Reading

Choire Sicha shares an article about the closing of the musical "Rent" on Broadway, which the author deems "the worst musical in the history of musicals".

A couple of investors got insanely wealthy during the subprime mortgage crisis, leaving some wondering how they did it and if others could too. via kottke.org

Engadget's homepage features articles on Apple's latest product releases and deals for Amazon Prime Day, along with gaming and gear news. via Engadget

Jason Kottke shares The NY Times' "The Year in Buzzwords", a look back at the top buzzwords of 2007 by Grant Barrett of Double-Tongued Dictionary.

via kottke.org

Someone found a missing page on Reddit written in Italian. via Reddit

It seems like a Reddit page couldn't be found. via Reddit

Reason.com discusses commentator Dinesh D'Souza's characterization of libertarians as "conservatives who are either gay or druggies."

It seems like a Reddit page wasn't found. via Reddit

Mathematicians have created a model explaining how phantom traffic jams happen - finding that slowing down below a certain speed can trigger a chain reaction potentially stopping traffic far behind.

via The source of this content is Economist's View.

Mike Birbiglia joked that Rudy Giuliani seems to think of 9/11 as his birthday because of how he acts on the anniversary. via kottke.org

The Economist argues against a proposal by Herbert A. Allen to redistribute money from wealthy colleges and universities to poorer ones. via The Economist.

Radley Balko, writing for *Reason*, recaps absurd law enforcement and legislative overreaches in 2007 and predicts that we'll see more in 2008. via Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets