Friday Snippets and Soundbites

• The Olympics continued this week with American swimmer Michael Phelps earning his eighth gold medal in a single Olympics. He has now won 14 lifetime Olympic gold medals, the most of any other Olympian. But while the U.S. and China remain atop the medal race, many countries will leave the game with few or no medals. This week, Rohullah Nikpai made history by bringing home Afghanistan's first Olympic medal. Ever. The athlete won the bronze medal in the men's under 58-kilogram taekwondo event.

• Family Force 5 released their new album this week, Dance or Die. The guys will kick off the Dance Rawr Dance 2 tour on October 6. It features special guests, including Play Radio Play. “The last record was a straight-up party, but we always said the second would be sweaty rock n' roll music,” stresses front-man/guitarist Solomon Olds (Soul Glow Activatur), who co-produced the project with Joe Baldridge (Beck, Jewel). “The album title and imagery transport the listener into a dire life-or-death situation. Each song unites that urgency with a danceable beat, so get to steppin,' or you'll be extinct.” Learn more here.

• Beloit College released its Mind-set List this week, an annual list compiled by the school to help its professors see the world through the eyes of that year's incoming freshmen. The school started compiling the list when professors began to see that references they understood—like Watergate and typewriters—that students just didn't get. Entries on this year's list include items that today's freshmen have never been without: plastic soft drink bottles, GPS, caller ID, and the Nintendo Game Boy. Need to see that list? Go here.

• In other ec-related news, the ec team received our first copies of the newly redesigned ec magazine this week. They'll be in your hands is just about a month! (The revamped ec makes its appearance in October.) Can't wait to see what we've done? Well, take a gander at the cover. You'll have to wait until October to see the rest! (Need a subscription? There's info right over on the left side of this page!)