February 12, 2013
Speed Painter D. Westry
Speed-painter D. Westry appeared on the Anderson Show, promising to paint a picture in 90 seconds or less. With the clock ticking down, guests and hosts alike were puzzled by the work taking shape on the canvas, until. . .
"Oh man, come on..."
Howlin' Wolf schools Eric Clapton and friends on "Little Red Rooster" (slyt)
The Empire Strikes Back?
"Trip Through the Grand Canyon"
Dreaming of password combinations sucks
Richat Structure: the Eye of the Sahara
First noticed by westerners in 1965, when the Gemini-4 spacecraft flew over northwest Africa (alternate source, with link to uncompressed TIF | in Earth photographs from Gemini III, IV, and V on Archive.org), the Richat Structure in the Sahara desert of west–central Mauritania resembles an impact crater or a circular target (or a possible Atlantis, or Plato's circular city, or maybe an open-pit mine), but is a naturally occurring 40-50 km (25-30 mi) geologic dome that has eroded over time. It's large enough that, when seen in person, the scale of the geography is hard to capture. But it is quite impressive when seen from space (mentioned previously)
Name 5 female directors. Go!
This is not the Hammer. The Hammer is my penis.
The Hammer is a light-up dildo that's muscle controlled. Or a test your strength game for your vagina or anus. Kristen Stubbs, Ph.D. is a roboticist who runs The Toymaker Project, "a place to think about technological empowerment with respect to sexuality, gender and pleasure." Likely NSFW.
Lost Vanguard: The remains of Soviet Modernist architecture
Photographer Richard Pare spent from 1992 to 2007 documenting the modernist architecture that flourished in the newly-formed Soviet Union. Many of the building are now underused, decayed, or demolished. Here is an interview. Here are some reviews of a 2007 show at MOMA and the current exhibit at Chicago's Graham Foundation, which ends on the 22nd. Previously.
"Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?"
r/IAmA (previously) has been gaining in popularity since Barack Obama stopped by to answer questions last August. Yesterday Bill Gates showed up to talk about his charity work and his global concerns; earlier in the week, journalist Matt Taibbi explained why breaking up the banks should be the Holy Grail for activists, and The Pirate Bay's co-founder Peter Sunde talked about why he hopes TPB dies soon. Dan Rather fielded questions via video recordings, while Arnold Schwarzenegger preferred to write his answers down (warning: kind of illegible). In the last month alone, three members of the House of Representatives showed up – Jim McGovern (MA), Jared Polis (CO), and Zoe Lofgren (CA). Meanwhile, actor Dante Basco admitted he had a crush on Emmy Rossum while she was doing a simultaneous AMA; needless to say, Redditors mentioned it to her, resulting in an adorably awkward exchange between the two.
15 Quadrillion Dollars
The comment period for the DRAFT Wireless code [PDF] to address some cellular provider abuses is expiring soon (February 15th). Comments can be made here.
Highlights of the draft code include:
- A $50 (or less) monthly cap on incurred fees.
- A limitation of cancellation fees equal to the remaining amount of the prorated incentive amount
- Mandatory unlocking at no cost for non subsidy phones with no waiting period.
- Limits on deposits and non payment cancellations.
- No termination fee, 15 day cooling off period
- Mandatory listing of limits on "unlimited" plans.
The State of our Metafilter is Strong
President Barack Obama will tonight give the first State of the Union address of his second term in office. The address will again focus strongly on the issues of jobs and the economy.
The Republican response will be delivered by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and will focus on traditional Republican messages of lower taxes and spending. The bilingual Senator plans to give his remarks in both English and Spanish in an attempt to reach out to the Latino community which has proven difficult for Republican politicians to connect with.
There will also be a Tea Party response delivered by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Senator Paul will call for reduced spending and debt and for the Republican party to be more welcoming of immigrants. Jill Stein of the Green Party will also give a response. [more inside]
Pepsi Shoe
Robbie Maddison's Air Craft (slyt) Motorcycle stuntman Robbie Maddison, who worked on the James Bond movie Skyfall, shows off his skills at an Arizona airplane graveyard. Like Danny Macaskill with a motor, or Ken Block with fewer wheels, kinda.
