March 21, 2011
Liberty Dollars in Jail
Bernard NotHaus has been convicted of possessing and selling coins that resemble United States coins, violating U.S.C. 18 § 486 and other US statutes. This follows three years after a raid on the Liberty Dollar offices. The trial took four days, the deliberation all of two hours. The US government is now pursuing a forfeiture case against Liberty Services for approximately $7 Million. (previously) [more inside]
RIP Mr. Boogie Woogie Piano Man
RIP Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins - "It is with deep sadness that we announce Pinetop Perkins passed away peacefully at home on Monday, March 21, 2011 in Austin, TX at the age of 97." One of the last great Mississippi bluesmen, having played with Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, and for a number of years, the great Muddy Waters. Pinetop & friends at his 95th birthday; Pinetop Perkins with Willie Big Eyed Smith; Muddy Waters with Pinetop Perkins, 1970s [more inside]
The "flipback", a new kind of book
A new kind of book has been created in Holland, where its sold over 1m copies since it came out in 2009. Now finding its way to England, called the "flipback", the pages are super thin Bible paper with a special lay-flat spine and small format, making it suitable for reading with one hand, thumb page-flips, and shirt pocket storage.
Single in the Pulpit? Good luck to you!
With Few Jobs, an Unmarried Pastor Points to Bias “Prejudice against single pastors abounds,” Mr. Almlie wrote in articles (Part 1, Part 2) he posted on a popular Christian blog site in January and February, setting off a wide-ranging debate online on a topic that many said has been largely ignored.
A penis, or a four-color ballpoint pen?
"n arratives is a surreal, offbeat humour, low-key comedy cartoon show in amazing MULTICOLOURWIDESCREENMADNESSTECHNOLOGY." Apparently the first in a series. (SLVimeo; German with English subtitles.)
women portrait themselves
The original time-lapse self portrait? And some modern artists: Enchanting self portraits from Iceland's Rebekka Gaudleifs. Nude self portrait (NSFW) from Israeli artist Roni River. Disturbing stories from Canada's projecteye (NSFW) and magical self-portrait from
New Hampshire-based Sarah Ann Loreth.
The internet raises all-in
I have no idea how this poor child performer got on an American morning show and then got slowed down 33%, or why. However, I feel the results will likely be viewed by future historians as the primary contribution of this, and indeed any other, civilization. (SLYT)
Another Role for Buses in Civil Rights History
Worcy Crawford ran the only bus company that would transport colored passengers in pre-Civil Rights Act Birmingham. Mr. Crawford recently passed away and now the buses sit in disrepair.
Deal of the Century
How two American kids became big-time weapons traders - "Working with nothing but an Internet connection, a couple of cellphones and a steady supply of weed, the two friends — one with a few college credits, the other a high school dropout — had beaten out Fortune 500 giants like General Dynamics to score the huge arms contract. With a single deal, two stoners from Miami Beach had turned themselves into the least likely merchants of death in history." (via; previously on arms contractors)
Concerto Of Midnight Sun
It's this. This is the saddest thing.
"Another nagging idea which slowly grew from a whorl in the tub to a Pacific gyre was that, as I wrote piece after piece, it seemed like I was just imitating myself, if that makes any sense. I had always prided myself on not being formulaic (say, Monday jokes and lasagna jokes), so this presented a grave problem. I have always wanted Achewood to be something that didn’t exist before, including earlier versions of itself. ... Like a sparrow birthing a clenched human fist, Achewood must be reborn in strange ways over time to achieve this ideal." Chris Onstad announces an indefinite hiatus to the popular web comic Achewood. [more inside]
HuffPoUnionAction
The Newspaper Guild is calling on unpaid writers of the Huffington Post to withhold their work in support of a strike launched by Visual Art Source in response to the company’s practice of using unpaid labor. In addition, we are asking that our members and all supporters of fair and equitable compensation for journalists join us in shining a light on the unprofessional and unethical practices of this company. [more inside]
OMG, Shoes.
Boxing Day
Boxer - the DOS game emulator that’s fit for your Mac, making it beautifully, trivially easy to run DOS games [via]
DIY Scanning Electron Microscope
wheezing groaning
In the dim and distant past before video recorders, never mind DVDs and the interweb, the only way a Doctor Who fan could re-live old episodes of the programme was via the Target Books novelizations. The BBC is reissuing some of the classic stories with new intros by the likes of Neil Gaiman. [more inside]
Captain Video! Electronic wizard! Master of time and space! Guardian of the safety of the world!
