November 13, 2014
The craft of surgery
Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander Grothendieck, who brought much of contemporary mathematics into being with the force of his uncompromising vision, is dead at 86, some twenty-five years after leaving academic mathematics and retreating into a spiritual seclusion in the countryside. "As if summoned from the void," a two-part account of Grothendieck's life, from the Notices of the American Math Society: part I, part II. [more inside]
The 3-6 Chambers
Final Fantasy 3 (or is it 6?) was released 20 years ago. As it was coming out, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was blowing up the NYC music scene.
In their honour, enjoy Final Fantasy - The 3-6 Chambers! [more inside]
♫
not to be too Lindsay Lohan
In London in 2012, aspiring French fashion designer Anais Bordier was shown a YouTube video starring Samantha Futerman, an American actress who looked spookily like her. Some investigation revealed that the two were both Korean adoptees born in the same port town on the same day. Anais reached out to Samantha on Facebook - and everything changed. [more inside]
Plating Thanksgiving
Alternate History Africa without European Colonization
Alkebu-lan 1260 AH (higher resolution) is an alternative history map of Africa in AD 1844, taking as its point of departure from our timeline an even deadlier medieval Black Death, killing almost all Europeans. It is made by Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon, who explains some of his sources and thinking in this Prezi presentation. Cyon's thinking about alternative history is partly inspired by playing the computer game Civilization, and he has made a mod where you can play the medieval kingdom of Kongo
16 pianos and a whole lot of dada
The dadaist Ballet Mechanique (1924 video 16mins) was the only film written by Fernand Leger
and had cinematography by Man Ray. (film wiki).
It starred Alice Prin better known as Kiki de Montparnasse ( Metafilter previously ) and was scored by the American composer George Antheil.
In 1940 Antheil met Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler better known as Hedy Lamarr at a dinner party in Hollywood and together they patented a secret communications system known as frequency hopping which they gave to the navy who ignored it until 1957.
( Previous and previouslier).
It starred Alice Prin better known as Kiki de Montparnasse ( Metafilter previously ) and was scored by the American composer George Antheil.
In 1940 Antheil met Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler better known as Hedy Lamarr at a dinner party in Hollywood and together they patented a secret communications system known as frequency hopping which they gave to the navy who ignored it until 1957.
( Previous and previouslier).
Shake it like iPhonaroid
U JELLY, CURIOSITY?
Letterboxing
If you compulsively feel compelled tend to edit yourself as you write, you may benefit from ilys. Just enter a target wordcount and tap away. Until you meet your goal, ilys conceals what you've written and prevents you from backspacing. [more inside]
First they FUD you... Then you win!
The programming world seems stunned with the recent announcement from Microsoft that .NET is going open source. [more inside]
Winter inside the Yamal crater
The Yamal Crater (previously) mysteriously appeared on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia sometime in early 2014. Thought to be the result of methane accumulation in thawing permafrost, when first discovered the giant hole was too dangerous for people to enter. Now that the ground has frozen, scientists have explored the hole and released a a set of otherworldly photographs documenting their expedition.
I am the light
You can't support yourself with a Pumpkin
Marc Maron interviews Allie Brosh from Hyperbole and a Half (previously) about her work, her life, and coping with depression. Interview begins at 23:30.
[tw: suicide]
Trolling the KKK?
Faced with dropping enrollments, and deserved negative public image, some members of the Klan are experimenting with a novel, if bewildering, strategy - welcoming black, gay, and Jewish members. A Montana KKK chapter is advertising that they will take any xenophobe over 18 in order to better fight the "new world order" - even going as far as to meet with the NAACP and organize a peace summit. As is common in such cases, the Old Guard is displeased. While the Imperial Wizard of the United Klans has okayed meetings with the NAACP before, this seems to be a bridge too far. However, Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League suggests that only one man, John Abarr, is involved with the chapter.
We Are Red Elvises - Your Favorite Band!
Structural color: why you can't make blue powder from a morpho butterfly
What do a dead blue snake that was green when it lived, a modified, hardened beetle forewing that is still vibrant after 50 million years (PDF), the shiny blue Pollia condensata berries (previously), and a wide variety of blue-colored birds have in common? Structural coloration, specifically the structural designs of a variety of reflective prism structures that overcome the natural difficulty to create blue (and green) colors.
December 25: Holiday
Montgomery County, Maryland's Board of Education is coming under backlash after it voted 7 to 1 on Tuesday night to eliminate references to all religious holidays on the published calendar for 2015-2016. The decision followed a request from Muslim community leaders to give equal billing to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. [more inside]
Looking at Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation: The little idea that became science fiction's biggest series [SPOILERS] (io9)
On the planet Terminus, a group of academics struggles to survive as the Galactic Empire crumbles. With no weapons, all they can rely on are the predictions of a dead genius named Hari Seldon. That's right — it's time to discuss Isaac Asimov's Foundation![more inside]
Welcome to Foundation Week, a Blogging the Hugos special event. In 1983, Isaac Asimov won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for Foundation's Edge, in which he revisited his groundbreaking Foundation mythos for the first time in over thirty years. Because the Foundation series is such classic, quintessential, and beloved science fiction — the original stories won their own unique Hugo for Best All-Time Series in 1966, and influenced artists from Douglas Adams to George Lucas — Josh Wimmer and Alasdair Wilkins will be discussing each of the seven books between today and Sunday. We begin with Foundation, published in 1951.
From the glamorous to the romantic to the unusual.
ta-ra-ra-fourier
Dunkin’ and the Doughnut King
Ted Ngoy overcame poverty and escaped genocide, made a fortune off doughnuts and gambled it all away. Today, Ngoy is back on top — but America’s biggest doughnut chain could threaten the hundreds of California shops that are his legacy.
Flight of the Frenchies
The Frenchies in question are Tancrède Melet and Julien Millot. They are the subjects of the award-winning 2011 film, "I Believe I Can Fly"; here's a 13-min segment of that film, showing the two men atop some Norwegian cliffs "highlining" (climbing + slacklining + tightrope walking), BASE jumping and parachuting, all with tremendous panache.
The full film is available for rental ($3) or purchase ($7). [more inside]
The map is about to meet in the middle
The Supreme Court has lifted the stay preventing same-sex marriage in Kansas; meantime, South Carolina is stayed until November 20th. [more inside]
Medical Legacy of the War 1914-1918
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1: a pivotal time for Europe and a key transition point for medical science. The Lancet marks this centenary with a three part series ‘Legacy of the war 1914-1918’. The three papers examine the impact of World War 1 on infectious disease, military psychiatry, and amputation related pain.
The most-cited research of all time
"I still get hate mail from active and retired police officers."
In the opening scene of the 1973 movie “Serpico,” I am shot in the face—or to be more accurate, the character of Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino, is shot in the face. Even today it’s very difficult for me to watch those scenes, which depict in a very realistic and terrifying way what actually happened to me on Feb. 3, 1971.Frank Serpico: the police are still out of control.
« Previous day | Next day »