September 5, 2011
Broadway divas - impersonated!
Competing with the MacBook Air
The PC industry is built around an idea of almost infinite variation: different Wi-Fi adaptors, different Ethernet chipsets, different GPUs, different USB3 controllers. This variety is then reflected in the systems available from manufacturers—and more importantly, it's reflected in the way the systems are actually built. … The big reason that HP wants to get out of the PC business is that it's simply not very profitable for HP—and that's true for all the major PC OEMs, Cupertino excepted. Cheap PCs are certainly important for making computing accessible, but they also mean that PC vendors have made themselves vulnerable: endless price cuts and a failure to emphasize the value of a quality product have cut revenues and slashed profitability. Desperate to compete on pricing and pricing alone, the mass-market PC OEMs have ended up cutting their own throats.Ars technica explains why the PC industry is having such a difficult time trying to build a competitor to the MacBook Air.
1968 1976 1991
Rita Hayworth in "Gilda"
Leonard Michaels' "The Zipper": Rita Hayworth is never seen disrobed in the movie, though it is threatened more than once. The atmosphere of dark repression and mysterious forces – the mood or feeling of the movie – might be destroyed by the revelation of her body. It scared me as she began her striptease dance in the nightclub. I didn’t want everybody to see her body, or even to see that Rita Hayworth had a body. [more inside]
Mexican military flies over South Texas
HAHA from Norway
"I am the ghost of plagiarism. . ." Short Norwegian film addressing academic plagiarism via Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" (1843).
The Plural Noun For Tailors is a "Disguisery"
The Man's Suit (p2/p3/p4) has influenced politics, shaped fashion, and signaled everything from stodgy conformity to rock stardom, sex-appeal, power, and success. And yet the man's lounge suit was originally considered the casual option. It is an iconic image of Western (and today, global) masculinity, even when used to question and challenge traditional gender iconography. And where are the finest men's suits in the world made? [more inside]
Shanghai: The Finland of the East?
Which countries match the GDP and population of
● Brazil's States?
● China's Provinces?
● India's States and Territories? [more inside]
Is that a pusher?
"Is that a pusher?"
The amount of mass-market plug-in cars coming out today attests to the popularity and practicality of electric vehicles. The two big remaining concerns are the range of EVs, and the efficiency of plug-in hybrids. Some people have found the solution to both of these problems is a traditionally fueled pusher or genset trailer or booster. [more inside]
Zomia
The Battle Over Zomia. "Scholars are enchanted by the notion of this anarchistic region in Asia. But how real is it?" [Previously]
Dark Matter Haters to the Left
When we talk about dark matter and its alternatives, we are talking about no less a task than explaining the structure of every large object in the Universe. On the largest scales dark matter blows all of its competitors away. In terms of explaining the large-scale structure of the Universe, not a single one of dark matter's alternatives comes close to mirroring its success. But of course, that doesn't stop the sensationalist headlines from rolling in. We are understandably uncomfortable with the notion that we are not the most important thing in the Universe. We've just successfully figured out where the new material to form the Milky Way's young stars is coming from: high-velocity intergalactic gas clouds! About a Sun's worth of gas falls into the Milky Way (on average) every year, and this resupplies the Milky Way's gas reserves, which get eaten up as new stars form over billions of years.
But what about the other, larger mystery? What about reproducing the structure of the Milky Way itself?
Hollywood home movies, 1965
An unbelievable collection of Roddy McDowall’s never-before-seen silent home movies from the summer of 1965 were uploaded onto YouTube yesterday, featuring impossibly young, impossibly gorgeous stars like Natalie Wood, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Hope Lange, and Rock Hudson frolicking on the beach. You simply MUST go to the website and watch them all. The takeaway for me, though, is Sal Mineo slinking out the back door with a guilty-looking blond who may or may not be Bobby Sherman. What were THEY up to? Also mesmerizing: The closeup of Natalie Wood’s freckles, Jane Fonda sticking out her tongue, and Paul Newman’s hunky son.
President Obama Backs Down On Ozone Standards
President Obama Backs Down On Ozone Standards As two weeks of protests outside the White House against a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta's tar sands through the United States ended Friday with a total of 1,252 arrests, President Obama shocked the environmental community by requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, after repeated delays since publication of new draft ozone standards in 2010 lowering permissible levels from 85 parts per billion (introduced during the Bush administration) to 60-70 parts per billion, postpone their implementation until at least 2013. [more inside]
“When I made the chili for myself, I accidentally added tears.”
Henry's Kitchen is a cooking show unlike any other: it is unpretentious (he's no arrogant, trained chef), dramatic in a unique way, and has some information that one doesn't find anywhere else.
Henry's Anytime Chili for One is a classic.
There's also Killer Oven-Baked French Toast, Spicy Shepherd's Pie, and Delicious Nutty Chocolate Truffles.
Bob Geldorf Goes PEU
There are plenty of fund managers who want to be rock stars. Now, there is a rock star who fancies himself as a fund manager. Bob Geldof, the singer and campaigner for aid to Africa, is seeking to raise $1bn from institutional investors for a private equity venture on the continent. The pitch he is making represents a remarkable shift into African business for a man more often associated with his relentless advocacy for debt relief and aid to Africa. (Text Via FT) Till date he has raised $200m. Some are confused. Others are snarking. The Guardian's interview by an Ethiopian born writer with [more inside]
Laurel and Hardy dance to everything
We know that Yakety Sax makes everything funny. But Laurel and Hardy can dance to anything,
Oye Como Va, Out of Time, Bad Romance, Sharp Dressed Man. They can even dance to Yakety Sax!
History is often the brooding and ignored stepchild of policy debate.
Are overly restrictive immigration rules causing a worldwide economic slow down? According to the Guardian "Allowing workers to change location significantly enriches the world economy. So why do we erect barriers to human mobility?"
Partifi is a free and automated tool for creating parts from music scores.
Partifi is a free and automated tool for creating parts from music scores. Here's how it works. [more inside]
Don't let kids watch Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars?
Don't let your kids watch Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars, warns Dr. Keith Ablow (a forensic psychiatrist and "street therapist"), or the depiction of transgender reassignment as a heroic journey rather than tragedy may normalize it and affect their burgeoning sexual identities (a kind of observational learning effect). Transgender advocates vociferously disagree.
radiant jewel, mystical wife
Divas do Dylan: Nina Simone's Ballad of Hollis Brown, Nico's I'll Keep It With Mine, PJ Harvey's Highway 61 Revisited, Tracy Chapman's The Times They Are A-Changin', Emmylou Harris' Every Grain of Sand.
Navigating a way to her heart
New York based Google engineer decides to go 'a little bit over the top' and propose to his girlfriend via Google maps and a treasure hunt. Awww....geek love. [Via]
It's dangerous to go alone!
Epic version of The Legend of Zelda theme, on marimba, snare drum, cymbal, bells, timpani, and triangle. [more inside]
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