October 12, 2008
om sweet om
Contemporary architecture in India, a little look: Odd and unusual buildings l Mumbai 1, 2, 3 l Kerala backwaters l Kolkata l Architectural renderings from the Indian Skyscraper blog. [more inside]
$3 million virtual tour of the Forbidden City
A $3million dollar, 3-year project by IBM to create a virtual tour of China's Forbidden City was released Friday. It is a large download, but there is support for Mac, Linux and Windows. Unlike most virtual tourist projects, this one seems to foreground actual human beings, and not just artifacts (architecture, art). It is based on gaming software but with an emphasis on historical authenticity and "a sense of decorum", meaning "you can't run and you can't fly," in the Forbidden City.
Jazz For the Eye
The iconic photographer William Claxton has died at the age of 80. His unforgettable shots of Miles Davis, Steve McQueen,Chet Baker (the book of his Baker photos here), Bob Dylan, Charlie Parker, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Bill Evans, Lenny Bruce, Frank Sinatra and so many others are legend. His books "Jazz Life" and "Photographic Memory" are great collections, but his official site is probably the best way to appreciate the amazing legacy of work he left behind.
Ed Wood? Noooooooo!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans have been enjoying Rifftrax for a while now [previously], but the movie riffing experience just isn't the same without Mike and the 'bots at the bottom of the screen to watch the movie with us. Now a MST3K and Rifftrax fan has brought the 'bots back in this ten minute "proof of concept"-type video of a MSTed Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Gold Medal
Colin - no relation to Conor - Oberst won the Hockey Night in Canada new anthem challenge with his entry Canadian Gold, beating out 13-year-old Robert Fraser Burke's Sticks to the Ice and (somehow) Logan Aube's Hockey Scores. (previously)
..an 19MB small, 56k modem capable, opensource, multiplayer Shooter
AssaultCube is a free first-person-shooter. Set in a realistic looking environment, it's fast and arcade-like. Available for Windows, OS X, and Linux (via)
Bad Physics
Recurring science misconceptions in K-6 textbooks: CLOUDS REMAIN ALOFT BECAUSE WATER DROPLETS ARE TINY? Wrong! SOUND TRAVELS BETTER THROUGH SOLIDS & LIQUIDS? No it doesn't. GRAVITY IN SPACE IS ZERO? It's actually strong. THE SKY IS BLUE BECAUSE OF COMPLICATED PHYSICS. No, it's simple. And many more.
Global Favela
The Places We Live is a new project by photographer Jonas Bendiksen from Magnum.
Jonas (portfolio)
is the author of the book Satellites
[previously]. Interview
(youtube) [+]
Remembering Matthew Shepard
Ten years ago today gay college student Matthew Shepard died after having been savagely beaten, left alone for 18-hours and found tied to a fence five days prior on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. America was stunned by the vicious hate crime. As his mother, Judy, pushes for passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, advocating for federal hate crimes legislation, and directs the Matthew Shepard Foundation, folks in Laramie ask: "...how has the town changed since 1998? ...how do we measure that change?" And yet 10 years after Matthew's death the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law has not been expanded to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability due to a veto threat by President Bush. [more inside]
Interviews with Venturous Writers
Dalkey Archive conversations with William Burroughs, Angela Carter, Robert Creeley, William Gaddis, William H. Gass, Danilo Kis, Harry Mathews, Richard Powers, Raymond Queneau, Hubert Selby, William T. Vollman, David Foster Wallace, and many other writers.
New York City Studio Envy
R.I.P Good Times
Sequoia Capital presentation on the bleak scenarios for the economy and how start-ups should prepare. Last week the famous (the firm funded Apple, Oracle, Cisco and Google, among others) venture capital firm Sequoia Capital held a meeting for the firm’s portfolio companies. There, partners presented their views on what went wrong with the economy, what the prospects are for a quick recovery (Hint: the presentation is called 'R.I.P. Good Times' ) and what startups can do to survive. Here are the PowerPoint slides used in their presentation. I suggest a stiff drink before viewing. VIA [more inside]
Visual Comedy
Have you heard the one about the deaf comedian? John Smith is Britain's only BSL (British Sign Language) stand-up.
Credit Crunchy Granola Sweet
How will the financial mess affect you? Will you still have a job? Will your mortgage go up or down? Will your bank account pay more or less? What if you want to buy a house? Or a car? Or have a child? College? Insurance? What if you are dying?What about Religion? And what if you want to get a credit card? First time things get hard? If it is tough, there is always bartering. So, who is winning? [more inside]
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