October 23, 2016
Cracking the Cranial Vault: What It Feels Like to Perform Brain Surgery
Dr. Rahul Jandial takes us inside the thoughts of a brain surgeon. After working on flesh and bone for 30 minutes, the real summit presented itself: the human brain, the most delicate, complex, and beautiful thing [in] the universe.
A Book by Its Cover: The strange history of books bound in human skin
"Anthropodermic bibliopegy, or books bound in human skin," writes Megan Rosenbloom in Lapham's Quarterly, "are some of the most mysterious and misunderstood books in the world’s libraries and museums. The historical reasons behind their creation vary [...] The best evidence most of these alleged skin books have ever had were rumors and perhaps a pencil-written note inside that said 'bound in human skin'...until now." Anthropodermic biblipegy on Metafilter previously and previously. Warning: links may contain details disturbing for some. [more inside]
Turn that election frown upside down with happy animals!
Join The Black Parade: My Chemical Romance And The Politics Of Taste
[T]o toast the 10th birthday of The Black Parade, I called up two black writers whose work I adore and whose taste I admire, to have the exchange of ideas I wish I'd known how to have way back when. Here's hoping it reaches a few brown kids still learning how to trust themselves. NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen offers up a 25m audio article and an accompanying article about being black and loving My Chemical Romance's mega-hit album, released on Oct 23, 2006.
Like shallowly turned soil in a field...
We Salted Nannie. A small tale of ghosts and spirits both real and semi-real, and what lies buried in the past.
Who put Bella in the Wych-Elm (redux)
June 2016; a small cardboard sign appears by the A456 Hagley Road, near Birmingham UK. It reads 'who put Bella in the wych elm'. A few new twists have recently been added to a 73 year old murder mystery, including a connection to the last man executed in the tower of London. [more inside]
Shelter
Shelter. a collaboration between Porter Robinson, Madeon, Crunchyroll , and A-1 Productions. [more inside]
The 19th Century Yoruba repatriation
I hardly ever heard about the Nagô, the Afro-Brazilians, and the Lukumí, the Afro-Cubans, who returned back to West Africa. The idea that the Yorùbá people share one identity is strongly related to the transatlantic experience of the slave trade and the returnees’ influence in the homeland. This story contributes a lot to the classical discussions of what is ‘Original-Yorùbá’ and what a diaspora invention - as not even the word ‘Yorùbá’ is of ‘Yorùbá’ origin itself. I summed up the basic facts.
Who's Spending Britain's Billions?
BBC Four Documentary: Jacques Peretti explores how public bodies utilise their resources and asks whether taxpayers are getting value for money. [slyt]
The enigma of pre-Columbian whistling water jars
Peruvian shamanic whistling vessels. Being made out of clay archaeologists first thought these beautiful, ceramic sculptures were water bottles or toys until an amateur anthropologist explored their ritual use. One can just blow into the vessel but when water is added in one of the chambers and the vessel is rocked back and forth the shifting air creates an interesting sound pattern. [more inside]
1,000 Rooms of Cute Terror
You have been invited to visit a haunted mansion owned by a ghost named Spooky. Can you survive all 1,000 rooms of jump scares? Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a free (Steam and Indie DB) 2.5D FPS puzzle survival horror game. Despite its cute exterior, there's more to Spooky's house than meets the eye. [more inside]
"People like me just got screwed."
Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war. Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back. [more inside]
"Fighting with the same two hundred people we’ve known all our lives"
Meridian 59 is one of the longest running original online role-playing games. Launched in 1996, the game was a commercial venture until 2009 and the game files were open sourced in 2012. The once massively multiplayer online game now is rarely hosting more than twenty people at a time, the last survivors of Meridian 59. [via]
Good news, everyone!
Jumping spiders don't have ears—but they can still hear you coming. This may only apply to hunting spiders. However, orb weavers can control their web’s tension and stiffness to help them identify potential partners as well as prey. [more inside]
GROW Cinderella
The latest game in a long running series of classics has just been released! No, not that one. Why not spend ten minutes playing the latest GROW game, GROW Cinderella.
Predicting Hearthstone decks
Google researcher Elie Bursztein leads their anti-abuse research team. He sometimes posts articles of extreme interest to game players and computer security people. Such as using machine learning to predict Hearthstone decks: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3. His list of publications leads to a wealth of interesting information, for people of various technical inclinations! [more inside]
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