This Is How Much Money Hollywood Stars Make and Other Fascinating News on the Web

1. I Know What You Made Last Summer

They say there’s no business like show business. But it turns out that when it comes to money in Hollywood, art really does imitate life. A very few folks at the top make a ton of dough while the rest of the industry suffers the reality of reality show salaries. From Robert Downey’s Jr’s Iron Man gold to the hourly pay of an agent’s assistant to the day rate of the average on-screen cat, The Hollywood Reporter reveals what you can expect to earn if you try to make it in a biz where Crystal the monkey makes twice as much as the average actor (and probably has a better parking spot in the studio lot).

+ Should Jennifer Lawrence have an IPO for herself?

+ The split between the haves and have-nots is one the the world’s recurring storylines. And like most sequels, each version seems to get bigger — and worse — than the one before. The Economist sums up the trend: “Vast wealth is being created without many workers; and for all but an elite few, work no longer guarantees a rising income.”

+ In 1992, the Walton family’s net worth was equivalent to the net worth of every person Atlanta. Want to apply a similar filter to their current net worth? You’re gonna need a bigger city.

2. Blame the Messenger?

“The failure of police to stop or punish the violence is certainly feeding into perceptions that what happened is some sort of collusion.” In Hong Kong, protestors have been attacked by opponents of the movement. Are these isolated incidents or the beginning of a broader effort to clear the streets?

3. Weekend Reads

“Then I remember light. Thousands of lights. Waves of tiny diamonds. The whole stadium flashing and Jason, who would die five months later on the side of a south Georgia highway, leaning into my ear and whispering, Maddux.” In SB Nation, Jeremy Collins shares a story of friendship and baseball: Thirteen Ways Of Looking At
Greg Maddux.

+ “San Francisco’s most gripping story isn’t on the baseball field. It’s up in the broadcast booth, where one of the team’s most popular and enduring figures is fighting an epic battle … with a little help.” ESPN’s Steve Fainaru with what will remain the biggest story for San Francisco Giants’ fans regardless of how the team does in the playoffs. Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, a muscle disorder, and a giant friendship.

+ “I knew I needed to do something bold or I would be making photocopies and answering the phones for the rest of my career. This was the year that was finally gonna bring on the magic. What happened next was about to change music history.” Robin Sloan Bechtel shares the story of the first website for a band and answers the question, What The Hell Was Megadeth, Arizona?

+ “Like a visiting emperor, I have the power to confirm or destroy dreams with a thumbs up or down. I don’t deserve this elevation.” Claire Gordon-Webster shares the Secret Life Of A Guinness World Records Judge.

4. The Software Forcefield

“Protocols were followed by both the physician and the nurses. However, we have identified a flaw in the way the physician and nursing portions of our electronic health records interacted in this specific case.” Was America’s Ebola patient sent home because of bad software?

+ This software glitch is yet another reminder of the massive contrast between our local Ebola story and the one that is ripping huge communities to shreds. Consider the fact that about 4.4 billion people around the world still don’t have Internet access.

+ An NBC News cameraman is being flown home after testing positive for Ebola.

5. Bombastic

The airstrikes on ISIS have dramatically hampered their social media propaganda efforts. (Is that what it takes to quiet social media?)

+ “Married women who converted were told by ISIL that their previous marriages were not recognised in Islamic law and that they, as well as unmarried women who converted, would be given to ISIL fighters as wives.” From Foreign Policy (No registration required for ND readers), an inside look at the brutal ways of ISIS: Women and Children for Sale.

+ “When Kenneth Jarecke photographed an Iraqi man burned alive, he thought it would change the way Americans saw the Gulf War.” From The Atlantic, the story of the war photo no one would publish. (Not publishing is its own form of propaganda.)

6. Is That Everyone?

“Unlike recent attacks on retailers, we have seen no unusual fraud activity related to this incident. Your money at JPMorgan Chase is safe.” Your data, however, isn’t. FastCo on why the JP Morgan Chase hack is so scary. Spoiler Alert: Because it affected 76 million households and they are a friggin’ bank! (If you live in one of the four households not affected by recent breaches, please submit your data now.)

7. Will The Designer Come Home to Roost?

The rooster on the Sriracha bottle has made its way to iPhone cases, t-shirts, and water bottles. But no one (not even the founder of the company) knows the name of the street artist who created the now famous logo.

+ The secret history of the Michelin Man.

8. iOS State

The path to Cupertino is the modern era’s equivalent to the path to enlightenment. So what college should you attend if you want to score a job at Apple? Hint: You might be better off at San Jose State than you would be at Harvard.

9. The Tortoise and the Hairless

I live in Northern California where you’re required throw on spandex shorts and a racer’s jersey by the time you advance beyond training wheels. But even out here, the leg-shaving ritual is usually reserved for serious cyclists. Many of them can’t explain why they do it, but it turns out it really can shave a few seconds off your time. (I think I’ll stick with my Breaking Away Cutter’s T-shirt.)

10. The Bottom of the News

“Like God, Oprah is everywhere: in the glasses of Chardonnay I drank, in the Soul Library book set and hoodie I bought, in the face of every arena attendant who stood around with a smile and gave me unsolicited hugs.” From NY Mag: I survived a weekend with the Cult of Oprah.

+ Syndicated from Kottke: “The sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.” (My son made the same sound when I tried to take away the iPad this morning.)

+ BBC: What’s it like being a cat? (If you care enough to click through, then you have no idea.)

+ Cannonball, humpback whale style.