March 24, 2011

Chess mates' cheating checked

Three grand masters have been caught cheating at a chess Olympiad. The team members communicated using instructions disguised as phone numbers and and an ingenious system relating positions within the room to positions on the board. Details of the system and the way it was revealed can be found here, and the French Chess Federation's report (in French) here.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:01 PM PST - 74 comments

Crowdfunded visual journalism

Emphas.is is a site where photojournalists can pitch ideas to be funded by many small donations, i.e. crowdfund them. So far nine projects have been pitched, covering a range of subjects, from the Uyghur in western China to life in Greenwood, Mississippi. Each project has a short introductory video and all are interesting in their own right. So are the descriptions and photographs that accompany the projects. The blog is worth checking out as well, especially the interviews with journalists, such as the four women who want to document a mass rape that happened last year in the Congo and a project about communism in Laos. The FAQ explains Emphas.is and how crowdfunding works in greater detail.
posted by Kattullus at 10:40 PM PST - 3 comments

Comodo Registration Authority compromised

The circumstantial evidence suggests that the attack originated in Iran. Every time you see a little lock icon in your browser and are using HTTPS connections, odds are you're using a site whose certificate was signed by an Certificate Authority like VeriSign, Comodo, or Thawte. This week, SSL certificate provider Comodo announced that one of its accounts had been compromised. The attacker used the account to generate 9 bogus certificates to use for 7 well-known domains. While the breach was discovered and the certificates were revoked, it does raise questions about the chain of trust for all SSL certificates. [more inside]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:05 PM PST - 49 comments

Message With a Bottle

Message With a Bottle is a pretty darned charming tumblr by a stay-at-home dad who writes post-it notes to himself about parenting and fatherhood.
posted by Shohn at 7:06 PM PST - 34 comments

Were they Above The Law or Out For Justice?

Controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio and movie/TV star Steven Seagal raided a suspected cockfighter's house with a tank and several other armored vehicles. No comment yet from Outlaw Vern, who literally wrote the book of Steven Seagal. He has been covering Seagal's show Lawman on his site. Previous post on Joe Arpaio.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:12 PM PST - 139 comments

Fine British political snark

10 O'Clock Live is a show currently airing on Channel 4 in the UK. It could be considered a British take on the Daily Show, but longer, weekly, with more discussion, and performed live. MeFi favorite Charlie Brooker is one of their presenters, along with David Mitchel, Lauren Laverne and Jimmy Carr. While focused on British issues, the show sometimes covers international topics, and is wildly funny. Here are some highlights:
Charlie Brooker: On Gaddafi - On Berlusconi - On the 'Big Society' - On Sarah Palin - On the iPad 2 - On the English Defense League & the Daily Star - On Ed Miliband (Leader of the Labour Party, beating out his brother David) - On Prince Andrew
David Mitchell: On political hyperbole - On language in the media - On encouraging rich people to immigrate - On what to do with the Olympic Stadium
Jimmy Carr: As Berlusconi - On Product Placement
Lauren Laverne: Guide for new democracies - Inside the brain of Ed Miliband - British PR companies helping tyrants
Everyone on David Cameron on The One Show (this one's awesome)
[more inside]
posted by JHarris at 6:07 PM PST - 84 comments

World control panel

World control panel Continuing a trend of modern parents that put the boring, lifeless drones that raised you and ruined your life to shame, is Steve Lodefink, a UI designer for the Walt Disney Internet Group in Seattle. His latest project, The World Control Panel, was designed at the request of his son, Harlan. Harlan wanted a light panel to use for secret missions when he and his friend play "agents." The resulting UI design, which took three weeks to build, displays a variety of light combinations and includes a voice recorder and the Larson Scanner (used in Knightrider and Battlestar Galactica).
posted by hincandenza at 5:41 PM PST - 33 comments

Draw me a tank!

For many years, the inhabitants of the Corsican village of Vezzani have been entertaining visitors with a curious legend: the actual father of a certain embattled dictator is rumoured to be a local boy. Like Saint-Exupery, Albert Preziosi once fell from the sky. According to local lore, he wandered in the desert until he met, not a Little Prince, but a princess. Like father, like son? No one has tried yet to get a DNA sample from the Colonel, but who knows what the future holds?
posted by elgilito at 5:32 PM PST - 9 comments

Party in Rob's Room!

