December 27, 2013
The Art of Kevin Cyr
All the colors of the-- Eames chair?
The Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum's collections, now searchable in color. Colors? They got colors. All kinds of colors. My god, it's just full of colors. But wait, there's even more inside... [more inside]
Lunch Poems: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Foundational Beat Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti comes to UC Berkeley's Lunch Poems in 2007 and spends ~50 minutes flipping through a book of his collected works and reading poems old and new. [more inside]
The 38 Most Haunting Abandoned Places On Earth.
Michaelangelo's Grocery List.
Michelangelo's Grocery List : written for an illiterate servant.
Making Excuses for Science Fiction
When I published my first novel 20 years later, I found myself faced with the same challenge: how do I talk about this book to people whose entire conception of science fiction and fantasy are built around Star Wars and The Hobbit? How do I convince folks that stories about the dissolution of a marriage in Montreal in 2155 are just as serious an endeavor as writing about the dissolution of a marriage in Montreal 1955?
Guy Clark: He Ain't Going Nowhere
"A tall man with regal posture, [Guy Clark has] got an angular white mustache and soul patch, wavy gray hair that curls up at his collar, and a woodblock of a forehead that looms over deep-set blue eyes. His general expression is that of someone who’s thinking about something more important than you are. Or at least more interesting." Texas Monthly profiles the legendary songwriter. [more inside]
Knitting Peace on Earth; Good Wool Towards Men
Cirkus Cirkör, a contemporary Swedish circus company, brings you "Knitting Peace", an ensemble performance that combines acrobatics, dance, music, and yes, knitting, to explore the theme of working through complex and tangled realities to bring about peace.
The Roots of Orchis: post-rock, downtempo, and a bit of turntablism
The Roots of Orchis (Facebook page) don't seem to be active much these days, but sometimes it's nice to look back. Their peak was probably their 2002 album, Some Things Plural (Bandcamp), which blends the mellow post-rock styles of Tortoise with the downtempo, instrumental hip-hop grooves of early era DJ Shadow. For example, the first track "develops into a smooth post-rocking instrumental with a dusty groove that never imagines itself any more pimped out than it is." For another fantastic blend of relaxed instruments and subtle turntablism, check out their take on Björk's Possibly Maybe, from the Read: Interpreting Björk compilation. [more inside]
This is Harry.
...you took Christopher and turned it into Krystougher.
You named me... WHAT? Nine baby-naming rules.
Lights Out, Luthor. I said...LIGHTS OUT!
January 1st, 2014 ushers in a new era for the U.S. population, as 40 and 60 watt incandescent lightbulbs will no longer be produced nor imported into the mainland. This turnaround follows the demise of non LED/CFL 75w bulbs on January 1st, 2013, and 2012's phaseout of 100 watt bulbs under the revised provisions to the National Energy Law of 1978. The ultimate catalyst for the greening of America? The 1973 Oil Crisis.
Kleptomaniac cat burglars steal and stash holiday decorations and more
Meet our protagonists, Denis and Theo. Instead of the normal things that they steal during other times of the year (ie., hand puppets, fluffy pens, and phone chargers from the neighbors), during the holidays they steal Christmas decorations.
You can watch one of the cat burglars carry home his Christmas loot on youtube. [more inside]
A song for the formerly hearing impaired
I Liked You Better Deaf. (slyt, now with captions)
Inside the Company That Built Healthcare.gov
That lack of expertise explains why in building healthcare.gov, the government turned to industry contractors; in particular, to CGI Federal, a subsidiary of CGI Group, a Canadian company. To those uninitiated in the dark art of government contracting, it seems scandalous that CGI, a company most Americans had never heard of, a company that is not located in Silicon Valley (where President Obama has plenty of Internet superstar friends who could have formed a dazzling brain trust to implement his signature legislation) but rather in Montreal, could be chosen as the lead contractor for the administration’s most important initiative. While right-wing news outlets have focused on the possible relationship between Toni Townes-Whitley, senior vice president for civilian-agency programs at CGI Federal, and Michelle Obama, both of whom were 1985 Princeton graduates, CGI’s selection is probably more an example of a dysfunctional system than it is a scandal. “A lot of the companies in Silicon Valley don’t do business with the government at that level [the level required for federal contracting],” explains Soloway. “It is very burdensome, and the rules make it very unattractive.” Indeed, government contractors have to meet a whole host of requirements contained in a foot-thick book, including cost accounting and excessive auditing, to prove that they are not profiting too much off the American taxpayer. Hence, there tends to be a relatively small, specialized group of companies that compete for this work, even on such critical matters as healthcare.gov. - Accounting for Obamacare
A Gift To You
As the Christmas season winds down, but before New Year plunges a stake into its Dracula Corpse to end it, enjoy Matt Fraction, Maggie Serota and the War Rocket Ajax crew challening each other to create the worst Christmas mixtape. Not interested in audio format banter and such? There is a Youtube Playlist. WARNING: Mostly offensive for aesthetic reasons but there are some other terribles in there as well.
Give me my #**$!! ice cream
Game developers you should know
Cool Science GIFs in 2013
"If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a GIF is easily worth a million. The file format—which uses a series of images to produce a looping video, like a flip book—is a tremendous way to convey all sorts of moving wonders. ... It’s appropriate, then, that we use the GIF to explore some of the coolest, weirdest, most remarkable science stories of 2013. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of amazing science GIFs from 2013, in no particular order." [more inside]
Gagadoll
Lady Gaga satirizes the objectification of celebrity while cashing in on it with a series of creepily lifelike gagadolls. You can even rent one for an event. Several models to choose from.
"Start cabbage indoors."
sproutrobot.com is just the thing for all of the gardeners who feel the walls starting to close in. Give it your ZIP code and sproutrobot will do the rest. [more inside]
The Manhunt of Christopher Dorner
The LA Times recounts the Manhunt of Christopher Dorner from Feb. 3-12, 2013 through a series of interviews and research.
Previously [more inside]
Resplendent with simple graphics and simpler rules
The Internet Archive Console Living Room harkens back to the revolution of the change in the hearth of the home, when the fireplace and later television were transformed by gaming consoles into a center of videogame entertainment... Simply click on a system below to browse through available games and cartridges and try them out. Where possible, links to manuals and additional information are available for reference.
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