Why did men stop wearing high heels?

For generations they have signified femininity and glamour - but a pair of high heels was once an essential accessory for men.

Beautiful, provocative, sexy - high heels may be all these things and more, but even their most ardent fans wouldn't claim they were practical.

They're no good for hiking or driving. They get stuck in things. Women in heels are advised to stay off the grass - and also ice, cobbled streets and posh floors.

And high heels don't tend to be very comfortable. It is almost as though they just weren't designed for walking in.

Originally, they weren't.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21151350 

Who Will Control What We 3-D Print?

Last January, the Swedish BitTorrent tracker Pirate Bay quietly introduced a new category, called Physibles, to its inventory. “We believe that things like three-dimensional printers, scanners, and such are just the first step,” one of the site’s managers wrote at the time. “We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare parts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years.”

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-12/fma-who-will-control-what-we-3-d-print?src=twitter 

New York, a graveyard for languages

Home to around 800 different languages, New York is a delight for linguists, but also provides a rich hunting ground for those trying to document languages threatened with extinction.

To hear the many languages of New York, just board the subway.

The number 7 line, which leads from Flushing in Queens to Times Square in the heart of Manhattan takes you on a journey which would thrill the heart of a linguistic anthropologist.

Each stop along the line takes you into a different linguistic universe - Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali.

And it is not just the language spoken on the streets that changes.

Street signs and business names are also transformed, even those advertising the services of major multinational banks or hotel chains.

In the subway, the information signs warning passengers to avoid the electrified rails are written in seven different languages

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20716344 

Eine Mülltonne als Wohnung für arme Rentner

In der Wohntonne des Designstudenten Philipp Stingl gibt es statt Müll einen Mini-Haushalt. Im Interview sagt er, warum sein Werk die Altersarmutsdebatte widerspiegelt.

http://www.zeit.de/studium/uni-leben/2012-12/wohntonne-student-philipp-stingl 

Don't confuse your audience. Six tips for great presentations

The big problem with business presentations is not boredom but rather confusion, argues author Dave Paradi. Sure, there are times when presentations are dull, with little information transmitted.

But more often, says the Mississauga, Ont.-based presentations consultant, the audience can’t pierce to the heart of the message because the information is presented so poorly.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/a-rapid-route-to-better-presentations/article7038181/ 

Ten questions to ask during a job interview

After months of searching, you’ve finally landed an interview for the job of your dreams. You’ve chosen your wardrobe, you've Googled the company so you can intelligently discuss the issues, and you've considered the questions you could be asked. That’s fine. But if you haven’t brushed up on the questions you want to ask the interviewer, you’re neglecting a key part of your preparation – the part that might win you the job.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/ten-questions-to-ask-during-a-job-interview/article6600132/ 

Unlucky 2013?

Twenty-thirteen: for most people, another year, much like 2011 or 2012, nothing special. Okay, the United Nations says it will be the International Year of Water Co-operation and also the International Year of Quinoa. If that doesn’t seem special enough (quinoa is, after all, only a vegetable), maybe this will: 2013 will be the first year since 1987 to have all digits different from one another. Interestingly (to some people), 20 and 13 add up to 33, which numerologists—crackpots who assign mystical significance to certain numbers—consider a “highly charged master number”, full of meaning. But not all crackpots are numerologists. Some are triskaidekaphobiacs, and for them the prospect of 2013 is not so much interesting as terrifying.

http://www.economist.com/news/21566295-beware-globalisation-superstition-says-john-grimond-unlucky-2013