July 1, 2016
I should not have believed a word he said
Remember how Gay Talese was writing a non-fiction book about Gerald Foos and his voyeurism? Well, not so fast on the non-fiction part. Talese will no longer promote the book, and blames Foos, calling him a dishonourable man.
Traffic Delays usually aren't this amusing
Washington's Department of Transportation (WSDOT)is making the best of event-related traffic closures/slow downs/traffic by unleashing their best staff artists on Twitter. [more inside]
the music makes it
Overwatch, Blizzard's new game, incorporates a 'play of the game' highlight after each match. How does it work, and what gets picked?
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
"The very term 'country' can be controversial. Who decides what is a country and what isn't? The criterion used in this document is simple: if the USPS lists it in its Index to Countries and Localities, we treat it as a country. Thus some localities (such as Reunion Island) that are not distinct countries are listed, whereas other localities that consider themselves countries (such as Western Sahara) are not listed (but still discussed). Rationale: if you address mail from the USA to WESTERN SAHARA, the USPS won't know what to do with it. If you want to send mail to SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON (a part of France that is in Canada) from the USA, it doesn't make sense for the mail to go all the way to France and back." Frank's Compulsive Guide to Country Addresses
"It's going to be great, as it always is, from my perspective."
"I don't know why it's so hard for you to believe I could be happy." The official trailer for season three of Bojack Horseman is out now, following the release of the teaser trailer in May.
Bojack Horseman previously: 1, 2, 3 and in FanFare.
Happy Canada Day!
You don't need to learn How To Be Canadian to participate, but it couldn't hurt. Pick a delicious dish from What To Eat and enjoy the classic
Canadian, Please by honeychip and gunnarolla (gunnarolla previously).
Suit Up!
Furry musicians FoxAmoore (previously and previously) and PepperCoyote (also making music as Look Left) debut their new album #hashtag live at Anthrocon. [1h5m] Recorded July 1, 2016, just about an hour ago. [more inside]
"We wear flashy boots."
So why is it we still call him an idiot? Why is it when a semi-professional footballer is done for drug dealing, Sterling’s face is used to sell the story on social media?Carl Anka: We need to talk about Raheem Sterling.
Autonomous vehicles and fatal accidents
On May 7th, 2016, Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was driving via the Autopilot feature of his 2015 Model S in Williston, FL, when it collided with a tractor-trailer making a left turn. This marks the first known fatal accident involving an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, and is being investigated by NHTSA. Tesla declined to answer if it will disable Autopilot, noting that, "...[t]his is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated. Among all vehicles in the US, there is a fatality every 94 million miles.” In light of recent accidents (Wired, Geekwire), who's to blame when a self-driving car crashes? And how should autonomous vehicles respond to an impending collision (Science, open access)? [more inside]
A colorist is really just there to make sure the reader follows
A Timely Reminder of Applicable History
On May 23, Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella addressed the Yale Law School. She told the graduating students the very relevant story of her father's experience before, during and after the Holocaust.
The Writing Men Want You To Know They've Been Very, Very Bad Boys
"The personal essay format demands that women reveal everything, often to the point of absurdity, while also allowing men to get away with vague metaphors and platitudes. On one end of the spectrum you have “I’m Glad My Friend Killed Herself,” and on the other end you have, "I Did Some Bad Shit, But All You Need To Know Is That I’m Dealing With It, Manfully."
All Was Well
Marble machine maker Martin Molin (previously) is back, with two new instruments and one song [SLYT]
Obama on the Obama Presidency
Interview with Barack Obama (NPR's Steve Inskeep). "And I believe that our politics — when our politics are at our best — is not based on identity politics, but it's based on a sense that everybody should have a fair shot and everybody should get a fair shake. Everybody should be responsible for doing their fair share, and you know, that theme you'll see in every speech that I've given since I was running for the state Senate, and it hasn't changed much now that I am nearing the end of my political career."
Don't make the mistake of anthropomorphizing Larry Ellison
This candid 2011 talk about the history of OpenSolaris fork Illumos doubles as a history of the late Silicon Valley giant Sun, its engineering and corporate culture, its disastrous acquisition by Oracle, and the rise of open source in the 2000's. [more inside]
The club can't even handle me right now
Happy Friday! Here's a video of a bear procedurally dancing to Nine Inch Nails' "Closer". [nsfw Trent Reznor singing]
BIG YOGURT
"I HAVE NEVER BEEN PANDERED TO SO EFFECTIVELY BEFORE"
To mark the website's final day, The Toast posted a note from Hillary Clinton about the site. [SLToast] [more inside]
"This note 'did not yet exist' on pianos"
A list of extremes of conventional music notation. "Conventional Western music notation is far more complex and subtle than most people think. In particular, it does not have well-defined borders; it just fades away indefinitely in all directions."
square peg, round hole
The ambiguous cylinder illusion (youtube) - finalist for Illusion of the Year 2016. More up-to-date illusions!
"He sent me Christmas cards up until I went to college."
Buzzfeed and exploitation of content creators
Buzzfeed is currently coming under fire from various creators: Akilah Hughes claims that Buzzfeed plagiarised her videos, Gaby Dunn speaks up against the no-compete clause that led to 2 colleagues being fired for appearing in another websseries (response by Buzzfeed Motion Pictures head Ze Frank), and Kat Blaque talks about the exploitation of intellectual labour from marginalized people for Buzzfeed content.
Reality is too full
Battle of the Somme centenary commemorated
BBC: Commemorations are taking place to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme in World War One. Guns were fired in central London ahead of a two-minute silence at the time the battle commenced at 07:30 on 1 July 1916. Ever wondered what life would have been like for you 100 years ago?, Why was the first day of the Somme such a disaster? [more inside]
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