April 12
Zzzt.
Baikonur
Debris. The terminus of ballistic arches. A photo-essay by Jonas Bendiksen of a different kind of space junk: Proton rocket stages peppering the Khazak countryside discarded from Baikonur Cosmodrome launches.
WYSIWYG nation
Word Processors: Stupid and Inefficient. Oldie, but a goodie. All text, no pretty pictures.
...had a farm, Eee Igh, Eee Igh, oh-my-god!
Ever thought about setttling down on a quiet farm? Possibly one in rural Wisconsin? How about one with a little history? Just because eBay pulled the auction doesn't mean it's not for sale. Great for the eccentric collector, I'd think. And there's a perfect band to play at the housewarming party.
Argentina On Two Steaks A Day
Argentina On Two Steaks A Day The classic beginner's mistake in Argentina is to neglect the first steak of the day. You will be tempted to just peck at it or even skip it altogether, rationalizing that you need to save yourself for the much larger steak later that night. But this is a false economy, like refusing to drink water in the early parts of a marathon.
Medication makes you feel better on death row
Steven Staley was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1991. A few days before his execution in February, he was granted a stay because he was found to be incompetent, a paranoid schizophrenic. Today, the judge has ordered that he be forced to take his medication so he can be legally put to death.
The Jewish entity, lobby, Israel & Iraq
A Powerful Lobby The Middle East scholar Martin Kramer takes on the various writers, sites, that proclaim that the American invasion of Iraq is but one more indication of the Jewish/Israeli Lobby influence in America.
One of the nuttiest passages in "The Israel Lobby," the co-production of professors Stephen Walt (Harvard) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago), occurs in the very first footnote. (It's in the full version, on the website of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.)... and, in addtion addresses our involvement in Iraq, caused, claim some, by "Jewish/Israeli interests." [more]
"King of the Ocean"
Moonie Sushi? The Chicago Tribune reports on the Unification Church's control of True World Foods, a distributor that supplies the majority of sushi restaurants in the U.S. Also on their project list: The Washington Times, UPI, George W. Bush.
Portland professor's podcast project
Kicking it to Title 26 Since April 7, tax law professor Jack Bogdanski has been posting up podcasts of the complete Internal Revenue code, with the exception of repealed provisions, one section at a time.
Thread Thread
"This item has become very popular following the ban on use of scissors on aeroplanes." Relax, Officer, it's just a thread-cutter.
Weapons of mass obfuscation...
Remember when US forces "found the weapons of mass destruction?" That announcement was made by President Bush on May 29, 2003 -- one day after this CIA Intelligence assessment was published. In the weeks following, reports emerged that disputed the CIA's findings. Now, three years later, the Washington Post says that the US Intelligence authorities already had "powerful evidence" that Bush's biological weapons claim was simply untrue.
The Ruling Class.
Inside the White House.... brought to you by Something Awful. Elaborate SA put-on, or so insane it must be true? I can't decide. DailyKos summary. [morey]
pop
Airigami, the art of folding air in specially prepared latex containers includes the flying octopus, giant soccer players, and many others. [via growabrain]
Nudge instead of a push?
The avuncular state - "A smarter, softer kind of paternalism is coming into style"
US Govt Coloring Books
Uncle Sam Wants You (to color)! Many US government agencies have created coloring books for your pleasure, and Evergreen State has an index. Some of my favorites include Sea Turtles/No No Honu Kai, in English and Hawaiian; Celebrating Wildflowers, which has both line drawings and coloring guides; The Beagle Brigade (pdf); and, of course, Noxious Weeds are Everybody's Problem (pdf). (via Metachat)
Und, natürlich, ein Elfmetertor in der letzten Minute
And you thought football itself was the universal language. The London chapter of the Goethe Institute jumps on the opportunity and offers a £35 crash course in German for the World Cup. Start out with these handy play scenario charts (pdf). Or, take the easy route and turn to AskMen for guidance.
