December 11, 2013
"the center of the Earth is off by about two meters"
Jim Hall (1930-2013)
The jazz guitarist Jim Hall died yesterday.
The New York Times reports:
Jim Hall, a jazz guitarist who for more than 50 years was admired by critics, aficionados and especially his fellow musicians for his impeccable technique and the warmth and subtlety of his playing, died on Tuesday at his home in Greenwich Village. He was 83.[more inside]
Landlines? Who needs them?!?
"(TL;DR summary: AT&T is buying entire legislatures to rewrite the laws to allow them to become a fully unregulated company with no wholesale obligations, creating a de-facto monopoly. They can (and likely will) use it to squash or hurt wireless competitors as well, as they're permitted to favor their own subsidiaries with the network built and created over a hundred plus year monopoly, and Comcast is fully on-board because they'd like to split the market created when all their competitors are dead)" Paul Timmins, the telco nerd behind TelcoData.US (Previously), expounds on how the big players in the telecom business (AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast) are ruining the future of connectivity in the US.
My face fills the screen
Buried deep among the hundreds of old scripts in RKO Pictures’ archives was a 1941 melodramatic gem about an amnesia-stricken man who wakes up in the middle of a revolution in Mexico. Never produced, the screenplay for “The Way to Santiago” is credited to Orson Welles.
In The Jungle
"Mbube", a song that morphed into "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", illustrates the convoluted legalities surrounding music publishing rights and payments.
Interview with Alice Munro
Alice Munro, awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, was unable to travel to Stockholm due to her health, so the committee went to her. This is their 30 minute interview with the celebrated author. [more inside]
Hands down, the best possible use of fire ants
A Louisiana fire ant colony and 18 pounds of molten aluminum -- two great tastes that taste AWESOME together. Brought to you by the good folks at Anthill Art.
Owls are high maintenance
Such Moon! Very Going!
WOW, that is a really cool jacket.
Scary Compliments (SLYT)
Crack Open a Sunset Sarsaprilla And Settle In
Wayside Creations' surprisingly high-budget, on location shot Fallout New Vegas fan-series returns with: Nuka Break Season 2! (Full episode playlist). Rejoin Twig the Vault-Dweller, Ben The Ghoul , Scarlet The Escaped Slave and the Mysterious Ranger as they deal with the explosive aftermath of Season 1.
(Nuka Break Previously, Wayside Creations previously)
Disappearing American Landmarks: Roadside Rest Areas
"...Rest stops are vanishing from the landscapes of America. All over the country, rest areas are losing the fight to commercial alternatives: drive-thrus at every exit and mega-sized travel centers offering car washes, wi-fi, grilled paninis and bladder-busting sized fountain drinks. They're on the chopping block for many states, their upkeep giving way with tight highway budgets. Louisiana has closed 24 of its 34 stops, Virginia, 18 of its 42; pretty much every state in the country has reduced its number of rest areas, or at least cut operating hours. And they're not just being closed, they're being demolished. "They're just toilets and tables" you might say. But if you take a closer look, you will see that they are much more. " (Via The Atlantic Cities, which includes an interview with the photographer, Ryann Ford) [more inside]
The Nastiest Injury in Sports
After a weekend in which tight end Rob Gronkowski and safety Tyrann Mathieu both sustained season-ending tears to their anterior cruciate ligaments, many NFL fans are wondering why there seem to be more such injuries this season than in seasons past. Grantland looks at the dreaded ACL tear and tries to solve the puzzle. [more inside]
The NSA Raven
Once upon a database query, while I pondered weak security,
And many avenues of access via backdoor,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a wiretapping,
As of some one gently sniffing, sniffing at our server's door.
“‘Tis some hacker,” I muttered, “tapping at our server door
Or just a virus, nothing more.” -- The NSA Raven
And many avenues of access via backdoor,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a wiretapping,
As of some one gently sniffing, sniffing at our server's door.
“‘Tis some hacker,” I muttered, “tapping at our server door
Or just a virus, nothing more.” -- The NSA Raven
Blorpy: Interesting stories found in comments
Blorpy: Interesting stories found in comments "Internet comments are NOT all stupid.
If you read through enough comments, you come across some amazing stories.
I find them and post them here."
[via mefi projects]
Cooperstown number crunching
Kenny Shirley and Carlos Scheidegger of AT&T Labs have put together a fascinating tool to analyze voting patterns for the baseball Hall of Fame. This Deadspin post will help walk you through it. [more inside]
And a body, dead, wrapped in plastic
The Twin Peaks 12 Days of Christmas featuring a few actual cast members of the show (including BOB!), recorded by those wacky radio folks at KROQ in Los Angeles and barely tied-in to their first annual "Almost Acoustic Christmas" concert which continues to this day. Lyrics here. Previous Peaks
Dark side of the Moon
An Introvert's Guide to Better Presentations
The return of Sid
Forgotten soldiers
Veterans Administration hospitals performed lobotomies on more than 2,000 mentally ill soldiers during and after World War II. Today, the Wall Street Journal published the first part of a story extensively documenting the lives of the men who underwent this procedure, and those who performed it.
The strain beneath the surface
Re-examining Yasujiro Ozu on film. On the 50th anniversary of Yasujiro Ozu's death, Mark Schilling examines the iconic director's own thoughts on the filmmaking process. Donald Richie's review of ‘Ukigusa (Floating Weeds),’ Nov. 26, 1959. Ebert on Ozu. Criterion on Ozu.
Getting your mail at home is for suckers.
Flur Buh coppa Wee!
The sign language interpreter at the funeral of Nelson Mandela apparently... wasn't. If you thought the strangest thing out of the Nelson Mandela funeral was the byplay between President Obama, the first lady, and the Danish Prime Minister, think again. Deaf advocacy groups, led by the Deaf Federation of South Africa are expressing anger today over the appearance onstage of a supposed sign language interpreter who apparently knew nothing of sign language and was just making nonsense gestures.
I AM A WOMAN NOT A TRAFFIC JAM
The Bonfire of Empire
The marking "DG" was said to be an abbreviation of deputy governor, but in fact was a protective code word to indicate that papers so marked were for sight by "British officers of European descent only". -- Before withdrawing from its colonies, UK colonial officials made certain to destroy any papers that "might embarrass Her Majesty's [the] government", that could "embarrass members of the police, military forces, public servants or others eg police informers", that might betray intelligence sources, or that might "be used unethically by ministers in the successor government".
From WNYC in New York, this is Radiolab...LIVE!
The public radio science program Radiolab recently wrapped up a tour featuring their latest live show, Apocalyptical. It is, as you might have guessed, about the end times. The show, hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich and featuring live performances from comedians Kurt Braunohler and Reggie Watts and an appearance from dinosaur puppets, is now available for free on YouTube.
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