January 14, 2015
“Parenthood is an exercise in risk management”
It was a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. But what the parents saw as a moment of independence for their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, they say authorities viewed much differently. [more inside]
No one fights like Gaston, debates little tykes like Gaston
It's a lot of work defending the title of manliest man in town. There are the stubborn children who don't concede when they've lost a verbal bout, and that time a tricky eleven-year old girl who bested you at arm wrestling. But every now and again, Gaston gets the chance to shine. After all, he has biceps to spare.
Starivores
I seldom use it myself, sir. It promotes rust.
Robert Kinoshita, the production designer and art director who created Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot and Lost In Space's B-9 Environmental Control Robot [previously], has passed away at the age of 100.
The Dukes of Hazzard
This project analyzes The Dukes of Hazzard as a representation of the contemporary white southern working class and its validity, and how this characterization fed the appetites of both Southerners and non-Southerners alike in the early 1980s. [more inside]
“Words are all we have.” ― Samuel Beckett
“Modern Literature Collection: The First 50 Years: is a digital exhibit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Modern Literature Collection (MLC), part of the Special Collections in the Washington University Libraries. The digital exhibit is a companion to the onsite exhibit in Olin Library, on display November 2014 – March 2015, and contains everything available onsite, and much more. We hope that through these digitized materials you will enjoy exploring the history of the MLC, as well as the rich contents of some of the writers’ archives." [more inside]
Whipping Boy
A writer spends forty years looking for his bully. Why? Allen Kurzweil's book "Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully" will be released next week. A short piece on a bizarre aspect of the fraud of Prince Robert and the Badische Trust Consortium, for which Viana, the object of Kurzweil's search, was a shill: “I Dub Thee Sir Sammy."
All hail the complicated woman: the 2015 Golden Globes
"As Maggie Gyllenhaal put it in accepting an award for her performance in 'The Honorable Woman': 'What I see, actually, are women who are sometimes powerful and sometimes not, sometimes sexy, sometimes not, sometimes honorable, sometimes not. And what I think is new is the wealth of roles for actual women in television and in film.'" The 'strong female character' is dead. All hail the complicated woman., by Alyssa Rosenberg for The Washington Post. [more inside]
2001: The Director's Cut (different director)
Steven Soderbergh decided to re-cut 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now it's only 110 minutes.
Trial by Ebola
When Ebola reached America, arriving in Dallas on September 20, the city had no real plan to handle the outbreak. Nor, it appeared, did the federal government. As epidemiologist Wendy Chung, county judge Clay Jenkins, and other local officials quickly realized, they were largely on their own. Bryan Burrough has the untold story of their heroic response.
Being Buddhist, Being Gay — George Takei
When the Supreme Court of the State of California ruled for marriage equality in 2008, we seized the opportunity. Having founded the Japanese American National Museum (I’m still a trustee on the Board there), we wanted to have our wedding there, in the “Democracy Forum” building. It was, after all, democracy that made our formal union possible. And Brad too had embraced Buddhism by now, so it could be a Buddhist wedding. We chose Rev. Briones of the Nishi Hongwanji Temple to be our officiant because he personifies Buddhism’s diversity, being that he’s a Mexican American Buddhist minister.[more inside]
He's not Latverian, for one thing
Zombie Blue
Parkour vs zombies short film to promote a forthcoming video game Dying Light (slightly NSFW)
End of Empire. End of Days. End of Everything.
Since the controversial 2010 takeover of the British company Cadbury, by the makers of processed cheese slices Kraft, consumers of chocolate have been dismayed at the many changes brought in by the new owners. But the breaking point of many has been reached as the recipe for Cadbury Creme Eggs in the UK is changed, replacing dairy milk chocolate with standard cocoa mix chocolate. To add insult to culinary injury, Mondelez International, owned by Kraft Foods, is also introducing five eggs in a pack instead of three and six-packs. The opinions of actors and wallpaper designers. [more inside]
This Girl Can
"It's a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets." Aiming to inspire more women to be active without fear of judgment, the This Girl Can campaign features British women of different ages and sizes working out, getting sweaty, and enjoying it.
A British moon on a British stick!