Musik Kolleg Online
Austria's AEIOU has bar-by-bar analyses of major classical works (of composers associated with Austria): audio, annotations, scores, and performance/score animations in various video formats, together with biographical essays on the composers. Some possible points of departure: 1, 2, 3.
Violet Blue loses control
She's Lost Control In one of the most bizarre posts I have ever read, Violet Blue weighs in on the Xenisucks.com debate and it's mention in the New York Times (Bugmenot). And then again after Dan Marshall (NYT) responds. But in a response to Violet Blue (about middle of the page), Matt Sharp (Xenisucks.com) says she has fabricated much of what she has attributed to him.
Tories pledge to end child poverty
In an article in the Guardian shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin announces that the Conservative Party has signed up to Labour's target to end child poverty in the UK by 2020. More about this story: Guardian leader, Labour Party response. Last month, the intermediate target of a 25% cut by April 2005 was missed, despite substantial progress. Perhaps the time is now right for this idea to be adopted over the pond?
It Seems Today, That All You See, Is Images of Mohammed and Sex On TV...
In 'Cartoon Wars', the latest (two part) episode of South Park, writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone parody the show that parodies everybody, Family Guy. The South Park episode features Cartman and Kyle at war over an imaginary episode of Family Guy that features a (censored) image of the Prophet Muhammed (QT preview here). But in writing their 'stinging satire' (some say of Family Guy itself, while others say it is a criticism of Islamofacism), have Trey and Matt ironically missed the fact that they themselves actually featured a non-censored image of the Prophet Muhammed in South Park almost five years ago?
April 11
An Imperial press conference
The Emperor gets a job. [Video, short commercial first] And don't forget previous Star Wars video-y goodness on MeFi.
Blood, Guts, and Plastic
Vrba told the world, but for some it didn't help
Rudolf Vrba-RIP --he escaped from Auschwitz with another guy, Wetzler, in April 1944 and got to Slovakia and Hungary, telling the world of the atrocities in the Auschwitz Protocol. Some Hungarian community leaders, however (Hungary was the only country that hadn't had its Jewish population deported yet), were busy making deals with Eichmann for safe passage away. In any case, the result was that about 1,700 Hungarian Jewish leaders, with their families and friends, ended up in Switzerland, while almost half a million unsuspecting Hungarian Jews ended up dead in Auschwitz. Vrba's report first alerted the world (including the Vatican, Red Cross, and US and British authorities) to exactly what was going on, and helped prosecute some who were tried later. ...Knowing perfectly well that it was the secrecy surrounding their actions that allowed the Nazis to herd unsuspecting Jews and transport them like sheep to slaughter, Vrba and Wetzler — as soon as they got in touch with Jewish community representatives in their native Slovakia — compiled a detailed report. They wrote about Auschwitz and what awaited Hungarian Jews once they arrived: immediate death by gassing.
A change of style
Robert Gregory Griffeth has deleted all of his galleries and in their place has posted these 12 enigmatic panels and a tracker (which, if accurate, tells me that there are a couple of hundred puzzled punters a day). [more inside]
Everything is illuminated
Flashaholics are self-identified flashlight enthusiasts. The hobbyist community is big in Japan, and has a seedy underbelly as well.
Bound & Determined
The Biliopegistic art. Athropodermic or otherwise you're bound to find something that suits your fancy.
Or you could do it yourself.
Or start a new career.
Not necessarily the best of the web.
2006 Webby Award finallists announced. So, if your favorite home/welcome page My Yahoo or Wonderbra? Two nominations for Metacritic. Other Meta-related sites, not so much... Best of the web?!
聖獣学園
Iran has joined the nuclear countries of the world
The nuclear fuel cycle at the laboratory level has been completed. At this historic moment, with the blessings of God almighty and the efforts made by our scientists, I declare here that the laboratory-scale nuclear fuel cycle has been completed and young scientists produced enriched uranium needed to the degree for nuclear power plants.
