October 26, 2012
Hurricane Sandy
"So, when we first started talking about the idea of this storm which will have far reaching effects for many along the eastern seaboard later this weekend and early next week, we were somewhat skeptical as to whether such an event could happen. It truly is an unusual occurrence – most hurricanes taking the path Sandy is currently on are whisked out to sea, with only rough surf and maybe some clouds along the majority of the east coast; but not this one – not Sandy." [more inside]
You mean they sat on the platform with you?
In the spirit of the Nobel season, Yasha Levine discusses the history of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel as a PR gimmick for laissez-faire economics, and how its existence is an affront to the Nobel legacy.
It's all in the details.
Come and sit for a while. An amazing photo from shorpy.com. Tomorrow, after you've absorbed all the details from this image, browse through the rest of the images at shorpy.com. We'll send someone to drag you back out of the time warp worm hole in a few days.
Hacking the President’s DNA
Hacking the President’s DNA. "The U.S. government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama. Decoded, these genetic blueprints could provide compromising information. In the not-too-distant future, they may provide something more as well—the basis for the creation of personalized bioweapons that could take down a president and leave no trace."
There are sixteen panels I can put in this grid. Six are televisions, three are flashbacks, six are close-ups of objects falling through space. The other one... hurts.
Haunted House: rock'n'roll novelty through the years
I just moved into my new house today1, moving was hard but I got squared away2. When bells starting rings and chains rattled loud,3 I knew I'd moved in a haunted house4. Still I made up my mind to stay,5 nothing was a-gonna drive me away.6 When I seen something that give me the creeps,7 had one big eye and two big feet.8 [more inside]
SAT 600!
Colin Fahey goes to great lengths to get the lowest possible score on the SAT. Includes a facsimile of his persuasive essay arguing that he should receive a score of zero.
Edible Selby Book
Neutral to the Slibs!
Initiate salutation cascade, star-citizens! Seven years ago tonight, Stephen Colbert introduced Tek Jansen to the world. Originally a one-off parody of vanity fiction by media blowhards, the "super-awesome spectacular ultraspy" became the center of a small universe of comics, cartoons, and books, his exploits satirizing awful pulp sci-fi, rampant Mary Sue "Marty Sue" syndrome, and the cheesy melodrama of 1970s Hanna-Barbera. Look inside for US/Canadian links to both animated seasons along with other content available on the web. [more inside]
The Long, Balanced Haul
Cargo bikes, long a mainstay in the Netherlands and emerging as an automotive alternative in the U.S. (via bike-friendly Portland), come in many flavors: Longtails, longjohns, cycle trucks, porteurs, trikes and the traditional Dutch bakfiet. Will a cargo bike transform your life?
∆, pronounced Alt-J, Mac users will get it
Alt-J (∆) are a British art rock band who play low-key but ambitious music and have done well lately, been nominated for the Mercury Prize and broken into the UK top 20, while remaining somewhat anonymous and now they're starting to get noticed in the US. But you don't have to take my word for them being quite good, they've put their whole debut album, An Awesome Wave, up on their SoundCloud page, along with a bunch of other music, or you can check out their videos. You can also watch an entire concert in high definition and good sound quality recorded by KEXP in Seattle.
Psychopathy's Double Edge
2H2O2 → 2H2O(l) + O2(g)
What do you get when you mix hydrogen peroxide, iodine and dishsoap?
Elephant's Toothpaste (or Elefantenzahnpasta, if you prefer German). Many more class experiments from the 2nd link here. [more inside]
Letterpress - Word Game
It's Boggle + Go (or Scrabble + Risk). It's by Loren Brichter. It's a wake-up call for Game Center. It's Letterpress - Word Game. (I know, it's Friday... sorry, Flash.)
Reflections of China Beach
On April 26th, 1988 ABC aired a made for tv movie as a backdoor pilot called China Beach. It went on to be a critically loved, audience deprived show that lasted four seasons from 1988 - 1991. [more inside]
HOLLA HOLLA GET [big agro subsidy] DOLLA
And you thought Farming Simulator 2011 was boring! [NSFW (or whack posers) SLYT]
I Want Your (candy) Skull
Click-Clack the Rattle Bag
Neil Gaiman reads a story that scared people. A new Neil Gaiman story is available from Audible. It's free, and every copy downloaded means a donation to DonorsChoose or BookTrust. (Neil does ask that you wait to listen to it until after dark.)
