March 8, 2015

The hopalong attractor

These orbits are generated iterating this simple algorithm: (x, y) -> (y - sign(x)*sqrt(abs(b*x - c)), a -x )
posted by slater at 10:21 PM PST - 19 comments

Big Data looks at your poop

The team gathered samples over the course of a year from sewage treatment plants in 71 different cities in 31 states, chosen for their geographic spread and range of obesity rates. The leanest city sampled was Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with an obesity rate of 13.5 percent, while the heaviest was St. Joseph, Missouri, with a rate of 37.4 percent. ... "If we had a city with a higher percentage of obese people, we would see a higher percentage of the kinds of bacteria associated with obesity,"
posted by mecran01 at 9:57 PM PST - 32 comments

'You're on your own.'

James Blake: Retrograde [Vimeo, Youtube], directed by Martin de Thurah (from Overgrown)
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:45 PM PST - 5 comments

СУВЕНИР №2 (and other Russian Jazz and Hip-Hop Sounds)

The author’s key creative task is to demonstrate the unique sound of soviet jazz school, where musicians complemented conventional musical tools with folk instruments and soviet electronics. "Souvenir" sets a goal of introducing as many listeners as it can to the legacy of the few jazz collectives there were in USSR. "Souvenir" is a bad mood remedy that will keep you warm throughout the long Russian winter.
Artem Ryazanov (Miracle Libido) is a DJ who likes the music of modern old Russia. And if you like what you hear above, you might also like the mix he just released for Nicolas Jaar's Other People label and the one he made for the Calvert Journal a few years ago.
And if you like those, you might also like the profile that Calvert published about RAD, the label/collective Ryazanov and Low Bob jointly lead.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:20 PM PST - 6 comments

What It's Like to Work at Waffle House for 24 Hours Straight

Since Bon Appetit writer Andrew Knowlton was a teen, Waffle House— that particularly Southern institution known for killer hash browns and late-night patty melts—has been there for him. To return the favor, he decided to work a few hours at the grill. Round-the-clock, to be exact. [more inside]
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:54 PM PST - 83 comments

Arby's: Gleaming the void

Eat it alone in the dark like you do everyday. (Previously)
posted by Cookiebastard at 4:19 PM PST - 67 comments

Istaqsinaayok

If you run it backwards, will life go back in balance? [more inside]
posted by MtDewd at 3:10 PM PST - 18 comments

Mummified Remains found on Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's Highest Peak

Mexico mummies: Climbers find eerie head in snow, dig to find mummies embracing The mummies will be transported down the mountain as early Monday. These frozen Mexico mummies will make their descent with climbers who have special cases to keep the frozen mummies intact. [more inside]
posted by Michele in California at 2:07 PM PST - 7 comments

Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner?

As openDemocracy.net focuses on women's voices for International Women's Day, Dawn Foster argues that we need to have a conversation about the unpaid labour that women are expected to do, and the impact it has on their lives. She presents us with some interesting statistics from the UK about the economic value of the unpaid (and often unnoticed) work that women carry out both in and around their paid jobs. [more inside]
posted by averysmallcat at 1:34 PM PST - 57 comments

"Are you boring? Are you evil?"

Cathy O'Neil left a job as a math professor at Columbia because she thought it was boring and slow-paced, reinvented herself in finance, and then reinvented herself again as a data scientist. [more inside]
posted by yarntheory at 12:46 PM PST - 17 comments

Watching Williamsburg in Brooklyn NY Gentrify From Behind Its Oldest Bar

When Kirby came to the neighborhood in 1979 she was a community organizer trying to save buildings from abandonment or neglect. Part of her job was begging businesses to re-occupy the empty storefronts along Bedford Avenue, where Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks now pay premium rents. At the end of a long day, Teddy's was her local bar. When dinner time rolled around, Mary and Teddy would lock the door and say, "Watch the place." They'd be back in ten minutes with white bread and bologna for sandwiches.
posted by josher71 at 10:11 AM PST - 15 comments

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

Have you ever wondered just how Sherlock Holmes got information out of the people he spoke with? Well, wonder no more!
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:38 AM PST - 47 comments

Was Comcast in the copper business four millenia ago?

The British Museum's artifacts include this Babylonian customer service complaint from 1750 B.C., expressing sentiments we can all sympathize with nearly four millenia later. [more inside]
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:32 AM PST - 43 comments

Karoshi: Japanese for dying TO work, AT work, and BECAUSE of work.

The Japanese government is attempting to end Japan's culture of "death by overwork" (now known as karoshi) by moving to make it illegal to not take mandatory paid vacation days. Why won't Japanese workers go on vacation? The Japanese work some of the longest hours in the world and fear taking paid holidays in case they are ostracised by colleagues. The stress is so extreme that every year thousands of workers succumb to “karoshi”, or “death by overwork”. They either commit suicide (the see suicide as salvation), or die of a stroke or a heart attack. The Japanese are literally dying for work and the phenomenon is spreading to other Asian countries such as China, South Korea, and Bangladesh. A "chapter" of the award winning documentary "Happy" (now on Netflix and other online venues) looks at this Japanese phenomenon of Karoshi. HAPPY (trailer here) takes you on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Combining real life stories of people from around the world and powerful interviews with the leading scientists in happiness research, HAPPY explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.
posted by spock at 8:29 AM PST - 50 comments

Looking for a tree with a story

The 2015 European Tree of the Year is Estonia’s Oak tree on a football field.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:21 AM PST - 10 comments

"If someone stole it, it's got to be good."

San Francisco police are investigating a burglary [SLNYT] at Mr Holmes Bakehouse in the Tenderloin: “We don’t have a particular demographic, except it’s someone who wants to make a really delicious pastry.”
posted by catlet at 7:39 AM PST - 42 comments

It's only a model...

"I captured these photos during my journeys through the Maramures (a small county in Transylvania, Romania). The landscapes I photographed in this region are serene and tranquil. Currently, I see my photographic style as traditional landscape photography." (SLPhotography, Bored Panda)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:34 AM PST - 14 comments

My toaster hates you

Fridge caught sending spam emails in botnet attack
posted by infini at 5:38 AM PST - 109 comments

"We need to challenge the assumption that more is always better"

Recline, don’t ‘Lean In’ (Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg)
Sheryl, have you ever stopped to consider that all this “leaning in” is ruining life for the rest of us?

Long ago, before Sandberg’s book “Lean In” convinced me to change my ways, I had a life. I had friends, family, children. I had hobbies. I had a job, too, of course, but I also took occasional vacations, knocked off work at a sensible hour and got eight hours of sleep each night.

Then I read “Lean In” and realized that I was self-sabotaging slacker.
[more inside]
posted by Lexica at 4:17 AM PST - 49 comments

What weren't you taught that you think you should have been?

Lifehacker asked "What Necessary Adult Skills Were You Never Taught Growing Up?" Since personal hygiene skills was a popular response, the site created "An Adult's Guide to Hygiene (for Those Who Weren't Taught Growing Up)"
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:51 AM PST - 89 comments

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