Walrus Workout
Ripley - the civilian - is the goddamn hero, not the fucking marines.
Is It That Hard to Make A Decent 'Aliens' Game? It is if the abysmal reviews for the new game Aliens: Colonial Marines are accurate. Rock Paper Shotgun's John Walker lists the worst moments, while Destructoid's Jim Sterling tears it apart and recommends better Alien games. [more inside]
Shhhh.
Let his love pop a cap in your butt
So when did you move to Austin?
Austin is booming with jobs, condos, festivals, traffic, hipsters, joggers, and high-concept dive bars.
Does that mean it’s no longer Austin?
Does that mean it’s no longer Austin?
starring Puck Fronger
"In comic books life is worth nothing; there is no dignity of a human"
In 1954 Fredric Wertham wrote Seduction of the Innocent which, in no small way, led to the Comics Code Authority. Carol Tilley, a professor of library and information science, has proven that the book misrepresented and altered the original data. (previously, previously)
Chopsticks are Critical To The Process of Making USB Drives
Playing To Lose
How competitive Tetris winners approach an unwinnable game.
The Price of Beans.
Himileia Vastatrix, colloquially known as Roya or coffee rust, outbreaks are occurring at a frightening pace in Central America. Coffee futures and associated prices for specialty coffees, especially from small family-run farms are expected to rise, drastically, on top of a lower estimated harvest. [more inside]
BBC Radio 4 Book Club: 179 episodes now available online
Book Club. This 30-minute programme's been on Radio 4, the BBC's premier speech radio station, since 1998. Books are announced a month in advance, giving listeners a chance to read the chosen title before the discussion. James Naughtie then interviews the book's author about it in front of an audience of his (or her) readers, who also put questions of their own. My favourites from the programme's archive include Alan Bennet (Writing Home), Clive James (Unreliable Memoirs), Douglas Adams (a 1 hour special on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Elmore Leonard (Rum Punch), James Ellroy (Black Dahlia), PJ O'Rourke (Holidays in Hell) and Stephen Fry (The Hippopotamus). No doubt you'll have your own. [more inside]
A Hermit Over His Head
In the wake of Pope Benedict's resignation yesterday, the world has become re-aquainted with a more famous papal resignation; that of Celestine V, a hermit who proved wildly incompetent as pope and never wanted the job in the first place – but was canonized nevertheless, and received special acclaim from Pope Benedict just three years ago. [more inside]
How Anheuser Busch is stopping the craft beer revolution
Both Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors employ "category space analysts," whose job is to visit a store like 7-Eleven and consult them on the optimal placements of beer on the shelves.
"They are doing the sets, they [say to a store]: 'We can do that for you,'" says Koch. "And then they can take my beer from eye level to the top shelf, which drops my sales rate in half." -- Elizabeth Flock at US News reports on the increasingly dirty struggle between craft beer brewers and the big brewing companies in the US.
"They are doing the sets, they [say to a store]: 'We can do that for you,'" says Koch. "And then they can take my beer from eye level to the top shelf, which drops my sales rate in half." -- Elizabeth Flock at US News reports on the increasingly dirty struggle between craft beer brewers and the big brewing companies in the US.
WOLF FLIRT GLASSES
"If you've ever read a silver age comic book in your life, chances are you've seen the ad for World Wide Diamond Co., once located in windy wacky Chicago IL. And if you sent away for one of their smallish, 48-page, newsprint mail order catalogs then you absolutely uncovered a world of REAL hidden treasure!"
Love 2.0
There is no such thing as Everlasting Love. Apparently all we have are "micro-moments of positivity resonance." Deflating the Love Myth, just in time for Valentines Day? [more inside]
Penguin Highway
While travelling in Antarctica, journalism student Melissa Brennan took this short video at an intersection of a penguin highway.
Now watch this drive
"Oh? Is it a dud?" Least favorite words when working with explosives.
