January 28, 2013
"Will treaty lead us to form a “Treaty Empire” or a “Treaty Rebellion”?"
Northwest coast native artist, Andy Everson explores pop culture and native rights in his prints. Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw artist Andy Everson's image of a hand holding a feather has become synonymous with the Idle No More Movement, which has shifted the Canadian political spotlight on First Nations issues in recent months (previously).
But I predict it is his C3P0, Yoda, and LEGO figurine self portrait giclée prints that will be irresistible to many mefites.
The Lady of Orda Cave
The Lady of Orda Cave Two-time world champion free diver Natalia Avseenko ventures deep into Ordynskaya Cave in Perm, Russia, one of the longest and biggest underwater gypsum caves in the world. She dressed as the mythical Lady of the Cave, a spirit who protects divers inside the “natural cathedral”. Orda Cave previously.
it's like QWOP for your organs and bones
mcbess: cartoon art of bearded men, busty women, and some dead pirates
Welcome to mcbess, a land of odd illustrations in black and white*, something of a dark and dingy take on Merry Melodies, where the men are bearded, and the ladies are toothy, busty (and often topless, in a vaguely NSFW cartoony way). There are also some large-scale illustrations with all those elements, and more. Matthieu Bessudo, aka mcbess, is also in a band, The Dead Pirates, and his art and music met with the video Wood (Vimeo; also on YouTube; more info here). [more inside]
*turns around*
This Post Cures and/or Causes Cancer
The (New) Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project tumblr, (previously) "an ongoing quest to track the Daily Mail's classification of inanimate objects into two types: those that cause cancer, and those that cure it." Inspired by The Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project, now defunct.
Old Believers in the wilderness
In 1978, geological explorers in a remote region of southern Siberia made an unexpected discovery: a family living alone, more than 150 miles from the nearest settlement. They had lived in isolation since 1936 and were unaware that World War II had happened.
"Medicine is a very religious experience"
The New Yorker's take on Dr Mehmet Oz.
D I C K H A N D
"For the past few years, I have been trying to learn how to do all the various creative and technical things that go into making a video game - programming, graphics, interface, writing, gameplay design - in addition to music and sound, which I do for a living. The 2013 Global Game Jam was this past weekend, and over two sleep-deprived days I completed my first solo project: A game for OS X and Windows where you punch spaceships with your dick. (Probably safe for work, unless your boss considers it inappropriate to see a pink laser beam with a boxing glove on the tip which shoots out of a giant robot's groin.)"[via mefi projects]
Baguette-me-nots
Baguette-me-nots (SLTumblr)
Cat Bites Man. Hospital Charges $55k.
A Russian Gains Prominence Among Fine Watchmakers
Soviet-era Russia was not a particularly friendly environment for aspiring fine watchmakers. For Konstantin Chaykin, who was born in St. Petersburg in 1975, there was no school where he could learn the craft that he dreamed of pursuing. So he taught himself.
Freedom From Famine - The Norman Borlaug Story
A documentary film about Norman Borlaug, the Iowa farm boy who saved over a billion people from starvation. (1:06:47) Americans have little knowledge of one of their greatest sons. Why do schoolchildren in China, India, Mexico, and Pakistan know the name and work of Nobel Peace Prize winner [His speech] Norman Borlaug while so few of his countrymen have never heard of him? How did a dirt-poor farm boy from rural Iowa grow up to save a billion people worldwide from starvation and malnutrition and become the father of the Green Revolution? What were the inherited traits and environmental factors that shaped his astonishing journey and led to successes that surprised even him? What can we learn from his life and views that might help the human race survive the next critical century? [more inside]
If education were free and non-instrumental, what would it look like?
Learners Rights and the MOOC Wars
The Learners Bill of Rights, a set of “Principles for Learning in the Digital Age,” is the outcome of a twelve-person meeting held in Palo Alto last week to explore the voice of the educated in online learning discussions:
As we begin to experiment with how novel technologies might change learning and teaching, powerful forces threaten to neuter or constrain technology, propping up outdated educational practices rather than unfolding transformative ones.[more inside]
All too often, during such wrenching transitions, the voice of the learner gets muffled.
For that reason, we feel compelled to articulate the opportunities for students in this brave electronic world, to assert their needs and--we dare say--rights.
We also recognize some broader hopes and aspirations for the best online learning. We include those principles as an integral addendum to the Bill of Rights below.
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes
Sylvia's mother was a 1972 single by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show that was written by Shel Silverstein that tells the true story of Shel's girlfriend Sylvia Pandolfi
Silverstein admitted that there was a real Sylvia, and he did indeed call her mother to learn the shocking truth. He even thought of pulling a Mrs. Robinson and disrupting the wedding, but he came to his senses when thinking about Sylvia's last words to him: "Shel, don't spoil it." She would never become Mrs. Sylvia Silverstein. The video is a short documentary about the song with interviews from Sylvia's mother and Sylvia Pandolfi. [more inside]
Stanley Karnow, 1925-2013
Stanley Karnow, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian, has died at age 87. He won the prize in 1990 for his book In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines (discussed on Booknotes). He is best known, however for his work on Vietnam. His book Vietnam: A History was widely acclaimed and its companion series on PBS, Vietnam: A Television History won six Emmys and a Peabody award and was one of the most widely watched documentaries on PBS. He discussed the war in 2000 in this Salon interview. Needless to say, his reporting was not appreciated by everyone.
