April 6, 2020
Dude, you're getting a Dell!
…significant concessions had to be made in terms of image quality
YouTuber works out a method to record video onto a standard audio cassette tape (TechSpot): YouTuber Kris Slyka recently revisited the concept behind an odd piece of kit that toy maker Fisher-Price put out way back in the 80s. In short, he was able to figure out how to record video onto a standard audio cassette. [...] Using a Sony tape recorder, he came up with a method using Python and Java to convert a video signal into one that can be recorded on an audio cassette and successfully played back. There were significant concessions that had to be made in terms of image quality – the resolution was cut down to a paltry 100 x 75 at only five frames per second, and there is no audio – but still, it’s an incredibly fascinating feat: Cassette Video - Video on (Audio) Cassettes! (YouTube) [more inside]
Another art-house auteur often inspired by Los Angeles
"Were it not for David Lynch,” he told the magazine, “Miley would never have been Hannah Montana.” It is among the most beautiful and sublimely odd sentences ever uttered by a country singer discussing a video of his Disney star child ripping a bong.
Requiescat in pace, Mr. Tiger
Al Kaline, the celebrated Detroit Tigers outfielder and Hall of Famer who never played a game in the minors, won ten Gold Glove Awards, appeared in 15 All-Star Games, and spent 67 seasons with the Tigers organization as a player, TV commentator, and front-office assistant, has passed away at 85. [more inside]
This Post Has Y Views
This Video Has X Views The title of this video should change with the times. But nothing lasts forever: here's the story of how I made it work, why it used to be easier to make that work, and how it all ties in to the White Cliffs of Dover and the end of the universe.
The Great Comic Book Cover Homage Streak
In September 2012, Brian Cronin of CBR.com noticed that the cover of the just-released Amazing Spider-Man #694 referenced the first superhero crossover between DC and Marvel in Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man from 1976. Cronin realized that so many comic book covers are homages (to other comic book covers, albums, paintings, etc.) that you can find one every week among the pile of comics that come out in the US. Some 392 weeks later, the Great Comic Book Homage Streak has come to an end with the publication of the Robin 80th Anniversary Special, which unsurprisingly references the original cover introducing the Boy Wonder. [more inside]
"Whose house is this?"
It's a Cute House and a powerful reminder of the cute in all of us. (NSFW language)
Wisconsin's Plague Partisanship
Like much of the world, Wisconsin is in lockdown. But unlike any other state in the U.S., it is proceeding with in-person April elections on Tuesday April 7th, despite state health officials, mayors, and news outlets calling this a terrible idea. [more inside]
Celebrating George and Martha Washington in Laredo, Texas
Like many community festivals, Laredo, Texas has an annual celebration in February that is a broad collection of different events, from the Pipes and Stripes Car Show (LMT Online), a 5k race (It's Your Race), a Jalapeño festival (LMT Online) with food and music. And then there are the central, formal festivities, the annual naming of a Martha and George Washington (LMT Online), and the Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant & Ball (WBCA Laredo). Las Mathas -- a visit to colonial debutante ball in Texas, where young ladies wear hundred-pound dresses and pretend to be Martha Washington—and the question of what it means to find yourself in the in-between. (The Believer) [more inside]
Cloud gaming
Final Fantasy VII Remake: a flawed, but fascinating, reimagining of a classic [Polygon] “Playing the original release of Final Fantasy 7 in 2020 reveals a game with the energy of someone trying to create a blockbuster with the resources of a high school play. The vision, and the scope, of an epic was always there. The technology was still being developed. It’s that tension that still makes the original game one of the most interesting experiences of its era. The hardware was powerful for its time, but the team already wanted — and probably needed — more. So what happens when those technical limitations are gone, replaced with 23 years of progress? Final Fantasy 7 Remake happens, but how you feel about Square Enix’s effort to remake Final Fantasy 7 today — greatly expanded and unhindered by the technology of yesteryear — may say more about your feelings on technology and nostalgia than the game itself.” [YouTube][Trailer] [more inside]
50 shades of gray leaves
Overview of wild and garden plants with gray leaves This article is a very pleasant mix of aesthetics (coming to like gray-leaved plants, what other plants they look good with) and science (gray leaves are mostly found in hot, arid regions, they are usually green leaves covered with little whitish hairs that protect the leaves from heat).
I've been really tryin', baby
In 2015, a group called "Southern Voice Band" with their singer "Ken" gave a small, private birthday party crowd the performance of a lifetime with a spirited cover of "Let's Get It On". Five years later, somebody uploaded the video to r/videos, and the photographer showed up.
Monday morning cute
Dixiedo the rescue fox steals a phone and a chase ensues. Bonus: find out what the fox says. [slyt]
Garfield As Metaphor For Reactionary Thought
Continuing his series on the Alt-Right Playbook, Ian Danskin of Innuendo Studios discusses how reactionary thinking views social problems and issues - as facts of life (like Mondays) that are based on personal choice, not interconnected systems, and how that positioning leads to both rejection of arguments for mitigation and a push to use the law to punish those who do not follow the "right" way to live. (SLYT) [more inside]
Mom’s Bourbon Chocolate Cake
Open Source Cookbook - Open source recipes to be used in a quarantine during a global pandemic - "This cookbook is meant to be an open source toolkit that everyone and anyone can access during a time of heightened need. There are recipes from chefs, line cooks, home cooks, mothers, fathers, nonnas, popo’s and everyday joes." At launch, it features recipes from Toronto's top chefs and restaurants.
The 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath
A film to commemorate the Declaration of Arbroath, produced at speed by Lesley Riddoch and Charlie Stuart, including interviews with historians and readings by the public. [more inside]
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