January 11, 2004
Ethical Behavior in America.
Does our culture actively discourage ethical behavior? The alarmingly high rate of cheating in schools, discussed by David Callahan, seems to imply that cheating is not an aberration in our culture but more like a norm. [More Inside]
Business And Pleasure/Drinking On The Job
Could This Be The Renaissance Of The Three-Martini Lunch? Do business and alcohol mix? Do business and pleasure? Must we be all be utterly sober when we do deals? Or work? Is a little lubrication slowly replacing mineral water and political correctness? Surely it's not only writers who gain from the odd whisky and soda or gin and tonic? Have you ever done any worthwhile work while under the influence? Please feel free to choose your drug of choice. Tobacco, amphetamines and benzodiazepines included. [Via eGullet's recent thread, started by Beans.]
Fashion photography of yesteryear
The Decline of Fashion Photography; An argument in pictures. Inspired by Karen Lehrman's photo-essay about the poor state of contemporary fashion photography, I went looking for vintage goodness. Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Irving Penn are two of the photographers she mentions, but it would be a shame to miss (to name a few) Frances Pellegrini's, Erwin Blumenfeld's, and Herman Landshoff's contributions to the genre.
Next Generation Truck Stops
Neato Next Generation Truck Stops IANAT (I am not a trucker), so I had no idea trucks could just plug into truck stops complete with air conditioning, power, internet, satellite TV, etc. And the bonus is that these facilities are environmentally friendly since the truck doesn't have to be left running all night.
Do it yourself art projects (by Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Gilbert & George, Nam June Paik Natthew Barney and more)
Do it yourself art projects – a how-to manual (by Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Gilbert & George, Nam June Paik, Matthew Barney and more). I can't wait to try and turn my washing machine into a pinhole camera, to create a photo "in the time it takes to bake a cake". (warning: Quicktime)
fashion, fetish & rubber - oh my!
KariwanZ fetish gallery - fashion, fetish, rubber, and tribal art collide. Do the MeFi meetups need a facelift? (mildly nsfw)
And they say cats can't be trained!
My Cat Annie is a website with several quick adorable videos (in Flash format) of the owner's cat doing ridiculous cat tricks.
Data collection is easy, analysis is hard
That U.S. intelligence agencies confuse terrorists with children on passenger jets is a reminder that data collection is easy, but data analysis is hard. That must be why the six-year-old daughter of one of Boing Boing's co-founders is on the CAPPS list as a security risk. All this is also a reminder that we need privacy safeguards for these data mining programs.
Amazon.com
Big Books Not exactly made for curling up in bed, big books are an interesting twist in publishing. From Bhutan to Antartica and Sumo to Boxing, these are more likely to be the size of your coffee table than to be on it. They probably cost rather more, too.
Crushing of dissent
The Internet is now basically banned and controlled for all but the elite in Cuba. In Iran, an unelected body has eliminated hundreds of reformist candidates from the general elections. That's what stiffling of dissent looks like. Stare it in the face, and ask your politicians and NGOs and friends to raise their voices against it as loud as they did against the war in Iraq. Promote freedom for people just like you around the world in a nonviolent way. (And I'm not talking about writing Bush to ask for Regime Change)
Saddest auction ever
Saddest auction ever: "You are bidding on my collection of fast food restaurant condiments that I have collected over the past year at my job."
Bulk CD ripping service.
RipDigital converts your entire CD collection to 224kbs MP3s for about a $1 per CD. Send them your CD library and they'll ship your library back, organized by artist and album with enhanced song information, as either 50 converted CDs per DVD and for $99 more on a portable hard drive. If only they offered the same service for cassettes. [via jkottke & waxpancake]
Dentokogei
Dentokogei. A site 'devoted to showcasing the work of the shokunin, or artisans, still working and carrying on the traditions of handcraft production in Japan. '
My So-Called Blog
Another take on blogs Emily Nussbaum dissects online journaling in the NY Times Magazine today, offering yet another mainstream media perspective on blogging. Did anyone ask for another?
Welcoming Snowbirds from Nuclear Winter
Government haven for Nuclear Winter (nytimes reg) Photos of the West German government's secret sanctuary/hidey hole built during the sixties and early seventies. The article talks about the cold, oppressive feel of the accommodations, but it's pretty cool looking in a Danish Modern or Clockwork Orange sort of way. Better than the cheap motel look that Washington had planned.
Great moments in science
Pop-science writing by Karl Kruszelnicki, scientist and broadcaster. Includes fun with kissing, bad breath, biscuit dunking, broccoli, Botox, uses of cow parts, maggots in wounds and the IgNobel prize-winning bellybutton lint research.
Clear Channel gags an antiwar conservative
How to Lose Your Job in Talk Radio Why did this happen? Why only a couple of months after my company picked up the option on my contract for another year in the fifth-largest city in the United States, did it suddenly decide to relegate me to radio Outer Darkness? The answer lies hidden in the oil-and-water incompatibility of these two seemingly disconnected phrases: “Criticizing Bush” and “Clear Channel.”
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