November 26, 2012
You would download your car data
"You probably don't think of your car as a developer platform, but Mike Rosack did."
Just in time for Lazarus Long's birthday
People tend to divide noted libertarian Robert A. Heinlein's career into three different eras, with the "juveniles," the "slick" science fiction stories, and the bigger, more opinionated novels, but over in Locus Magazine, Gary Westfahl has a theory that's sure to be controversial: Heinlein's career actually divides into a slew of serious novels, followed by a swerve into satire. {Via I09} [more inside]
HI! KICK CLAP HI! HI! CLAP HI! KICK CLAP I AM YOUR MA- GIC WAND
Do You Rock? [Epilepsy Warning] [Monochromatic Booty-Shaking Warning] A simple video for a simple tune. A parody and/or a ripoff of DubstepLyrics. [more inside]
if you want some fun, sing
Close that door, you weren't born in a stable.
The Parent Rap. Two parents rap about their life. [slyt]
You can hear them in your head.
"Jake from Two and a Half Men means nothing. He is a non-existent character."
Angus Jones, better known as Jake on the show Two and a Half Men, has joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The young star has released a pair of videos urging people to stop watching the show.
Cheetahs on the Edge
They can't serve it premixed because it's against the law.
I am fairly sure of these: Ginger, orris, galengal, lovage, chiretta, angelica, elecampane, hyssop, pomerance, camomile, lavender, coriander, pepper, cloves, star anis, allspice, nutmeg, cardamon, fennel, bitter orange, rose hips, quinine, licorice, tumeric, mace, saffron.
These are possibles: marshmallow, yarrow, burdock, curcuma, grains of paradise, cubeb, wintergreen, cassia, betony, purslane, borage, sandalwood.
Deer blood is a myth. Caramel is used as a sweetener. Your real problem is getting the proportions right.
And don't mix it with Red Bull. Drink it straight and cold.
These are possibles: marshmallow, yarrow, burdock, curcuma, grains of paradise, cubeb, wintergreen, cassia, betony, purslane, borage, sandalwood.
Deer blood is a myth. Caramel is used as a sweetener. Your real problem is getting the proportions right.
And don't mix it with Red Bull. Drink it straight and cold.
Could I interest you in dessert?
Chef Grant Achatz plates the final dessert course at Alinea. Or perhaps you'd prefer the chocolate pumpkin pie or the edible balloon? Bon appetit!
Obviously, I’m not a victim here
In October, 18-year old high school senior Ryan Romo was arrested for the sexual assault of a child (someone 16 or under, by TX state law).
On October 31, CultureMap Dallas's managing editor, Claire St. Amant published an article asking, "Is this Highland Park baseball star a rapist?" St. Amant ended her article, stating: If it's a case of impulsive teenage decisions, remorse and guilt, then no one suffers more than 18-year-old Ryan Romo. [more inside]
Has politics gone peer-to-peer?
Has politics gone peer-to-peer? A rich 90-minute panel discussion with Steven Johnson, author of "Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked World", featuring Yochai Benkler, Susan Crawford and Lawrence Lessig.
“NO. STOP.”
"You will not find a group less in favor of automatically aggressive, invasive medical care than intensive care nurses, because we see the pointless suffering it often causes in patients and families. Intensive care is at best a temporary detour during which a patient’s instability is monitored, analyzed, and corrected, but it is at worst a high tech torture chamber, a taste of hell during a person’s last days on earth."
Repeating Oneself
Erdal Inci has been experimenting with "cloned motion" in video for years and has now converted some of his hypnotic videos into looped gifs. (long-loading page, but worth it)
Supreme-Leader-Style
Kim Jong-un named Sexiest Man Alive for 2012. Link goes to Korea times.
Put simply, the opening credits to Hostage have no business looking as good as they do.
The Marquis de Sade of the puzzle world
[Henry] Hook has come to be known as the Marquis de Sade of the puzzle world: a brilliant and oddly beloved misanthrope, administering exquisite torture through dozens of puzzle books and syndicated crosswords.
Philips CD-i
The Philips CD-i was a unique blend of CD player and gaming console, with "interactive" playback capabilities. The only completely interactive music CD for the platform was released by Todd Rundgren in 1993. A reference guide for everything CD-i can be found here.
Surprise, You're on Candid Camera!
Goodnight Zombies!
Dynamo ep1 It’s an experiment. It’s a story. It’s a series of shorts. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy/’cute cyberpunk’ webseries. It’s the result of four years of late night discussions between friends. It’s a convoluted puzzle about the nature of reality (and monsters! and horrible romance!) It’s a narrative with layers of interlocking pieces. It’s the best thing we know how to make- and it’s pretty wacky!
