jdroth

Dozens Work to Save the Life of Heart-Attack Victim

April 13, 2011

We hear a lot about the bystander effect, the socio-psychological phenomenon in which average people stand by idly instead of helping a victim during an emergency situation. This concept was made famous by the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964, but has been reported as recently as yesterday in other traumatic situations. It’s refreshing, then, […]

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Steven Sasson, Inventor of the Digital Camera

April 11, 2011

When did you first see a digital camera? I first saw one in 1999. A friend borrowed a one-megapixel Kodak DC240 from somewhere, and he showed it to me one night over dinner. I was amazed. I’d recently become interested in photography, and the cost of film was killing me. A digital camera seemed like […]

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How to Be Awesome

April 9, 2011

This is a guest post from my colleague, Chris Guillebeau. How to Be Awesome was originally published at his site, The Art of Non-Conformity, in slightly different form. The other day I was talking with my friend Phil, a doctoral student in philosophy. Phil is much smarter than me — of that there is no […]

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Miriam Makeba, Mama Africa

April 7, 2011

In February, my wife and I took a vacation to southern Africa. As our bus drove through Soweto, our tour guide sang to us “The Click Song” from Miriam Makeba. This song is a novelty to Western ears because it’s sung in Xhosa, one of South Africa’s eleven official languages. (It’s spoken by about 18% […]

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Olga Kotelko, the 91-Year-Old Star of Track and Field

April 4, 2011

Most of my life, I’ve been fat. I’ve been a sedentary man, sitting in front of a computer, eating corn chips and Sno-Balls. Over the past couple of years, though, I’ve changed. I’m eating well and have even started exercising. In fact, I exercise a lot. Physical fitness is hard work. Some days, I wonder […]

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Lou Gehrig, the Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth

March 31, 2011

When Lou Gehrig was born on 19 June 1903, he weighed almost fourteen pounds. As a man, he stood six-feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. He was one of the greatest baseball players of his day. Hell, he was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Gehrig made his debut with the New […]

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Tsunami Survivor Searches for Wife and Mother

March 28, 2011

The Los Angeles Times reports that while the Japanese government is trying to help survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami, resources are spread too thin. Rather than waiting for help that might never arrive, some folks are taking action themselves. For instance, 43-year-old Hideaki Akaiwa donned scuba gear (or perhaps a wetsuit) and swam […]

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People Are Awesome

March 25, 2011

My name is J.D. Roth. For the past five years, I’ve written a personal-finance blog called Get Rich Slowly. As that site has grown, it’s been fantastic to meet and mingle with readers from around the world. Along the way, I’ve learned something about human nature. Put simply: People are awesome. Sure, we make mistakes. […]

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