April 11, 2007
Fifteen would be too much
Buy or Rent
Should you buy a house, or rent? (caution, flash & NYT)
The answer is, of course, it depends. One of the biggest factors is
how well the housing market will do after you buy.
[previously: 1,
2]
[via]
Congo forests sold for $100 worth of sugar
The world's second largest forest and one of the oldest on Earth, was traded for bars of soap and bottles of beer: Logging companies negotiate with local chiefs, walk away rich
Unacceptable, period.
(news/outragefilter): BBC reports that the new appraisal forms for Indian civil service employees require women to disclose information about their menstrual histories and any pregnancy leave.
Kurt Vonnegut Dies at 84
Kurt Vonnegut, Writer of Classics of the American Counterculture, Dies at 84 "His death was reported by Morgan Entrekin, a longtime family friend, who said Mr. Vonnegut suffered brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago.
Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States."
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MC5 Documentary, "A True Testimonial," One Step Closer to Being Released?
MC5 documentary, "A True Tesimonial," one step closer to being released? MC5 (wiki) guitarist Wayne Kramer and his wife sued Chicago-based filmmakers, David Thomas and Laurel Legler, charging that the never-released A True Testimonial, in which Kramer appears prominently, used MC5 songs without permission. A court ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford last week favoring A True Testimonial filmmakers, might give fans hope. Yee-haw and kick out the jams!
So much drama off the LBC
Chaffee, White, Grissom & Freeman are the names of four artificial islands immediately off the Southern California port of Long Beach. From the shore, they each look like an inhabited island paradise, complete with waterfalls, interesting buildings, many palm trees and crazy nighttime party lighting. In fact, they are offshore oil wells, built on 10 acre Dubai-esque man-made islands created for the purpose of housing the oil wells, and disguised so as to comply with local aesthetic standards.
Mary Uduru, roadside chef
Mary Uduru of Nigeria. Although we see lots of single-image representations of African poverty (usually in the form of a swollen-bellied child on the brink of starvation) it's rare to find a photo-essay like this one one, which brings us an intimate, informative and non-sensationalist view of the life of the working poor there.
Signs of torture on kidnapped Iranian diplomat's body
Iranian envoy wounds 'confirmed': The head of the International Red Cross in Tehran, Peter Stoeker, says he saw wounds on an Iranian diplomat who has alleged that US forces in Iraq tortured him. There were marks on Jalal Sharafi's feet, legs, back and nose. [photos].
On 4 February soldiers from the Iraqi army 36th Commando battalion in Baghdad, considered to be under American control, had seized Jalal Sharafi, while he was carrying a videogame, a gift for his daughter. Read more about the US secret operations against Iranians in Iraq in an exclusive report by The Independent.
On 4 February soldiers from the Iraqi army 36th Commando battalion in Baghdad, considered to be under American control, had seized Jalal Sharafi, while he was carrying a videogame, a gift for his daughter. Read more about the US secret operations against Iranians in Iraq in an exclusive report by The Independent.
Use Crisco. It's digestible!
Chi-Tonw. You read that right. Want a tattoo?
Two years ago, a mistake was made: The tattoo read "Chi-Tonw" instead of "Chi-Town." Now, in an act of solidarity, more people are getting tattos spelled Chi-Tonw on purpose. This fellow had it spelled that way on his neck. Chicago Tribune news and blog coverage, and audio on NPR.
Four Decades into America's War on Drugs
America's forgotten war. Are we winning?
RULE # 1: In the short term, binary logic [soul equation] is far superior (?) than fuzzy logic [cloning equation].
Wordsworth rapped
Wordsworth... for the YouTube generation is a rapped version of ' Wandered Lonely As A Cloud'
The squirrel is the stuff of nightmares
An Introduction to Anti-Civilization Anarchist Thought And Practice
An Introduction to Anti-Civilization Anarchist Thought And Practice What Is Primitivism? . . . Biocentrism vs. Anthropocentrism . . . A Critique of Symbolic Culture . . . The Domestication of Life . . . The Rejection of Science . . . Against Mass Society . . . Beyond Leftism . . . Rewilding and Reconnection
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Newsfilter: The State Attorney General of North Carolina, who took over the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case and conducted his own investigation after Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong withdrew from the case when the North Carolina State bar filed ethics charges against him, has dismissed the remaining charges against the three players originally accused of first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense, and kidnapping. [previously discussed].