[more inside]
Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman collaborate on social writing site Wattpad
Wattpad, started in 2006, is a free social writing site where people can publish their own work, read others' writing, and provide feedback. It can be accessed on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, with an app for Android or iOS. Wattpad enthusiast Margaret Atwood is currently collaborating with British author Naomi Alderman on a serial comic/horror story; you can read the chapters of The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home as they are added. [more inside]
Phillip Marlow's throbbing core of misogyny
Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses male mythology, biology and Raymond Chandler's Private Dick
Stubborn music
The Canto Ostinato is a minimalist classical composition written in 1976-1979 consisting of "small, entirely tonal cells which are repeated - how many times is left to the performer". Usually performed by two or four pianos, it's also been adapted to other instruments like the harp. The Canto Ostinato ("stubborn song") was written by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, who passed away yesterday. [more inside]
Downtown Vancouver's Mountain of Sulfer
Stanley Park is an urban forest, 1.5 square miles of fir and cedar abutting downtown Vancouver. It features stunning views of the Salish Sea, the North Shore Mountains, the Lion's Gate Suspension Bridge and a giant heap of neon-yellow 99.9% pure elemental sulfur. [more inside]
mmmmmmmm, forbidden donut
Entrepreneur Jia Jiang has decided to overcome his fear of rejection through a sort of exposure therapy desensitization: he's "seeking one rejection on purpose every day for 100 days" by making crazy requests of strangers, filming each encounter on his iPhone and posting them to his blog. Here's his attempt on Day 3 to order doughnuts shaped (and colored) like the Olympic rings at a Krispy Kreme in Austin, TX. [more inside]
Mary Shelley Writes for the Guardian
From their archives, Mary Shelley writes about the origins of Frankenstein.
interesting compromises
"my interest in a lot of old game music now has very little to do with "nostalgia" or any associations i had with the games, and much more to do with the way the different kinds of hardware used created interesting compromises for composers that led them [to] making some really interesting sounds," Liz Ryerson collects sounds from the abyss. In her blog post here she details the history and appeal of five (mostly forgotten) game soundtracks which push the limits of the both the genre and the hardware. [more inside]
Social Enclosures “R” Us
Who's the Shop Steward on Your Kickstarter? "The true product for sale on Kickstarter is not your art project, but your community and networks. ... Our projects that facilitate the funding are a side effect, a cost of doing business—the business of drilling our relationships for all they are worth."
The crew of the Enterprise take on their greatest challenge yet -- an out-of-service holodeck
Go for our eyes, Boo!
Rembrandt in White
The Art of Ironing is, primarily, a Russian advertisement for steam irons, however it is also a remarkable demonstration of recreating art from unusual materials; in this case, a simple white piece of cloth.
Loebolus
All the 245 pdf-format, public domain Loebs conveniently arranged in one place, ready to be downloaded for your classics reading pleasure. (via time's flow stemmed)
The gravy won
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (previously, also previously) has been kicked out of office for violating the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act after being found to have deliberately voted at city council on a measure related to his own pecuniary interests (previously). Full decision here. Ford may run for Mayor again in 2014. (Ford is widely expected to appeal the decision and request that the order be stayed in the meantime.)
An evil veterinarian?
Which James Bond villain has the most plausible schemes?
Pun Generator
This website makes puns. A single serving web app.
"Cats may not vote," Ms. Viviani observed, "but cat people do."
The Torre Argentina Roman Cat Sanctuary has been taking care of the multitude of felines that haunt the Largo Argentina archeological site in Rome since 1995. Their website has a page about its history, videos of their cats, and all the things you find on cat shelter websites. But they also have a blog dedicated to their fight with local authorities. Italian archeological administrators have demanded that the feline sanctuary be evicted [NYT] from the location of Julius Caesar's assassination, but the cat shelter is fighting back. In the blog of the New York Review of Books, the almost certainly pseudonymous Massimo Gatto points out that the archeological site is a hodgepodge of actual ruins and bad reconstructions dating back to the Fascist era.
The Truce on Drugs
Need a raise? Give away a few mints....
The Rule of Reciprocation: an interesting read for anyone who works for tips, or wonders why your physician is prescribing that particular medication. From NPR "Give And Take: How The Rule Of Reciprocation Binds Us"
Exonerating the Friedmans
At the time of the release of the documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," filmmaker Andrew Jarecki was criticized by some for not clearly advocating for the release of Jesse Friedman. However, eight years later, Jarecki is still working on assembling interviews and footage of victims recanting their testimony in an effort to overturn Friedman’s 1989 Great Neck molestation conviction.
"I often read dozens of books simultaneously."
My 6,128 Favorite Books - "Joe Queenan on how a harmless juvenile pastime turned into a lifelong personality disorder."
Why's This So Good?
Conceived as sort of a companion to Longreads, Longform, Pocket, Byliner, etc., Nieman Storyboard's Why's This So Good? series looks at why some great long-form journalism and narrative nonfiction pieces are so great. There are over 60 installments of writers talking shop about writing. [more inside]
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