February 18, 2011
Why, that'ssss a nicccce everything you have there.
Yogscast is already well known for their gaming related podcasts and video blogging, but have really come into their own with their Minecraft story-telling saga of THE SHADOW OF ISRAPHEL... [more inside]
It's wise to wait five years.
Beware the birds and the wolf: Ramona Falls' I Say Fever. Featuring a great narrative, clever and intricate animation, and nice touches of fuzz bass. (SLYT) [more inside]
That's English for "cat".
Meet Larry, the newest incumbent to the office of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Bo was unavailable for comment, but was heard to utter "woof" at the news. [more inside]
Cmdr William T Riker's Namesake
In 1919, "Father" William Riker founded a utopian commune of sorts in Holy City, California. Holy City was
[a] cross between a tourist trap and a Christian haven, the commune in its heyday in the twenties and thirties boasted such unconventional luxuries as alcoholic soda pop, peep shows, an ornately decorated gas station, a radio station and a zoo, all to lure passing motorists to the commune.Riker called his philosophy the Perfect Christian Divine Way. Claiming to offer the world's perfect government, he ran for governor of California four times on a white supremacist platform. [more inside]
HULLLLOOOOO *WHAM*
Muzzle Man: I have no idea how these horse men got these trays smacked into their muzzles, or why. Tram. Kitchen. Tram II. Flea Market. [more inside]
Damn that's one fine skinjob on you
XOXO to Title X
Enjoying your Friday night? Be careful out there. In between other things, including voting for huge cuts to the EPA's budget and regulating power, the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to eliminate Title X, originally signed into law 40 years ago by Republican President Richard Nixon, which provides funding for Planned Parenthood. [more inside]
Valhalla, I Am Coming
The Saga of Biôrn: Biôrn, an old Viking, is determined to reach Valhalla, the warrior's afterlife full of excessive drinking and debauchery. To gain entry he has to die honorably in battle, but he discovers that the right death isn't so easy. SLVimeo.
Wolves feed as an orchestra tunes
"You might have forgotten about Carla Bozulich -- or never even heard of her, depending on your age -- but she hasn't forgotten L.A." - Carla Bozulich of Evangelista ponders her history with L.A. on the eve of her show with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. (previously) [more inside]
All righty then!
How 'OK' took over the world. 'It crops up in our speech dozens of times every day, although it apparently means little. So how did the word "OK" conquer the world, asks Allan Metcalf', author of OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word. 'On 23 March 1839, OK was introduced to the world on the second page of the Boston Morning Post, in the midst of a long paragraph, as "o.k. (all correct)". How this weak joke survived at all, instead of vanishing like its counterparts, is a matter of lucky coincidence involving the American presidential election of 1840.' [more inside]
Caravaggio’s Criminal Record
Caravaggio's crimes exposed in Rome's police files: "Four hundred years after his death, Caravaggio is a 21st Century superstar among old master painters. His stark, dramatically lit, super-realistic paintings strike a modern chord - but his police record is more shocking than any modern bad boy rock star's. An exhibition of documents at Rome's State Archives throws vivid light on his tumultuous life here at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries." [Via] [more inside]
We Make Cameras See Things
Yangsky's cognitive vision solutions cover the spectrum from applications that allow end users to use webcams for visual tasks such as flame detection, bar code reading, home security, and allow enterprisers to use industrial video cameras for visual tasks such as traffic monitoring, fire alarm, and visual tracking. [more inside]
2010 Locus Recommended Reading
Locus, the Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, is the paper of record in the science fiction community. Every year the editors and reviewers at Locus publish a recommended reading list which includes novels, YA novels, first novels, anthologies and collections, related non-fiction, art books, and three types of shorter work (novellas, novelettes, and short stories). If you are at all interested in the current state of the SF&F genre you can't do better than Locus' yearly effort. The list for 2010 appears in the February issue. [more inside]
You Cant Explain That!
Geekosystem documents the developing Bill O'Reilly 'Can't explain that!' sort-of-meme.
Instigated by O'Reilly in this Youtube.
The Moral Crusade Against Foodies...and against people who have a moral crusade against foodies
BR Myers thinks foodies are obsessed with food at the expense of morals. Rancher and writer thinks it's a shallow and warped attack on people trying to make the food system better.. [more inside]
The Voice of Some of Phil Spector's Greatest Creations, a One-Woman Wall of Sound: Darlene Love
On March 14th, the 26th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will add 5 new performers to the growing list of well-known musicians. As previously discussed, the 2011 inductees are Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Tom Waits and Darlene Love. Though the last name may not be as famous as the four fellows, the chances are you know her voice, from Monster Mash, Rockin' Robbin, or Da Doo Ron Ron. Except her name wasn't credited first on any of those recordings, if it was mentioned at all. [more inside]
The Richard Balzer Collection
"I have been collecting for more than thirty years, and my collecting wanders around the theme of visual entertainment, and almost all of the collection dates from before 1900. Over time you will find magic lanterns, peepshows, shadows, transparencies, thaumatropes, phenakistascopes and a variety of other optical toys. You may find things that seem odd in this collection, however, always remember that collecting is a very personal thing and these items may stretch the boundaries of visual entertainment but nevertheless have found a place in my collection." Via @CarinBerger.
Tasty Planet
Eat Everything Smaller Than You! Tasty Planet. Friday Flash Fun!
All Work and No Flash Makes Jack a Dull Boy, All Work and No Flash Makes Jack a Dull Boy, All Work and No Flash Makes Jack a Dull Boy, All Work and No Flash Makes Jack a Dull Boy
It's FRIDAY FLASH FUN!!
