December 9, 2016
A pebble into the pond
In 2012 the Pebble Smartwatch, a pioneer in wearable technology, made Kickstarter history, reaching its funding goal within 2 hours, and ultimately raising over $10M from nearly 70,000 backers. On Thursday, Pebble announced that the company was ceasing operations, and the majority of the company was being sold to Fitbit, maker of fitness and activity trackers. [more inside]
"Sometimes I tell myself, 'Well, what would a guy do? He'd take it.'"
The Tina Fey Interview, by David Letterman (Hollywood Reporter)
THR's Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honoree confesses to a fellow late-night pioneer her fear of bombing onstage (his response: "It's like I have a twin") as two comedy greats talk Trump's feud with Alec Baldwin ("dignity of a seventh-grader"), the "endless anxiety" of parenting and why TV is "better than movies."
THR's Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honoree confesses to a fellow late-night pioneer her fear of bombing onstage (his response: "It's like I have a twin") as two comedy greats talk Trump's feud with Alec Baldwin ("dignity of a seventh-grader"), the "endless anxiety" of parenting and why TV is "better than movies."
A Beautiful Exercise in Trust
In November, a gentleman named Karim Sulayman was filmed in Central Park West, enjoying his day, thanks to many, many others in the park. Watch (and have your Kleenex handy): S/L Vimeo (3:14). (more inside) [more inside]
the joy of editing in the light of the mind
Princeton University has just launched a new archive showcasing the photographic works of Minor White. White, a founding editor of Aperture Magazine, found inspiration in Steiglitz' concept of Equivalence, as well as in his own complicated sexuality.
#CreateCourage
Tokyo by Train
Spend an entire day riding trains and trams all over Tokyo.
The history and lasting impacts of Acclimatization Societies
In 1854, a French anatomist named Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire established La Societé Zoologique d’Acclimatation, the first acclimatization society, headquartered in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, where he held a senior position. By 1860, the society had over 2,500 members, including diplomats, scientists, foreign heads of state, and military men. In another forty years, there were over fifty societies around the world, swapping species everywhere from Algiers to Tasmania. Some transplants died quickly, while others thrived, with European rabbits multiplying like, well, rabbits in Australia, European starlings taking down planes and ruining crops in the United States, while the English now battle American grey squirrels (previously). [via Presurfer] [more inside]
The scariest thing about snow in Seattle...
...is the Seattleites who drive in it. With the news that an actual measurable amount of snow fell in the Pacific Northwest, The Stranger is here with a few short films of low speed local failures to navigate a light dusting of the white stuff.
Dissociative Identity ________
Ariadne, Jacqueline, North, and others unnamed are all part of the same system. They share a single body. They take turns “fronting” the body, controlling it. And when they’re not fronting, the system members are free to roam an infinite landscape, a pocket reality that they call the “in-world”.
”Redwoods of the In-World” is an episode of the Here Be Monsters podcast recorded after the system got in touch with producers Jeff Emtman and Bethany Denton.
”Redwoods of the In-World” is an episode of the Here Be Monsters podcast recorded after the system got in touch with producers Jeff Emtman and Bethany Denton.
If these monkeys could talk
For years, the standard line in Ling 101 courses has been "Monkeys and apes can't make human speech sounds because of the shape of their vocal tract". A new paper is challenging that idea; NPR write up here. [more inside]
Divorcees of the Nile God
Best of Bandcamp 2016
Since it first started getting major buzz and attention around the start of the decade, Bandcamp has become the go-to place for anyone and everyone (that is to say, artists without agents and established labels) to release their albums. Musicians point to an artist-friendly approach to business and design, allowing for direct relationships with listeners and minimal interference. And there's been a treasure trove of undersung gems ever since. But the sheer breadth and volume could be hard to navigate, to say the least, leaving many to just wander around the "aisles" aimlessly (some would argue this is a good thing). This year Bandcamp launched Bandcamp Daily (previously) as an attempt to provide some curation around this vast catalog of releases, with a crack staff of knowledgeable, respected music critics. Now they've put out their Best Albums of 2016, and it's a stunner. [more inside]
Capturing The Know-It-All Demographic
Writing at the lefty quarterly journal The Baffler, Stanford Social Innvoation Review editor (and former Boston Review editor) David V. Johnson offers a critical look at Ezra Klein's and Matt Yglesias's Vox.com. He labels it "explatainment" and considers its relative sucess at one of its intended central missions, to become an authoritative source of information (not merely journalism) in the style of Wikipedia. Vox's well-known penchant for liberal-educated-white-guy mansplaining is addressed, as well the biases (hidden and not-so-hidden) inherent in modern hybrid information-entertainment delivery.
You can’t count votes that never got a chance to be cast
With six weeks to the inauguration of the current President-elect, the son of a Hebridean continues to make the press. Across a smorgasbord of controversy, Boeing and China and a union leader are tweet-called out, Taiwan are on the phone, Ben Carson has (awkward) a top job, Flynn jnr is out but Flynn snr stays in while Goldman Sachs is further in, Mr Coal is given the EPA, Coulter wavers, his wall may not be built after all, and conflicts of interests (one picked at random). Problems with the recent election such as interference and voter suppression (post title) (also, game) continue to be discussed while Jill et al continue with their recount battle. Elsewhere, think pieces about the Democratic party abound, and Hillary continues to stack up the votes. Also California, Biden for 2020, a large bipartisan bill heads Obama's way, some Federal bureaucrats are waiting to see what happens and a prophecy. [more inside]
No. 37, Wall-ſtreet, nearly oppoſite the Tontine Coffee-houſe
Kind of like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room
Well jel
Businessweek have published their annual list of the stories they are most jealous of in other titles. [more inside]
Still Doing Whatever a Spider Can
The trailer for the third movie incarnation of Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, was released via Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which featured a few additional Spider-Men on the show. The movie will feature Tom Holland as Peter Parker, and Michael Keaton as a menacing costumed version of a winged creature (no, not that one, nor that one, either). [more inside]
The Feminine Mystic
"The Golden Dawn (and Spiritualism) fostered women’s rights activists, activists against poverty, educators, anti-colonial revolutionaries, and radicals of all stripes. And the way they broke through the despair of daily life was through magic." Jessa Crispin looks at what magical thinking actually does for a person.
You gotta get it done in five minutes
Meet The Machinists Who Keep the New York Times Running is a short video from Motherboard. The video initiates a new series, State of Repair, which will look at the work involved in keeping legacy industrial infrastructure functioning.
Tastes like
Restaurant reviews are a dime a dozen on Youtube, but what the world still lacked was a guy going around London chicken shops rating them on wing crispiness, chip consistency, burger buildup and value for money (anything over two pounds fifty is stretching it). Fortunately, now there's Chicken Connoisseur's The Pengest Munch to fill the gap.
He's Spartacus!
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