August 23, 2007
Cyril Raffaelli, Parkour Badass
"Cigarette-Boy": A Mock Machine Mock Epic
The (Possibly) Solved Mystery of the Lost Tsarevich
On July 16th, 1918, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia - along with his wife, their children, and a handful of retainers - was assassinated by Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. The bodies were split up and buried in different locations; it was not until 1989 that a mass grave was located and exhumed. In 1991, the found remains were officially announced as belonging to the Romanovs...or at least, most of them. Conspicuously missing were the Tsarevich Alexei and one of his Grand Duchess sisters (likely Maria but most popularly believed to be Anastasia). The report of primary executioner Yakov Yurovsky indicates that the assassins had wanted to complicate the discovery of the remains as much as possible in order to keep the "White Guards" from locating the bodies and exalting the murdered royals, thereby undermining support for the Bolshevik cause.
However this week it was announced that the missing remains may have finally been located.
For Sale by Mental Patient
They put it in my mouth. I didn't swallow. The savings I pass along to YOU!!! Some silliness which is keeping me sane on this slow Friday arvo...
The Humble and Wonderful Letterpress
I loved this beautifully filmed short documentary on The Letterpress. For those of us who have ever risked our very own fingers for the cause of printing, or had the California Job Case burned into memory, this will be a trip down memory lane. For the rest of you, it may give you an idea for your next hobby.
Mother Teresa's lengthy, unresolved crisis of faith
From a Time magazine article: A new, innocuously titled book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), consisting primarily of correspondence between Teresa and her confessors and superiors over a period of 66 years, provides the spiritual counterpoint to a life known mostly through its works. The letters, many of them preserved against her wishes (she had requested that they be destroyed but was overruled by her church), reveal that for the last nearly half-century of her life she felt no presence of God whatsoever — or, as the book's compiler and editor, the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, writes, "neither in her heart or in the eucharist." Previously on Mother Teresa's doubt, more generally.
America to the Rescue
SPLed beans
"Finding JTAG on the iPhone": a ten-step hardware unlock of the iPhone, allowing it to function with other carriers
Poo Bum Dicky Wee Wee!
People vandalising Wikipedia is hardly a new thing but now even the office of the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, is getting into the act. Website Wiki-Scanner (previously) has traced several edits to Wikipedia articles by the Prime Ministers staff, according to Australian newspaper The Courier Mail. And they aren't confined solely to the Wikipedia entry on the PM himself; there was even an act of vandalism on a martial-arts related entry, in which one of Howard's ministerial staffers wrote, “Poo bum dicky wee wee” on the page. Not good news on the eve of a federal election that the PM is largely expected to lose. Meanwhile, 'new media' is being put to good use at Opposition leader Kevin Rudd's website, Kevin07, where a recent blog entry compiles Youtube's 'best' political videos. Hours of fun for the whole family!
How to Sequence a Genome
How to Sequence a Genome [Flash. H/T to Jay]. Visualization of the process of genetic sequencing. Posted on the Nova website in conjunction with their show, Cracking the Code of Life, hosted by Robert Krulwich [Wiki].
"...as a Russian and Chinese-led alliance created to counter US hegemony"
The Shanhai Cooperative Organization. [wiki] When Moscow and Beijing engineered the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) six years ago, I am not sure if they foresaw its emergence as an important actor in the international order. Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia, currently observers, are lobbying hard to get accepted into this club. The US request for membership was rejected two years ago.
Kite-flying Falconry
How do you convince a raptor to exercise? One way is to send up a kite with bait (a chunk of meat) attached. This is a relatively new strategy (~30 years) in the millenia-old tradition of falconry.
A vision of persistence of vision
Then and now
San Jose, CA - then & now - a decent collection of old photos, matched up with recent photos taken from the same vantage point. An interesting look at how things have changed around here. (Found in a reddit comment earlier today)
The 50 Greatest movie sex scenes of all time (with clips)
The Skull Fucking Bill of 2007
U.S. Representative Benjamin Sinclair (R-Ohio) announces the Ocular Penetration Restriction Act of 2007 [NSFW].
There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library
Almost 1700 Carnegie Libraries (wikipedia) were built in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from Pennsylvania to California, from Florida to Oregon, and almost every other single place in between . (Scotland, too!) Some of them are still in use as libraries. Others aren't. This person is trying to collect post cards of as many of them as possible.
Comic Sans
Grace Paley, 1922 - 2007
A wonderful obituary in the NYT for Grace Paley, who died yesterday at her home in Thetford Hill, Vt. She was 84.
"pretty frightening."
On the internet, nobody knows the G-strings aren't yours. Or how murderously they infatuate. Or whom they're infatuating.
A white feather for the cowardly British
Baptists for Brownback are praying for, among other things GIANT WARRIOR ANGELS to keep them safe from chickens, and the Loch Ness Monster.
They've pegged the the British character precisely as effeminate, Jesus-hating Shakespeare-quoters.
Senator Brownback has no comment.
Douchebaggery 101 - Proof that nice guys finish last
Hot Chicks With Douchebags [possibly nsfw] [via #mefi]
Metaphors.
Metaphors. [NSFW?]
Brittney, please meet Ottorino.
Interesting discussion on classical and pop music, and two related older articles on the Pulitzer nomination process from Greg Sandow.
Schwebebahn Wuppertal
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn. In Wuppertal, birthplace of Aspirin and Heroin, they've been enjoying monorail travel since 1901. The line runs for 8 miles, most of it above the river Wupper, and has seen one collapse, one crash and one baby elephant jump.
Isotown
Isotown might be just another isometric pixel art urban setting lovingly rendered in MS Paint, but it has its own civic history in comic strip form. via
Life still enjoyable after 30, experts say
The elderly are staying sexually active [WaPo], and this is a good thing. Although there is a sex-education gap among America's seniors. Play it safe, old folks!
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