Day: July 13, 2011

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. The Last Pilots
By Chris Jones | Esquire | July 11
“Despite the end of the shuttle, NASA still has astronauts — and plans on hiring more. But for the first time in its history, they won’t be flying anywhere.”

2. ‘Dozens’ of Women Vanish From Canadian Wilderness
By Mark Russell | Newser | July 11
“So many women have disappeared along the 837-mile stretch of Highway 16 that cuts through the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia that people have started calling it ‘The Highway of Tears. …’ ”

3. Netflix raises rates, irks subscribers
Associated Press | July 13
“Netflix has provoked the ire of some of its 23 million subscribers by raising its prices by as much as 60 percent for those who want to rent DVDs by mail and watch video on the Internet.”

4. John Adams Deserves a Monument in Washington
By Peter Roff | U.S. News & World Report | July 11
“Adams, the second president of the United States, was a seminal figure in the American struggle for independence. Without him it is highly unlikely that the revolution would have unfolded as it did.”

5. US Army may give soldiers smartphones
GlobalPost | July 13
“The phones would be used to send text message updates about their surroundings, send photographs with GPS location, look at maps and fill out reports.”

6. Neptune Discovered a Year Ago Today*
By Ker Than | National Geographic | July 12
“*One Neptunian year, that is, which is about 165 Earth years long.”

7. Electric Earth
OurAmazingPlanet | May 24
An amazing slideshow of lightning from all over the world.

8. Not Satisfied, Protesters Return to Tahrir Square
By Anthony Shadid | The New York Times | July 12
“Egypt is a turbulent place these days, as is the Arab world it once led. Defiant, festive and messy scenes unfold at night in a square that is at once a place and an idea. Revolutions are about expectations, and everywhere in Egypt, it seems, expectations … have not been met.”

9. Bridge on the River Kwai
Secrets of the Dead :: PBS | June 26, 2008
“After 14 grueling months of exhaustion and malnourishment, disease, bone-deep leg ulcers, and the loss of 100,000 lives, the POWs and laborers completed the 260-mile ‘Death Railway.’ ”

10. Camaron – Flamenco Legend
Witness :: BBC News | June 30
“Flamenco singing was dwindling in popularity in Spain until the appearance of Camaron de la Isla. Thousands lined the streets at his funeral in Andalucia in 1992.”