How Google Maps Led to the "War on Winona"

It has never been easy to get out of a Cedarvale subdivision, a maze of one-way streets in Toronto, Ontario. Gerald Beeston, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years, is frustrated every time he tries to leave. For most of last week, it was “War on Winona.” Google Maps erroneously changed Winona Drive to a one-way street heading north, even though most of the street is a one-way southbound street. Locals called police, the city and Google to fix the error, but a fix took at least four days, with drivers still attempting to make their way upstream. That fiasco resulted in near-collisions, hurried three-point turns, and honks echoing down the block all day long. In other words, it was a week of chaos, courtesy of Google Maps. Google confirmed on Monday that the issue has now been fixed. One neighbor decided to take things into their own hands by making a homemade sign propped up on chairs and garbage cans: “GPS is WRONG! ONE WAY STREET!” A group of kids who had just been dropped off from school got in on the action as well, yelling at cars, “Wrong way!” By Thursday of last week, neighbors had gathered all down Winona and were pointing drivers back the other way. The crossing guard also joined in, yelling at cars going the wrong way. Councilman Josh Matlow said in an email on Friday that Google hadn’t responded with appropriate urgency to the dangerous situation. Fortunately, by Sunday, Google Maps was no longer sending drivers the wrong way. Whatever happened to the good old days, when a paper map was all you needed?

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New York Doctor Restores Mans Irregular Heartbeat in a Very Irregular Way

Walking home one night, a 29-year-old man from Queens in New York started experiencing heart palpitations at 140 beats per minute (bpm), far higher than the average resting heart rate of 60-100 bpm. When he was admitted to the hospital, the solution was performed a bit farther south than his heart. Rarely dangerous or life-threatening, heart palpitations can be brought on by a lack of sleep, caffeine, alcohol or stress. The rapid fluttering, flip-flopping or pounding sensations in the chest often go away on their own. In this case, to restore regular heart rhythm, a finger up the posterior was all it took to slow down the patient’s heartbeat to an acceptable 80 bpm. Having no history of heart problems or signs of a heart attack, the man had undergone an electrocardiogram earlier that detected signs of atrial fibrillation (AFIB), a common type of arrhythmia. AFIB signals that the heart’s upper and lower chambers are out of sync, resulting in less blood filling the lower chambers and reaching the lungs and the rest of the body. While the usual treatment of medication slows and regulates heart rhythm within hours, the rectal exam provided the same solution in a matter of minutes. The theory was that the exam affected the man’s nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the body, which connects the brain to major organs like the lungs, gut and heart. While the rectal procedure could be another method of treating heart arrhythmia, more research is needed before it replaces traditional methods like medications or medical procedures. For the man from Queens and every other human being on the planet, that’s something for which we can all be thankful.

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The Time Coke and Pepsi Took Their Rivalry to Outer Space

“Coke vs. Pepsi in Space” sounds like a bad sequel to a film about the cola wars. In the summer of 1985, this concept became a reality when the two soda brands reached peak rivalry by taking their beef to outer space. The year before, Coca-Cola had struck a deal with NASA to allow astronauts to test their new Coke can — which was designed for zero gravity — on a shuttle flight. Carbonated drinks had yet to reach orbit because there wasn't a container capable of dispensing soda in weightless conditions. When Pepsi caught wind of the project, they immediately got to work on developing a special can of their own and fought to be included. After weeks of legal negotiations, a compromise was reached that stated the shuttle Challenger’s pantry would be stocked with both beverages during a week-long mission in July of 1985. Coke's space-can technology cost $250,000 to make and used a special nozzle and valve switch atop a 12-ounce can to dispense the drink. Pepsi’s technology also used a standard can with a dispensing valve, and cost the company $14 million to develop. The astronauts reported mixed results and neither product became a pantry staple on the shuttle. Even though NASA invited other brands to develop cans of their own, space still remains the final frontier in the battle for cola dominance.

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How Katherine Heigl Derailed Her Career With One Interview

In 2007, Katherine Heigl won an Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series, specifically for her role as Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. In 2008, she removed herself from Emmy consideration because she said in an interview with Vanity Fair that she didn’t feel as if the material she was given on Grey’s Anatomy was good enough. The comment reportedly angered the show's producers and writers, who interpreted it as a slight on their work. Nevertheless, Heigl continued to appear on the show until 2010, when she didn’t show up for work. It was then reported that the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, and had reached an agreement to immediately release Heigl from her contract. Snubbing the Emmy Award significantly damaged Heigl’s reputation, causing her to be labeled “difficult” and “ungrateful.” While it didn’t totally end her career, the incident, combined with a reputation for being demanding, severely altered her trajectory from a top movie star to focusing mostly on made-for-TV movies. Heigl has since regretted her comment, saying in another interview, “I shouldn’t have said anything publicly, but at the time, I didn’t think anybody would notice.” Apparently, somebody did.

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