August 31, 2011
1st Circuit Upholds Right to Record Police in Public
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that recording police officers performing their duties in public is a "clearly established first amendment right". [more inside]
Post'it War
Like A Steampunk Iron Man Villain
The headless body of Australian folk hero Ned Kelly has been found in a mass grave. Ned Kelly was an Australian bushranger (outlaw) best known for the suit of homemade armor he wore during his last stand at Glenrowan. Since then Ned Kelly has been an Australian icon, celebrated in films (including one starring Mick Jagger) and song.
Cat traps cat
Face it cats, sometimes playing in a box can be dangerous.
Guardian editor alleged to have leaked Cablegate password
Wikileaks has alleged that Guardian editor David Leigh negligently leaked the encryption passphrase to the unredacted 'Cablegate' archive in an upcoming book. The Guardian denies the charges, but states that "[a] Twitter user has now published a link to the full, unredacted database of embassy cables", potentially putting informants at risk.
Currency
After receiving a $20,000 grant from the Australia Council, Denis Beaubois set about creating his artwork, Currency, 2011, by withdrawing $20,000 from a teller at the Reserve Bank of Australia and writing down the serial numbers. The artwork sold at auction yesterday for $17,500. [more inside]
He just can't leave well enough alone.
Darth Vader yells 'Noooo." From the Blu-Ray leak of Return of the Jedi. Why, George? SLYT.
What the “R” Stands for in “George R.R. Martin"
Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown (warning: spoilers in all links) reviews the first four books of A Song of Ice and Fire and declares that "George R. R. Martin is creepy. He is creepy because he writes racist shit. He is creepy because he writes sexist shit."
Alyssa Rosenberg of Think Progress responds, as does Delphine on GeekMom.
How Old is Your Globe?
VSA! VSA! VSA!
Q: Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU? A: It might be harder than you expect.
Yo dawg, I heard you like minecraft...
Kanye + Comics
Belushi! No! That Yeezy's for real! Kanye plus Comics combines the lyrics of Kanye West with frames from superhero comic books. [more inside]
"Wobble - nice to have you here."
Public Image Limited, Live on American Bandstand in 1980, that is all.
"Everyone has pain. It's your job to find it."
Start a home business, get rich quick, win financial freedom! If you watch late-night TV, you've heard it all before. But what's the story behind these slick pitchmen and their dubious schemes? Enter The Salty Droid, your ornery metal guide to the corrupt underworld of scam-marketing scum. This charmingly acerbic bot (owned and operated by mild-mannered Chicago dog-lover Jason Michael Jones [inter-view, long talk + transcript]) is a valiant crusader against the vile con-men who bankrupt the elderly and the desperate with beautiful lies. Exposed so far: A shadowy "Syndicate" of frauduct-pushing personality cults polluting the media with blogspam and woo-woo talking points. Boiler rooms in the Utah desert where telemarketers farm credit from easy targets with cunning, probing scripts [PDF]. Powerful politicians bought wholesale. Believers left to die in fraudulent new-age vision quests. It's a soul-crushing beat, enough to make one feel like a regular catcher-bot in the digital rye. But somebody's got to do it -- preferably someone with plasma nunchucks and titanium skin.
2011 - The Year Of...
Linux - The Desktop Summit 2011, interview with Aaron Seigo. 'This year at The Desktop Summit 2011, for the second time, both' the KDE and GNOME 'communities have decided to organise a single, joint conference.' [more inside]
Baby, you'd better get me back to that hotel. You got me hotter than Georgia asphalt.
Democracy: Victory at Home, Victory Abroad
"World War II has immesurably magnified the Negro's awareness of the disparity between the American profession and practice of democracy." During WWII, the armed forces were still marked by segregation of troops, with black troops often led solely by white officers, there were many instances of violence against African-American troops as well as general discrimination.
