Lest I forget, Monday marked the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Two decades ago, I was a little girl in elementary school — and I can’t seem to recall hearing the news back then. I wonder what it was like to be a first or second grade teacher in 1989, unable to discuss this pivotal world event with your students. I can imagine the complications… for instance, in describing to young kiddos what was unfolding, these potential minefields could also surface:

Countries.
Borders.
Guards.
Checkpoints.
A gigantic wall.
Europe.
Germany.
Communism.
The Iron Curtain.
The Marshall Plan.
World War II.
Protests.
Death.

I think my teacher might have given up trying.

Two years after the collapse of the wall, I learned of the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. My father walked into my bedroom and informed me that the National Geographic map hanging on my wall was now incorrect. Unfortunately, he also continued allowing me to borrow books from the library with titles such as WEST GERMANY — which, without my previous knowledge of the fall of the Berlin Wall (see above) and without inclusion of an addendum clarifying current events, led elementary school me to continue in blissful ignorance of November 9, 1989 for a good number of years to come.

Gmail is down. The Twitterverse is going crazy.

In 1999, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan, devastating its central region. And a few years later, while teaching English in Tainan, I had the chance to visit the rebuilding in Taichung and see firsthand the earthquake’s destruction. During that time, I experienced several minor earthquakes and typhoons of my own, leaving me to wonder how my ancestors ever survived living on an island in the natural disaster-prone East Asian waters.

As I get older and news of disasters pile up, this is something I think about more.

Typhoon Morakat swept the island on Sunday, causing mudslides in Kaohsiung, crashing a helicopter, and killing 62 people. There are hundreds still missing. The typhoon then roared into China, displacing 1.4 million people in the southeast region.

The Boston Globe has documented this devastation in arresting collection of photos. I haven’t yet called my parents to ask about the status of my relatives in southern Taiwan, but I think that’s the next phone call I’m going to make.

How do you spend your days? According to the American Time Use Survey in the New York Times, there are striking differences between time spent by the employed versus the unemployed.

On an average weekday, the unemployed sleep an hour more than their employed peers. They tidy the house, do laundry and yard work for more than two hours, twice as much as the employed. The unemployed also spend an extra hour in the classroom and an additional 70 minutes in front of the television.

With just under 10% of the U.S. population unemployed, that’s a lot of extra sleep and housework.

Good also has another great infographic on this subject.

The research, by Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows that we prefer advice from a confident source, even to the point that we are willing to forgive a poor track record. Moore argues that in competitive situations, this can drive those offering advice to increasingly exaggerate how sure they are. And it spells bad news for scientists who try to be honest about gaps in their knowledge.

Which explains how some people ever get to where they are in life.

(via daring fireball)

Last April, the USS Bainbridge was integral in rescuing Captain Philips of the Maersk Alabama. The hostage situation brought the growing issue of Somali piracy to the forefront of public attention. This month, Scott Carney has detailed the piracy enterprise in Wired, with an economic analysis and an intriguing Q&A with an ocean hijacker.

Armed men are expensive as are the laborers, accountants, cooks and khat suppliers on land. During long negotiations our men get tired and we need to rotate them out three times a week. Add to that the risk from navies attacking us and we can be convinced to lower our demands.

Wired even includes a strategy game — where your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to vicariously live out this difficult managerial occupation. Makes you think twice about hijacking a ship on open waters, eh?

(photo via wikimedia)

Scientists warn that another giant jellyfish invasion is on the horizon off the Japanese coast. National Geographic published this amazing photograph during the last spawning in November 2007, when damage caused by the giant jellyfish cost fishermen billions of yen.

A Canadian doctor posted all ten (public domain) Rorschach plates on Wikipedia, sparking a storm of criticism from angry psychologists. Said one, “The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it.” (via NYTimes)

Ever since Watchmen was released, I think of the movie every time I hear Rorschach. Am I the only one?