November 11, 2013
Out. OUT. OUT!
In order to meet US Federal Aviation Administration’s and the European Aviation Safety Agency’s regulations, all aircraft with a seating capacity of 45 or more must demonstrate the ability to empty in under a minute and a half. For the Airbus A380 that meant 853 passengers and 20 crew members abandoning the craft in less time than it takes horses to run the Kentucky derby.Link features SLYTs to both the Airbus A380 evacuation test and the Boeing 777 evacuation test. Bonus SLYT to evacuation slide deployment tests. [more inside]
Riffing: Conversational one-upmanship
"I saw the conversation we were about to have like a long, familiar tunnel, and I turned around and walked away, done with riffing forever."
Portrait - Autoportrait
In 2009, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, filmmaker Gilles Porte had children between the ages of 3 and 6, who have yet learn to read or write, and from around the world, draw themselves, without adult intervention, on a pane of glass. The result of which is this gallery of 80 self-portraits, that are in turn sweet, comical, and moving.
At the end of each movie, the character drawn is animated and comes to life.
(To play the movies, click on “voir” below each thumbnail image on the TV5 site.) [more inside]
China in Motion 2013
Stunning timelapse video of cities and countryside in China. (SL Vimeo)
Hey Bro – you’re being insensitive
Mass Witness Intimidation via Instagram
Philadelphia police investigate online account which revealed court documents and witnesses [more inside]
No one should have to die alone
Harold Percival will not be missed. This. This is the power of the printed word, and the internet.
If you only read one thing today, please read this.
26 Women Share Their Abortion Stories
Bare Sticks, Unite!
Singles' Day, or 光棍节, began as a joke holiday invented by some lonely Chinese college students, an anti-Valentine's Day on which singles could either revel in their singledom or double down on attempts to hook up. November 11th was chosen for the date because of a simple visual pun on the slang term for bachelor: a "bare stick," symbolized by the date 11/11. But in a few short years, this joke holiday has become the biggest retail sales day on Earth, surpassing Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
So, what do all the 'bare sticks' do on Singles' Day? It varies. Aside from eating four stick-shaped foods to symbolize the date, you could try one of these 11 ideas from Beijinger. Or watch this bizarre condom ad, featuring a compilation of animals having air sex.
What No One Tells You About Losing Lots of Weight.
What No One Tells You About Losing Lots of Weight. For at least some newly thin people, there’s a meta-dissatisfaction in feeling that significant weight loss has made life anything other than perfect: Any discomfort you may feel with your body is compounded by a sense of shame at not feeling unmitigated pride at a moment you expected to be triumphant. [more inside]
Thanksgiving in Mongolia
Thanksgiving in Mongolia. Ariel Levy writes a harrowing, heartbreaking story of her late pregnancy loss, adventure, and grieving.
Mega, twisted and radical
Stakker Humanoid - How 25 years ago Future Sound of London brought Acid House to the mainstream.
"What was he doing having his face put on ATM cards?"
"It was as if, while Mark Zuckerberg was still in high school, Bowie was bracing for the 21st Century, the demand for everyone to “share” accessible versions of themselves. The self as a business card, to be distributed to anyone who asked for it. He also saw opportunity: on 1 September 1998, he launched BowieNet." Pushing Ahead Of The Dame (previously, previously) takes a look at David Bowie's late-90s, technophile projects and the future they foreshadowed - Omikron: The Nomad Soul (& BowieBanc & BowieNet)
A Freerunning Extravaganza
"Various Imitation of Natural Phenomena, represented by Moving Pictures"
The Eidophusikon, an early form of motion picture, is a theatrical technology developed by fine art painter and theatrical set designer Philip de Loutherbourg using sound, colored filters, mechanical works, light from newly invented Argand lamps, mirrors and more . It was first exhibited at his home in 1781, featuring five scenes of land and seascape. In recent years, recognition of this as an early chapter in cinema history has prompted several institutions to recreate the experience. Among the most successful is the 2005 storm at sea depicted in Eidophusikon Reimagined by the Australian National University.
Who needs Halloween?
November 11 may be a day of sombre reflection in the rest of the world, the 95th anniversary of the end of the Great War, but in the Netherlands, as well as parts of Belgium, Germany and northern France, it's a holiday: Sint Maarten, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. This is traditionally the end of autumn and the start of winter, as well as the last day before the fasting period of Advent, enough of an excuse to sent the kids round the village waving paper lanterns, singing silly songs and begging for candy.
Well, I got $5.45 and it's 5:45
From Brad Neely comes a brand-new character and a brand-new rap: Queeblo, starring in Whopper and a Forty.
The Yellow Dogs, RIP
The Yellow Dogs was a NYC-based group of young expatriates who fled their native Iran for Williamsburg, Brooklyn in order to freely pursue their dream of playing rock music, saying what they wanted to say, and, well, having fun, which were three things they couldn't do back home. Three members of the band were found murdered today. A sad farewell to The Yellow Dogs. [more inside]
"One can see why virgins went astray."
To The Great God Pan
There is only one piece of film that shows Isadora Duncan dancing. It is four seconds long, the very end of a performance, and it is followed by eight seconds in which Duncan accepts applause. This small celluloid footprint – light-struck in the manner of Eugène Atget – contains quite a bit of information. It is an afternoon recital, early in the 20th century, and it takes place en plein air, trees in the background, like so much of the painting of the day. Duncan enters the frame turning, her arms positioned in an upward reach not unlike ballet’s codified fourth position, but more naturally placed. ... Because of her thrown back upper body it seems as if she is running, but she is actually slow and steady, offering herself to something so large she doesn’t need to move fast. The dance over, she stands simply and acknowledges her audience with a Christ-like proffering of her palms. In fact, her classical garb is as much that of the sandalled shepherd of men as it is a barefoot goddess of Greek mythology. ‘I have come,’ she once said, ‘to bring about a great renaissance of religion through the dance, to bring the knowledge of the beauty and holiness of the human body through its expression of movements.’ Thus spake Isadora.[more inside]
Hey, let's make our best salesman the regional manager.
The Myth of the Visionary Leader. "But just knowing that great leadership is not always going to look great, or even make us feel inspired, could help gird us against the power of big personality and encourage us to make more sober choices."
I was completely surprised at the serenity
A brass monkey, a laser poodle and a moist manatee walk into a bar...
A wacky turn-based game with delightful characters, cute graphics, and lots of room for strategy. Tutorial here.
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