July 19, 2009
Nirvana vs. Rick Astley: Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up
Describe in detail. Be objective and specific.
The ultimate exam. 15 questions designed to test your knowledge and abilities in a variety of subjects.
"Natural communities and ecosystems possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist, flourish and naturally evolve..."
Free your tongue with WD-40
I started reading about alternative uses for olive oil. The led me to the kinda-cool AltUse.com, whose only failing is an inability to directly link to cool alternative uses for posts like this one. Luckily, other sites like this one can show you how to shine your shoes or treat minor burns with Cool-Whip or free your tongue from a metal pole with WD-40.
Chapter a Day.
There's just something about being read to out loud, even if it's over the radio. Wisconsin Public Radio presents Chapter a Day, in which listeners are treated to daily doses of literature (both fiction and non-fiction). The program presents one book at a time, giving listeners the chance to follow stories from beginning to end over a period of weeks.
For kids
The story of stuff and how it's currently being played out between the political economies of China and the US (G2 'Chimerica') in an illuminating Fallows vs. Ferguson cage match. [more inside]
Zombies in Training
Saikyo Senritsu Meikyu (literally The Ultimate Horror Labyrinth) is the longest (900m, 60 minutes from start to finish) and "scariest" horror house in the world. ...Or at least it used to be. [more inside]
Say Hello to the New Boss
Obama's Faithful Flock. Sarah Posner reminds us that Obama promised to reverse the most egregious aspects of Bush's faith-based policies and asks why he's extending them.
Of course! The only way to save the universe and stop Hitler is to go back in time and un-invent the coat hanger!
Time Gentlemen, Please! is a point-n-click adventure game with a style that harks back to LucasArts/ScummVM games like Sam and Max and Maniac Mansion. The game follows two guys as they travel through time, making wise-cracks while trying to save the universe and rollback their contribution to Hitler's rise to power (which happened in Ben There, Dan That, a game that was the JayIsGames Best of 2008) by un-inventing the coat hanger. (note: you don't need to have played the first game - I didn't). [more inside]
Gone too soon.
FoMoCo's Early Years
On October 1, 1908, the first Ford Model T rolled out of the factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit. Many people today wonder why Henry Ford started his nomenclature with the letter "T."
Short answer: He didn't. [more inside]
"I Drew the Coffin": The "Oblique Strategies" of Marshall McLuhan
Wow, what a great discovery I made tonight! You may have heard of "Oblique Strategies" (previously mentioned on MeFi). Subtitled "over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas," it is a deck of cards first created in 1975 by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt to help jump start creative thinking by having the users draw, read and react to a card bearing an abstruse aphorism. There are by now plenty of online versions (easily googled!) as well as an iPhone app. (More info available at the Oblique Strategies fan page!) I just discovered today, however, that "Oblique Strategies" was not the first in its genre, but rather was following in the very footsteps of Marshall McLuhan! [more inside]
don't ask/don't tell in a rub-a-dub stylee...
"Being gay in Jamaica, it's like, don't tell anybody. Just keep it to yourself..." homophobia in jamaica and the culture it's creating.
Аста ла виста, беби
Stalin's Secret Weapon - a Russian hobbyist's terminator-esque diorama painstakingly constructed from military action figures. (Via buzz
Jetlag? Tinnitus? Sounds like a DJ...
Si Begg has made a new EP. In the spirit of the age he's experiementing with how to get it out into the world, he's given his samples away before, now he's giving all the songs away free or you can buy a nice box set with an 12" made of oak!
Don't ask and don't tell and especially don't tell your life partner
'Silent partner' examines what happens when people 'don't tell' "We can really see the destructive effects of 'don't ask, don't tell' . . . when you see the pain that these spouses and partners go through". Lt. Dan Choi introduces a new documentary film about three gay partners of military personnel. [more inside]
Why We Must Ration Health Care
Cell time for cellphone drivers?
“We’ve spent billions on air bags, antilock brakes, better steering, safer cars and roads, but the number of fatalities has remained constant,” said David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah and a leading researcher in the field of distracted driving. “Our return on investment for those billions is zero,” he added. “And that’s because we’re using [cellphone and messaging] devices in our cars.” [more inside]
Lovelace and Babbage
Lovelace and Babbage Semi-historical webcomic adventures of mathematicians. Bonus: guest appearanace by Isambard K. Brunel
Robots, Superheroes and Amtrak Joe
So you say you wish you were doing something different like attending San Diego ComicCon or taking a Coast-to-Coast Train Trip? Well, you can do both vicariously via Webcomics Legend (and MeFi's Own) rstevens who is Tumblogging the whole adventure! Okay, not that big an adventure, but he's one of the few IMO who can balance the snark and the gee-whiz enough to make it entertaining... "So much to review before traveling..." "Albany Station, you're a real charmer!" The "hon" effect.
Go on, indulge yourself.
It is what it is
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