter pilot friend of mine to make sure this wasn’t fake! Here’s another video showing the process from the pilot’s point of view. Amazing piloting skills.

Mashable:

Airports are perhaps the least jolly of locales during the holiday season, generally filled with disgruntled people facing delays, lost luggage and other mishaps. But, thanks to WestJet, one gaggle of weary travelers was treated to a Christmas miracle that turned an airport into Santa’s workshop.

Sniff. Excuse me, I have to go. I’ve got something in my eyes.

Bored Panda:

Advertising doesn’t try very hard to conform to moral standards, but after looking back at some offensive, racist and sexist vintage ads – today’s ads are as good as gold.

I hate the vast majority of today’s advertising as much as the next person but ads like “Is It Always Illegal To Kill A Woman?” just make me shake my head in wonderment.

Hypervocal:

2012 was a tough year to top in the unintentionally amusing world of live local news. Between the lady who flashed her boobs at the vacuum cleaner man, Jay Z’s sister interrupting a live newscast and the weatherman aroused by “moisture from John,” you wouldn’t be wrong to think we’d peaked.

You would be wrong. Live local news brought the goods this year.

We all know that, for the most part, our local news sucks. I’ve watched it for years all over Canada and the US and generally, the quality is pretty awful But luckily, it delvers some gems like these.

McLaren P1 vs. the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: V/O: “The world’s most challenging racetrack. 154 bends. 20.83 kilometres. Too dangerous for Formula 1. As Thomas von Hassel said on Twitter, “Oh good Lord – that noise.”

The Guardian:

“You’re having a dispute with your neighbour,” he hypothesised. “How would you feel if your neighbour went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their back yard. It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?”

Mr Schmidt, do you actually know what Google Maps and Google Earth do?

And as Peter Cohen said on Twitter, “I think it’s hilarious that the guy whose company is making self-driving cars has a bug up his ass about drones.”

Businessweek:

Over the last two months, Bloomberg Businessweek spoke to dozens of current and former BlackBerry employees, vendors, and associates. Here is their account of the thrill of BlackBerry’s ascension—and the heartache of watching its demise.

Not a pretty story from RIM insiders.

Observatory:

Here’s my JCP story. It’s loaded with the things we love about this business: drama, crushed dreams, out-of-control egos and unintentional comedy.

Segall is a guy who was there and his timeline of the frequent missteps at JCP show a company and a board of directors that has no idea what they are doing. I predict JCP will not be around in less than ten years.

Wall Street Journal:

China Mobile Ltd. has signed a long-awaited deal with Apple Inc. to offer iPhones on its network, a person familiar with the situation said, an arrangement that would give the U.S. technology giant a big boost in the world’s largest mobile market.

Take this with a tiny grain of salt because of the “a person familiar with the situation said” line but we’ve been expecting this deal for several months.

Mashables:

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on Tuesday revealed the new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The 27 recordings inducted bring the total in the hall to 960, including albums and singles that span from Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind” (1930) to Run-D.M.C.’s cover of “Walk this Way” (1986).

Like most lists of “Best of…” this one is likely to cause at least a little controversy. Which of these songs do you think don’t belong in the Grammy Hall of Fame?

Bloomberg:

Icelandic police shot dead a man who refused to stop firing at them with a shotgun in the capital of Reykjavik earlier today — and then they apologized. It was the first time that anyone in the country was killed by police gunfire.

“The police regret this incident and wishes to extend its condolences to the man’s family,” said national police chief Haraldur Johannessen.

Details of the event have yet to emerge, but this much is clear: Iceland is a weird place.

Sad that you have to describe such a peaceful country as “weird”.

Poynter:

When Planet Money embarked on a massive reporting project tracking the making of a simple T-shirt — from the cotton fields of Mississippi to Bangladeshi garment factories to shipping containers crossing oceans — an interactive, documentary-style presentation seemed like the obvious end result.

The NPR story is interesting in its “interactive documentary” style but this “story behind the story” is just as interesting.

BTW, the NPR story looks great on an iPad.

While its interactivity may be limited, you’ve got to admire the guy for the effort it must have taken to create this resume.

Valleywag:

The most absolutely awful thing about the story of Nick Starr is not that he exists, but that there are surely more people like him: the Seattle IT drone threw a Facebook fit when he was asked to take off his face-camera at a cafe. “I would love an explanation, apology, clarification…or her termination.”

Here’s your explanation – you’re a douchebag.

Macleans:

Nothing has gutted the indies, emotionally as well as financially, as the practice known as “showrooming.” Prospective buyers come into bookshops, wander the stacks, peruse the artful displays and even — unkindest cut of all — seek the advice of staff. Then they leave and order the books they want online.

Sadly, this is all too common in many retail environments. I see it a lot on the Motorcycle Retail space – going to the local bike shop, trying on gear, then buying that same gear online. Then, to make matters worse, those are the first people to whine when their local shop shuts down and they have no place to get their bike serviced.