October 11, 2014
Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. -- Agnes Sligh Turn
Crashing a pool party
No big thing, just a base jump at night from a 1,099 foot tower into a swimming pool on the roof of an adjacent hotel. The helmet cam gives a nice first person perspective. [more inside]
Linux for Lettuce
Linux for Lettuce - Myers contends that, when applied to plants, patents are stifling. They discourage sharing, and sharing is the foundation of successful breeding. That’s because his work is essentially just assisting natural evolution: He mates one plant with another, which in turn makes new combinations of genes from which better plants are selected. The more plants there are to mix, the more combinations are made, and the more opportunities there are to create better plants. Even some breeders who work for the companies that are doing the patenting still believe in—indeed, long for—the ability to exchange seed.
PIZZA: The Brooklyn Story
PIZZA: The Brooklyn Story - Scott Wiener (from Scott's Pizza Tours) gives a lecture weaving together the history of Italian immigrants, Pizza and Brooklyn.
the cost of a Calvin
How much damage can a 6 year-old possibly do? An analysis of the cost of raising a child like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes [more inside]
"The Empire Strikes Back Uncut" is a remake made up of fan-made films
"The evil lord Cat Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote minivan probes into the far reaches of the swimming pool... Ahem... Space."
In 2009, Casey Pugh asked Internet users to remake Star Wars into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. In a few months time, thousands of fans responded with extraordinary creativity from around the world. Five years later, Star Wars Uncut (previously) was released. It was was such a success that in 2012 he solicited more fan-made films to create the next installment. A panel of 20 judges culled through over 1500 submission and more than 480 were chosen to create the shot-for-shot remake of the newest release, The Empire Strikes Back Uncut.
SHORTS: long as hell. Pockets everywhere. It’s 2000.
Why You Looked Weird in High School by Jaya Saxena "The key to any good performance is intention. We choose our clothes based on what we want the world to see, sometimes before our inner selves match the outer picture. I couldn’t live up to the punk rock image when I was 14 because I was timid and awkward and called my mom before going out at night. (And borrowed her clothes.) The look is what I valued, but a second of talking to me showed you it wasn’t who I was—not yet. By college there I was, wearing all black, intimidating those around me, convincing people I was confident and hard, and starting to convince myself a bit of the same."
If a process yields discrimination, then we need to examine the process.
Bias in the Box. "This is where Bryan Stevenson’s 'undeveloped understanding' comes into focus. A prosecutor may say with the utmost sincerity that he doesn’t exclude blacks [from a jury] because of their race, but because they or someone in their family has been a victim of discrimination, which leads them to distrust the system. Because of their experiences, they are believed to be less motivated to sentence someone to die and are therefore less desirable on a jury." (slVQR) [more inside]
"A term that is somehow both loaded and meaningless."
The Washington City Paper has shared its delightfully-snarky extension of the AP Style Guide, detailing how the paper would like its writers to cover topics relating to the District of Columbia. For starters, don't follow the paper's eponymous mistake, and call it Washington.
This one's for the fellas who've been asking themselves questions...
The Rubberbandits (featuring Gabriel Byrne) present a message for all the Fellas of the world. (NSFW)
(Previously and Previously) [more inside]
(Previously and Previously) [more inside]
Our home is beautiful and amazing.
"Using footage from NASA's Johnson Space Center, filmmaker Fede Castro creates a captivating time-lapse video of Earth from space. In a little over four minutes, 'Nuestra Tierra—Our Earth' takes us around the world, sighting major cities and even catching the breathtaking aurora borealis." More from Fede Castro.
The Elderly Unicorn and His Girl
Beautiful story and photos of a senior horse and the little girl he shared his last year with before returning to The Secret Forest. Part of Paper Horse Photography's Senior Horse Project.
SELL THE PAINTING
“I want to install it in my house,” Ségalot recalls Bryant saying, “but my wife hates it. She can’t live with a work that says ‘SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE CAR SELL THE KIDS.’ So do you know anyone who might want to buy it?” What the 350,000% rise in value of a single painting by Christopher Wool says about the contemporary art world.
What do we expect? They're Dick's.
12-year-old calls out Dick's Sporting Goods chain for being sexist. We might never have known about her exceptional letter, but one of her parents is a reporter.
How Madewell Bought and Sold My Family's History
How Madewell Bought and Sold My Family's History: In 1937, my great-grandfather started a workwear company in New England called Madewell. In 2006, 17 years after the last factory shut down, J.Crew relaunched a women’s clothing company with the same name and logo, based on a 50-year history in which it had no part. (single link buzzfeed)
"rights and responsibilities"
At the heart of the reform will be a new British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities that will restore common sense to the application of human rights in the UK. A draft of the Bill will be published for consultation before Christmas. Among other things the Bill will stop terrorists and other serious foreign criminals who pose a threat to our society from using human rights to prevent deportation. It will make it clear that people have clear responsibilities to society, and that there is a proper balance between rights and responsibilities in British law.If you follow UK politics you know the Tories (as well as a large chunk of Labour) have an obsession with the European Court of Human Rights and its "interfering" with British domestic matters. The party has now proposal to scrap the 1998 Human Rights Act and break the UK's ties to the court. [more inside]
lightening + Jurassic Park + Charlie Chaplin + wine + Mirah
Companies have been down-sizing little girls
This mom got fed up. Companies have been down-sizing their clothing for years as fashion trends call for "slimmer" cuts and silhouettes.
Clothing sizing is an issue. Maybe there needs to be a mandated standard of clothing sizes? No cutting corners or skimping on measurements. [more inside]
pay attention, gals
Singaporean student Agatha Tan wrote an open letter to her principal after noticing major flaws with a sex ed program at her junior college. Specifically, the Focus on the Family-created program posited relationship advice for "guys" and "gals" and what they really think that seem to be directly cribbed from a joke book. Focus on the Family claimed that it wasn't designed as sex ed but as a "relationship education" program (here's Singapore's actual sex ed curriculum) and that it was supposedly based on research studies about the neurological differences between men and women. The principal says that the facilitators were "ineffective", and the Ministry of Education says that they will cease their working relationship with FotF soon.
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