April 18, 2016
Games over
Big Play Films, the YouTube channel of PBF’s Nicholas Gurewitch (pre vi ous ly) has released a new video, “Mushroom Kingdom of Heaven.” [more inside]
How to Blow $9 Billion in 6 Months
In 2003, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford University and formed Theranos (Wikipedia), a biomedical startup with the goal of transforming the blood testing industry. By mid-2014, the startup had raised over $400 million in venture funding and was partnering with Walgreens, making its young CEO a billionaire. And now, federal regulators have proposed revoking the federal license for Theranos' California laboratory and banning the firm's top two executives from the blood-testing business for at least two years (WSJ [paywalled], LA Times). [more inside]
Hacking the Hacking Team
Phineas Fisher Hacks Back! Last year, an Italian company best known for selling surveillance software to governments was hacked. Phineas Fisher gives an overview of how he gained access to the Hacking Team's network.
Money for Nothing
A Charity's Radical Experiment --Communities and governments have experimented with universal basic income in the past. GiveDirectly has demonstrated the benefit of placing money directly into the hands of those who need it. Now the charity is taking the idea to a whole new level. [more inside]
Ruggedness and lack of concern
Nectar of the Gods
The Story of Mead A long, long time ago, before the invention of writing and polyester, a lucky human stumbled upon the contents of a beehive. The beehive had been left out in the rain, and the honey inside had fermented. Behold; MEAD! [more inside]
"The problem with ENS is probably not that it does not exist."
Is Empty Nose Syndrome Real? And if Not, Why are People Killing Themselves Over it?
This medical mystery — a byproduct of common nasal surgery — has stumped many doctors and scientists, some of whom suspect the suffocating condition may just be imaginary. But that isn’t making the people who feel suicidal over its horrific symptoms feel any better.
This medical mystery — a byproduct of common nasal surgery — has stumped many doctors and scientists, some of whom suspect the suffocating condition may just be imaginary. But that isn’t making the people who feel suicidal over its horrific symptoms feel any better.
"If you are protected from dark things..."
Despite the title, this is a list of books for people of any age, rather than just children. And the subject is personal loss rather than specifically the death of a loved one. Consolation for Life’s Darkest Hours: 7 Unusual and Wonderful Books that Help Children Grieve and Make Sense of Death. [more inside]
questioning the 'illustrated tour of madness'
"During Wain's life, though, his fortunes reversed several times. Believed to be suffering from schizophrenia, Wain lived his final years in institutions. Eight of his cat drawings—which range from cuddly to psychedelic—came to be known as the 'Famous Series' and for years would be offered up as a the stages of a deteriorating mind, illustrated. But the truth is a bit more complicated." (Previously)
How to mindfully eat popcorn
Supper Mario Broth
Supper Mario Broth is a wonderfully obsessive blog devoted to all sorts of Super Mario Brothers minutia. Really, you are not prepared for this. Things like.... [more inside]
Australians are both warm and erect
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have recorded what some describe as a "bizarre" and "awkward" apology for unlawfully bringing dogs into Australia. The Guardian's film critic is not impressed.
Original story with dramatised video re-enactment. [more inside]
Original story with dramatised video re-enactment. [more inside]
Did the Pentagon mislead Congress about sexual assault?
Protect Our Defenders, a victim advocacy group, uses FOIA to fact check military claims on sexual assault. [more inside]
Technically 101, but let's not quibble.
100 Years/100 Shots - Starting with Birth of a Nation in 1915 and ending with Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, a series of iconic shots in film with one shot per year.
Why Revolutionaries Love Spicy Food
The shrewd peasant organizer had a mean, even “spiteful” streak. “For example, for a long time I could not accustom myself to the strongly spiced food, such as hot fried peppers, which is traditional to southern China, especially in Hunan, Mao’s birthplace.” The Soviet agent’s tender taste buds invited Mao’s mockery. “The food of the true revolutionary is the red pepper,” declared Mao. “And he who cannot endure red peppers is also unable to fight.’ ” How the chili pepper got to China by Andrew Leonard
“But life is a battle: may we all be enabled to fight it well!”
On the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth, writers and artists reflect on her greatest creation. [The Guardian] [more inside]
The shame sticks to you like tar
Jon Ronson, writing for The Guardian's Web We Want series (previously) profiles Monica Lewinsky.
“She said to me, ‘Whenever power is involved, there always has to be a competing narrative. And you have no narrative.’ It was true. I had mistakenly thought that if I retreated from public life the narrative would dissipate. But instead it ran away from me even more.”
Empathy Through Agency
Bioshock creative director Ken Levine is teaming up with Interlude, creators of the Bob Dylan "Like A Rolling Stone" interactive video, to make a Twilight Zone interactive movie.
"...a third party in our relationship"
Thoughts on open marriage and illness. Poet and essayist Melissa Broder, formerly anonymous creator of the Twitter account so sad today, writes about her relationship with her husband, their other partners, and his progressive chronic illness. This essay is excerpted from a larger collection, recently published.
Meet Haben Girma
"Disability is not something one overcomes. Stories that claim successful people with disabilities overcame their disabilities mislead the public. The barriers exist not in the person, but in the physical, social, and digital environment. People with disabilities and their communities succeed when the community decides to dismantle digital, attitudinal, and physical barriers. My success at school, in the office, and even on the dance floor were facilitated by communities that chose to practice inclusion." [more inside]
"this maelstrom of entitlement and self-absorption"
There's a name for the kind of mindset that mistakes depression for profundity, that associates an inability to feel or express joy, or sadness, or any emotion other than anger, with heroism and manliness. In 2015, it informed the shape of most of our blockbuster movie villains, from Immortan Joe to Kylo Ren. In 2016, it seems, it also afflicts our heroes. The actual villain that both Batman and Superman need to fight in this movie isn't Lex Luthor, or Doomsday. It's toxic masculinity. -- Abigail Nussbaum dissects Batman v Superman.
Indian Geek Jams ahoy
Tushar Lall arranges Indian classical music versions of well-known pop culture soundtracks. The latest release is Star Wars; there's also Harry Potter, Interstellar, Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean and BBC Sherlock.
The fight for the future of NPR
What Does It Owe Their Descendants?
"More than a dozen universities — including Brown, Columbia, Harvard and the University of Virginia — have publicly recognized their ties to slavery and the slave trade. But the 1838 slave sale organized by the Jesuits, who founded and ran Georgetown, stands out for its sheer size, historians say." (slnyt)
A graphical programming toy for Monday
BOX-256 BOX-256 is a 8-bit fantasy computer, with 256 bytes of memory, 16 color 16x16 display. It is also a programming game, where the player tries to pass the graphics tests and optimize the code to perfection. The ultimate goal is to use as little CPU cycles as possible, by employing multithreading and other optimization tricks.
A manual is available.
A Journey to the Medical Netherworld
Having a sick child is never easy. But if your child has to be sick, hope for something mechanical: a broken bone, a gash that needs stitches—something that can be physically mended. Failing that, wish for something commonplace. Chickenpox, a bladder infection, bronchitis. Doctors can manage these things with their eyes closed. If pushed, consider the merits of illnesses that are at least well understood—illnesses that can be definitively diagnosed and have generally agreed-upon courses of treatment. What you least want is something obscure, something not yet well characterized—and least of all, something both obscure and pertaining to the mind.
It's not secular stagnation; it's financialization.
Elizabeth Warren has a great idea for making Tax Day less painful - "She's taking on TurboTax and other predatory companies." [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »