April 25, 2014
Surfing Superheroes to the Rescue
AJ Lindner, a 6-year-old fan of Spider Man and other superheroes, recently underwent surgery for brain cancer. Facing the start of chemotherapy, which requires him to keep out of the water, the avid young swimmer had one wish: he wanted to go surfing. But the waters off Long Island were too cold. After a plea for a child-sized wetsuit went out on Facebook, a “Justice League” of surfers went to work to fulfill the boy’s dream.
prioritize and continue to strengthen friendship with Joe and Dennis
MetaFilter is well acquainted with numbers stations (previously with previouslies inside of that). Well, they may just have migrated to YouTube. [more inside]
Whether @peace or angry at god, it's all hip hop
Roots Music....makes your guts hurt it sounds so good.
the Ben Miller Band...is one of the best. Treat yourself on this friday night. (SLYT) Roots rock is rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the perceived excesses of dominant psychedelic and developing progressive rock. Because roots music (Americana) is often used to mean folk and world musical forms, roots rock is sometimes used in a broad sense to describe any rock music that incorporates elements of this music. (WiKi) Americana
is "contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band. [more inside]
"Except that next season four of them are Cylons."
Parks & Recreation shook up the show's status quo in their season finale. Producer Mike Schur discusses next season - likely the show's last. Alan Sepinwall's review of the two-part finale.
It's Chocolate Milk For Me!
Elvis Costello and The Attractions on tour in 1978, go grocery shopping with Geraldo Rivera.
Carry on.
Carry on.
GATAACGCGGATGCGTAT
The Animated Genome is a spirited 5-minute film that uses graphics to explain the makeup of your genome and how it affects life and health. It's part of Genome: Unlocking Life's Code, an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History.
Putting a bug in your gear
Justin Gershenson-Gates makes insects and spiders from mechanical watch parts. The Verge shows more pictures including one of a piece under construction, more photos are on Inhabitat, there are yet more photos at Twisted Sifter, and the artist has a personal website.
Some might ask "What's the point then?"
How to drink all night and (mostly) not get drunk, advice from Jim Koch, co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company.
Bigger than a breadboard II
Following on the heels of Phonebloks, a Google/Motorola formed a design group called Project Ara. The Verge recently interviewed Paul Eremenko, the project lead, about progress made towards modularization of mobile phone components, overcoming engineering issues, and the group assigning itself an ambitious timetable to succeed in delivering a sellable product within two years, or disbanding.
No Exit
Wired's Gideon Lewis-Kraus reports from the trenches of the Silicon Valley "ecosystem". [more inside]
I got lipstick stamps on my passport, I think I need a new one.
Which countries have visa-free access to more countries than others? Ranked at the top with 173 visa-free countries (out of a possible 218) are Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, which all share the Schengen visa policy; dead last is Afghanistan, which only has visa-free access to 28 countries. (Not included in the list were places like Wonderland, Neverland, Hell, Utopia, the Unconscious, or Pangea.) Regardless of nationality, though, it can still be devillishly difficult to get visas for some countries. With the advent of RFID passports, some countries are doing away with visa labels or passport stamps, so collect as many as you can and take a look at them so you can figure out what they say about the issuing country or even turn them into art (or ad campaigns).
Point, counter point, point, even more point
Six ways to stop your child from being brainswashed by mainstream rap.
Why the 6 ways...got it all wrong.
Why hipsters need to stop writing about hip hop culture.
Hipsters can't ruin hip hop.
Two fatal Air India crashes on Mont Blanc: jewels and conspiracies
On November 3, 1950, an Air India flight crashed into Rochers de la Tournette (Google maps), a face of Mont Blanc, killing all 48 people on board. A second Air India flight crashed at nearly the same location on January 24, 1966, killing the 106 passengers and 11 people in the flight crew. It is generally assume that the second crash was due to the pilot mis-judging their location based on faulty equipment and limited visual cues (embedded PDF), leading to a premature descent and the death of the 117 people on board. Also on board were 100 precious emeralds, sapphires and rubies that were recently discovered, but have been kept out of sight of the public and journalists, possibly to allow the Mayor of Chamonix and climber who found the jewels to split their loot. Then there is the conspiracy theory that the second crash was caused by a collision with an Italian aircraft that had gone missing the same day, with the goal of killing Dr. Homi Bhabha, the father on India's nuclear program. This theory is supported by Daniel Roche, a property consultant by trade who has spent years collecting a ton and a half of objects from the crash sites (French article; Google auto-translation). And of course, there's the theory that the CIA was trying to silence Dr. Bhabha as he was on his way to "stir up more trouble" in Vienna.
&what;
Title IX and the Clery Act
Yesterday, twenty three Columbia University students filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the school "allows accused perpetrators of sexual assault to remain on campus, has too-lenient sanctions for perpetrators, discourages victims from reporting assault and denies accommodations to students with mental health disabilities (which they say result from their attacks)." The complaint is the first of its kind, linking Title IX and Clery complaints with alleged violations of Title II, part of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which provides that schools must provide accommodations based on disability status. [more inside]
Listen, we all know what the obvious joke is here, so
A pregnant woman's risk of experiencing pre-eclampsia or miscarriage is significantly reduced by long-term exposure to her partner's semen. Especially if she swallows it. [more inside]
Washington 1st State to Lose NCLB Waiver
No Money, Mo' Problems. "School districts throughout Washington will have to redirect roughly $40 million in federal funding toward private tutoring efforts next year, instead of using the Title I funds to pay for district programs for low-income students."
No big deal, right? Washington was probably the only school to even have a waiver for No Child Left Behind, you're thinking.
Nope.
Washington was one of forty three states and the District of Columbia that have federal waivers from NCLB.
Kate Tromble, the director of government relations for the Education Trust, said revoking the waiver was the right thing to do. "It is unfortunate because Washington students are going to bear the burden of the failure of adults' in the state."
NCLB previously.
Wow, are those real?
For forty years only cads bathed
"Whatever may be the merits of the spring fashions for 1978, it would appear to have been universal (to speak of the future in the past tense), for both these young gallants are dressed precisely alike. Of the three remaining designs, that of 1984 appears to us to exhibit the contour of the lady's figure most generously, and to have certain agreeable and distinctive traits of its own which are not only lacking in the gentleman's apparel, but are absent from the inane conception which appears to have obtained vogue five years later." -- Future Dictates of Fashion, as imagined in an 1893 issue of Strand Magazine. Click on the illustrations to enlarge them. (In general, Marcus Rowland's Forgotten Futures website is a treasure trove of Victoriana and steampunk related material.)
Spinning Steel into Gold
Vikings vs Creepers
The entire country of Denmark has been recreated in Minecraft. The Danish Geodata Agency has released a 1:1 model of the country of Denmark in Minecraft, complete with buildings and roads. The full model is made up of approximately 4000 billion blocks and takes up a hefty 1TB of hard drive space (first link contains Google Translated links to the agency's website where you can download the map in blocks of 10 km x 10 km).
"Otherwise...it would be unfair on the molester."
His Career Will Be Absolutely Fine: On Telling People About Being Molested
People who have no vested interest in your father’s job, other than as citizens of a country where he pays taxes, will suddenly be very interested in your father figure’s job. Your sister’s friend will say, “She’s going to ruin your dad’s career.” You’re not even sure she knows what he does. Other things people will say. “These are very serious accusations. This kind of thing can ruin a person’s career.” “You should be very careful what you say because stuff like this can end a person’s career.” “You know this could hurt his career?” It will hurt you, because none of these people give a shit about your career.A devastating and beautifully written article.
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