May 12, 2011
Freakin' Dragons
Friday Flash Fun-frustration! In the form of "Checkpoint", a fast paced platform game similar to N, featuring wall-jumping, spikey things, and a narrator who doesn't appear to like you very much. [more inside]
Go the F**k to Sleep
For tired parents everywhere, the not-even-released yet Go the F**k to Sleep, is a already a best seller on Amazon.com, probably due to its viral release on the Internet. You can find the pdf if you use your Google-Fu and definitely worth the search. I've ordered my copy.
The digital humanities...plural...
How to define digital humanities? "the humanities done digitallys"? Should we expand the definition of the field to include, as I've heard it said several times, "every medievalist with a Web site"? Undoubtedly not. Yeah, not. Rather, The particular contribution of the digital humanities, however, lies in its exploration of the difference that the digital can make to the kinds of work that we do, as well as to the ways that we communicate with one another. [more inside]
A Typical Jordan Game
Compiling the Absurd Box Scores from Space Jam. Courtesy of The Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective.
The Monstars, behind a vicious defense and a quick-strike transition offense featuring the unprecedented 3-point-line dunk, seize early control and take a 66-18 lead going into the half. Pound (Barkley) and Bupkus (Ewing) are dominant. Things look grim for Jordan, Bugs Bunny and crew.
The Monstars, behind a vicious defense and a quick-strike transition offense featuring the unprecedented 3-point-line dunk, seize early control and take a 66-18 lead going into the half. Pound (Barkley) and Bupkus (Ewing) are dominant. Things look grim for Jordan, Bugs Bunny and crew.
What in the blue blazes is that?
Spine Shattering - Bone Blasting! She'll put you in traction! She's A One Mama Massacre Squad!
Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a documentary about Filipino exploitation films of the 70s and 80s. It features interviews with Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Eddie Romero and is directed by Mark Hartley, who also directed the Ozploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood. The film was started by Andrew Leavold and grew out of his as-yet-unfinished 'Search For Weng Weng', about the midget James Bond of the Philippines who starred in For Your Height Only and Impossible Kid (and inspired the Weng Weng Rap). You can follow Andrew's adventures through the world of Filipino filmmaking on his blog, Bamboo Gods and Bionic Boys. Several Filipino genre films are available online, including TNT Jackson (NSFW).
The World's Largest Model Airport
Frederik and Gerrit Braun, energetic twin brothers with no shortage of dreams, have just finished construction of the world’s largest model airport. With 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches, 300 buildings and 40 planes, Knuffingen Airport is both a wonder to behold as well as a technological tour de force. The best part of Knuffingen is that it’s alive. Forty planes and 90 vehicles move about autonomously.
Torturing Republicans with the facts.
ro.me if you want to
ro.me A new Google Chrome experiment showcasing WebGL.
Ben Greenman’s Museum of Silly Charts
Fukushima 'Full Meltdown' Made Official
TEPCO officials confirmed that the Reactor No. 1 at Fukushima suffered a full meltdown What has been alluded to for weeks has been confirmed today. High levels of cesium has been found in the water and soil of japan and reports that from 60 to 70 percent of the radiation the Chernobyl disaster have been released. The Australian Broadcasting Company news service is reporting that reactor number three continues to leak dangerous levels of radioactivity in to surrounding seawater.
“No one is more important to the future of our state than our teachers.”
New, From Mike Huckabee! Give Your Kids An Exciting Way To Learn The Facts About American History! This fascinating, original series of animated videos features the Time Travel Academy kids, a group of friends who create an incredible time machine that whisks them back in time to experience history in the making!
Many of our schools and teachers today haven't found ways to make history for kids fun. Instead, they’re teaching with political bias that distorts facts for the sake of political correctness. As a result, our national pride and patriotism are in jeopardy. - Mike Huckabee, Co-founder Sample video: Learn Our History: the Reagan Revolution [more inside]
Cricket on the halo deck?
"This Imperial dOvewalker COOs his way into a Big Surprise.
Parveen says let him have it with the dOveton Launcher 3000! He won't know what hit him after attacking my planet."
Just another tale from the The Pakistani Starfleet Explorers. Via boingboing.
And the big kids want what the little kids get
"If you have basically heard no music, and then you're told to create music, what will it sound like?" Jon Ronson talks to The Shaggs - the girl group from the 1960s who were home schooled and practised for hours every day in their basement.
And the band played on, for there was good news to share.
An NIH clinical trial has shown that early treatment of HIV with antiretroviral drugs reduces the odds of the virus being transmitted to an uninfected sexual partner by 96%, with only one new HIV case recorded out of the 1,763 couples participating in the trial.
Dr. Doom
Doomsday reloaded. In 1986 the BBC launched an ambitious project to record a snapshot of everyday life across the UK for future generations. A million volunteers took part, and now you can search and view the million photos and written entries.
Paging Dr. Kinte...
"With regard to the idea of whether or not you have a right to health care, you have to realize what that implies... It means you believe in slavery." Senator Rand Paul weighs in on the notion of human rights at a Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday, equating the right to health care, as well as the right to water and food, as tantamount to a belief in slavery.
AHHH! Wookie rug!!!
Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!
"God gave me the talent to pose for pictures and it seems to make people happy. That can't be a bad thing, can it?"