Don't know what a Flash is? Do you love horses? Wish you could paint really well?
OMGGGGG THAT'S PERFECT!! [more inside]
Don't know what a Flash is? Do you love horses? Wish you could paint really well?
OMGGGGG THAT'S PERFECT!! [more inside]
Boeing can't say it wasn't warned.
The biggest mistake people make when talking about the outsourcing of U.S. jobs by U.S. companies is to treat it as a moral issue. Sure, it's immoral to abandon your loyal American workers in search of cheap labor overseas. But the real problem with outsourcing, if you don't think it through, is that it can wreck your business and cost you a bundle.Case in point: Boeing Co. and its 787 Dreamliner. Boeing can't say it wasn't warned. As early as 2001, L.J. Hart-Smith, a Boeing senior technical fellow, produced a prescient analysis projecting that excessive outsourcing would raise Boeing's costs and steer profits to its subcontractors. [previously]
No word yet Blind Mellon's reunion tour with the Bee Girl
One of the girls from the coverart of Smashing Pumpkins' 1993 Siamese Dream is now in the band. [more inside]
Friday Flash Fun: Burrito...
Friday Flash Fun: Burrito Bison, a launching game where you crush gummy bears for points. [more inside]
Art of the hidden
How does an artist portray life in a secretive intelligence service? James Hart Dyke peeks into the U.K's Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6), while Jill Magid shares her experience preparing pieces for the Dutch secret service AIVD.
"The old dude has a lot he can teach us."
The National Book Foundation has launched an essay series dedicated to the 57 winners of the National Book Award for Poetry. First up: William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Archibald MacLeish, and Conrad Aiken.
The cake is a lie.
I woke up this morning with a $2000 birthday cake in my living room.
It's big. It's red. It says "Paris". [more inside]
Laser cat bowling
Will this put those Ask.Me questions to rest?
How do you split the rent when one room is tiny and has no closet while the other is large and has great windows? Based on a not really scientific survey, Jonathan Bittner has come up with a decisive way to answer those 'who should pay how much' questions when it comes to apartment sharing.
I think it might be news time, now.
Two delightful minutes in which Australian morning TV presenters discuss their preferred home defense weaponry.
Up Yours, XXI
Boston Marathon qualifying and registration are revised
The Boston Marathon has made it harder to qualify, by lowering times by 5:00 minutes across the board, and also by eliminating the 59 second grace period. [more inside]
Whether you're singing or not, you must keep your "singing face" on.
In this episode of Al-Jazeera's 101 East, Lynn Lee and James Leong become the first foreigners to film inside Pyongyang's University of Cinematic and Dramatic Arts. [more inside]
"... GPA 1.22 … honk if I need (an) education."
When her son refused to do his school work, his mom had him stand out on a busy street corner with a sandwich board trumpeting his 1.22 GPA. [more inside]
"Your future is not as a person of letters..."
In 1982, the young Barack Obama published two poems in a literary magazine while an undergraduate at Occidental College. Many years later, political and literary commentators looking for insight into the leader's inner workings unearthed the poems: The New Yorker gave readers Harold Bloom's mixed reaction, Ian McMillan assessed the juvenile work in The Guardian, the Times (UK) tried to place the poems within the context of American presidents who published poems, and even Huffington Post took a crack at figuring what the poems tell us about the politician. A little later, the Blue Rose Arts Collective used the text of the poem "Underground" in a short video piece. Obama maintains his interest in poetry: also in 2008 the president was photographed holding a copy of Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott's Collected Poems. (U.S. Presidents and poetry more generally, previously.)
"I grabbed the wing pits. I leaned back."
What it's like to ride an ostrich. As compared to what it's like to ride a horse.
Epic Rap Battles of History
Epic Rap Battles of History 1: John Lennon V Bill O'Reilly, Darth Vader vs Hitler, Abe Lincoln VS Chuck Norris, Sarah Palin VS Lady Gaga, Hulk Hogan VS Kim Jong-il
These fish... they vibrate?
This is a pretty amazing video of a Chinese magician doing magic tricks with goldfish on the BBC spanish website. Extended video and discussion (along with possible spoilers) can be found on youtube. It's been picked up by some English-language sites (here and here). Real controversy, or just hype to drum up publicity? Either way, the magician is refusing to divulge his secrets (but insists that no fish were harmed in the trick).
"I would, Mr. Speaker, indicate to you that the way in which this case has been handled, including by myself, has been unfortunate."
The power of three letters "N - O - T". Canada's "International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda on Monday admitted she was behind the mysterious “not” that was handwritten on a government document that ended funding for church-backed aid organization KAIROS and its international relief work.
Reversing her earlier testimony at a Commons committee — where she had claimed not to know who penned the extra word — Oda revealed she had, in fact, directed an unnamed official to add the word “not.” “The funding decision was mine. The ‘not' was inserted at my direction,” Oda said in a surprise statement in the Commons." Opposition parties claim that Oda is shielding the PM's office.
YouTube singer charged with felony
The Elephant After Death
Ever wondered what happens to an elephant's body after it dies in the wild? Now you know. [more inside]
Rise of the Sockpuppets
A Daily Kos diarist dredging through leaked HB Gary emails has found concerning evidence that the company has been selling advanced "persona management" software to manage large numbers of fake online identities. Meet one of the buyers: the US military [more inside]
Direct investment for homelessness?
Homelessness: Cutting out the middle men (Economist) "The most efficient way to spend money on the homeless might be to give it to them". [more inside]
Gemcraft Labyrinth
So maybe you've played and liked Gemcraft or Gemcraft Chapter 0 (previously 1, 2)? Game In A Bottle are back with Gemcraft Labyrinth
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