Comedian Al Murray has decided to stand in the UK General Election against Nigel Farage, leader of right-wing, populist UKIP. His initial appeal to the people of South Thanet is here. [more inside]
No Pentagons
Imperfect Congruence - It is a curious fact that no edge-to-edge regular polygon tiling of the plane can include a pentagon ... This website explains the basic mathematics of a particular class of tilings of the plane, those involving regular polygons such as triangles or hexagons. As will be shown, certain combinations of regular polygons cannot be extended to a full tiling of the plane without involving additional shapes, such as rhombs. The site contains some commentary on Renaissance research on this subject carried out by two renowned figures, the mathematician-astronomer Johannes Kepler and the artist Albrecht Dürer. [more inside]
Broad Fucking City
“I think what we are doing differently is we never try to force emotional turns or aim to shock anyone. If you feel for Abbi and Ilana, it’s because they remind you of people you know.” - Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson talk about Broad City, which returns tonight with a new season.
a quiescently frozen confection
Frank was just a boy in 1905 in Oakland, California, when one night he accidentally left a glass – filled with water, powdered soda mix and a wooden stick for stirring – outside overnight. When young Frank found the glass in the morning, the soda mixture was frozen solid, so he ran the glass under hot water and removed the ice pop using the stick as a handle. Frank knew he had a great idea on his hands, and he kept making the pops for his friends, and when he became an adult he made them for his own children. In 1923, Epperson filed for a patent for his invention. [more inside]
The Pitch
Je est un braqueur de banque.
Inspired by Rimbaud, video artist and former MIT professor Joe Gibbons robbed two banks as an "art project" (and for the money).
"Of Course!"
An hour of Murder She Wrote's Jessica Fletcher having Epiphanies by Isaac Royffe (actual epiphanies begin at 2:37)
A perspective from a distance.
A mother estranged from her adult sons searches for answers in American culture. She has started a social network (now a nonprofit organization) for others in similar circumstances. A documentary may be in the works.
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was an ongoing study by the US Air Force which investigated claims of UFO sightings over the course of 18 years. Now the entire results of that study are online for your viewing pleasure.
"We said, this is something strange, and we need your telescope badly"
January 14, 2005. The Huygens probe was falling to Titan(yt). Released after a seven year trip on Cassini, the tiny lander was mankind's first attempt to land on a moon of another world - and nobody knew what would happen next. Its signals, no more powerful than a walkie-talkie, were to be gathered by the mothership and the science relayed back to Earth. More than a light-hour away back at home planet, radio telescopes were also listening not to decode data - far too weak at that distance, even for the most powerful receivers - but to see whether they could hear Huygens at all. A job for radio engineers, not for heroes. Sometimes, though, you have to be both. [more inside]
Chicago Tribune 1934 Chicagoland Road Map
Chicago Tribune 1934 Chicagoland Road Map Pre-O'Hare Airport, pre-Interstate Highways. Click 'Download full resolution' to download file.
"Please use the brand-new desk lamp we just purchased for you."
The Awl has obtained a copy of a memo from Scott Dadich (Wired Editor in Chief) to all Wired employees in San Francisco.
"You can't hit me, I'm a Presidential candidate!"
“People see so many flying saucers, they’re just not a novelty any more"
For two eccentric Californians, Frank Critzer and George Van Tassel, the immense girth of Giant Rock was not simple geological happenstance but a sign portending mystical significance. A meeting place for flying objects, identified and unidentified. Undated postcard of Giant Rock during the Van Tassel family’s occupancy of the site. The café sign features an image of a UFO. By Sasha Archibald
"Love in Ulster"
Danderin' down the loanin'
On a day of spring wi' Kathy McIlvenna
Says I, "The whin's a tidy thing,"
Says she, "I wouldn't wonder,
But I never thought much about whins," says she,
An' me just studyin' to be polite,
Ach, girls is a mystery to me, girls is quare! [more inside]
On a day of spring wi' Kathy McIlvenna
Says I, "The whin's a tidy thing,"
Says she, "I wouldn't wonder,
But I never thought much about whins," says she,
An' me just studyin' to be polite,
Ach, girls is a mystery to me, girls is quare! [more inside]
"We are culturally destitute in America, and this is our ground zero."
