October 16, 2008
Afterlife and the Mind
Never Say Die: Why We Can't Imagine Death. Why do we wonder where our mind goes when the body is dead? Shouldn’t it be obvious that the mind is dead, too? Examining self-consciousness and mortality.
Adventures with heart failure
Artist's notebook. "...But once we saw Dr. Kukin's office, complete with a photo of the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl, a photo of Babe Ruth, and various signed balls, we were put at ease. The message? Heart failure is like bank failure: Bailout is possible. Life goes on. Plus, he had a plastic heart that comes apart; I just love playing with those things."
McCain and Obama at the Al Smith Dinner
Events are moving fast in my campaign. And, yes, it is true that this morning I dismissed my entire team of senior advisors. All of their positions will now be held by a man named 'Joe The Plumber.'
No, not Saturday Night Live, but the real John McCain at this year's Al Smith dinner, where he and Obama poked fun at each other as well as themselves. McCain's funny and graciously touching speech:
McCain Part 1. McCain Part2. Obama's speech is here: Obama Part 1. Obama Part 2.
Russian Experimental Tanks
Footage (in Russian) of some concept tanks. Includes human tanks, hydrofoil tanks, rocket assisted tanks and many many more. SLYT I know, but Rockets! And Tanks!!!
It's the final countdown!
KazooKeylele. Europe's "The Final Countdown" played on a combination kazoo, baby keyboard, and ukulele. Single link YouTube awesomeness. (Via)
First, we need to find out where he stands on legalizing Tickle-Torture...
Who is the mysterious Shadow Candidate for Shadow Senator of the District of Columbia? Marx Cafe Bartender Damien Ober, kind of. Ober wrote a series of campaign ads (which can alternate between provocative, sophomoric, and simply creepy, depending on your point of view) in response to D.C.'s lack of congressional representation, and hired an actor to sit in the darkness portraying his unnamed candidate. After viewing the videos on youtube, however, the D.C. Libertarian Party has decided to give him a for-real shot at the for-fake position.
The Things He Carried
The Things He Carried. "Airport security in America is a sham—'security theater' designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease."
In fashion, one day you’re in and the next you’re out...
This years Project Runway is over and the winner has been announced, coming out top when the three remaining finalists showed their collections at at Bryant Park. But what they didn't tell you is that they also had some of the other contestants show there as well, to throw would-be spoilers off the track, and now thanks to the wonders of YouTube you can see them too.
No Mudslinging.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plurality of clients was business administration majors
Remember Laura K. Pahl, the girl who was famously humiliated for trying to buy a term paper over the internet? Perhaps she should have gone to a professional.
"Can I interest you in a faith-based account?"
The culture writing of Adam Cadre
If you've never heard of Adam Cadre, then Adam Cadre is the best internet writer you've never heard of. He's a novelist and interactive fiction (a.k.a. "text adventure") author, but his site is packed with some of the clearest, most entertaining (and most personal) cultural writing around. It's a blog-esque sort of deal with posts prompted by films, books and other. Choicest articles include a to-the-point takedown of Stranger in a Strange Land, thoughts on Lanark and trolls who have never known love, an exegesis of the virtues of The Sweet Hereafter and the story of his near-lifelong relationship with Cosmos.
Debunking the Bradley Effect
The Persistent Myth of the Bradley Effect proposes that even if racists lied to pollsters in the 1980s, there's no evidence of that happening in 2008. The Bradley Effect - Selective Memory goes further: "The Bradley Effect was born amidst some major polling errors and a confusing array of mixed predictions, hardly a firm foundation to construct a theory."
Go! Raze the land! Boil the seas!
Mastermind: World Conquerer puts you in the role of the evil Mastermind, supergenius bent on destroying* the world. A great ending and some hilarious dialogue make this game a gem. Hey, it's Friday in Australia by now, right? (via jig) [more inside]
brief glimpses into living abroad
Expat Interviews With People Living In Countries Like Japan - Holland - China - Thailand And A Lot More.