Everything but Hawaii
"Cheever wasn't the only one who found inspiration at the Writers' Project [NYT]. Others included Conrad Aiken, Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Arna Bontemps, Malcolm Cowley, Edward Dahlberg, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Kenneth Patchen, Philip Rahv, Kenneth Rexroth, Harold Rosenberg, Studs Terkel, Margaret Walker, Richard Wright and Frank Yerby. These federal employees produced what would become the renowned American Guide Series, comprising volumes for each of the 48 states that then existed, as well as Alaska."
The Island of lost flavors
"the political soap opera that is today's Republican Party"
"Why Obama Is Giving Up on Right-Leaning Whites: For decades, Democrats shaped their policies around fears of the culturally conservative white voters to the GOP. But Obama’s winning coalition has altered that calculus."
"Original Sin: Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people"
"The Future Of The Republican Party Is By The Pool At The Biltmore: The talk at the Miami hotel where Jeb Bush works, and Marco Rubio works out, is of the next president. But can the young senator get out from under Jeb’s shadow?"
"Original Sin: Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people"
"The Future Of The Republican Party Is By The Pool At The Biltmore: The talk at the Miami hotel where Jeb Bush works, and Marco Rubio works out, is of the next president. But can the young senator get out from under Jeb’s shadow?"
U.S. Chamber of Commerce influence in European Parlement
E.U. Data Protection Directive has many proposed amendments that MEPs cut and pasted directly from American right-wing lobbyists group and ALEC member the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (previously). [more inside]
Zombie warning issued via Emergency Alert System
Yesterday KRTV in Great Falls MT interrupted programing with an Emergency Alert System message. The message warned that "The bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living." [more inside]
Holding back the night -With its increasing brilliance -The summer moon
Vania Zouravliov was a child prodigy inspired from an early age by influences as diverse as The Bible, Dante, early Disney animation, North American Indians and Poe.
Told in Russia that his work was from the Devil, he has described his pieces as having a Hoffmannesque feel, and has always been interested in creating graphic art in its purest form. Others call his work a blend of Rock Chic and Punk.
Here is an extensive Gallery, (Some pictures NSFW).
Told in Russia that his work was from the Devil, he has described his pieces as having a Hoffmannesque feel, and has always been interested in creating graphic art in its purest form. Others call his work a blend of Rock Chic and Punk.
Here is an extensive Gallery, (Some pictures NSFW).
Retweet to add additional diamonds to your shopping basket
Twitter is experimenting with online shopping:
"American Express card holders who connect their card numbers to their Twitter accounts can post on Twitter to trigger a purchase of select products, including discounted American Express gift cards, Kindle Fire tablets from Amazon.com Inc. and jewelry from designer Donna Karan. The program will roll out over the next few days." [more inside]
Touching Yarns
Loes Veenstra knitted more than 500 sweaters since 1955 & kept them in her house in the 2nd Carnissestraat. The sweaters were never worn. Until today. [more inside]
Masters of the Internet, Le Monde Diplomatique
To understand what is at stake we need to make our way through the rhetorical smog. For months prior to the WCIT, the Euro-American press trumpeted warnings that this was to be an epochal clash between upholders of an open Internet and would-be government usurpers, led by authoritarian states like Russia, Iran and China. The terms of reference were set so rigidly that one European telecom company executive called it a campaign of “propaganda warfare” (2). ~ Masters of the Internet, Le Monde Diplomatique
North Korea has completed its third nuclear test
Around midnight local time (UTC +9) on 12 February the Democratic People's Republic of Korea detonated a 6-10 kiloton nuclear device at the Punggye-ri nuclear test facility. [more inside]
Mapping Data
In December, the Philadelphia police department released a csv database of major crimes (murder, rape, burglary, etc) since 2006. Since then, community software developers have been mapping the data. The community involvement is hoped to spur the future release of large city data sets. [more inside]
If 'A Small World' played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Neal Goldman and his company Relationship Science (NYT link) wants to bring the the 1% and those aspiring to be 1% closer together. Do the rich need something like this or will it go the way of other rich connectors such as A Small World or James List?
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