Jan 24 2013

Thursday News: Women fighting on the front lines; Samsung’s exciting new phone display; Tom Hiddleston reads us poetry

By Jane • Publishing News • • Tags: , ,

Samsung’s Next Smartphone Could Make Us Soon Forget The iPhone’s Retina Display – Apple’s iPhone 5 isn’t moving as many units as previous iPhones and Apple stock has dropped because of it. Apple’s competitors are cranking up the tech in their upcoming devices. Samsung’s next release has a screen that will put the Retina displays of Apple to shame.  AppAdvice

Samsung’s new phone, which should be announced in April, will include display panels that “use hexagonal and diamond-shaped pixel layouts, as opposed to your standard squares, to pack even more pixels into the display.”

The Women Who Fought in the Civil War | History & Archaeology – Yesterday Leon Pannetta revoked the ban on women serving in combat. This is an important step toward quality in the forces because advancement often depends on fighting in combat. Worse, women were in combat during Afghanistan and Iraq wars but received no recognition for it because officially they could not serve on the front lines.Smithsonian Magazine

In Bonnie Tsui’s book “She Went to the Field” she recounts the historical portraits of women who bound their breasts, posed as man, and served with the male troops. “Even though women weren’t legally allowed to fight in the Civil War, it is estimated that somewhere around 400 women disguised themselves as men and went to war, sometimes without anyone ever discovering their true identities.”

Gifts For Every Man – Have a hard time deciding what to give the man in your life? These entrepeneurs have created the “Broquet”. Delivered in a metal pail, these collection of items are built around a manly theme like bacon and fire. I don’t know. I like bacon. And fires. Still, it’s a neat idea with Valetine’s Day coming around the corner. Ned, I know you read the news section. Let me know if you like a particular Broquet. Broquet

Lord George Gordon Byron – She Walks In Beauty – Tom Hiddleston, who most famously plays Loki in the Avengers movie franchise, reads Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty.” I’m going to need the podcast/iTunes/music version of this. Maybe he can narrate the next few Georgette Heyer books. I’ve listened to all the ones read by Richard Armitage which are, in a word, awesome. YouTube

Robyn Carr’s Virgin River (the series) — a commentary – I thought this was a great post by azteclady on the attraction and flaws of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series. Her Hands, My Hands

And this is a lovely bit of fantasy, isn’t it? To have that one person who sees you at your worst moments, who knows all your flaws and all your regrets, and still–still!–feels privileged to love you? (how cool would it be if this feeling were truly mutual, huh?) And we continue to see the heroes, after winning fair maiden, willing to accommodate her quirks and go to great lengths to make her happy–because making her truly happy makes them happy. Part of this fantasy is the high regard in which all the heroes hold women–not just their heroines, sisters, mothers, friends, but all women. For example, in Virgin River, Jack breaks off a friends with benefits relationship shortly after meeting Mel, not because he thinks he has a chance with Mel but because it’s not fair to Charmaine for Jack to have sex with her while wanting someone else.

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