"Hi Rob. You know how we said we were going to have a 6 month party in your room?" Rob's roommates had a good time while he was away.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:25 PM PST - 52 comments

Conviction

Betty Anne Waters's brother Kenny was sent to prison for first degree murder and armed robbery in 1982. Over the next 16 years, Betty Anne got her GED, college degree, and law degree, all in an effort to prove Kenny was innocent. With the assistance of the Innocence Project, Betty Anne was able to use DNA evidence to show Kenny was innocent. [more inside]
posted by reenum at 5:06 PM PST - 28 comments

Plan 241

Five Alaskans have been arrested and charged with plotting to kill judges and State Troopers. At the time of their arrests, they had obtained illegal guns, grenades, and silencers. Schaefer Cox, the leader of the group, identifies himself with the Sovereign Citizen Movement and is a member of the Alaska Citizens Militia. The militia—one of hundreds of active “Patriot” Groups in the United States—maintains a website with pictures of bears, videos, and a list of Acts of War, which include “mandatory medical anything” and “involuntary involvement in anything.” [more inside]
posted by charmcityblues at 4:03 PM PST - 90 comments

Lying prosecutors in Indiana

The protests in Wisconsin have drawn criticism from some quarters, leading to the firing of a deputy AG in Indiana. Previously. After a lawsuit forced the WI DoA to have emails to Governor Walker released, certain others have claimed to have "had their email hacked". Not so much.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:49 PM PST - 47 comments

Sinning Wizards

Mormon Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson of the "Mistborn" and "Wheel of Time" fame got some flak for his stance against gay wizards- (and marriage). After a reddit user posted his essay, Sanderson joined the discussion to defend the position of his church and to explain exactly how sinful engaging in homosexual acts is.
posted by ts;dr at 2:55 PM PST - 256 comments

This frog knows no fear.

Don't touch the frog. Mark Moffett, previously discussed here, tells the humorous story of how he went to a remote Columbian valley and photographed a very deadly frog.
posted by apathy0o0 at 2:40 PM PST - 12 comments

Super Size Mii

The 3DS, Nintendo's new handheld console, is coming out next week in the US, and is already out in Japan. The console's big feature is its "glasses-less 3D" screen, which achieves its effect via a parallax barrier. One of the console's lesser-touted features, however, is that there are two cameras on the back of the device, which can be used for taking 3D pictures, and also for playing augmented reality games, using an included card for tracking. The augmented reality features also include the ability to render a tiny version of your mii on a tabletop. If you're somewhat ambitious, you could even make your own, larger version of the tracking card to render your mii "life-sized". And if you're REALLY ambitious...
posted by luvcraft at 2:21 PM PST - 37 comments

"We dream that one day Walt Bogdanich will have to say: 'I can’t believe the Sarasota Whatever-Tribune cost me my 20th Pulitzer.'"

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Reporter Matt Doig is looking for investigative journalists....
posted by zarq at 2:15 PM PST - 16 comments

Koch Industries looking north.

There's been a lot of talk about Koch lately, mostly in regard to Wisconsin and Michigan. Now the billionaire Tea Party financiers have turned their eyes to Canada, and are set to lobby the Alberta government. Previously.
posted by Stagger Lee at 1:06 PM PST - 85 comments

First-Hand Gaming History, from Mike Dailly

Game programmer and designer Mike Dailly has been making games since he was 14, back in 1984. It was then that he met David Jones, Russell Kay and Steve Hammond at the Kingsway Amateur Computer Club, a group that gathered at Kingsway Technical College in Dundee, Scotland. These four chaps would go on to form DMA Design, home to Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, amongst other games. Dailly has been sharing stories and materials from the archives of DMA, including The Complete History of DMA Design, The Complete History of Lemmings (previously), GTA prototypes, graphics and early game design docs (when it was called "Race 'n' Chase"), and more.... [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:49 PM PST - 16 comments

On acting and animation in the movie Rango

On ILM's first animated feature, Rango: Visual Effects Supervisor Tim Alexander gives details about creating the scenes, while Johnny Depp discusses the acting techniques used.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:31 PM PST - 37 comments

"From Vinyl, To Tape, To You"

Pates Tapes is an online music project from Charles Pates comprised of hundreds of hours of mixtapes culled from vinyl and cassette. Just click and play.
posted by dhammond at 12:04 PM PST - 20 comments

Friday Flash Fun Fezalike: Sky Island

Get yer dose of Friday Flash Fun with this Fezalike: Sky Island is an adorable 8-bit platformer that involves perspective-shifting and tropical tunes.
posted by tybeet at 11:33 AM PST - 11 comments

Real life imitates art?

