June 24, 2008
Fire-Wielding Beavers and Man-Bats, Oh My!
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835. During the last week of August 1835, the New York Sun published a six-part article about the discovery - purportedly by renowned astronomer Sir John Herschel - of fantastical life on the moon, including herds of bison, blue unicorns, "a primitive tribe of hut-dwelling, fire-wielding biped beavers, and a race of winged humans living in pastoral harmony around a mysterious, golden-roofed temple." The public's reaction was a mix of credulity and skepticism. Read the full text of the serialized articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
National Geographic Flashback
The National Geographic Flashback is a section where the magazine publishes old pictures from its archives. There are many strange and wondrous pictures. Some of my favorites include: turtle riding, cooking with verbs, moving the lawn at Stonehenge, Robert Peary at the North Pole, artist along the Dordogne, cannibal fork, Great Pyramid of Khufu lit up by 6500 bulbs and flying car.
Octopus
Twitter lives
The rumors are true. Outage-plagued Twitter really has been raising money and today announced that they'd closed their funding round. Venture firm Spark Capital doled out some cash as did Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. Twitter, however, ain't saying how much money was raised. (It's reportedly around $15 million.)
CNET helpfully points out how the press release from Twitter that announced the news went out of it's way to mention that the company will -- hold the presses -- someday be supported by an actual revenue model: "To reach our goal, Twitter must be reliable and robust. Private funding gives us the runway we need to stay focused on the infrastructure that will help our business take flight."
Ear candy for your eyes
Apple's Album Art screensaver, recreated for Windows. I saw this on someone's Powerbook today and got jealous. Luckily, some developer decided to make this, for all the Windows users feeling left out.
Fun, Frivolity and/or Forced Conviviality?
"One in five U.S. workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers, where the most common mishaps range from bad-mouthing another worker to kissing a colleague and drinking too much, according to a study released on Tuesday."* And "why do workers go to happy hour? The majority (82 percent) of workers report that they attend happy hour to bond with their co-workers, while another 20 percent find it to be a great way to network. Fifteen percent of workers said they attend to hear the latest office gossip, while 13 percent only go because they feel obligated to be there. One-in-ten workers (11 percent) use happy hour as a way to bond with their boss" [more inside]
Forgetting Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea is more than your average headline-making, human rights-eschewing African nation. Likening the country’s uneasy street-silence to that of Pyongyang, deported journalist Peter Maass reveals an unparalleled culture of fear blanketed by an international media blackout. But for the Whitehouse, ExxonMobil and Teodoro Obiang—Equatorial Guinea’s torturous leader—the poverty, abuse and dead-quiet are business as usual.
God is an Astronaut
God is an Astronaut is an instrumental post-rock trio hailing from Ireland. Formed in 2002, they started their own record label, Revive Records, to release their debut album The End of the Beginning. With heavily layered melodies, their music is beautiful and dynamic. They've released three videos Fragile, The End of the Beginning, and From Dust to the Beyond. My personal favorites include Forever Lost and Frozen Twilight. More of their songs can be heard on their Last.fm and Myspace pages. Link to their official website here.
"..watched him seize a silver fish from under the water and hold up his head and go through the customary and elaborate motions of swallowing it..."
The Silver Swan is a life-size musical automaton built in 1773 from silver and glass, now housed in the Bowes Museum in County Durham. [more inside]
Waiting for the New Way Forward
Fables of the Reconstruction. According to a new GAO report [PDF of full report], the surge has resulted in security gains and reduced violence in Iraq, but the political goals the surge was supposed to buy time for mostly haven't happened. [more inside]
Itchy McItchy
The Itch: The New Yorker's suprisingly interesting Annals of Medicine article which includes the story of a woman whose scalp itched so badly she scratched through it. And then through her skull.
Vector Portraits (1989-1997)
Los Angeles-based photographer Andrew Bush mounts a camera on the side of his car to capture freeway drivers in the southwestern United States. [more inside]
Don't Say It Can't Be Done! -- This Brave Nation
Pete Seeger and
Majora Carter sit down together and bridge the generational gap with a discussion on environmentalism, activism, history, and music. [more inside]
Next up, the Perpetual Motion Machine
Last week, Genepax Co demonstrated a car that it says runs on water. Video of the demonstration is here. [more inside]
The Website Is Down!
