November 18, 2013

How to make American cities more bike friendly

If Henry Ford were reincarnated as a bike maker, Le Corbusier as an architect of buildings and cities for bikes, and Robert Moses as their bike-loving ally in government, today’s bike plans would be far more ambitious in scope. Ford would be aiming to sell billions of bikes, Corb would be wanting to save the whole world, and, even if it took him a lifetime, Moses would be aiming to leave a permanent mark. -- According to Steven Fleming, to make cities more biking friendly what's needed are architects who make the bike their guiding inspiration, like Robert Moses was inspired by the car.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:43 PM PST - 61 comments

That's not a selfie...

Australians are a people renowned for inventing awesome shit, mate. The flat white. The pavlova. Anzac biscuits. Flight of the Conchords. Now we've gone and topped it all by inventing the selfie. Fish-lipped sheilas everywhere - you're welcome.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:44 PM PST - 44 comments

Star Wars Snowflakes

It happens every year. The days get shorter, a sub-zero chill is in the Hoth air, the wampas start venturing into your hidden home base, and new Star Wars Snowflakes are introduced for holiday crafting fun. New to 2013, battles. It just isn't Christmas without a T-47 Snow Speeder making an attack run on an AT-AT, or Luke Skywalker facing down a hungry Rancor beast. Enjoy 13 new designs. So, get yourself a sharp cutting blade and have fun. (2012 snowflakes here.)
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:49 PM PST - 15 comments

Macro snowflake photographs, captured with a DIY reversed lens setup

Alexey Kljatov takes some rather nice macro photos of snowflakes on the open balcony of his house, mostly on glass surface, lighted by LED flashlight from opposite side of glass, and sometimes in natural light, using dark woolen fabrics as background. He recently detailed his camera set-up, featuring an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera and an old USSR-made Helios lense, taped to a board. Reverse mounting is nothing new, but it's usually done with reverse-mounting rings.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:41 PM PST - 14 comments

Atlanta to Atlantis: an OutKast retrospective

"Ten years on from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Pitchfork traces Big Boi and Andre 3000's path from Southern vanguards to the most universally beloved rappers in the world."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 7:45 PM PST - 32 comments

Give me the strength the lift, hope, and struggle

On “Jenny Ondioline,” Stereolab pointed the way to a retro future 20 years ago Jenny Ondioline was released. [more inside]
posted by Annika Cicada at 6:09 PM PST - 56 comments

Here's a Good Stiff (ed) Tip For You

A server who was stiffed on a tip but left a note condemning her homosexual lifestyle instead, receives thousands from sympathetic strangers and donates everything to Wounded Warriors Project.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 5:04 PM PST - 106 comments

Lee Reid wrote Musink with his feet

What could be more impressive than learning to program, and then writing a complete new music notation program? Doing it with your feet.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:48 PM PST - 9 comments

Somos el 90%

At 23 Camila Vallejo became Latin America's newest folk hero.
A leader of the Chilean winter movement of student protests; Camila Vallejo at 25 was elected to a seat in Chile's Congress on Sunday.
See wiki.
posted by adamvasco at 3:48 PM PST - 9 comments

What It's Like to Fail.

Twenty-five years ago, David Raether was a successful comedy writer -- a member of the writing staff of Roseanne. Five years ago, he was homeless. This is his story.
posted by workingdankoch at 3:44 PM PST - 95 comments

"Oh yeah, another big red-letter day for the Baileys!"

In the tradition of A Christmas Story 2 and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure comes the latest news out of Hollywood: Variety reports 'It's A Wonderful Life' Sequel in the Works!

"Karolyn Grimes, who played George Bailey’s daughter 'Zuzu' in the original, will return for the 'Wonderful Life' sequel as an angel who shows Bailey’s unlikeable grandson (also named George Bailey) how much better off the world would have been had he never been born." [more inside]
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:39 PM PST - 68 comments

"consider your characters conditions"

Let's Draw Abs!, a DeviantArt tutorial, by Coelasquid, of The Punchline Is Machismo (prev.) [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:19 PM PST - 19 comments

Blade Runner in 12,000 animated watercolor paintings

"I've seen things that you wouldn't believe."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:01 PM PST - 39 comments

Also, Peeta is played by a pita.

Following Homelamb (previously), Far From Seven and Sons of Poetry in the category of "Things I Never Thought I'd See On Sesame Street," I give you The Hungry Games: Catching Fur. Note: free of children killing other children.
Previously. Full list of Sesame Street spoofs and parodies. [more inside]
posted by Madamina at 1:14 PM PST - 24 comments

"So yesterday, we saved him the trouble."

