August 31, 2010
Tube map . . . of science
It's time to get laid.
Time to get laid. Yep, we've seen Kate Micucci before, but, the addition of William H. Macy makes this all worthwhile. (DLYT which I've promised not to ever do again but, what the hell!)
How did I miss this movie?
Toy Soldiers: Paper, Plastic, Metal
Tin Soldiers. Lead Soldiers. Plastic Army Men. But if you like your toy soldiers not so harmful to the environment and a little more do-it-yourself, you can get paper soldiers. Here are some Print-fantry soldiers you can download for free. [more inside]
Domino magazine, back online
Much-mourned shelter magazine Domino has a new online home for its archives. Stories will be added on an ongoing basis.
Owning up.
Fidel Castro takes blame for persecution of Cuban gays. 'Fidel Castro has said that he is ultimately responsible for the persecution suffered by homosexuals in Cuba after the revolution of 1959.' 'The former Cuban president told La Jornada the persecution of gays, who were rounded up at the time as supposed counterrevolutionaries and placed in forced labor camps, was a "great injustice" that arose from the island's history of discrimination against homosexuals. He said he was not prejudiced against gays, but "if anyone is responsible (for the persecution), it's me." "I'm not going to place the blame on others," he said.' But 'there is a Castro who is fighting to introduce radical changes in Cuba.' [more inside]
Football or neutron bomb?
São Paulo, Brazil. With a population upwards of 11 million people and a population density of more than 7,000 people per square kilometre, it is a pretty crowded place. But on July 2, 2010 during the second half of the Brazil-Netherlands World Cup quarterfinal, the streets were completely deserted.
Kick off your (Tuesday) shoes
Homebrew Cray-1A
Lots of people remember the Cray-1A. And how could you not, it was a supercomputer with built-in seats. But Chris Fenton has done more than just reminisce, he he built his own 1/10 scale Cray-1A. It's not just a model, it actually runs Cray software. The only problem is there doesn't seem to be much Cray software on the net, so if you have some let him know.
War of Every Man Against Every Man
Alan Jacobs laments the Hobbesian reality that is modern Internet discourse in his article "The Online State of Nature" at Big Questions Online.
A now-famous cartoon on the xkcd “webcomics” site shows a stick figure typing away at his computer keyboard as a voice from outside the frame says, “Are you coming to bed?” The figure replies: “I can’t. This is important. . . . Someone is wrong on the Internet.” I have thought a lot about why people get so hostile online, and I have come to believe it is primarily because we live in a society with a hypertrophied sense of justice and an atrophied sense of humility and charity, to put the matter in terms of the classic virtues.
"He did not believe he could lose."
Laurent Fignon, French cycling champion, two-time winner (1983-84) of the Tour de France, has died of cancer at 50. [more inside]
7734.40
Higgs, Higgs, glorious Higgs
The CERN Choir sings about the Higgs Boson in the Particle Physics Song (slyt).
Lou Gehrig may not have had Lou Gehrig's Disease
According to a new study [abstract] by doctors at Boston University and the VA Medical Center, repetitive head trauma suffered by athletes is linked to the motor neuron disease CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which may have been previously misdiagnosed as ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease. This result may explain the extreme prevalence of ALS-like symptoms among former athletes and people in the military and suggests that Gehrig himself may not have suffered from Lou Gehrig's Disease. [more inside]
Oval and Out
A New Look for the Oval Office Obama makes his mark on the First Office. It is a different look than the office of George W. Bush and the presidents before him. And yes, the rug is gone (previously).
Vroooooooooooooooomm!
Shinya Kimura likes motorcycles. (A short film about a custom motorcycle engineer.)
Beep Do Doot Repeat
The Creator's Project unleashes The Eclectic Method’s (previously) latest video, Super Mario Mashup onto the world with a bonus genre-exploding montage and Q&A trying to put it all together.
Each of us a cell of awareness, imperfect and incomplete
Chicago's last Tuberculosis Sanitarium
"Why TB you ask. The house I grew up in, from 1961 to the 1974, faced the grounds of the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. There was a fence around the property and it was patrolled by security guards daily. That was all I knew."
Via.
Book Buzz
"Freedom" by Jonthan Franzen: is one of the most hyped, most anticipated literary novel in years and it goes on sale today. Jonathan Franzen's new book Freedom is being hailed as "The Tolstoy of the Internet Era" [slate]. "The novel of the century" [guardian]. "a novel that turns out to be both a compelling biography of a dysfunctional family and an indelible portrait of our times." [nytimes] "Jonathan Franzen: one of America's greatest living novelists?" [telegraph] Jonathan Franzen is best known for his award winning book The Corrections [nytimes].
Maybe you're wondering why his name is familiar, [Oprah Book Club sticker incident].
the only words I've written that will outlive me
Swarmation
Swarmation is a collaborative game (a bit like Everybody Edits) in which each player controls a pixel. The goal is to create formations with other players before the time expires.
Why is it, if there's such a shortage of oil, it keeps appearing on my trouser bottom?
Britain's longest running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine came to an end on Sunday, gathering 5.4 million viewers rather than the 20 million of its heyday. Filmed in Holmfirth, Yorkshire it followed the exploits of playful, cantankerous retirees for 37 years. Though the last bathtub has rolled, Britons can watch the final episode on Iplayer. Location map, some quotes, scriptwriter Roy Clarke interview. We won't see its like again, but you can hear Ronnie Hazlehurst's theme tune set to words for Compo's funeral.
I'll drink to that
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