The Website is Down! is a short movie based on tech support horror stories. (Movie may have NSFW language and imagery)
World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship
Project Genesis - "It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas [previously]) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky." cf. The Lilypad
Chit Chat.
Pecha Kucha - get to the point. 20 slides in 20 seconds. Talk about what you want. Your city probably has a night for it.
Just imagine what it could do with a pop tart.
"Using the power generated by a high-pressure CO2 gas system and mechanical ram, Yauner managed to get his toast to pop up about seven feet into the air—which was enough to set the record." The Moaster is the highest-popping toaster in the world. Video evidence is provided.
LEGO is full of WIN
LEGO is full of WIN - Roo Reynolds' Interesting 2008 talk.
Keeping it in "The Family"...
Beasts!
1,000 Beasts by Aeron Alfrey
Degree 2.0 mash-ups not advisable for computer games careers
95% of degree courses in video gaming at British universities leave graduates unfit to work in the industry, according to Games Up?, an organisation set up to address the UKs video games skills shortage. Maths skills are a particular weakness.
urban prankster
Boris Johnson - War criminal
"the circumstances in which I came by this object were so morally ambiguous that I cannot quite think of it as theft." Boris Johnson, mayor of London, a war criminal?
Oh, Alison, my aim is true.
"When my daughter Alison was born, in the tradition of a new parent, I began to photograph her, initially in a separate and private body of work. However, in the process of documenting Alison's growth, I developed a passionate interest in human relationships and capturing intimate moments in the lives of family and friends...." A haunting photographic essay from Jack Radcliffe.
13 People In A Volvo
Man fined for stuffing 13 people in a Volvo. Big news story today in Wales about a man fined and banned from driving for driving around Llandudno with 12 passengers in his Volvo. There's a handy little film attached so you can see just how difficult this is. Great to see license fee money being used for such hard-hitting investigative journalism like this, silly season's come early. Giving the current fuel costs in the UK, expect to see more of this OTT car pooling.
Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage
Here is a handy guide to the various attitudes towards gay marriage from religious denominations. (previously)
Take a looky.
Lookybook lets you browse full versions of children's picture books, like The Other Side by Hungarian-born illustrator Istvan Banyai, or Alphabeasts by Wallace Edwards.
Trash Flash
Here for your delectation are the Web Flash Festival 2008 finalists and winners. I know we are supposed to post the best of the web. I know we are not supposed to editorialise. But… but… CRIKEY! Even the best is execrable. What's going on in the Flash world? [requires flash]
Don't you wish your drugs were hot like Oxytocin?
"Tests have shown that oxytocin reduces anxiety levels in users. It is a hormone that facilitates social contact between people."
Ungh!
Indie platformer extravaganza!
Do you enjoy classic 2D platformers? Then boy, are you in luck! The indie game community is thriving, and a good majority of its games are exactly that. I've spent many hours playing these unique, beautiful, and often exceptional projects, and there's quite a few - more than I can count on my fingers! - that could stand toe-to-toe with the finest contemporary games. Inside is a list of some of the greatest indie platformers, based on community recommendations and my own experience. Enjoy! [more inside]
They see her rollin, they lovin'
\\ \\ \\ MAXIMUM HEADROOM // // //
Suspension de l’abonnement internet
"There is no reason that the Internet should be lawless," President Nicolas Sarkozy told his cabinet, as Culture Minister Christine Albanel presented a new bill designed to encourage responsible use of the Internet. The legislation would set up a new administrative body that would receive complaints from the music and film industry and track down offenders through Internet service providers. An e-mail warning would be sent to suspected downloaders followed by a registered letter. After two strikes, offenders would risk losing their Internet subscription for up to a year. "We know that we are not going to eradicate piracy 100 percent, but we think that we can reduce it significantly," Albanel told a news conference. [more inside]
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