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In August 1939, just weeks before Hitler invaded Poland, the Soviet Union and Japan fought a massive tank battle on the Mongolian border – the largest the world had ever seen.

Under the then unknown Georgy Zhukov, the Soviets won a crushing victory at the batte of Khalkhin-Gol (known in Japan as the Nomonhan Incident). Defeat persuaded the Japanese to expand into the Pacific, where they saw the United States as a weaker opponent than the Soviet Union. If the Japanese had not lost at Khalkhin Gol, they may never have attacked Pearl Harbor.

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http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1855

Courtesy of Jax

This article in the Guardian is immensely informative about Facebook and its real intentions. Don’t be out off by the first few paragraphs. Read the full thing here

Very detailed account of how this guy decides to stop paying his TV license and how the BBC kept sending letter after letter to him, the tone of each letter getting more and more aggressive.

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Top Trends is a blog about trends. The trends are sifted into a number of sections largely based on industry sectors. There is then a category of trends named megatrends, which is a listing of trends that affect many industries or have wider future socio-economic impacts. There’s also a section called columns, which is some of my writings for various newspapers and magazines and a section called predictions. Last but not least there’s also a section about my forthcoming book.

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Unbeleivable stats about how the Fins fared against the Russians in 1939.

Link

Very geeky but hey ho.

Already today you’ve used at least one product from a company that, at one time, worked for the Nazis. Now, in the name of not getting sued, we’d like to make it clear that we’re not accusing any of the below companies of still being in bed with the Third Reich. All of them, to our knowledge, have long disavowed Hitler’s regime as being both monstrous and no longer profitable.

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Larry Lessig gets TEDsters to their feet, whooping and whistling, following this elegant presentation of three stories and an argument. The Net’s most adored lawyer brings together John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights, and the “ASCAP cartel” to build a case for creative freedom. He pins down the key shortcomings of our dusty, pre-digital intellectual property laws, and reveals how bad laws beget bad code. Then, in an homage to cutting-edge artistry, he throws in some of the most hilarious remixes you’ve ever seen.

See the talk

mind42.com

Keep track of all your ideas, whether alone, with colleagues and friends or working together with the whole world.

mind42.com is a browser based online mind mapping application. With mind42.com installing mindmapping tools is no longer needed- for a hassle-free mindmapping experience. Just open the browser and launch the application when needed.

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