Chillax: If it works like a word, just use it. Funner. Impactful. Blowiest. Territorialism. Multifunctionality. Dialoguey. Dancey. Thrifting. Chillaxing. Anonymized. Interestinger. Wackaloon. Updatelette. Noirish. Huger. Domainless. Delegator. Photocentric. Relationshippy. Bestest. Zoomable. What do all these words have in common? Someone, somewhere, is using them with a disclaimer like “I know it’s not a real word…” — The Boston Globe [via Larvatus Prodeo]

A Biblical Seven Years – Thomas Friedman. I’ve learned over the years not to over-interpret any two-week event. Olympics don’t change history. They are mere snapshots — a country posing in its Sunday bests for all the world too see. But, as snapshots go, the one China presented through the Olympics was enormously powerful — and it’s one that Americans need to reflect upon this election season. — NYT

Australian Woman Wins Prize for Earth-Saving Technique Rejected in Michael Bay’s “Armageddon”. In the year 2029, the asteroid Apophis (270 meters in length) is scheduled to pass by Earth, significantly within the moon’s orbit. While the vast majority of us have probably already either taken the attitude of a) Resigning ourselves to an asteroidal death, or b) Completely disregarding the possibility that anything catyclismic could ever originate from outer space, a select few of the best and brightest of us entered the Move an Asteroid Competition, which evaluated technical papers on how to deflect an asteroid or comet from colliding with Earth. — Slashfilm

Trailhead. From where the press sits inside the Pepsi Center, here at the Democratic Convention, reporters have a clear view of a teleprompter facing the speaker from across the hall. The smaller screen only carries a couple of lines, making speeches seem like an endless series of Twitter posts by Democratic speechwriters—crowd pleasers strung together by hurried points on policy. To simulate that effect, here is Hillary Clinton’s speech from last night, chopped down to just the major applause lines. Judge for yourself: Is the final effect all that different? — Slate