Lead singer of seminal Canadian punk band Teenage Head dies
Frank Kerr died on Wednesday, October 15th of throat cancer. The 51-year-old was better known as Frankie Venom, the lead singer of Teenage Head, a punk band from Hamilton, Ontario that some have called Canada's version of The Ramones. The Glasgow native formed the band in 1975 with some high-school friends and they released several popular albums and played at least two shows that ended in riots. After splitting with the group in 1985 due in part to lifestyle issues, Venom later rejoined and began touring again. In 2003, Teenage Head recorded a special cover album with Ramones drummer Marky Ramone that was just released earlier this year. One fan got some video of one of Frankie's last shows in Hamilton.
Pseudopod
Pseudopod - a podcast of short horror stories.
"You can't sue God if you can't serve the papers on Him."
The case against God brought by Ernie Chambers (previously on MeFi) has been thrown out. (title via News Now Network, although I added a capital H.)
Get Down Shep!
Man Booker Prize 2008
Aravind Adiga, a 33 year-old first-time author from India, won the Man Booker Prize yesterday with his novel The White Tiger. It's a story about the underclass of India which he found "similar to black Americans, with a sense of humour you would associate with the Jewish population in the ghettos". The prize selection was very heated and "brought all of the male judges to tears" over the winner and one other work (unnamed). Some critics find it a "left field" choice. The complete review. Excerpts.
Shortage of Business Faculty
There is a potential crisis (PDF) looming in business education. Unlike many other fields in higher education, demand for qualified faculty well outstrips supply. The result is a strong job market and high pay (PDF).
In response to this potential shortage a number of things are being done. The accounting profession has recently started a program designed to increase the number of professors in the field called the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program. This program provides fellowships of $30,000 a year for 30 students. The AACSB has created a website to promote getting a PhD in business.
The PhD project is designed to increase the number of minority PhD business professors. [more inside]
June Carter and Johnny Cash with Pete Seeger
June Carter and Johnny Cash appear on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest. June reminisces about the Carter family and A.P. Carter. They all sing It Takes a Worried Man. Johnny sings As Long as the Grass Shall Grow. Finally, June sings I Am Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes.
Standards fail.
Only 4.3% of the web validates. Opera have finished a scan and validation check of the net using their new MAMA spider and have got an extremely interesting dataset. Did you check your website today?
Under [his] gloves, were a pair of softer gloves.
Yes, exactly like a hole in the head!
[Warning: Not Safe For the Squeamish] "An Illustrated History of Trepanation": Although the reasons for trepanning and the instruments used for the procedure differ with time and from culture to culture, the result is always the same: a hole in the head, usually made when the individual was fully conscious and, often, unanaesthetized. • • From an interview with Heather Perry, who trepanned herself: "I used a hand trepan initially, but that wasn't proving to be terribly successful. Then there was a problem with the people who owned the property we were staying in, so we decided we'd have to just leave it. I wrapped my head up in a towel and we got out of there. A couple of days later, we had another go. We abandoned the hand trepan and got an electric drill instead." • • And, of course, the home version of the game. [more inside]
Maybe a little too prepared ...
Meet Prepared, a World of Warcraft gamer who plays 36 separate characters simultaneously, with the use of an 11-computer rig - a one-man raid party who spends $5711 in subscription costs per year. In his own words: "I’m looking at it like it’s a hobby and there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft."
Poetry mashups: These are not the beats you were looking for
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after. [more inside]
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after. [more inside]
All your base are belong to us?
Internet memes. Will they come and go, dying with their creators? Or will they continue to replicate, posing a danger to life as we know it?
Torturing Democracy
"Torturing Democracy" is a new documentary which details how the government set aside the rule of law in its pursuit of harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. You can watch it online or on some PBS affiliates, but PBS won't run it nationally until January 21, 2009. Scott Horton suspects that may be because PBS is afraid of political retaliation. [Via]
« Previous day | Next day »