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January 12, 2010
"When the car would stop and the engine would cease, the player would also die away. The tape of the cassette motionless. [...] Stationary and in silence, we saw black. The world as it was. Nothing."
A collection of early American black metal, including Haxan, Akitsa, and Ancestors. Compiled from tapes, hiss and all.
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posted by thedaniel at 4:14 PM PST - 16 comments
Official Google Blog:
In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different ... ... we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists ... ... We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.
posted by memebake at 3:39 PM PST - 228 comments
Wolfire Games (
Lugaru,
Black Shades) is
blogging the creation of their next game, Overgrowth. Every aspect of the design process, from the technical to the creative, is thoroughly detailed and illustrated, with new articles appearing every few days. In addition, every preorder grants access to the alpha version and editing tools, which are updated on a weekly basis. A great source of information if you're interested in contemporary game design!
(Bonus: Wolfire and Unknown Worlds are currently selling a
bundled preorder for Overgrowth and Natural Selection 2 for $40 [70% off], but only for 20 more hours!)
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posted by archagon at 12:52 PM PST - 7 comments
Simulated U.S. Government Agency Responses to Vampire-Americans "Every spring, [the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce] runs a policy simulation designed to illustrate the difficulty of operating an organization in the context of asymmetric and limited information. Every fall, I run a two hour mini-simulation designed to give students a sense of how the larger simulation will play out. ... Since vampires seem to be in the news lately, this year I chose a vampire oriented scenario."
posted by amber_dale at 11:49 AM PST - 23 comments
The Kids in The Hall are returning to CBC tonight with an 8-part murder mystery miniseries,
"Death Comes To Town." Trailer.
Death hops off a bus in the small town of Shuckton, Ontario, wearing a codpiece and a
vest once worn by
The Friendly Giant. Murder, mayhem, and hilarity are sure to ensue.
Excellent interview with Scott Thompson on the history of the group, Buddy Cole (
Previously on Mefi), and dealing with his own mortality while undergoing chemotherapy during the writing and production of the series.
Sorry, non-Canadians, although negotiations are said to be underway, there are no known plans to broadcast the series outside the country.
posted by yellowbinder at 11:47 AM PST - 66 comments
"Early in the Iraq War, it cost taxpayers $100,000 per year to insure a civilian contractor who was paid $100,000 per year. So the insurance was the same amount as the salary."
"Another very peculiar part of this particular story is that because of another law, the U.S. actually reimburses the insurance companies for any civilians who are injured in a combat situation. So at the very end, the insurance company will ultimately submit the bill to the U.S. government, and they will get paid back for any injury involving a combat wound."
"Let me ask a stupid question:
What is the point of the insurance company if taxpayers are paying for the premium and then also paying for the medical bill?"
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posted by webhund at 11:21 AM PST - 51 comments
The Baffler, storied zine of cultural and political analysis and criticism, is
back, and excerpts of the latest issue are now online, including a review of Rod Blagojevich's memoir by Matt Taibbi, as well as articles by Christian Parenti and Walter Benn Michaels.
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posted by carrienation at 10:48 AM PST - 13 comments