Many of the photos of classic pin-up Bettie Page were taken by the photographer Paula Klaw, who helped to run the photo shop and men's magazine business owned by her brother Irving. Chuck Keefe (blog), an artist, had several photographs of Klaw's autographed by her, and eventually by Bettie herself. An interesting look at part of the story of two of pin-up's most notorious women....
Dun-dun-dun!
Drama on the top floor. A pair of redtailed hawks nested on the window of the NYU’s Bobst Library, outside the office of President John Sexton. (Previously.) The New York Times set up a hawk cam to observe the hatching process. Instead they’ve got a soap opera on their hands, with miraculous births, life and death drama, bungling bureaucracies, and a comments section on the warpath, with some New Yorkers demanding the Governor get involved to mount a rescue mission of the injured mother hawk. As of 12:49 EST, hawk catchers were standing by on the 12th floor to determine whether to attempt to remove and rehabilitate the hawk at the Bronx Zoo (previously), a course which could mean the death of her chick. (Consolidated post with most updates is here, if you want to catch up.) [more inside]
Fashion's Double-Standard
Why Does the FTC Mandate that Bloggers Disclose Freebies & Samples When Print Writers/Editors Don't Have To? Racked.com Asks an FTC Lawyer. Last year, Ann Taylor was investigated for offering giftcards to bloggers they failed to disclosed (the investigation was closed without enforcement).
Will the greatest Dungeon Master ever make his save vs. Hipster or lose his group?
There’s a new indie film in the works about nerd culture and coming to terms with the hipster cooption of the sacred cow of Dungeons & Dragons : Zero Charisma. This is brought to you by two folks Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews who’s prior work includes the cinematography and film editing of Best Worst Movie (previously)
Egg on their Facebooks
Last Friday, USA Today reported that two people from PR firm Burson-Marsteller had been contacting various news outlets and bloggers, pushing a story about how Google's "Social Circle" gmail feature violates users' privacy. The pitch was made on behalf of an unnamed client that The Daily Beast now confirms was Facebook. [more inside]
Pitcher’s Treatment Draws Scrutiny
Bartolo Colon, now of the New York Yankees, underwent a controversial stem-cell treatment in the Dominican Republic to regain his old form.
In Europe, tea-parties of a euroskeptic stripe threaten EU
In Europe, bail-out and immigration
fears have led to the rise
of nationalism and xenophobia, a crisis that now
threatens the EU itself. Right-wing euroskeptic
parties and politicians
have gained in power, such as the True Finns, they can roughly be seen as
"Europe's
Tea Parties". Greece is talking about dropping the Euro currency (due to Finnish demands),
other PIGS could be next. Denmark has introduced custom checks at its
borders again, seeking to stop the flow of intra euro traffic, while
France and Italy have raised the possibility of reintroducing their own
border controls.
Myrmecomorphy
Ants are one of the most abundant groups on earth, but, curiously, not a lot of things eat them. Yes, there are anteaters (who also eat a lot of termites), and some lizards specialize on ants, but the little critters are full of noxious chemicals and pheromones that put them way down on the list of predators’ preferred foodstuffs. Because of this, many other insects and arthropods have evolved to mimic ants, taking advantage of the aversion of predators to anything antlike. These mimics are called myrmecomorphs, and they’re the subject of a really nice eponymous feature in this week’s Current Biology.[via]
The little girl from Jurrasic Park is 31
Twhistory
"Genevieve has told us what happened. A group of White supremacists attacked John, then Al stepped into to protect John." Live history on Twitter, via Twhistory.org. Currently broadcasting, The Freedom Riders. [more inside]
Wisconistan, UK
Osborne to target workers' rights with review of employment law "Workers are set to receive less protection against redundancy, dismissal and workplace discrimination as the Chancellor George Osborne tears up sections of employment law so businesses can dispose of their staff more easily."
More Here (Times.co. uk - no sub required (at least, not in the uk), and Here.
Why a mobile phone ring may make bees buzz off: Insects infuriated by handset signals
Why a mobile phone ring may make bees buzz off: Insects infuriated by handset signals Signals from mobile phones could be partly to blame for the mysterious deaths of honeybees, new research shows. In the first experiment of its kind, a bee expert placed a mobile phone underneath a hive and then carefully monitored the reaction of the workers. Download the full report here: Mobile phone-induced honeybee worker piping.
renewable is doable if governments are think-it-throughable?
As you may know, Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan announced two days ago that plans for new nuclear power plants in Japan are to be scrapped (NYT). Meanwhile, a landmark study from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says renewable energy can power the world (Guardian - article includes many related links). Here's a summary of the IPCC Special Report.
"An institution full of intelligence but devoid of wisdom"
Oops, my bad, I totally missed that!
Alabama's Browns Ferry Plant nuclear plant has received red finding from the NRC for an emergency coolant valve failure that wasn't detected for over a year. [more inside]
One Glance Back
Horace Freeland Judson died last Friday at the age of 80. Though his greatest achievement was The Eighth Day of Creation, a detailed account of modern breakthroughs in molecular biology, he was more famously the haplass TIME reporter harranged at length by Bob Dylan in Don't Look Back.
how to organize society
Cut up just like regular chickens
Puny Earthlings, you will be reduced to a smoldering sphere
The International Academy of Astronautics is holding the Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids May 9-12, 2011. in Bucharest, Romania [more inside]
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