February 17, 2010
You're still going to die a lot.
The Rapture of the Nerds
Science Fiction writers Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Karl Schroeder and MeFi's own Charles Stross discuss the Singularity - which, Stross cheekily points out, has been around the corner for a good 20 years.
Union Seafaring 1953
The Seafarers (1953): (1) (2) (3). A documentary for the Seafarers International Union by Stanley Kubrick. [NSFW]
her hips, her lips
and what exactly is a 'Great Deal'?
TV, When It Rocked and Rolled
In August 1990, when Spin magazine was still an edgier cousin to Rolling Stone, it published a list of the 35 Greatest Moments in Rock 'n' Roll Television. [more inside]
Ruby Hunter
We were supposed to really actually forget about that lifestyle. But it'd come back to me in song.Ruby Hunter, award winning songwriter, has died.
News Dots
News Dots: The Day's Events as a Social Network. Six degrees of news separation.
Sometimes You Can See Sound
Bed Bugs, Dust Mites and Dirt. Oh, my!
"Half a million dirty Britons wash their bed sheets only three times a year, a survey discloses laying bare the disgusting bedroom habits of the nation. One in six people also admitted waiting at least a month before washing their bed sheets." "Londoners have the dirtiest bed sheets in the country." [more inside]
How much would it cost to melt all the snow in Buffalo?
A Diary of Numbers: Physicist Aaron Santos, author of How Many Licks (Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything), uses science and math to estimate answers to life's greatest questions, including: How likely is it that we inhale a molecule breathed by Carl Sagan?; and What costs more: the Silverdome or the number of peanuts needed to build a life-size replica of the Silverdome? [more inside]
Logic Puzzles
Since 1980, Nikoli^ has been in the business of creating many different variations of logic puzzles (such as the very popular Sudoku and Kakuro). Unfortunately, as they're stationed in Tokyo, their magazine is unavailable to most Americans.
Luckily, over the decades they've inspired quite a few people to make their own puzzles and variants, including:
Luckily, over the decades they've inspired quite a few people to make their own puzzles and variants, including:
- The Art of Puzzles, by Thomas Snyder (updated weekly, plus bonuses)
- A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog, by Grant Fikes (updated several times a week)
- Melon's Puzzles, by Palmer Mebane (updated daily)
- Detuned Radio, by Tom Collyer (updated weekly)
Made in Sweden
I'll have a shandy, thanks
Scottish brewery Brewdog announce the world's strongest beer, Sink The Bismarck, at a staggering 41%.
Viktoriya Yermolyeva, heavy metal pianist
Viktoriya Yermolyeva plays Metallica's "Master of Puppets", Motorhead's "Ace of Spades", and Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss" the way they were meant to be heard - on the piano.
All the Documentaries You Can Handle
The HotDocs Festival, North America's largest documentary film festival, has placed an enormous amount of content online.
A Lot To Live For
An Olympic Tent Village has opened in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, on an empty lot currently being leased by the Vancouver Olympic Committee, in response to increasing homelessness in "Canada's most livable city", in spite of spending more than $6 billion on the 2010 Olympic Games. Mayor Gregor Robertson has stated that they won't be evicted - for now. [more inside]
From Mountain View to Vladivostok
"The great Trans Siberian Railway, the pride of Russia, goes across two continents, 12 regions and 87 cities. The joint project of Google and the Russian Railways lets you take a trip along the famous route and see Baikal, Khekhtsirsky range, Barguzin mountains, Yenisei river and many other picturesque places of Russia without leaving your house." [more inside]
Wait...is that...a Glitch?
Some of you may remember the Game Neverending (previously). But have you heard about Glitch? [more inside]
All tweets going forward will be "I'm home. Yup, definitely home."
PleaseRobMe.com tells you when people on Twitter are advertising that they are not at home. [more inside]
Hot Barbeque!
When we reach these, the bleakest and coldest days of winter, my mind inevitably turns towards the warm days of summer and one of America’s favorite pastimes: Barbeque. [more inside]
Portrait of The Na'vi People of Hometree Wisconsin
LARP (Live Avatar Role Playing) (SLYT)
Talking with a mouthfull of motor.
Hackerspaces.org
Hackerspaces.org. Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.
Everywhere you look, there's a heart, a hand to hold on to.
Glory at Sea : "I try and think about how this storm and all these people dyin' was all a part of God's plan. But mostly, I just stare up through the water hopin' I can have one last look at them."
2008's "Glory at Sea" [.mov] [vimeo] [youtube] is an extaordinary 25-minute short film in which a group of mourners and a man spat from the depths of Hades build a boat from the debris of New Orleans to rescue their lost loved ones trapped beneath the sea. [more inside]
I'm shocked, shocked I say!
It feels best at 220 volts. But with the provided replacement plugs, the Vilcus can also be used at 110 volts. Makes a great gift for those special friends. (from the people who brought you the LCD keyboard)
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