Eddie Huang on the making of a tv show about his memoir growing up Chinese in the US. (slVulture) [more inside]
Why do the Cylons come every thirty-three minutes?
ramen 🍜
- the state of ramen: Dave Chang
- the state of ramen: Peter Meehan
- a guide to the regional ramen of japan
- Harold McGee on the science of alkalinity (on alkalinity article)
- a timeline of ramen development
- Momofuku Ando and the invention of instant ramen
- an interview with the ramen rater, Hans Lienesch
- how to make tonkotsu-style broth (recipe)
- how to make instant ramen cacio e pepe (recipe)
- how to make instant ramen gnocchi parisienne (recipe)
- how to make instant ramen fideos (recipe)
- how to make instant ramen encrusted skate (recipe)
- more recipes: momofuku ramen 2.0, ramen broth 2.0, fresh alkaline noodles, momofuku pork belly
A movie for the cassette generation
Back to the Future, Time Travel, and the secret history of the 1980s "...we are now as far removed from 1985, the year the first film premiered, as that film was from 1955, the past it lovingly recreated and gently mocked." By Tim Carmody.
Hebdo, Piketty, Smart Houses, Surveillance
The Well's State of the World 2015: here's the annual summary of trends and speculations from Bruce Sterling, Jon Lebkowski, and Cory Doctorow.
Not affiliated with Wolfram Research.
They Took Him to Church
When Irish singer-songwriter Hozier played Paris this month, a surprise was waiting. When he reached the chorus of his hit song, "Take Me to Church," a 20 person choir in the front row joined in with him. More here.
Visualize Hurled Peas
Priscella P. Holley, principal at the W.F. Burns Middle School in Valley, AL, sent a letter to parents asking them to have their children bring an eight ounce canned food item to class. Not to eat, or help the needy, or make a craft project, but to arm themselves against potential school shooters. Other schools have refined these plans: science classrooms equipped with cans of soup, and English classrooms with heavy books.
I am the actual worst.
You asked me to write my life.
My name is Omar ibn Seid (pdf, 163 kb). My birthplace was Fut Tûr, between the two rivers. I sought knowledge under the instruction of a Sheikh called Mohammed Seid, my own brother, and Sheikh Soleiman Kembeh, and Sheikh Gabriel Abdal. I continued my studies twenty-five years. Then there came to our place a large army, who killed many men, and took me, and brought me to the great sea, and sold me into the hands of the Christians, who bound me and sent me on board a great ship and we sailed upon the great sea a month and a half, when we came to a place called Charleston in the Christian language. There they sold me to a small, weak, and wicked man.[more inside]
Sometimes security risks hide in plain sight
Do you use a wireless keyboard? For those of us who worry about the security of our wireless devices, every now and then something comes along that scares even the already-paranoid. (from Hackaday.)
The remains of Bradbury’s home
The lovely house where Ray Bradbury lived for 50 years is being torn down by its new owner, architect Thom Mayne.
The Positive Value of Negative Reviews
I think a lot of fan coteries miss the fact, as they rally round their authors and go after the so-called bullies, that we all exercise critical judgements every day. Something as mundane as 'I prefer apples to oranges' is a critical judgement, but I've never noticed orange-lovers hounding apple-lovers because of it. There is a clear understanding that a preference for one fruit is not a judgement about the people who prefer another kind of fruit. And yet, these days even a slightly less than totally stellar review can have people behaving very oddly, trying to suppress reviews or silence an errant reviewer.The Nerds of a Feather roundtable discusses negative reviews and the antipathy against them online.
"For five kilometres, I kept stepping on dead bodies."
In the week before Paris grabbed the world's attention, Boko Haram (previously) staged an attack on the northeastern Nigerian town of Baga which reportedly forced 20,000 people to flee and left hundreds or even thousands dead. A Baga survivor who hid for three days said that, after breaking cover and escaping, "for five kilometres, I kept stepping on dead bodies". [more inside]
"This is our war for peace."
Since 2010, Freelance Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary has been tweeting photos with the hashtags #AfghanistanYouNeverSee and #EveryDayLifeInAghanistan showing sides of the country that rarely make it into Western media. [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »