July 2, 2015
The Children Came Back
BriggsGE, aka Adam Briggs, from a town called Shepparton, just dropped his latest track The Children Came Back featuring occasional collaborator Gurrumul, and Dewayne Everettsmith. It's not just a track though, it's an homage to Archie Roach's They Took the Children Away, in and of itself about The Stolen Generation. It features, amongst others, Samara Muir . It namedrops some of the best and brightest, and makes it clear - always was, always will be, Aboriginal land and this struggle is not over.
why don't we just terraform the earth?
In the past few years, science has lurched closer to envisioning habitable Mars, though at the moment estimates for creating breathable oxygen range from hundreds to 100,000 years in the future, the soil is currently toxic to astronauts, and travel is so unwieldy that scientists have proposed "printing" humans on Mars. Meanwhile, I wondered why not make Earth's increasingly inhospitable deserts greener.[more inside]
The end of open records in Wisconsin
Nearly all records created by state and local government officials, including bill drafts and communications with staff, would not be subject to the Wisconsin open records law under a sweeping surprise change Republicans introduced in committee Thursday as an amendment to the state budget. [more inside]
Needs must when the devil drives
"In principle, it is what scientists call hypodermic insemination: the practice of forcefully depositing sperm outside a female genital tract—and yes, it's as usually as rough as it sounds. Bed bugs are infamous for it, as this type of insemination (also called traumatic insemination) causes major damage to the female and reduces her fitness, though a number of species have been demonstrated to reproduce in this way, including flatworms." These flatworms plunge their penises into their own heads to inject themselves with sperm (when they must). - Christie Wilcox for Discover Magazine's 'Science Sushi' blog. Previously: 1, 2, 3
31 Things Cut In Half To Reveal Their Complicated Inner Workings
Reddit going dark.
Subreddit Moderators rebel against Admins Triggered by the surprise termination of Victoria Taylor, AKA /u/chooter, Director of Talent and sole official contact for /IAMA by the Reddit admins, and more generally in protest for what has been seen as a lack of communication with and appreciation for the unpaid volunteers that act as moderators of Reddit, many of the most popular subreddits have gone dark, setting their status to private and thereby hiding their content to the vast majority of users. /r/AskReddit, /r/Books, /r/science, /r/Music, /r/gaming, /r/history, /r/art, /r/videos, /r/gadgets, and /r/movies have followed /r/IAmA in making themselves private. Many other subreddits have also taken steps in solidarity.
Bitcoin is unsustainable
Bitcoin is unsustainable Bitcoin's power usage per transaction isn't remotely sustainable as a wholesale replacement for the conventional financial system. [more inside]
The Man Who Saw America
Nicole catches a body beatboxing
Nicole battles her dad in beatboxing. He disputes the outcome of the first battle, so Nicole leaves no doubt in his mind after the second one. [more inside]
Pop! Pop! Poppoppop! Pop!
The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes
Interactive animation of the Atlantic slave trade. Pause and click on individuals ships for detailed data (not available for all ships).
I Guess My Corpse Is a Swan Now: Weird Folk Education
Annotated for your pleasure, these Weird Folk Song Premises are very educational. Some plots are wonderfully bizarre, sung in lost languages - others have familiar echoes that you’ll pick up later in your favorite stories. Eight female trad/folk singers explain how to address life’s great challenges, such as getting your fairy boyfriend to commit, the best ways to make harps out of body parts, and under what contexts it’s cool to eat a dead dude.
"There are an estimated 155,000 modern-day slaves in Mauritania."
A photo feature on five Mauritanian women, now freed from contemporary slavery. Slavery in Mauritania has been called a major human rights issue, with roughly 4% (155,600 people) of the country's population – proportionally the highest for any country – being enslaved against their will. [1]
The developer's high score is 12 369.
Atomas is a fun little smartphone/tablet game in the vein of 2048, using fusing atoms together as the mechanic. Available for iOS, Android, Windows.
Women in Magic
Magic: the Gathering is a fantastic strategy trading card game, currently in it's 22nd year and more popular than ever. But as it becomes more mainstream, an ugly issue is coming to light: there just aren't many women players. The official company line is that 38% of players are female, although that number is not represented in high level play. Gaby Spartz's article 6 Things You Can do to Get More Women Into Magic puts the percentage of women in tournament play closer to 1-2% of the field. Spartz's article, as well as her followup 7 Counterpoints to My Women in Magic Article, has sparked a debate that has raged over the past few months. [more inside]
"They can strip the plankton off this cow in as little as seven days!"
“He wanted to touch her vagina with his penis.”
You may enjoy the schadenfreudic artwork at Kindle Ebook Disasters (previously), but did you ever wonder if the writing is as inept as the covers would suggest? In the case of Tender Kiss of the Russian Werewolf, the answer is an unsurprising and unqualified “yes.” Sextrap Dungeon, on the other hand, is not good exactly, but according to one reviewer, seems “entirely aware of how stupid it is and actually has fun with the fact.” [more inside]
DarkAngelØne
George "DarkAngelØne" Redhawk is legally blind, and "likes to play with pictures” to create surreal animated gifs. His full archive contains more than 1000 images. (Some may be NSFW).
