Today is the launch date of Windows 8 – Microsoft’s most radical overhaul of the venerable operating system in over a decade. The existing interface will take a backseat to the touch interface pictured above. Will Oremus pondered if this bet would make Microsoft cool:

• Windows 8 is a big departure from the Windows of yore. Users used to the old way of doing things will likely find the operating system jarring.
• However Windows 8 has all the features and capabilities that are likely to appeal to a younger generation. It requires experimentation and excitement to figure out the best way to use it – exactly the kind of thing that younger, more tech-savvy individuals enjoy.
• While its primary competitor, the iPad, is simple enough that even the very old now use it; the young might reject the iPad because of its simplicity and lack of features. The iPad would be used by grandmas while Windows 8 would be used by teenagers. Microsoft would be ‘cool’.

Read more of the argument here.

Source: Slate

An Australian filmmaker wanted to challenge how we view sexuality in our society by auctioning off the virginity of two young adults. Aja Romano reported on the initiative:

• The bid for the virginity of the 20 year old female was old for almost a million dollars.
• In contrast the 21 year old male had a bid price of just $3,000. (Don’t feel too bad for him – he’s guaranteed at least $20,000, just for participating).
• To certify his virginity all the male had to do was have two family members state that they believed he had yet to have sex with anybody.
• The female, on the other hand, will have her body exhaustively examined by doctors to guarantee that she is a virgin.
• Sex, for the winning bidder, is defined as the penis entering the vagina. No kissing is allowed.
• To evade anti-prostitution laws, the actual sex act itself will take place on an aircraft.

Read more about the initiative, the background of the filmmaker, and links to photos of the two participants over here.

Source: The Daily Dot

As the holidays approach and people plan their travels, Andrea Murad took a look at how you can ensure you get the lowest airfares:

• Flight tickets drop to their lowest levels in the window 18-28 days before your trip.
  • Domestic flights in particular are cheapest if they’re bought 21 days before the departure date.
  • A week later prices will have risen by 5% and a week before the flight they will have risen 30%.
• Airlines will announce their bargain deals either late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
• Flights departing on Wednesday are the cheapest. Those departing on Tuesday or Saturday aren’t bad either.
• Early morning flights are also cheaper and have the added bonus of generally being on time.
• Two one way tickets on different airlines can, at times, be substantially cheaper than a round trip.

There are several more tips here, where you can also find out precisely how much you’ll be likely to save if you pursue these strategies.

Source: Fox Business

Via: Newmark’s Door

Mo Yan became the first resident of mainland China to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Malcolm Moore discussed the way that people in China have responded to his success:

• Local officials told the author’s father that whether “you agree or not” his son was no longer just his son; rather, he now belonged to the rest of China.
• The government is planning to build a “Mo Yan Culture Experience Zone” with Mo Yan’s house as the center piece.
• Chinese tourists from around the country have come to Mo Yan’s county. Some have picked vegetables from the area and plan to feed it to their children so that they, too, can go on to win a Nobel Prize.
• Mo Yan himself has seemed somewhat ambivalent to the fame. When asked if he was happy he responded that he didn’t know.
• The author wanted to use the £750,000 prize money to buy a big home for himself, but later realized that property prices were so high in China, he could barely afford a two bedroom apartment.

Read more about China’s reaction to the prize over here.

Source: The Telegraph

Via: Marginal Revolution

Sheena McKenzie talked to a chef whose cooked meals on yachts for notable guests including Bon Jovi and Bill Clinton, to find out what it’s like to cook for the world’s elite on the seven seas:

• The biggest challenge of preparing food on a yacht is the limited space. While in most professional kitchens you have a separate pastry section and a meat section, in the narrow confines of a superyacht you have to do everything in one place.
• Chefs must also plan their meals around the fact that they may not have the opportunity to go to a supermarket for weeks at a time.
• The Chefs are rewarded handsomely. Not only do they get to travel the world, they can be paid up to $13,000 a month.

Read more about what the experience is like over here.

Source: CNN

The final 2012 American Presidential debate ended just a few hours ago and Miranda Green took a look at the economics of hosting the debates:

• Most academic institutions are put off by the cost of the debate. It takes at least $1.5 million (and often much more) to pay for the security, equipment, and production.
• However smaller institutions believe that it’s worth their money because it helps to get their name out there. One University saw the number of applicants rise by 20% after it hosted the debate.
• Hosting the debate also has the benefit of creating a surge in alumni donations.

Read more about the things that universities consider before hosting a debate over here.

Source: The Daily Beast

Before the Presidential debates, the two candidates’ campaigns signed a memorandum of understanding that outlined the rules that would govern the debate. As we go into the third and final debate, Centives decided to look at the more interesting highlights from the agreement:

• The chairs that the candidates will be sitting on tonight will be swivel chairs that can be locked into a certain position.
• During debates when the candidates are seated at tables, a coin is flipped to decide which individual sits on which side.
• The governor of the state that the debate is held in is guaranteed a ticket to the event.
• The Commission organizing the debates is required to “maintain an appropriate temperature as agreed to by the campaigns.”
• Several provisions of the agreement have been violated by both candidates. They include:
  • Candidates aren’t allowed to ask each other direct questions.
  • During the town hall debate, the two candidates had their own designated space that they were allowed to move around in, and they weren’t allowed to violate each other’s territory.

You can find the full agreement here.

Via: BBC, Time

Allison Churchill and Robert Johnson outlined some of the more fascinating details about the President of the United States’ personal jet:

• The hangar in which Air Force One is kept has a firing range so that people can practice their shooting.
• For journalists to be cleared to go on the plane, they must go through ten security screens by agencies such as the Secret Service and the Air Force.
• Along the top of the plane there is an ‘attic’ filled with radio jammers, antennas, and sensors that detect attacks.
• On the day of 9/11 the President was taken into the air on Air Force One because it was deemed to be the safest location for him. It was the only aircraft above North America that day and three F-16s escorted it as it flew close to the speed of sound.

To read more about notable trips that Air Force One has made, including the surprise Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad in 2003, and how the plane has been updated after 9/11 click here.

Source: Business Insider