Captain Video and his Video Rangers was a television series that was staple of the DuMont Television Network. The series first aired in the middle of Golden Age of Science Fiction, and with an initial air date in 1949, it was the first science fiction television series in the United States, complete with futuristic gadgets. The series was aimed at children, with public service announcements for kids, the a special ring (or three). Recorded and broadcast live five to six days a week, the series had a run of thousands of episodes, though most are now considered lost. 24 episodes are in the UCLA Film and Television archive, and a few episodes have made their way into public domain compilations, and online (three random episodes episodes on Internet Archive; and same three episodes on YouTube). Continue in for more on the good Captain, and the network he called home. [more inside]
The site should smell like a musty book.
The US Library of Congress has updated their site to be more user friendly. Collections are now very easy to explore. All of the fun of wandering around a library without leaving your chair. [more inside]
Code Cowboys
FuckYeahSourceCode.tumblr.com
Tumblr has had a major security breach causing the web server to spit out source code containing passwords, database schema, and secret API keys. How did this happen? Probably editing the [live] file in vim, forgot it was in Replace mode, and tried to enter Insert mode by tapping i while at the beginning of the file.
Tumblr has had a major security breach causing the web server to spit out source code containing passwords, database schema, and secret API keys. How did this happen? Probably editing the [live] file in vim, forgot it was in Replace mode, and tried to enter Insert mode by tapping i while at the beginning of the file.
Exodus for Apple?
Exodus International, the so-called "ex-gay" organization, has just released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is "designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders." The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contains "no objectionable content." Many are not pleased. [more inside]
Happy 65th birthday to the MRC birth cohort of 1946
Epidemiology: Study of a lifetime. "In 1946, scientists started tracking thousands of British children born during one cold March week. On their 65th birthday, the study members find themselves more scientifically valuable than ever before." [more inside]
(Oh no! Not) The beast day!
Owner of this iconic afro? Singer on the amazing "(Oh no! Not)The Beast Day!"? Muse for "Brown Sugar" and mother of Mick Jagger's child? Star of the musical Hair? The third stage breast cancer survivor? Author of these books? Not several people but one Marsha Hunt.
New York City history, for your clicking and dragging pleasure.
How Manhattan’s Grid Grew. Interactive New York Times map comparing 1811 New York with present day, plus other cool historical stuff. Huzzah, as the kids say.
Gaming in the Clinton Years
In the mid-1990s, a man named George Wood created a TV show called Flights of Fantasy on a Maryland public-access channel. The show was was dedicated to videogames, and gained quite a few detractors; Wood was not known for his playing skills, research, or good taste, and the production was rather cheap. He would also tend to go off-topic, sometimes markedly so.
It had a small following, being a local public-access show, but would have been lost forever had Wood not joined a video gaming association called NAViGaTR, who archived the entire series, edited each episode, and put them online as Gaming in the Clinton Years.
It had a small following, being a local public-access show, but would have been lost forever had Wood not joined a video gaming association called NAViGaTR, who archived the entire series, edited each episode, and put them online as Gaming in the Clinton Years.
Why are you on my train?
It's not easy being green (or blue, or golden, or red)
To deny the awesomeness of frogs would be foolish. They are colourful, they are diverse, and if they were the size of humans, they could leap over buildings! 10 facts and 25 pictures about our amphibious friends, the mighty Frog!
The Hilarious, the Sad and the Downright Stupid
Hard rain on Libya
The Great Sand Sea in Libya preserves some remarkeable meteoritea. Amazing though these are, none as enigmatic as the Libyan desert glass. [more inside]
Fully (sic): linguists down under.
Fully (sic) is "Crikey’s very own language blog for discerning word nerds. Sit back and enjoy the spectacle of Australian linguists getting all hot and bothered about the way we communicate." It's the Aussie equivalent of Language Log, frequently linked here on the Blue. To get you started, Does Moomba really mean ‘up your bum’? (Answer: Nobody knows for sure, but the search is lots of fun.)
See? She thought I was a lawyer.
Over the years, he's become so well versed in restaurant labor law that his attorneys don't even charge him for filing lawsuits anymore. 'They take them on spec,' he boasts. 'By now, they know that if I file something, it's legit.' Eddie Santana, restaurant rebel, has filed 30 lawsuits against companies — nearly all restaurants and bars — for everything from illegal tip pools to excessive uniform costs. He's netted $144,924.79 after attorney fees from 20 separate settlements. And from the nine suits still pending, he hopes to make another $100,000, if not more.
Downhill Carnage
Downhill Carnage (SLVimeo)
"Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar."
Between Page And Screen is an augmented-reality book of poems (written by Amaranth Borsuk) developed by Brad Bouse. Like a digital pop-up book, you hold the words in your hands. Print a marker and try it. Requires Webcam. [more inside]
The Responsive Eye
The Responsive Eye. Brian De Palma's 1966 film (25 mins) of the opening night of New York MOMA's 'The Responsive Eye' exhibition on op art.
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