Industrial-scale enrichment of uranium will be the next important step which we can reach an agreement upon.
Paper Hearts - from the makers of Fear of Girls
Another great Google video. Before "Fear of Girls," the guys from Sleepy Eye, MN made a short film for a 48 hour film project called "Paper Hearts."
When you want to get up, get down?
New York coke dealers like finance types like finance types like New York coke dealers. Not the best written piece of journalism, and at times sharing in the narcissitic delusions of the dealer, but a good look into "the game" -- even if they couldn't find a more cliche dealer (and a good way to throw in slight jabs at rap music, Washington Heights and GTA).
Pimp My Snack
Finally, some pimping I can endorse. It started with cars, but the concept of "pimping" has quickly become passe. Until I saw this. Via Monkeyfilter
Much less bovver?
"It has always been a dream of mine to bring that loveable lawnmower-stealing rogue Gordon Bennet to the big screen, and I relish the challenge ahead."
Hot on the heels of videogame-to-movie adaptations such as Bloodrayne [+], Doom [+] and the forthcoming (and possibly even good) Silent Hill, the enterprising chaps behind arguably best-ever games review show (of a fairly dodgy bunch, admittedly) Consolevania and BBC Scotland's VideoGaiden have snapped up the film rights to legendary ruminant fan Jeff Minter's smash-hit game Hover Bovver. On the, erm, Commodore 64. From, uh... 1983.
Hot on the heels of videogame-to-movie adaptations such as Bloodrayne [+], Doom [+] and the forthcoming (and possibly even good) Silent Hill, the enterprising chaps behind arguably best-ever games review show (of a fairly dodgy bunch, admittedly) Consolevania and BBC Scotland's VideoGaiden have snapped up the film rights to legendary ruminant fan Jeff Minter's smash-hit game Hover Bovver. On the, erm, Commodore 64. From, uh... 1983.
aooa / magneto syndrome
AOOA (The Telephone)...short, yet moody and evocative point-and-click puzzle. (If it's too short and leaves you wanting more, how about trying Magneto Syndrome? It's another short yet interesting sci-fi point-and-click/escape puzzle.) (note: flash)
Unfucking the Donkey
Advice for weary, wandering Democrats Note to Democrats: "Barack Obama put it exquisitely in his victory speech: "Government can help provide us with the basic tools we need to live out the American dream."
Here's a dirty little secret. The Republicans know this. Nothing scares them more than us returning to our simple answers. ..."
Marginally offensive pun
Apocalypse how?
Six Visions of the End: Fall Down Six Times, an essay by Ran Prieur, describes six possible scenarios for the near future: Worst Case ("Meanwhile computer technology keeps accelerating, leading by 2050 to an insane and nearly all-powerful artificial intelligence, which exterminates all life on Earth except a single human, who it keeps alive to torture for all eternity: you."), Ridiculous Best Case ("In 2016 Dean steps down and the new president is an anarchist who spends eight years peacefully dismantling the federal government and building local systems that make central control irrelevant and impossible."), Naive Sci-Fi Utopia ("Everyone can live forever, and have kids, and enjoy wide open spaces. No one is sure how this is possible, but it probably has something to do with the Mayan calendar or the word "quantum.""), and three others. Whether or not you agree with his vision, the exercise of imagining different futures is a useful one that might help us see a way through the multiple crises the Earth is going through. What does your apocalypse look like?
Men must seek consent
An advertising campaign in the UK warns men that they must seek a woman's consent before engaging in sex. The initiative is designed to combat the low conviction rate for rape but will it criminalise a generation of young men?
Manny gets brown stains on his shirt, too?
Bored researchers conduct unappetizing study from a small sample that wasn't collected with even an allegation of neutrality. The conclusion? Winners sometimes use more drugs than their opponents. Did William Sessions and McGruff the Crime Dog lie to us? And is the Boston Globe even trying anymore?
