Breakfast Links: Pirates, Math & Sky Cycles
It’s funny, you would think with the advent and immense popularity of the Pirates of the Carribean with hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide revenue that kids would be inspired to become pirates, right? That’s what Hollywood does. They want you to smoke? You smoke. NASA’s hiring scriptwriters to hopefully get some positive portrayal of math and science in the movies so more kid’s’ll be scientists when they grow up. So it’s with great surprise that I read that the Pirate’s movies were actually failing in that regard and worldwide pirate attacks are dropping. Huh! I guess Hollywood must be losing its touch.
And speaking of math, it turns out that math may be too much for UK students to handle. Schools are urging their students to drop math in favour of easier courses when they hit 12th grade! Awesome! I’m glad it’s not just the US that’s stupid when it comes to schooling their kids. There’s some kind of perverse (reverse?) incentive in place with testing and judgement of schools that makes them want their kids to do better at easier courses than do worse at the harder ones. Super awesome, that’s my kind of school. “C’mon Felix. Calculus? Seriously? Wouldn’t you rather take another remedial english? Or double up on health? We might be able to get you into a fourth study hall….”
Now, the future is starting to happen. Ok, not really, but if I didn’t live in NYC I’d definitely want one of these Super Sky Cycles! Their website leaves just a littttle to be desired. But check it, basically it’s flying motorcycles - you can fly them and drive them on the road. You’ll look like a bit of a tool when you’re riding them on a street, but that’ll turn into stares of envy when - caught in traffic - you unfurl your rotors and take off for a smooth flight the rest of the way home. Sadly, not only do you need a motorcycle license to pilot one of these bad boys you also need at least a student’s pilot license.