While many African-American troops were serving with honor and some with particular levels of distinction, a stateside newspaper - the Pittsburgh Courier - began the "Double V" campaign: "Democracy: Victory at Home, Victory Abroad" after printing a letter from a reader asking "Should I Sacrifice To Live ‘Half American?’". The response from the community was overwhelming. Many people, not just activists, latched onto the campaign and made it a huge success for the community, helping to lay the ground work for the beginnings of the post-war Civil Rights movement.
The Camofleurs
Invisible, Inc. Inside the evolving science of concealment.
"If you know something, kill something."
Paul Scheer of NTSF:SD:SUV and Human Giant addresses the most pressing question of our modern era: How Did This Get Made?
Mozart had some underground shit people don't know NUTHIN about.
Jack White has worked with everyone from Alicia Keys to Loretta Lynn to Brendan Benson to Alison Mossheart. His new single, "Leck Mich Im Arsch," utilizes a 230-year-old Mozart melody. Oh yeah, his co-conspirators on this one? MeFi favorites Insane Clown Posse.
What clicks may come
Trauma is an escape-the-room -dream game with a hauntingly beautiful aesthetic that tells the story of a young woman recovering from an accident. It is a cross-platform download or can be played in its entirety for free in Flash. [more inside]
Modest Mouse live in September 2001
Modest Mouse play a 25 minute set in September 2001 in front of Criminal Records in Atlanta. The songs they play are Paper Thin Walls, Third Planet, Trailer Trash, Lives, Diggin' Holes (later released as an Ugly Casanova track) and I Came as a Rat.
AT+T does not add T-Mobile
Justice Department (apparently) blocks the merger of AT+T and T-Mobile. The Associated Press is reporting that Justice will block the deal because "would reduce competition and raise prices." [more inside]
Cutting through the ego with song...
We've talked about throat singing on the Blue before, but Mongolia and Siberia aren't the only places where throat singing is practiced. In Tibet, an ancient collection of traditions called Bön keeps throat singing alive and well. [more inside]
Something Foul Is Afoot
Human foot washes up on beach near Vancouver for 11th time in four years Previously - The DNA matchup - previously again
Welcome to Jeff and Casey Time!
"In discussions the teens said they wanted to be told what to do, instead of having to come up with their own weight-loss strategies."
Weight-gain. "LOL!" "Teens love text messages--and those texts may help them lose weight, if they're done right. A study tested out various types of weight management-themed text messages on overweight teens to see what they liked, finding that they favored positive messages but disliked thoughtful questions." [more inside]
Some of these had to be intentional.
How the Dismal Science of economics got its name
JS Mill vs. Thomas Carlyle Economics may deserve its reputation for being hardnosed and calculating, not warm and fuzzy. But sometimes it is its critics who are lacking in the spirit of humanity. [more inside]
F**k Statistics
Statistical analysis of OKCupid profiles exposes some sexually fascinating revelations:
- Herbivores like giving oral more than omnivores
- Twitter users are more likely to masturbate today
- Christians and Atheists are just as likely to claim they have never masturbated
- The correlation between men who prefer gentle sex & use of the word 'boating'
I f**king love statistics [more inside]
- Herbivores like giving oral more than omnivores
- Twitter users are more likely to masturbate today
- Christians and Atheists are just as likely to claim they have never masturbated
- The correlation between men who prefer gentle sex & use of the word 'boating'
I f**king love statistics [more inside]
Amnesty International on Assad's Bloody Crackdown
Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria “These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to be an extension of the same brutal disdain for life that we are seeing daily on the streets of Syria,” said Neil Sammonds, Amnesty International’s researcher on Syria.
“The accounts of torture we have received are horrific. We believe the Syrian government to be systematically persecuting its own people on a vast scale.”
Australia's High Court Rules The "Malaysian Solution" Unconstitutional
Australia's High Court has handed down a 6-1 judgement against (PDF) the Commonwealth Government's deal with the Malaysian Government, to replace the so-called Pacific Solution, under which the two countries would have "swapped" asylum seekers.
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