May 3, 2014
How Steve Wozniak Wrote BASIC for the Original Apple From Scratch
"Integer BASIC, written by Steve Wozniak, was the BASIC interpreter of the Apple I and original Apple II computers. Originally available on cassette, then included in ROM on the original Apple II computer at release in 1977, it was the first version of BASIC used by many early home computer owners. Thousands of programs were written in Integer BASIC." Metafilter's own Steve Wozniak discusses how he wrote BASIC for the original apple from scratch. (Previously.)
Close shave
Most Problems Never Have To Be Solved
Your mind tells you there is a problem whenever it detects a somewhat possible unpleasant future experience, which it can do all day, and it happily will if you don't call its bluff. Of course there's an infinite supply of potential disasters. These are just thoughts, but they seem like realities, and any one of them can create an emotional pitfall now no matter what actually happens later.
The Largest Vocabulary in Hip Hop
Literary elites love to rep Shakespeare’s vocabulary: across his entire corpus, he uses 28,829 words, suggesting he knew over 100,000 words and arguably had the largest vocabulary, ever (average people have a vocab of 5,000 words). I decided to compare this data point against the most famous artists in hip hop. I used each artist’s first 35,000 lyrics. That way, prolific artists, such as Jay-Z, could be compared to newer artists, such as Drake.
I sing of legs and a tail
On Being One's Own Fairy Godmother
Amy Schumer's tale of courage, sex and self-worth as told at the Ms. Foundation Gala. "I am a woman with thoughts and questions and shit to say. I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and fuck and love and I will never apologize to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it."
Britpop: A British Disaster
This essay by music journalist Taylor Parkes does an extraordinarily good job of explaining why Britpop was so deeply and unremittingly horrible. [more inside]
The poet who vanished
The poet Rosemary Tonks turned her back on the literary world in the mid-1970s, leaving behind her a handful of strange and brilliant poems and a small band of devoted admirers who longed to know what had happened to her. For forty years she disappeared completely, 'evaporated into air like the Cheshire Cat', as Brian Patten remarked in a 2009 BBC documentary, The Poet Who Vanished. Now, with news of her death at the age of 85, the story of her life is starting to emerge.
Planetes: Space is too big to face all alone
Abandoned artificial satellites. Tanks jettisoned from shuttles. Refuse generated during space station construction. This junk, space debris, is traveling around the Earth at speeds approaching 8 km/s. This is a story of 2075, a time in which this space garbage has become a serious problem. This is Planetes, a near-future hard sci-fi story that focuses on a small group of debris collectors who are part of a larger company. Both the original manga and the anime adaptation set small personal stories and dramas in the realistic context of near-future space exploration, complete with radiation sickness, impacts of growing up on the moon, and of course, the dangers of space debris. The reality of the show is emphasized by a recent JAXA presentation was titled PLANETES could be a true story?: Instability of the current debris population in LEO, and the English DVDs include interviews with NASA staff who work on assessing orbital debris.
Spy satellite images reveal Middle Eastern archaelogical sites
The Corona Atlas of the Middle East uses spy satellite imagery to reveal as many as 10,000 previously unknown archaeological sites.
Dinner Porn...
Hold me tight
Valley of Dolls
Eleven years ago, Ayano Tsukimi returned to her home in Nagoro. Confronted with constant departures, she has populated the village with dolls, each representing a former villager. Around 350 of the giant dolls now reside in and around Nagoro, replacing those that died or abandoned the village years ago.
In a recent documentary titled The Valley Of Dolls, Fritz Schumann explores Tsukimi's world, highlighting the time and artistry that goes into making the figures, and explaining her motivations. In it we're shown around a local school, once filled with children and teachers, that now houses dozens of dolls, sitting statically, waiting for class to begin.
When a man loves a woman very much...he goes blind and dies
What Michael did
“He did what he did out of fear,” Michael’s father says now. “He was mentally ill. Not criminally responsible means you’re not morally responsible.”How does a family cope when one of them kills his mother in the midst of a psychotic episode?
“It wasn’t his fault,” says Rebecca, who rested her hand on her brother’s shoulder as they walked out of court that day.
Legendary film careers, Dissolved.
With Career View, The Dissolve (previously) offers an extensive survey, and critical summary, of a career in film. [more inside]
Michal Krasnopolski
"His work belongs in a museum."
Afgoo_Head: mystery man of medical marijuana creates giant weed cigars. Interview: 1, 2, 3. (Weed porn, NSFW in some states.)
15 points for Grandma, but only 5 for her already snot-nosed grandkids
"descends recklessly, like an Obama-sanctioned drone"
In the past month since publishing his essay, "Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege," Princeton freshman Tal Fortgang has become a hero of many in right-wing politics for his refusal to believe that he enjoys privilege. [more inside]
A Different Kind of Movie Snacks
To help promote their business selling vouchers usable at various UK restaurants, RestauarantsChoice.co.uk set up a subsite, "The Internet Foodie Database" with a list of the Top 250 Food Flicks. Surprisingly, #1 on the list with a rating of 9.3 was "Bill and Ted's Bogus Jerky", the sequel to "Bill and Ted's Egg Salad Adventure", which only rated a 6.4. But this was far from the first effort to create a definitive list of Movie/Food Puns... [more inside]
Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's Let's Go
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