January 18, 2012
The faster Fourier transform
A quicker picker-upper. "[A] group of MIT researchers will present a new algorithm that, in a large range of practically important cases, improves on the fast Fourier transform."
Dog Wars
Like dogs? Like Star Wars? here ya go! [SLYT, VW-Blue, intentional viral, more disclaimers, one more disclaimer)
An Hour With Roger Waters on Howard Stern
Roger Waters spent an hour earlier today talking to Howard Stern. [soundcloud link, 57m] The interview covers a wide variety of topics, including his standing with former members of Pink Floyd, his songwriting technique, and his ongoing tour of The Wall, which just announced a date at Yankee Stadium.
Guasto Titanico
Cruise Captain says he 'tripped' into lifeboat and couldn't get out. Audio recording of an Italian Coast Guard Captain telling him to get back on board [Transcript]
The Largest Ship Ever Built
Seawise Giant - later known as Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, and Knock Nevis - was the largest ship ever built.
Thymos must have its moment
Do Sports Build Character or Damage It? They foster the warrior within us, for better and for worse. [Via]
For the sad old earth wants plenty of mirth. And ballsiness.
"One jar contained chilli powder, the other turmeric.
But in the dark, the girl from Odisha couldn't see which jar had the chilli powder.
So she mixed both the powders, carried it to the bedroom and threw it into the eyes of five thieves brutally beating up his [sic] parents."
The (Indian) Daily Mail write about the 24 child winners of the National Bravery Awards.
We Were Wanderers On A Prehistoric Earth
We Were Wanderers On A Prehistoric Earth (3m14s, fullscreen)
The Lucas Cranach Art Archive
"The Cranach Digital Archive is an interdisciplinary collaborative research resource, providing access to art historical, technical and conservation information on paintings by Lucas Cranach (c.1472 - 1553) and his workshop. The repository presently provides information on more than 400 paintings including c.5000 images and documents from 19 partner institutions."
Manarchy's 35 Foot Long Camera
A one-of-a-kind, 35-foot-long camera that exposes 6-foot-tall negatives. The detail in a portrait subjects’ eyeball alone is a thousand times greater than what you get with the average negative. Resulting portraits will be featured on prints 2 stories tall. Photographer Dennis Manarchy is traveling around the country documenting various cultures.
How to make sense of Conspiracy Theories
"How to make sense of Conspiracy Theories" [Part 1 of 9 from YouTube] Rob Ager is best known for his very thoughtful analyses of films such as The Shining [see also this analysis of the Overlook's geometry, previously], A Clockwork Orange [and supplement], Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Aliens, Taxi Driver and others. He has recently completed an analysis of the subject of conspiracy theories. "All of us, from time to time, will believe that two or more people in a particular context have conspired to achieve a mutual aim – be it cheating in a card game or engineering an international war. It isn’t by definition a lapse in logic to believe that a conspiracy has or is going to occur in a given situation. Conspiracies do happen and it is a natural facet of healthy thinking and self-preservation to seek out awareness of conspiracies that may affect our lives." [Text version, Ager's Collative Learning site]
"a monument to the decline of monuments"
After the highly publicized Bruce Lee monument was erected in Mostar, a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005, a series of similar ventures were initiated in rural Serbia. Some sociologists describe the glorification of nonpolitical celebrity figures as the result of an identity crisis caused by the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, a period when a once functioning multi-ethnic unity collapsed.— Turbo Sculpture is an essay by Aleksandra Domanović about sculptures of pop culture heroes, e.g. Bruce Lee, Rocky Balboa and Bob Marley, which have been placed or proposed in the nation-states that once comprised Yugoslavia. You can also watch a photo-illustrated reading of the essay voiced by a dead-pan British man. [via We Find Wildness]
Dirt
Just a spoon full of butter helps the medicine go down.
The Evil Marketing Genius of Paula Deen, the New Face of Diabetes. Paula Deen has announced she has Type 2 Diabetes, has started a new web site "Diabetes in a New Light", and is now a paid spokesman for Novo Nordisk's diabetes medication Victoza. Naturally she minimizes any influence diet might have to do with her disease, but prefers to focus on the treatment side of things. Anthony Bourdain weighs in.
☠
What were you raised by wolves? by Vera Brosgol. Cartoonist Vera Brosgol has posted her startling, wordless mini-comic online. [Previously] [Previously]
Into the belly of it
Swallowed by a whale. If, I’ll pretend for a moment, you were swallowed, it would happen like this: You would first be chewed. Sperm whales’ teeth are 8 inches long – longer than most blades in your knife drawer. Then you would be gulped to the fauces, the back of the mouth, and forced down. Here is where Bartley apparently touched the quivering sides of the throat. You would also touch the throat, perhaps claw at the sides of the throat like you would sliding down an icy slope. There would be no air, and you’d suffocate in acid and water, but, we’re saying, you somehow survive. Imagine a black and mucous-smothered tube sock slipping over you.
Religions without gods?
Atheism 2.0: Alain de Botton reviews some of the often-overlooked values that religion can have for secular society. [more inside]
WWRD? (What Would Rusty Do?)
All rise! The Puppet Court is now in session! Denied entry with their cameras into the courtroom for the corruption trial of Jimmy Dimora, a former Cuyahoga County official, local "ACTION!" news channel decides to reenact each day's events...with puppets.
Girls of Canada
In an editorial (PDF) in the Canadian Medical Association Journal this week, interim Editor-in-Chief Rajendra Kale suggests that the sex of a fetus, determined by ultrasound, should not be revealed until after 30 weeks of pregnancy to prevent the selective abortion of females, common in other countries and taking place in some immigrant communities in Canada. [more inside]
Living death Doll
Not for the sheepish ... or is it?
New Zealand produces some of the world's best shearers and its national championship, the Golden Shears, receives substantial media coverage; but the IOC is unlikely to be persuaded that it should be an Olympic demonstration sport. [more inside]
Dear Diary: Today Was Not Awesome, Man
In the same spirit as Drew Droege's Chloe Sevigny videos, I present the Diary of Zac Efron (2, 3, 4, 5)
The rise and fall of personal computing
The rise and fall of personal computing - A neat (and in some ways, stark) visualization of the impact of mobile devices on computing
Evil influence? Only for your productivity.
Masyu, also known as Pearls, is an NP-complete logic puzzle created by the makers of Sudoku. Brandon McPhail provides a few free puzzles to get your feet wet on his web site (Java applet). Once you've mastered those, UCLICK Games offers a free daily puzzle (Flash) with the past month of archives available too. [more inside]
Stop the Wall
Stop the Wall - A group of NYC based Internet companies express their common distaste for SOPA and PIPA in this video
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