Author Peter Watts (many times previously) eulogizes his cat Chip [more inside]
posted by figurant at 1:13 PM PST - 36 comments

he intends Assassination Market to destroy “all governments, everywhere”

Meet The 'Assassination Market' Creator Who's Crowdfunding Murder With Bitcoins
Last month I received an encrypted email from someone calling himself by the pseudonym Kuwabatake Sanjuro, who pointed me towards his recent creation: The website Assassination Market, a crowdfunding service that lets anyone anonymously contribute bitcoins towards a bounty on the head of any government official–a kind of Kickstarter for political assassinations. According to Assassination Market’s rules, if someone on its hit list is killed–and yes, Sanjuro hopes that many targets will be–any hitman who can prove he or she was responsible receives the collected funds.
posted by andoatnp at 1:11 PM PST - 143 comments

Shocking exposé

Cloud services that power email and other technologies we use each day are themselves massive energy consumers. Gigaom reporters have written a pair of in-depth articles about efforts by Amazon and Apple to build infrastructure and source their own energy.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:27 PM PST - 16 comments

Not sure why Jim Morrison or Elvis Presley are included.

Rock & Roll Heaven: What dead rock stars would look like if they were alive today.
posted by Cookiebastard at 12:05 PM PST - 85 comments

Celebrating Johnny Mercer on his Birthday

Today is the 104th birthday of Johnny Mercer, the great American lyricist, songwriter, and singer. We have him to thank for: [more inside]
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 11:27 AM PST - 15 comments

Flipping the Other

"Choruses of children evoking a crowded slum, humid jungles where Sri Lankan women bathe and wash their clothes, old Bimmers drifting in a Moroccan desert, the multiple limbs of a Hindu goddess stretching behind her, the austerity of areas long occupied by military, a digital print burqa [...] Welcome to Worldtown." -- Ayesha A. Siddiqi on the shamefully misrepresented "Pop Diaspora of M.I.A.", whose latest single from her new record Matangi is YALA (Flashing Lights Warning) [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:49 AM PST - 25 comments

The Sound Da Vinci Invented, but Never Heard

Leonardo Da Vinci is well known as a man who invented many things on paper that never found their way into three-dimensional reality. Some would later prove to be unworkable in reality. Others would later prove to be potentially life-saving. But not all of Da Vinci's inventions were of a practical nature. Consider his plans for the viola organista, a keyboard instrument containing a system of revolving wheels, strings and other machinery to create a kind of cello that can be played with a keyboard. Never constructed in Da Vinci's lifetime, the inventor himself could only imagine what it would actually sound like. We no longer have to imagine that. [more inside]
posted by saulgoodman at 10:34 AM PST - 43 comments

Glitch is Dead, Long Live Glitch!

"The collaborative, web-based, massively multiplayer game Glitch began its initial private testing in 2009, opened to the public in 2010, and was shut down in 2012. It was played by more than 150,000 people and was widely hailed for its original and highly creative visual style. The entire library of art assets from the game, has been made freely available, dedicated to the public domain. Code from the game client is included to help developers work with the assets. All of it can be downloaded and used by anyone, for any purpose. (But: use it for good.)" [more inside]
posted by jenkinsEar at 10:17 AM PST - 43 comments

25 years later, the Cabinet on abortion

The Canadian Press has released minutes from the Cabinet's discussions of abortion. The conversations began after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unconstitutional the restrictions on abortion (wiki). [more inside]
posted by Lemurrhea at 7:51 AM PST - 21 comments

“It wasn’t clear the law was going to be around."

Ten years ago today, invoking the “dignity and equality of all individuals", the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declared that the state must allow same sex couples the right to marry. The plaintiffs' attorney was Mary Bonauto.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:10 AM PST - 12 comments

Lost Roots: The Failure of For-Profit Couchsurfing

As a long-time Couchsurfer, I felt that once management put the values of venture capital funders over the organic, self-organized traveler base, and reorganized with a top-down, “start-up” mentality, the fall was inevitable.
posted by Blasdelb at 6:56 AM PST - 51 comments

Syntax error: unmatched thing in thing from std::nonstd::__ map

HCI people discover bugs by receiving a concerned email from their therapist. Systems people discover bugs by waking up and discovering that their first-born children are missing and “ETIMEDOUT ” has been written in blood on the wall.
The Night Watch - James Mickens [SLPDF]
posted by xqwzts at 3:44 AM PST - 68 comments

Home James, and Don’t Spare the Horses

Auto Correct — Has the self-driving car at last arrived? From The New Yorker, November 25, 2013.
posted by cenoxo at 3:28 AM PST - 173 comments

A term of Cree origin, maskek (ᒪᐢᑫᐠ) meaning low lying marsh.

Muskeg is a cold swamp. Or bog if you prefer. You might find an 80 foot 50 year old tree near to an 8 foot 200 year old tree. Insects will find you. [more inside]
posted by vapidave at 3:27 AM PST - 17 comments

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