Humans to Mars with current technology, within NASA budget
A recent paper describes a credible, achievable plan for a crewed Mars mission. Plans for human exploration of Mars tend to suffer from two problems: too expensive, and/or relies on technology that doesn't exist yet and may never exist. A group of mission planners at JPL has come up with a plan that uses existing technology, and can fit within the NASA budget projections from now to 2050. It relies on SLS launches, a habitat on Phobos, and practice descent/ascent on the Moon.
They decorated the sky for Canada's birthday
Yesterday was July 1 and the 148th anniversary of the British North America Act, which combined the three British colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada (Upper and Lower Canada becoming Ontario and Quebec, respectively) into the dominion of Canada. The British North America Act also conferred a constitution onto the new nation, establishing the powers of the federal and provincial governments and creating a framework for how new territories might be admitted. The day is marked with celebrations across the country, culminating in fireworks displays. [more inside]
The Rise of the Micropub
It began with Martyn Hillier turning a butcher's (The Butcher's Arms) shop into the first micropub in the UK in 2005. Soon the Kent country- and citysides spawned a new movement in the traditional English pub - the micropub. [more inside]
younger, hotter, wetter
First Day of Camp: the full trailer for Netflix's 8-episode prequel to the 2001 cult classic Wet Hot American Summer. Here's the promo released last week. Happy summer! [more inside]
Secrets of catching attention revealed! 1,072 ‘context words’ disclosed!
The 1,072 Words That Will Forever Change How You Write Headlines. As some publishers struggle to grow their web traffic, one company believes increasing the ratio of some words in headlines could draw in readers. Researchers at native-advertising company Sharethrough say they have narrowed down a thousand words in the English language (pdf) that are proven to elicit higher emotional engagement.
The research released today builds on a previous study published in March from Sharethrough and Nielsen.
¡te queremos, Maria!
On Monday, at the 2015 American Library Association Annual Conference, actress and author Sonia Manzano announced her retirement from the cast of Sesame Street, where she has played the role of Maria for more than 40 years. [more inside]
I'd hit that
ValleyRecreational420 is a California prop 215 Patient who rolls out outrageous blunts
You went above the line
"I cycled past this wall on the way to work for years. I noticed that graffiti painted within the red area was "buffed" with red paint. However, graffiti outside of the red area would be removed via pressure washing. This prompted the start of an experiment. Unlike other works, I was very uncertain as to what results it would yield. Below is what transpired over the course of a year." via
A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving
A short game sheds light on government policy, corporate America and why no one likes to be wrong. [SLNYT]
Proposing certain things in terms of dystopia that are not untrue
"Science, Chance, and Emotion with Real Cosima": A Longreads profile of Cosima Herter, the show's science consultant and the inspiration for Orphan Black's character Cosima. Mostly not directly about the show, but probably contains some spoilers if you're not fully caught up through season three.
I wish I could come to your Jamberry "Girls Night In!!!" but I've got this thing.
Tired of seeing your friends' bands? Don't feel like going to that dinner party? Sick of social events? Too polite and/or timid to say "That won't be possible"? Worry no more --pull up your calendar and show your would-be host or hostess that you'd love to make it but you've just too busy. Amazingly busy. Fuck-off levels of busy.
Writing the memoir (or "memory war")
Singular, Remarkable AND Curious
In advance of Ian McKellen's new take on Sherlock Holmes being released later this month (trailer), The Guardian has published a nice set on infographics on Arthur Conan Doyle's most beloved detective.
Pregnant and searching for a great place to give birth?
Hello Kitty Maternity Ward I've read that looking at cute cats have calming effects. I bet being surrounded by Hello Kitty could help you push your way through an easier labor!
What do you dream about?
Night Physics is a webcomic (currently updating bi-monthly) on tumblr that is sometimes about anthropomorphic animals in a "tough-but-doomed little mountain town somewhere in the American Midwest" being asked what they dream about, and sometimes about some friends living in that town "as they try to navigate relationships, sexual ethics, suburban legends, ancient myths, haunted houses, and psychedelic wastelands--often all at the same time." The story begins when two friends consume exactly too much of a new drug and have revelatory visions about their lives - and afterward, one can't seem to stop having them.
Metafilter's Own Cat-Scan.com
This is one of the strangest stories I've seen in some time. I have some idea how these people got their cat wedged into the scanner, but not why.
A Tale of Two Cities Caught in Time
While the ancient city of Herculaneum is experiencing something of a archaeological renaissance, the nearby site of ancient city of Pompeii is falling apart due to a cocktail of mismanagement, corruption, weather, neglect, and the decisions of the past.
The Smithsonian provides an overview. [more inside]
After Capitalism, Humanism
Shared Prosperity, Common Wealth, National Equity and a Citizen's Dividend: Nirit Peled takes a look at social experiments in basic incomes for VPRO Tegenlicht, a Dutch public television documentary series. Starting with a German crowdfunded UBI chosen by raffle -- kind of like the opposite of Le Guin's Omelas (or Shirley Jackson's Lottery in reverse) -- the focus moves on to Albert Wenger who wants to disconnect work from income not only as automation progresses but to accelerate the process. Then it's on to Guy Standing who has conducted basic income experiments in India and Namibia (pdf) and is trying to get one off the ground in Groningen (Utrecht apparently is also a go). Finally, a stop in Alaska to ask some of its residents about their views on the state-owned Permanent Fund. This last part brings to mind the question: just what is wealth anyway? [more inside]
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