July 25, 2015
To drink from the bottle, turn to pa-- I mean, click red or purple
Stephen "Increpare" Lavelle - creator of many strange free games, one-going-on-two strange paid ones, the sound effect generator Bfxr and the excellent tile-based puzzle game engine PuzzleScript - released three much simpler game makers a couple of months ago: Flickgame, Tinychoice and Plingpling. Flickgame and Plingpling have help pages, each with an example game; Tinychoice needs no help page and starts with an example game in the text box. More detailed info after the break. [more inside]
Common Waters: Politics and the public water fountain
It's been over 100 years since the common cup for public water fountains was banned, reducing their health risks. But we don't trust drinking fountains anymore—and "it’s making us poorer, less healthy and less green." [more inside]
A Vision in Orange Satin
Mark Volman (in orange, wielding a French horn) totally owning a performance of Happy Together. [more inside]
What the ‘Times’ Got Wrong About Nail Salons
Rarely does a newspaper story get the kind of response that The New York Times front-page exposé of wage-theft at nail salons prompted this spring.... But was it true? [more inside]
Like a famous painting, a rare comic is hard to fence.
Teaching Social Skills to Improve Grades and Lives
"In the early 1990s, about 50 kindergarten teachers rated the social and communication skills of 753 children in their classrooms. It was part of the Fast Track Project, a study administered in Durham, N.C., Nashville, Seattle and central Pennsylvania….Using an assessment tool called the “Social Competence Scale,” the teachers assigned each child a score based on qualities that included “cooperates with peers without prompting”; “is helpful to others”; “is very good at understanding feelings”... This month, researchers from Pennsylvania State University and Duke published a study that looked at what happened to those students in the 13 to 19 years since they left kindergarten. Their findings warrant major attention because the teachers’ rankings were extremely prescient."
The Bridge at Q’eswachaka
The last remaining Inca rope bridge is the Q'eswachaka, spanning the Apurimac River in Peru. Even though there is a modern bridge nearby, the residents of the region keep the ancient tradition and skills alive by renewing the bridge annually, in June. Several family groups have each prepared a number of grass-ropes to be formed into cables at the site, others prepare mats for decking, and the reconstruction is a communal effort. In 2009 the government recognized the bridge and its maintenance as part of the cultural heritage of Peru.
Under Bridges, Over Bridges
It's been a while since we took to the rails together so it's time to buy our tickets and climb aboard for another trip around the world in the drivers cab. [more inside]
Notoriety and Wassenaar
"This one goes out to all the bad, bad girls."
Postmodern Jukebox (previously) has posted their most recent cover, which takes Fiona Apple's classic "Criminal" and creates a 1940's torch song with the assistance of some mean horns and the sultry stylings of Jazz singer Ariana Savalas .
Some people want me to be heads or tails.
I sort of admire his dedication
Adventure Time with Snoop & Dogg - Graweedy Falls - Stweed Smokeverse - Smokémon - Nichijoint - My Ordinary Weed
Whaddaya mean previously?! [more inside]
Whaddaya mean previously?! [more inside]
Tetrapodophis: an early four-legged snake?
What were snakes doing before they lost their legs? A new fossil discovery of an early snake with four tiny, stubby legs might shed some light on that question. Assuming it really is a snake, of course.
However, the status of this fossil as a specimen from a private collection raises ethical questions. This is likely to be an illegally obtained specimen, like 2012's controversial Tarbosaurus bataar (previously, previously). Is it ethical for Science to promote findings from unethically sourced fossils when these are an increasing problem for paleontology? (Previously, previously.)
Shake Your Rump-ah
Looking for a great soundtrack for your Saturday? Yesterday, to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the release of the seminal album, Seattle radio station KEXP spent 12 hours playing every song sampled on the Paul's Boutique. The station's streaming archive of the show will be available for the next 2 weeks and is filled with history and interviews interspersed with a pretty eclectic mix of some fine music. [more inside]
Newly released photos of the Bush administration on 9/11
A never-before-released set of photos show the anxiety of the Bush administration as it reacted to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The documentarian Colette Neirouz Hanna, whose work with PBS has focused on the Bush administration, received the photos in response to a freedom of information request. They were taken by the vice-president’s staff photographer. The full set is on Flickr: 1, 2, 3, 4
“What took you so long?”
“This is not so much a radical change as a return.”
"Me doing this for all those hot hot sheep out there!"
If sheep could sing reggae, they might sing reggae like this.
It looks like you want to annoy people. Do you need help with that?
"Women told Microsoft the animated paper clip was leering at them. The software company didn’t listen." -- the story of Microsoft's Clippy.
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