June 4, 2012: Morning
- U.S. and Pakistan locked in negotiations while drone "blitz" continues.
- Mick Jagger and Arcade Fire help Saturday Night Live say goodbye to Kristen Wiig.
- Pop music is longer, slower, sadder—only 43.5% of recent hits are written in a major mode.
- Round-up from the New York Times of 32 inventions "that will change your tomorrow."
- Food trucks find customers in Paris.
- Q&A with TMN's Rosecrans Baldwin on traveling around America to ask about the French.
- See also: "Our French Connection."
- Disney uses "queuing theory" to pad the wait times for its rides so people feel happy when they board sooner than expected.
- China uses a universal plug socket; it's time for the rest of us to adopt it.
- Computers play riskier, more inventive chess because they have more "contempt"—a technical term—for each other.
- Fascinating survey of latest robots developed for the military.
- Light-bondage favorite 50 Shades of Grey illustrated with stock photography.
- See also: 50 Shades of Grey's 50 worst synonyms.
- Martin Amis on moving to Brooklyn, hoping to emulate Philip Roth's New York-inspired late burst.
- Mary Ellen Mark photos from Mumbai's Red Light district in the 1970s.