December 21, 2011
What the heck is research anyway?
Think Different
Two words: Dolphin Jetpack!
Introducing the Zapata Flyboard, which is being described as a "dolphin jetpack." Designed by Franky Zapata, the French jet-skiing champion and founder of Zapata Racing, Gizmag says of the $6,600 leisure product: "Aquaman meets Iron Man." [more inside]
"those Who bastards down there in their posh little private community talking shit about him all day"
Universal Transistor
Are you tired of having to pick between N-type and P-type transistors when designing electronics circuits. Well, help is on the way with the new Nanowire Universal Transistor.
For those family computer rescue sessions
Here are some free tools for rescuing infected Windows systems: Windows Defender Offline Beta - Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 - BitDefender Bootable CD - Avira Bootable CD - How To Geek provides instructions for scanning a system from an Ubuntu Live CD. For more info, click through.... [more inside]
Icelands Economic Recovery
"In the 2008 economic meltdown, Iceland nearly collapsed. Its three banks failed, it's currency lost 50 per cent of its value and in an unprecedented display of anger, usually peaceful Icelanders took to the streets to protest.
But Iceland defied the orthodox economic wisdom of the time---bailouts and slashing government services---and now is on the road to a recovery that the rest of Europe envies.
The hero of the hour and the man almost solely responsible for this remarkable turnaround is the country's president Olafur Grimmson."
This CBC Sunday Edition Interview is a fascinating listen. [more inside]
Robert Zemeckis' "Used Cars"
The concept of Used Cars originated with writer-director-producer John Milius, who pitched the idea to scribes Zemeckis and Gale while they were still hard at work on what would become 1941. ... Zemeckis shot Cars in a breakneck 28 days at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Mesa, Ariz. ... Despite its low profile, the film received a great deal of critical acclaim, including the notoriously finicky Pauline Kael…who described Cars as “a classic screwball fantasy — a neglected modern comedy that’s like a more restless and visually high-spirited version of the W.C. Fields pictures.”* [more inside]
Ring Out Solstice Bells
Jethro Tull's 1976 animated promo video for Ring Out Solstice Bells. (SLYT) Happy Solstice, everyone!
Bow down before the robot army
Alone on the Wall
Alone on the Wall. Alex Honnold is perhaps the world's premier big wall free solo climber, which makes him the de facto best climber alive. [previously]
White House sticks to secrecy as the death toll in drone strikes surges
Secrecy defines Obama’s drone war. "Since September, at least 60 people have died in 14 reported CIA drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions. The Obama administration has named only one of the dead, hailing the elimination of Janbaz Zadran, a top official in the Haqqani insurgent network, as a counterterrorism victory. The identities of the rest remain classified, as does the existence of the drone program itself. Because the names of the dead and the threat they were believed to pose are secret, it is impossible for anyone without access to U.S. intelligence to assess whether the deaths were justified." [more inside]
Why I Resigned from The Good Men Project
The largest settlement in history over fair lending practices
Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial engaged in widespread discrimination against African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans. The Department of Justice is calling this the largest settlement in history over fair residential lending practices. According to the DOJ’s complaint, Countrywide systematically charged more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher fees and interest rates than white borrowers with similar credit profiles. [more inside]
I Love My (hic) Ducks!
Are Big Time Sports a Threat to Student Achievement? A study by 3 University of Oregon economists suggests that male University of Oregon students’ grades drop during successful seasons for the UO football team, as students study less and drink and party more to celebrate Duck victories. [more inside]
Happy Solstice!
"everything is good that / has a good beginning / and doesn't have an end / the world will die but for us there is no / end!" Thus ends Victory over the Sun (part 1, part 2), the "first Futurist opera". [more inside]
Nest thermostat teardown
"Who wants to use their thermostat as a 38MB jumpdrive? I do! I do!" The Nest learning thermostat came out of the Bay Area in late October of 2011 in an unprecedented blaze of publicity - well, unprecedented for a thermostat - as a result of its status as the creation of Tony Fadell, one of the non-traditional parenting collective of the iPod*, and Matt Rogers, his senior engineer in the iPhone division. (Previously) [more inside]
Merry early Christmas, equality fans
The Navy's first kiss tradition enters the post Don't Ask, Don't Tell era If you're like me you may never have heard of the Navy's first kiss tradition. But it's not unusual for a ship returning from deployment to run a contest or raffle which gives the winner the first kiss with their sweetie on the dock; you can find wikipedia media showing past events. After tonight's news broadcasts pretty much everyone in the country will have heard of it because you can be sure, whether it's portrayed as a step forward or a sign of the end times, every broadcast is going to lead with the first same-sex Navy first kiss between disembarking Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta and her girlfriend, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles.
"An extremely significant milestone".
Researchers from the University of Western Ontario have announced the launch of human clinical trials of a preventative HIV vaccine.
Exclusive license for medical marijuana treamtent?
The US National Insitutes of Health recently filed notice of a prospective grant to give an exclusive license to New York based Kannalife for Development of Cannabinoid(s) and Cannabidiol(s) (i.e. marijuana) Based Therapeutics To Treat Hepatic Encephalopathy in Humans. Toke of The Town covers the issue, including an interview with Kannalife CEO Dean Pethanas.