Intent counts here.
Right now, though, you can google “polyamory” and get a whole lot of nearly-identical polynormative hype articles, and you can meet up with locals who’ve read the same articles you just did, and you can all get together and do polynormative poly exactly the way the media told you to. And if that’s all you ever bother to do then essentially you are selling yourself short. You are trading in the monogamous norm for polynormativity, which relatively speaking isn’t all that much of a stretch, and stopping there because you may very well think that’s all there is (and you already racked up a whole bunch of cool points anyway). You aren’t encouraged to really think about this stuff without any imposed models at all, which means you never get to figure out what actually might work best for you. As such, the most fundamental element of polyamory—that of rejecting the monogamous standard, and radically rethinking how you understand, make meaning of and practice love, sex, relationships, commitment, communication, and so forth—is lost in favour of a cookie-cutter model that’s as easy as one, two, three. The deepest and most significant benefit of polyamory has become increasingly obscured by media representation, and as a result, is getting farther and farther out of reach for anyone who’s just starting out.the problem with polynormativity, at Sex Geek
Not so much theater as outdoor village, complete with night sky.
A lot of once great [New York movie] theaters have been gutted and repurposed, most often into churches, pharmacies and gyms," writes The NYC Scout in today's installment of Scouting New York. "I’ve stopped in quite a few hoping to find the rare gem that’s survived, but have only been disappointed time and again." Scouting New York has been featured in the blue many times ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ), but this entry is (literally, at least in my case) jaw-dropping. Just keep scrolling down. [more inside]
Newegg frees the Shopping Cart
Newegg uses prior art to defeat Soverain. On appeal, prior art is actually considered, years after the initial lawsuit, and patents owned by a company that appears to be more than they are, are invalidated.
Don't unlock your phone!
It is now illegal in the US to unlock your smartphone. You face up to five years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. [more inside]
"Blogging: No Cat Required."
Recently, Geek & Sundry's Story Board Hangout hosted an episode called Life Online: Putting the Meme in Memoir and it featured Wil Wheaton [previously], MeFi's Own John Scalzi, and the Bloggess, Jenny Lawson [previously 1, 2]. It is, naturally, quite entertaining. [via]
They were your Joey Ramone
Super slomo high-resolution space shuttle goodness
Each space shuttle launch was documented by 125 cameras aimed at its engines, solid rocket boosters, orbiter, and umbilicals. The 45-minute film Ascent compiles the "best of the best": astounding 400 fps footage from three missions (STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124), produced by NASA aerospace engineer Matt Melis, and narrated by Melis and photographer Kevin Burke.
Disposable Girls, Uninsured Laborers
“Never takes a vacation or holiday. Never asks for a raise. Never costs you a dime for slack time. (When the workload drops, you drop her.)" A brief history of temps. [more inside]
Please Feed The Meters
He’s not allowed in the oven
46 reasons my three year old might be freaking out. May be familiar to people with small children.
"Quantum biology: Do weird physics effects abound in nature?"
Quantum Biology - Disappearing in one place and reappearing in another. Being in two places at once. Communicating information seemingly faster than the speed of light.
This kind of weird behaviour is commonplace in dark, still laboratories studying the branch of physics called quantum mechanics, but what might it have to do with fresh flowers, migrating birds, and the smell of rotten eggs?
More: Quantum smell' idea gains ground
Both BBC.
Ask Lovecraft
Pallets
What do you do with all those empty lots that are left after major earthquakes? Gap Filler fills them with temporary community structures like the Pallet Pavillion. [more inside]
A German take on IRL Gaming
Camover is a new game from Germany.
The rules are simple: First, organize a crew starting with "Command", "Brigade" or "Cell", followed by the name of a historical figure. ("Van Der Lubbe") is one of many currently in use.) Next: Destroy as many CCTV cameras as possible! [more inside]
The rules are simple: First, organize a crew starting with "Command", "Brigade" or "Cell", followed by the name of a historical figure. ("Van Der Lubbe") is one of many currently in use.) Next: Destroy as many CCTV cameras as possible! [more inside]
Blergh!
The Lasting Limberness of 30 Rock. 30 Rock is uniquely skilled at eating its cake and having it, too, while crowing “Isn’t cake ridiculous?” and making you crave cake. 30 Rock ends its seven season run this week. Here's Vulture's thoughts on its 10 Best Episodes. The AV Club's 10 Episodes that tweaked the sitcom formula. And the original pilot with Rachel Dratch as Jenna DeCarlo.
"Easter Island is not Earth."
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