Future events such as these will affect you in the future!
Can you prove it didn't happen? Best known for his work on Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Amazing Criswell had quite a career outside of his rare appearances in film. The spit-curled, stentorian psychic had a penchant for bizarre predictions, was the source for music by Mae West, and inspired some damned interesting writing.
Seven hundred hoboes.
The hoboes' time has come. Inspired by John Hodgman's book "The Areas Of My Expertise," The 700 Hoboes Project gathers pictures of hoboes.
Some are better than others.
Rock & roll artist
Laura Levine's works are themed around music, from her classic rock photos to her funky illustrations. Her children’s illustrated books about musical pioneers are delightful: Honky-Tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels is due out in May. Previously: Shake, Rattle & Roll and a collaboration with the B-52's, Wig! She also runs a curiosity shop in Phoenicia, NY. (via Internet Weekly)
Would the Algorithm of Fugue end with A B C?
Douglas Hofstadter says, "What troubles me is the notion that things that touch me at my deepest core -- pieces of music most of all, which I have always taken as direct soul-to-soul messages -- might be effectively produced by mechanisms thousands if not millions of times simpler than the intricate biological machinery that gives rise to a human soul.". That was prompted by his reception to the output of David Cope's project Experiments in Musical Intelligence.
Bottom of the Class
The Guardian examines "nu snobbery" and the social acceptability among the British press and middle class of ridiculing the working class. The chav phenomenon has been discussed many times on MeFi, but if anything it has gotten more widespread, and as documented in the article, even spawned Chav Discos. Where will it all lead? Has Britain slipped completely back into class snobbery - in both directions - or did it never really go away?
Angst rock
Hormone rock "Rock with the cock taken out and it's what a lot of women want to listen to right now"
April 10
Barbara Cook's Master Class
You can keep your Simon, Randy and Paula, I'll take Barbara Cook any day. Here is the Broadway legend's two hour master class (it's a REALTIME video from The New York Public Library) and it'll teach you more about singing, phrasing and music than every moment of American Idol combined. At least watch the first 20 minutes, you'll be amazed.
A review of Friedman's "The world is flat." (.pdf)
UCLA Economist Ed Leamer reviews Thomas Friedman's "The world is flat." (.pdf) When the Journal of Economic Literature asked me to write a review of The World is Flat... I shipped it overnight by UPS to India to have the work done. (via)
(some) books are for girls
Gender differences in literary taste - The Guardian (inter alia) has been reporting two English professors' studies of reading habits and feelings about books by gender. Others (newest to oldest): most revelatory books by reader gender (for men), (for women), author gender by reader gender. The methodology may not be unassailable but the findings are interesting and plausible. [viaduct vianochicken]
Sidenote: I did a little research following a comment on MR and reached a non-obvious conclusion: women hate Akira Kurosawa (check out those charts; for comparison). Theories welcome.
Sidenote: I did a little research following a comment on MR and reached a non-obvious conclusion: women hate Akira Kurosawa (check out those charts; for comparison). Theories welcome.
Payola Six, Paid $ix, gossip sleaze shocka!
Let the fur fly. The New York Post's Page Six is the latest pillar of the 'Forth' Estate to take heavy damage from scandal. Like the Judy Miller fiasco of 2005, except with virtually zero ramifications upon things that actually matter, no one looks good here. The tawdry gist: Billionaire Sleaze-Bag set up Gossip Freelancer Sleaze-Bag -- who supposedly was offering to trade positive Page Six coverage for money. The Gossip Sleaze-Bag is probably screwed, but now the other wolves are going in for theirs and (seeing a chance to rally, somewhat, around their own) it's the Billionaire Sleaze-Bag that they'd most like to get a piece of.
The part about this that makes it all a Robert-Downey-Jr-movie-waiting-to-happen is that the story broke on the eve of Page Six editor Richard Johnson's wedding.
Ah, yes. That's the stuff.
French
« Older posts | Newer posts »