Pontypool is Canadian director's Bruce McDonald zombie (?) flick about language virus. In real life, Toronto's Global News Mark McAllister suffers a bizarre on-air episode on Wednesday, reminiscent of the CBS Serene Branson.
posted by SylviaAspevig at 11:30 AM PST - 35 comments

Juxtaposition

Virginia Woolf and Arturo Gatti have never met. If they had met, likelihood would have made their meeting brief and prosaic. This Triple Canopy piece unites their motivation, if only briefly, and makes for one hell of an interesting article. [more inside]
posted by Arquimedez Pozo at 11:28 AM PST - 6 comments

Everyone Once in Berlin

Since the fur-coated Boot Girls’ particular services were suggested by the iridescent colors of their calf-length, patent-leather boots and shoelaces, suitors had to be intimately familiar with their semaphore-like advertising before accompanying them to nearby apartments. Naturally, only devoted aficionados could decipher such specific messages with confidence. Other potential clients had to buy special primers, where Berlin’s complex street semiotics were thoughtfully decoded for the uninitiated. - Sex tourism in Berlin during the Jazz Age, along with some illustrations from the period. (Racy rather than obscene, but somewhat NSFW)
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:15 AM PST - 16 comments

Raw Music International

Raw Music International is a prospective television series about music from around the world that would usually escape the attention of folk not living in the middle of it. The first episode has already been shot in Kenya, and the folk behind it are currently trying to get it funded. But until it gets broadcast, we can read their accounts of going out and recording the hip-hop, reggae and more trad-ish music of Kisumu. If you're interested in THE MUSIC AND NOTHING BUT THE MUSIC, head over to their Soundcloud page.
posted by Dim Siawns at 10:45 AM PST - 3 comments

Monopoly is as monopoly does

Why Is Microsoft Seeking New State Laws That Allow it to Sue Competitors For Piracy by Overseas Suppliers?
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:23 AM PST - 41 comments

An Apology of Sorts...

Popular punk band Screeching Weasel has dis-banded after front man Ben Weasel punched two women at SXSW last week. Weasel offered an apology (kind of). Last night, the other four members of the band resigned. [more inside]
posted by shesdeadimalive at 10:14 AM PST - 206 comments

X day

OS X is X today! Meanwhile, Bertrand Serlet, father of OS X, is leaving apple.
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM PST - 123 comments

Who Would Dare?

Roberto Bolaño recalls his days of stealing books in Mexico.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:35 AM PST - 14 comments

Shoot it in the head! Shoot it in the head!

The Zombie Autopsies with Steven Schlozman, MD (SLVimeo)
posted by cthuljew at 9:33 AM PST - 8 comments

I eagerly await the return of Craigslist Adult Services.

Village Voice debunks influential study of online trafficking. Feministing has more.
posted by prefpara at 9:28 AM PST - 37 comments

What's the opposite of outrage filter?

In what appears to be the first such action of its type, an Immigration Judge in Manhattan has adjourned deportation proceedings for the Argentine lesbian spouse of an American citizen to allow the couple to proceed with their application to have their marriage recognized for purposes of federal immigration law. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 9:22 AM PST - 23 comments

Open for Business

The U.K. Government presented its 2011 Budget, intended to be a “budget for growth” aimed at reinforcing the message that Britain is “open for business”. [more inside]
posted by three blind mice at 8:47 AM PST - 27 comments

Is China Next?

Francis Fukuyama on China's political (r)evolution: Will the protests that have swept the Middle East inspire a similar movement in China, or is that country's middle class more interested in the material than the political? [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 7:42 AM PST - 62 comments

Tennis Girl: a face behind the behind.

Fiona Walker has stepped into the spotlight to claim ownership of the world's most famous bum- certainly the most famous in tennis [more inside]
posted by rongorongo at 5:21 AM PST - 74 comments

Akira adaptation courts white actors

Beloved anime classic Akira (previously) is in the process of getting a live-action adaption courtesy of Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. In fact, they're currently trying to assemble a cast. Oddly enough, despite keeping the leading characters' names Kaneda and Tetsuo, all the actors approached are white. This hasn't gone unnoticed, and Racebending.com is preparing a campaign to protest. Just last year M. Night Shyamalan's adaption of The Last Airbender (previously) drew massive criticism for having an all-white cast in an Asian setting. [more inside]
posted by Harald74 at 5:21 AM PST - 230 comments

HTML Phive

Think Quarterly a new online magazine by Google UK. [more inside]
posted by blue_beetle at 5:08 AM PST - 10 comments

Go Ahead, Be Vulnerable. This Is Coke Talk.

This is an advice column by an L.A. party girl who likes to talk shit on the internet. E.g. She’ll take your questions about the point of Serious Relationships. And give you advice about your sexual identity. Or tell you about a little something called Prince Charming Disease. There’s some advice about managing your existential crisis too. Even replies to fifteen year old girls on tumblr about their teenage flirting. There is also tons of fun sized advice. In her own summary: “What I [write] may be unfiltered, but it’s still cooked up from the same basic ingredients as the rest of pop culture.” It’s “Shady advice from a raging bitch who has no business answering any of these questions.” It’s Dear Coke Talk. [more inside]
posted by fantodstic at 12:45 AM PST - 85 comments

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