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has launched a legal challenge to the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), which prohibits activists from engaging in conduct
"for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise." [more inside]
5. TAKE BATH
-NEW YEAR'S RULIN'S-
1. WORK MORE AND BETTER
2. WORK BY A SCHEDULE
3. WASH TEETH IF ANY
...
33. WAKE UP AND FIGHT
Woody Guthrie's New Year's Resolutions, 1942
1. WORK MORE AND BETTER
2. WORK BY A SCHEDULE
3. WASH TEETH IF ANY
...
33. WAKE UP AND FIGHT
Woody Guthrie's New Year's Resolutions, 1942
From The Caine Mutiny to Kill Alex Cross
Last Donut of the Night
Things CPU architects need to think about
Things CPU architects need to think about. Bob Colwell gave this lecture in 2004, for the Stanford University Computer Systems Colloquium (EE380). Colwell was the chief architect of the Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium 4 processors. [About 90 minutes, Windows Media format] [more inside]
Touched by a Wild Mountain Gorilla
"An amazing chance encounter with a troop of wild mountain gorillas near Bwindi National Park, Uganda."
Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas
If you enjoy instrumental jazz and Christmas music, you might enjoy The Best Jazz Christmas Record You've Never Heard. ""Christmas With The Believers" turned out to be the best jazz Christmas music I had ever heard, and that's still the case today. I'll take the imaginative arrangements, chops, tight playing, and sense of swing on this recording over anything I've heard by the legends in this field." It's presented here as a cassette recording from Fall '86, with Donny Schwekendiek on piano, Neal Heidler on the bass and Narry Puhlovski on the drums.
Zaire Paige Not Only Played a Movie Killer, He Became One in Real Life.
Zaire Paige had a breakout role in Antoine Fuqua's movie, Brooklyn's Finest. He was seen as a rising star. But, it all went away when he murdered a gang rival and was sentenced to 107 years in prison. [more inside]
On the border of the space of anticipated secrets
If you visit Prague, make sure to check out Petřín, the hill which rises above Malá Strana (Lesser Town). At its base, you can be gutchecked by the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. You can ride up the hill in the Funicular. At the top, you can visit the Lookout Tower for great views of the city, the Štefánik Observatory for great views of the sky, or the Hall of Mirrors for great views of yourself. Then you can walk down the hill to stop in at Reon Argondian’s Magic Cavern, potentially the most amazing place on the planet. Prepare to have your mind blown. many paintings NSFW for naked mythical creature reasons
If God did call me to run for president I'd say, "Get back to work God, and be thankful you have a job." "
Marvin E. Quasniki officially announces his bid to be the next president of the United States. [more inside]
But will it make people feel guilty when they play angry birds?
For MetaFilter, in remembrance of so many happy hours--HR
Bookdedications is a collection of gift inscriptions found in used books. Some background from the blog's author.
Again, but with enthusiasm.
"Oh God, Danny, stay on your bike!" This is a video of the winning downhill run in the 2011 mountain bike world championships. It's pretty cool, but it's the insane commentating that really makes this special. Gets really good starting around 20 seconds in. (via)
Imagine an alternative science, or sciences.
Vandana Singh is a science fiction writer and a physicist. She describes her work as "ponder[ing] deep questions about the universe." In a series of three essays for Strange Horizons she just does that, probing the relationships between (as her subtitle indicates) science, emotions and culture. [more inside]
Shufflin' Grandpa is Shufflin' Everyday
Shufflin' Grandpas are polka dancers redubbed.
"A silver sixpence and a long toffee"
Measuring our lives out with SLYTs
Videogum presents a retrospective of the best viral videos of 2011. See also: montages for 2010, 2009, and 2008
A language capable of increasing people's awareness
10b Photography has established itself as one of the world’s leading digital darkrooms, handling post-production for scores of award-winning photojournalists who trust that the company knows where to draw the line between processing and manipulation. [...] 10b is quick to point out that it is not a retouching firm. The term is often associated with Photoshop experts, who are hired to alter the look and shape of fashion icons, for example. So when it comes to defining Palmisano's role, it can get tricky. Post-processing in the digital age.
The Medieval Names Archive
The Academy of Saint Gabriel's Medieval Names Archive: for all your period-accurate onomastic needs.
Also, Silver Age Superman was kind of a dick
Two unemployed radio guys wrecking the internet
Humble & Fred do a podcast. Big deal, you say? The bigger story is that they're fairly well known mainstream radio guys in the Toronto area, who have been in the business for decades, but after some recent firings have decided to give full time podcasting a try. And they're making a pretty big splash so far. [more inside]
Philly sports columnist accused of child sex abuse
Bill Conlin, a Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist, retired abruptly yesterday after word leaked the the Philadelphia Inquirer was set to run a story in the next day's paper detailing allegations against him of child sexual abuse dating from the 1970s. (Trigger warning; graphic and very sad accounts of familial abuse, shame, and silence.) [more inside]
“Sometimes my uncle wears black nail polish.” The students took a moment to think about this.
Seeing information 2011
ink&paper
ink&paper A short film about the last paper shop, and the last letterpress, in Los Angeles. "There are days go by that there can be absolutely no business at all."
AIDS information posters from around the world
AIDS information posters from around the world You can browse by country, topic, etc., and many of the posters have large linked images. Provided by UCLA's Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. (Much as it pains me to say it, while these are public health information posters hosted by a medical library, for some, the content will be NSFW.)
Various animals in a drainage pipe
« Previous day | Next day »