Links of the Week

Actual Waistline and Real Waistline Sizes May Vary
Esquire decided to investigate the accuracy of waistline measurements and discovered something interesting. It turns out the most of the time the measurement is incorrect. For example, the worst offender was Old Navy with the 36'' pant size actually being 41''. I guess it’s useful as an ego boost as can pretend don't need wider pants then you really do but I personally like knowing when I am going up in pant sizes as provides that little extra motivation to skip dessert.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Unconstitutional
Not sure why it took over a decade but a federal court finally ruled on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals serving in the military. "The act discriminates based on the content of the speech being regulated," [District Judge Virginia] Phillips wrote. "It distinguishes between speech regarding sexual orientation, and inevitably, family relationships and daily activities, by and about gay and lesbian service members, which is banned, and speech on those subjects by and about heterosexual service members, which is permitted." It is good news overall but I imagine it will be contest to the Supreme Court. Normally that would actually be a good thing because if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling this would prevent any future policies and laws that would prevent gays from serving openly. However, this is a Conservative Supreme Court where the five always vote in lockstep and have demonstrated frequently that conservatives’ ideals trump the Constitution and the law. They are highly likely to overturn the ruling and that would open the door to an outright ban or more. It is a calculated risk and one I hope Obama and the Department of Justice are considering carefully.

Real Rulers of the Twitterverse
While most twitter lists go by those that have the most followers (often in the millions), the list at the link tries to measure level of influence which is defined by how often posts get retweeted by their followers. The result is number 1 is Mashable followed by CNN Breaking News, The Big Picture, Onion, and Time. The rest of the top 20 is at the link.

Why Your Waitress Hates You
A write-up on the various ways people make the job of the wait staff more miserable then it already is. Among the recommendations of things to avoid is if say playing with cash, then pay with cash, try to get all orders and demands out at once, don't grab the staff, and of course when asked a question have the courtesy to answer yourself. A final thought, tip them. Many waitresses get paid less then minimum wage on the assumption that tips will make up the difference and then some.

"Inside the Other Watchmen Movie"
Hit the link to read up on preliminary plans and art put together for a Watchmen movie that would have been directed by The Bourne Supremacy directory Paul Greengrass. The overall goal was to tell a similar story but "modernized" to reflect the circa 2005 terrorism and fear environment.

Chinese Workers Stuffing Cards Very Quickly
Just a video that I found interesting of workers stuffing playing card boxes at kind of insane speeds. I guess if do something enough can get that quick at anything but still wild to see.