Blackmarket milk in Brooklyn
The first rule of Milk Club is you don't talk about Milk Club. Some nameless neighbors of mine, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, are really in to raw milk. So much so that they risk transporting the stuff across state lines...in violation of federal law.
It's alive!
Gary Stasiuk's beautiful Digital Creatures pulls the curtains on the kinematics of geometric objects, after which he plays with the mathematics and user interactivity of generative art and shows how to build the appearance of AI behaviors into Flash objects.
I suddenly have an intense desire to watch a Jimmy Stewart film. And take a shower.
"It wasn't scary, it was just gratuitous, as if they thought, 'I know, let's have a rape,' and that made me quite angry." The question will be asked often in the coming weeks, as "Vacancy" and "Hostel 2" approach: Do modern horror films ("gorno," or gore pornography) go too far, particularly when it comes to women? Who said violent misogyny was entertaining? Is this just a retread of the exploitation wave of the 1970s/80s? (Most links NSFW, sensitive souls, people who detest violence)
at the crossroads - a photographic journey through central Asia
Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig provides a fascinating glimpse of the people and places of 5 of the "-stan" countries of Central Asia. You can see more work and current projects on his flickr page. Noteworthy photo essays: Arsan Baths in Almatry, Soviet Roadside Bus Stops (seen here before), and his recent The Wheelbarrow Operators of Monrovia.
Parties of God: The Bush Doctrine and the rise of Islamic Democracy
"While the West debates whether the Islamic world is ready for democracy, an equally appropriate question is whether the West is ready for Islamic democracy." Parties of God, by Ken Silverstein, is an interesting read on democracy in the Middle East.
The story of the Border Reivers
"I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their brain (innermost thoughts)..." From the 14th to 16th Century, The Border Reivers turned the border regions between England and Scotland into "a permanent battleground" or lawless area much like the American Wild West. Learn more about these strange groups or cheer for the Rugby team.
Bring Your Own Big Wheel
Photos and videos of the 2007 Big Wheel race down Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in America." (Or is it?) Official BYOBW page [warning: very loud music on pageload] (via)
Finally, an easy way to share panorama images
The main problem with panorama photography is that good photo stitching software is expensive and often difficult to use. Then when you have finally managed to put together a good panorama, it's nigh-on impossible to share it with your friends. Scrolling back and forth on your screen is possible, of course, that's so un-Web 2.0!
CleVR offers a possible solution with a free, embeddable Flash viewer for panorama photographs, with some cool outdoors, groovy indoors and some downright surreal stuff already available.
CleVR offers a possible solution with a free, embeddable Flash viewer for panorama photographs, with some cool outdoors, groovy indoors and some downright surreal stuff already available.
Won't bind your legs!
Thought Chuck Norris was over and done with as far as internet memes go? Guess again, as Chris Sims presents an ad for Chuck Norris Action Jeans, "pants designed specifically to be worn while you are kicking people in the face." They'd set you back less than $20. If there's no such thing as Too Much Chuck in your life, then you may want to read Sims's review of Justice Riders.
Victim of The Brain
Victim of the Brain A 'docudrama' about Godel, Escher and Bach author, Douglas Hofstadter, and philosopher Dan Dennett produced in 1988. I'm not sure how to describe it, other than incredibly strange and fascinating.
cutting and folding, no glue
Kirigami is an ingenius way of cutting and folding paper, creating designs in many styles, often with a captivating simplicity. Some are like geometric lace, some are marvelous 3-D modular, while some are amazing architectural creations.
Lightsaber Combat
Lightsaber Combat. Far more than you ever wanted to know. Part of the magic that is the Star Wars Portal on wikipedia.
A collaborative layer over every website
Shiftspace creates a collaborative layer over any website. (Tools like this have been tried before, but this is the first one with an overt Wikipedia-style public service philosophy.)
When the original just isn't enough
When the usual fanfiction fare just doesn't cut it ... there's shipping and then there's slash, with coined terms such as squick and mpreg. The usual suspects are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Phantom of the Opera - and then there's Kirk/Spock, Hermione/Ginny, Cloud/Sephiroth, and lots more. And it's not limited to recent works - there's also some Jesus/Judas Biblical action going on. (Mostly text, with the occasional NSFW jpg.)
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