September 6, 2011
New photos of several Apollo landing sites
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken new photos of the landing sites of Apollo 12, 14 and 17. Almost 40 years after the missions, the tracks made by the astronauts and the Lunar Rover are still visible.
The game they play in heaven
The 7th Rugby World Cup begins this Friday in Auckland. The fourth largest sporting event in the world, there will be twenty national teams competing for the Webb Ellis Cup, including such diverse nations as Namibia, Romania and the USA. [more inside]
KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE
I am TRYING to SLEEP! (SLYT)
Humakti Death Duck demands vengeance! How many cows should we give him?
Fantasy world Glorantha was created in 1978 as a deep setting for board and role -playing games. King of Dragon Pass is a 1999 PC game, also set in Glorantha, where you manage a tribe of bronze age poets, cow-herds, squabblers and warriors. It is being re-released for iOS tomorrow. [more inside]
Watford.
Spook Countries
"Yesterday morning (Monday the 5th of September) at 8:15 [European Mean Time] I've posted a picture of...hitch-hiking Batman. In 24 hours, that Batman, through G+ sharing, reached 64 different destinations worldwide before getting back to France this morning..." [more inside]
Little Boat
9 hrs.
The Encyclopedia of 9/11.
Tribute to George Carlin
Louis CK talks about what George Carlin meant to him during a New York Public Library tribute to Carlin hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, that also featured, among others, Ben Stiller, Kevin Smith and Carlin's children Kelly and Patrick.
Opulence in ruins: Gadhafi family life revealed in the aftermath
Following Libyian rebels taking Tripoli and Gadhafi's family fleeing the area, pictures of Gadhafi's family compound are surfacing. "The value of these images isn't in their artistry or aesthetic, but in their storytelling information as we seek to uncover more behind the scenes of the Khadafi regime that spanned forty-two years." Also found: an album filled with photos of [Gadhafi's] 'darling' Condoleezza Rice. [more inside]
"Ask yourself, is your candidate smarter than an Aggie?"
"Ask yourself, is your candidate smarter than an Aggie?" The Marching Owl Band ponders the next election. At the same UT-Rice halftime show, they also had something to say about upcoming conference realignments. (Full show script.) The MOB has a bit of history (show script) with Texas A&M. [more inside]
Evolution of Rioting
Collective violence, extending from riots to warfare, presents a challenge to our ordinary understanding of free will. Actions that would rarely be taken by an individual on their own seem to be embraced when supported by a larger group. This can occur in societies ranging from the communist regime of Soviet Russia to the capitalist free market of modern day England. Given this commonality, perhaps the collective violence of a riot can be best understood as a biological event in which evolved cognitive responses encounter a unique environmental threat. And if that is the case, do individuals caught up in such incidents have any choice in the matter?Freedom to Riot: an evolutionary perspective on collective violence.
People tend to forget
'“The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975“ is an incredible documentary with an equally incredible story behind it. The film is constructed entirely from hundreds of hours of archival footage of the black power movement, footage that’s not just rare, but unseen; it was shot by a Swedish news crew in the 1960s and 1970s, then left untouched in a Swedish TV station’s cellar for 30 years, where it was discovered by documentary filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson.' [more inside]
"Mr. Cortex, We Love You!"
In the early 1960s, actor/comedian/writer/composer/TV-star Steve Allen recorded How to Think, an educational album about the brain and the mind. [more inside]
Deus Ex HR, the bosses
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the prequel to the legendary PC classic developed by a freshman team at Eidos Montreal, received universal acclaim, but one point that many people seemed to dislike were the boss battles. While they have their defenders, Rock Paper Shotgun described them as "Feeling as though they were programmed by another team, from another planet, they absolutely, unequivocally do not fit in this game." As it turns out, they actually were designed by a contractor, the AI specialists GRIP. Here's a promotional video with GRIP's president, explaining their sins. (via Sesquiculus on MeFightClub) [more inside]
Animated Truth
In the 1990s, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth"), infamous for their gas attack on the Tokyo subway released a number (NSWF) of anime videos as a recruitment tool.
Chrysler Blue from World War II
"Tanks Are Mighty Fine Things!" And Other Tales Of Truthiness... At the end of World War II, Chrysler sent small hardbound books to shareholders chronicling ways the company had contributed to the war effort. Two have now been placed online at the Chrysler Imperial Club's website: "Tanks are Mighty Fine Things" and "A War Job 'Thought Impossible' (The story of the Chrysler-Sperry Gyro-Compass)" (Via) [more inside]
Getting Out Alive: High School
Whedon, Black, Oswalt, Savage etc.: How to Survive High School Rookie, the new blog/magazine from fashion's darling, 15 yr old Tavi Gavinson, asked various "grownups" for advice about high school. [more inside]
He's not literally talking about working.
The Jon Brion Show
Live from 1999, it's the unaired pilot for The Jon Brion Show! With special guests Paul F. Tompkins, Grant-Lee Phillips, Mark Oliver "E" Everett, Greg Behrendt, Elliot Smith, Rickie Lee Jones, Robyn Hitchcock, Cheap Trick, and Mary Lynn Rajskub. [more inside]
What if 9/11 had never happened?
"The Democrats win the 2004 election, whereupon bin Laden’s new Islamic Republic of Arabia takes hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh…" Niall Ferguson, Harvard and Oxford historian, notes the approaching anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a speculative piece on what 2011 might look like had the plot been foiled. [more inside]
You're Being Watched
Intruded is an atmospheric 3D flash game where you play a mysterious character caught in a labyrinth of traps under the surveillance of an unknown observer.
"Mom.. this is Welles. I... I want you to know I'm OK."
The Man in The Red Bandana, a short video from ESPN about one of the 911 heroes.
Painting the Forth Bridge
Painting the Forth Bridge may be the English language's best-known summation of the daily grind.
"We use it ourselves about the dictionary," muses Mary Charlton, secretary of the almost equally enormous Oxford English Dictionary, which is fame within fame. [more inside]
blind, a film by Shoda Yukihiro
blind is a short film (5:17 - in Japanese w/ English subtitles) set in post-nuclear Tokyo. The film may be viewed at the blind website, at Vimeo or at YouTube. Parents please be advised: although the film features a young child, viewing by young children is not especially recommended, as they may be frightened.
The Great Bank Robbery
For the American economy – and for many other developed economies – the elephant in the room is the amount of money paid to bankers over the last five years. We've seen a lot written about banks on the blue, but this piece, co-authored by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (of Black Swan fame) takes on the financial industry from a unique angle - pointing to severe problems downstream, and suggesting possible solutions.
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