She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.
Bankster Rap
Once the financial sector achieves a certain size, its continued expansion reduces economic growth, according to a new study by two senior economists at the Bank for International Settlements, Stephen Cecchetti and Enisse Kharroubi, using a large international data base stretching back more than 30 years.
contact juggling
Contact juggling: a championship performance by Yanazo (Akihiro Yanai) at the Japan Juggling Festival 2012 earlier this month - it won first prize; he juggles one, two, and finally three balls by rolling them on his body, occasionally tossing them with his body movements instead of his hands. [more inside]
SDGOP
1997: Arizona. Matt Varilek gets a degree in Environmental Studies, and starts teaching at the Biosphere 2, known as an incubator for radical enviromental ideas. Back in South Dakota, Kristi Noem is named Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year by the Watertown Jaycees.
Tina Turner, Holland 1971
"She's known as the hardest working young lady in show business today. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Tina Turner." [more inside]
The horror, the horror
The 55 Scariest Scenes from Fantasy/SF/Horror movies by the jewel-in-the-crown-of-Gawker io9 features many clips guaranteed to freak you out. Along the same lines, and also from io9, is an excellent list of ten novels that are scarier than horror movies.
Gross!
In the spirit of Halloween and scary movies: a remix of Mr. Sandman set to a supercut of some of the spookiest scenes from horror cinema: Full-On Lovemaking. Warning, NSFW. Further warnings for the squeamish below the jump. [more inside]
Cleared to Land
Heathrow Approach Planes lining up on approach to London Heathrow at 17x speed. Strangely hypnotic slyt.
"Unlike paper, the soft and delicious tortilla is forgiving."
Tootleg Boy audiobook defacement
These audio files contain profanity:
The Lord of the Books of the Fifty-Five Arse-Hymens of Stone
Pride and Prejudice and 367 Pages of Balls and Young Men
Pride and Prejudice and Praise and Porridge and Presents and Pedantic Ponies and Pride and Pride and Pride and Proud and Priiide
The Lord of the Books of the Fifty-Five Arse-Hymens of Stone
Pride and Prejudice and 367 Pages of Balls and Young Men
Pride and Prejudice and Praise and Porridge and Presents and Pedantic Ponies and Pride and Pride and Pride and Proud and Priiide
Now You Know Who to Blame for Ruining Your Halloween
Ronald Clark O'Bryan: The Man Who Ruined Halloween, the source of the urban legends about random Halloween poisonings and sadism
Adorable
Adorable. From Metafilter's own growabrain:
"In 2009, after I turned 56, I fathered my first child. Since all her extended family members live in other countries, I started a daily photo blog, to record her growth.
I love my baby with all my heart. When she was about a year old, we took her to a street fair and a cartoonist drew a quick caricature of her face. That gave me the idea to start collecting artworks based on her pretty self. I guess I went a bit overboard, because yesterday she celebrated her third birthday, and the collection grew to 500 original art works from all over the world."
[via mefi projects]
Jacques Barzun is dead
Jacques Barzun, pioneering cultural historian and author of From Dawn to Decadence, has died at the age of 104. [more inside]
PhD Comics tv
You may already be familiar with PhDComics (Previously) and the PhDMovie (Previously), but PhDComics.tv has now become a pretty fantastic resource for both researchers and laymen. [more inside]
Thanks for two hours of your time
Shakespeare on Security.
Shakespeare on Security. In 2007, AT&T produced this nest of corporate videos which posited what would happen if "The Bardster" took a job working in an IT Department. Episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8.
Dorothy Dandridge - A Zoot Suit and other soundies
Dorothy Dandridge - A Zoot Suit
Dorothy Dandridge - Cow Cow Boogie
Dorothy Dandridge, the Nicholas Brothers & Glenn Miller - Chattanooga Choo Choo
Hoagy Carmichael - Lazybones
A very young and very beautiful Dorothy Dandridge, exploding with talent and charisma... [more inside]
Dorothy Dandridge - Cow Cow Boogie
Dorothy Dandridge, the Nicholas Brothers & Glenn Miller - Chattanooga Choo Choo
Hoagy Carmichael - Lazybones
A very young and very beautiful Dorothy Dandridge, exploding with talent and charisma... [more inside]
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