March 21, 2016
How Jennifer Garner Went Full “Minivan Majority”
As Matt Damon explained in The Guardian, “Ben’s wife, Jennifer Garner, sells a shitload of magazines in the midwest. Magazines that — Ben explained this to me — you and I have never heard of, but that appeal to the mom in the midwest, who for some reason identifies with Jennifer and wants to know what she’s doing as a mom.”
Because they are in Haydn
The Forward recounts the Strange and Violent History of the Ordinary Grogger (also known as a ratchet), and why they are rarely found in orchestras.
Courtesy notice: the Microkorg is due in one week
Are you looking to try out some classic synthesizers? Perhaps you're trying to find that perfect fuzz bass tone or psychedelic delay/loop pedal. Well come on down to Guitar Center the Ann Arbor District Library! [more inside]
Our Baby Doffer
Oh fudge! You cussin', fargin' bastidge.
Colonels Of Truth
Draw my shiny metal ass!
Toonz, the animation software used by both Studio Ghibli (for Princess Mononoke all the way up to The Wind Rises) and Rough Draft studio (for the production of Futurama) will be made free and open source to the animation community beginning March 26, 2016.
Measuring and Understanding Dance
It's difficult to convey complex civic problems in 140 characters
SF BART's twitter account admits that their infrastructure is failing and delves into the details: "We have 3 hours a night to do maintenance on a system built to serve 100k per week that now serves 430k per day." [more inside]
authors and the truth about money
It is clear that authors, like other creative people looking to make a living doing what they love and are good at (bringing joy to many people in the process), are going to have to look to new ways of supporting themselves. But self-publish? No way.
Death by gentrification: the death that shamed San Francisco
San Francisco had been a place where some people came out of idealism or stayed to realize an ideal: to work for social justice or teach the disabled, to write poetry or practise alternative medicine – to be part of something larger than themselves that was not a corporation, to live for something more than money. That was becoming less and less possible as rent and sale prices for homes spiralled upward. What the old-timers were afraid of losing, many of the newcomers seemed unable to recognise. (slTheGuardian)
Good evening, Stockholm!
After a series of national selection processes, all 43 contestants for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest are set. Two familiar faces (last year's winner, Måns Zelmerlöw, and 2013 host Petra Mede) will guide us through two semis and a Grand Final while hopefully also making sense of a new vote-counting system. Come for the camp, stay for the geopolitical intrigue. [more inside]
Baltimore: The Third Rail
"Three weeks later, his administration released a revealing map showing how the money for road upgrades would be allocated around the state. Not only did the governor’s map show no money for Baltimore City. It did not show the city at all. By some Freudian slip, the city of 620,000 people had mistakenly been swallowed up by the Chesapeake Bay. Disappeared."
Grieving the white void
"I was a conscious, left-leaning, intelligent, and compassionate White person. How could I allow the casual racism going on around me to continue unchecked? How could I, too, be host to that parasitic racism?" (SL medium, by Abe Lateiner)
Kraft changes their mac and cheese; doesn't tell anybody
A new formula that removed artificial preservatives and swapped out artificial dyes for a combination of paprika, annatto and turmeric had been under development for three years. “We’ve sold well over 50 million boxes with essentially no one noticing,” said Greg Guidotti, vice president for meal solutions at Kraft Heinz. (SLNYT)
A land of endless waiting and palpable erosion
"This is big science performed on the tiniest of scales"
We weren't ashamed to be corny.
The script was for a retelling of Antigone set in an African American town in the 1930s, and it thoroughly impressed Carli. "The writing shook me, it was so good," she said. The women tried and failed to produce the film with Miramax, at which point Carli had her lightbulb moment: "What do you think about Britney Spears?"--Not a Hit, Not Yet a Cult Classic: Shonda Rhimes on the Making of 'Crossroads'
No cows were tipped in the making of this video
Betessläpp: like the last day of school for cows. Assuming the last day of school had huge cheering crowds.
I wouldn't care if it was designed by a fascist if it looked this good
AI learning to play video games
Besides GO, AI are learning to play video games. Without being told the rules beforehand. Watch AI learn and succeed at video games: Pong & Tetris, Breakout, Flappy Bird, 2048, MAR/IO, and in the future Starcraft and other RTS, or any game (previously)
Australia decides: 2016
War! The ruling Liberal-National coalition is under fire across multiple fronts: bullying, tax, negative gearing and superannuation, and the budget. And other things.
So Australia's is probably heading off to the ballot box on July 2, after what will be an exhausting two-month campaign. [more inside]
“It's fierce, an' it's wild..."
RIP Barry Hines, author of A Kestrel for a Knave that was adapted into the British film classic Kes. He also wrote the screenplay for Threads. [more inside]
I'm Cartooning It (pada-pa-pa-pa)
As part of its job recruitment program, McDonalds in Japan have released a (pretty adorable) anime ad. (More character info here though it's all in Japanese.) People are lovin' it - and there's a fandom already.
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