Spoilers for Season 6 of Game of Thrones. We never thought that a character could be quite so unlovable as Joffrey; but then along came Ramsay, with his torturing, twisted sense of humour, and dubious family dynamics. To the modern viewer Ramsay is the epitome of the worst of medieval times. But what would a […]
Like many pets, Daenerys’ dragons looked really cute when they were young, sitting on Khaleesi’s shoulder and immolating slavemasters. But the dragons have grown up; in fact this season Drogon is rumoured to be 80 feet in length. Which got us thinking, how much would it cost to feed that thing? As in, assuming you […]
From Leia’s gold bikini to Stormtrooper gear, Star Wars has had some fairly iconic costumes. None more so than Darth Vader’s. How much would it cost to truly take on the Sith Lord’s mantle? Centives decided to find out. Let’s start with the base suit. The cockpits of imperial space fighters d
This week is the Walking Dead finale, which means that a whole load of people are reviewing their zombie defense plans. We tried to make ours a little simpler, by saying that instead of buying things now (e.g. silencers, which look a little suspicious) we could just trade for them with other survivors when the dead […]
An elite London restaurant is experimenting with surge pricing wrote Richard Vines: The Bob Bob Rica
Brad Jones wrote about an unexpected healthcare cost reduction method: Getting into an ambulance can
Leslie Wayne wrote about today’s monarchists: The International Monarchist League argues that
November 18, 2011 in Snips
Welcome to the second part of a series of articles by Centives on the Evolution of the Daily Show over the years. Today we’re examining the guests that appeared on the show in the year 2000. Click here to read the introduction and here to read our analysis of the guests in 1999.
Field
Compared to 1999, the percentage of actors and musicians who appeared on the show in 2000 s Read the rest of this entry →
November 17, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
With the prevalence of Occupy Wall Street these days, many people are talking not only about the issue brought up by the protesters, but also about what elements of the protest were all about. This article looks at youth in the occupy movement; who are they and why are they there? What is the relation to previous youth protest? It’s a brief article that will give you the basics. Click here.
November 16, 2011 in Editorial, Top
As almost all Twilight fans know, “Breaking Dawn Part 1” will be released on Friday. The big moment of the movie will be the wedding; finally Edward and Bella will be together forever. From the scenes that have been leaked through trailers, the wedding looks extravagant complete with streaming flowers and a designer dress. Centives decided to take a look at what the cost of a wedding like that would be. We began by searching through the book for clues about the wedding, and then looked at the trailers from the film to Read the rest of this entry →
November 15, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
The issue of HIV/AIDS is very important to a plethora of people around the world. As developed countries cut their funding for research, the Copenhagen Consensus Center and the Rush Foundation instituted a project called RethinkHIV. The goal of this project was to find the most efficient use of money in AIDS research in order to benefit society as a whole as much as possible. Here are the five key areas noted by economists:
To read more on slate.com, click here.
November 14, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
Anyone who has ever been in a relationship during the reign of Facebook knows how sensitive and troublesome “relationship statuses” can be. Relationships are of course complicated, but a new dimension is added when Facebook comes into the mix. Not only are you dealing with your significant other (or not), but you have to contend with the implications of everyone you have ever known (plus some) interpreting your action or inaction. This has led to an array of:
Check out the rest of the story on Time here.
November 13, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
With all the recent clamouring over sovereign debt and credit ratings for government issued bonds around the world, Centives thought it prudent to let you know more about one aspect to the debate. The rating downgrade for US treasury bonds and other countries shook many investors and though it happened a while ago, it is important to understand what all the jargon behind the ratings means as well as how Standard and Poors categorizes countries. Succinct articles of this sort are quite helpful, check it out.
November 12, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
Today, Centives decided to enlighten all you Star Wars fans, addicts, or curious folk who have like many of us wondered: How in the (world) do lightsabers work? The answer is, well, complicated. Centives has yet to find a credible account of the existence of a lightsaber which resembles those used in the Star Wars movies. Even so, howstuffworks.com has made the complicated physics and applicability of lightsabers available to all. From its physical characteristics, various uses, and internal workings, this article has it all; it makes you wonder if they had some access the rest of us don’t. Read the full article here.
November 11, 2011 in Snips
Welcome to a new series of articles by Centives that examines how The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has evolved over the years. Find out more about the analysis in our introduction over here.
The show began its life through an interview with Michael J. Fox. As a 37 year old male actor, he broadly reflected the characteristics that would go on to define the show in 1999. Read the rest of this entry →
November 9, 2011 in Snips
Centives is launching a new series of articles where we examine the guests that appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Centives went through the episodes of the show and for each guest noted the date that they appeared on the show, the field that they were best known for, their date of birth, and their gender. We decided to pick these four attributes because, quite honestly, they Read the rest of this entry →
November 8, 2011 in Daily Bulletin
A new voting system may be coming to a town or county near you this election season. Instead of the traditional method of voting for one candidate in a contest, in a manner which seems natural and inseparable from our current conception of the word, some towns’ ballets will be ranking candidates instead.
Voters will have the chance to rank their favorite contenders in a manner which will reduce potentially costly run-offs for local governments.
For all the details, reasons, causes, and implications, check out the article by Freakonomics here.
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