May 26, 2017
Tour Ancient Greece with the Classics: ToposText
"ToposText is an indexed collection of ancient texts and mapped places relevant the the history and mythology of the ancient Greeks from the Neolithic period up through the 2nd century CE. It was inspired by two decades of exploring Greece by car, foot, or bicycle, and by clumsy efforts to appreciate επί τόπου the relevant information from Pausanias or other primary sources. ... Selecting a site from either the list or the map opens up a table of two-line snippets from ancient authors ... . Selecting from this index list, which can be filtered by date, genre, and relevance, connects one to the full text of 240-odd works in English translation, some with the original Ancient Greek as well. [Y]ou can select and read the passages in ancient literature that give a place its historical and cultural meaning. While you are reading, the map alongside shows the location of the ancient places mentioned." Available for iOS, Android, and web.
there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
The Remarkable Melonseed Skiff
We often fall in love with our eyes first, and it is pure romance and “love at first sight”. Later we attempt to justify our feelings by trying to become rational and objective, but it was usually that first flush of visual fantasy that started the adventure. And, like most of our romances, that’s how it usually is with boats too, and that’s how it was with the Melonseed Skiff.[more inside]
"I've forgiven that little girl for being so frightened"
Julia. "In grade 8, Julia was bullied so badly by a group of girls that she changed schools without telling anyone. Soon after, the girls from her old school showed up at her house and rang her doorbell. She didn’t answer it. For the past 20 years, Julia’s been wondering what those girls wanted." [more inside]
Algebra Bad Lunch and Infidelity...RIP Caitlin Bree
Lisa Spoonauer best known as Caitlin Bree in Kevin Smith's directorial debut Clerks has passed away at age 44 of unspecified causes. Tributes from Smith and others are online.
Music scholar Katya Deve explores the history and geography of hip-hop.
The Geography of Hip-Hop is an interactive map documenting the history and geography of hip-hop. The map (and accompanying essay) explore how hip-hop has spread around the world and how different cites have developed their own distinct sounds and styles of hip-hop. The interactive hip-hop map allows you to browse and listen to hip-hop music by location. The map features 955 songs, most of which you can listen to directly from the map. The size of the markers on the map reflects the number of artists featured from that location. In this way you can get a rough idea about the size of the hip-hop communities in these different urban locations. [via Maps Mania]
The Thoughts of a Spiderweb
Web thoughts Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head.
More like a DONK
In October 2014, one of the Narrow Angle Cameras observing the moon's surface aboard the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recorded a wild, jittery image. The cause of this was determined to be vibrations from a collision with a micrometeoroid at approximately 7 km/s, which fortunately didn't damage the spacecraft or camera. Astronomer Dr. Alex Parker has processed the captured image to produced an audio reconstruction of the strike. SPANG.
$20 in League of Legends vs $20 at the Dollar Store
Random Violins
infinitestringquartet.com - no bow necessary; just drag and drop the circles on the grid and see what happens.
tl;dr it makes music! [via jessamyn]
tl;dr it makes music! [via jessamyn]
Cooler than you think...
and he married Gilda Radner! George Edward "G. E." Smith -born 01/27/52--is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist in the band Hall & Oates and the musical director of Saturday Night Live. [more inside]
“...we wanted the people that you meet in the world to be credible,”
Far Cry 5 asks you to kill thy neighbor [Polygon] Far Cry 5 [YouTube] takes place in the fictional Hope County in the very real state of Montana — a state that, even today, is wrestling with issues like gun control, religious tolerance and citizen’s access to public lands. Fight against religious fanatics hell-bent on taking over a piece of the American West [more inside]
Ne Plus Ultraviolet
Spanish photographer Javier Torres writes about how to take fluorescent pictures. Also a lot of other nice stuff on photography basics and principles.
Jennie Alexander, Musician and Greenwoodworker
The Lost Art Press blog has published a biography of Jennie Alexander, lawyer, jazz musician, and pioneer in modern greenwoodworking. More information is available at her website.
Paul Romer and the World Bank and "Bankspeak" and
Paul Romer is an economist whose academic contributions focus on how endogenous improvements in production contribute to long-run growth. Last July, he was appointed chief economist of the World Bank. This week, he was apparently removed from his managing duties after his staff rebelled against his management style, apparently in part for asking them to communicate more clearly. [more inside]
"we were sure the bees would sense our goodwill"
The cost of keeping bees. By getting a few hives we could save the bees, and in return the bees could save our bank account. It would be a mutually beneficial relationship.
UK, EU & WTO — a presentation
A look at the UK, EU and WTO with an eye on Brexit. Includes a brief explanation of the WTO system, and a taste of how negotiations work in the WTO
Do you still want to believe this?
The Nerdwriter examines the recent film Logan using popular culture critic John G. Cawelti's essay on Chinatown(PDF) as a jumping off point to see where it fits in the life-cycle of genre films. (Nerdwriter previously)
"In 1967 we were counted. In 2017 we seek to be heard."
At a historic convention in the centre of Australia, indigenous leaders from across the country have outright rejected the idea of mere recognition in the constitution, instead calling for a representative body to be enshrined in the nation's founding document and a process established working towards treaties. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is the result of three days of deliberations during the national gathering. [more inside]
A Typical Day in a Blockchain-Enabled World Circa 2030-FINTECH FUN
Let’s follow Crowley the Crocodile as he goes about his day in the year 2030, from the moment his bitcoin-powered bioalarm clock wakes him, until he eats his late night pizza ordered using a rating service that runs without human owners. - this exploration of FinTech first appeared at Blockchain Futures which explores uses and avenues for the blockchain and other FinTech forms [more inside]
We're Closer Than Ever
Cherry Lane Theater, November 1989: Lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr (Miss Saigon) and Composer Davie Shire (Saturday Night Fever) open their "bookless book musical" Closer Than Ever, a two act musical revue without dialogue that ran for 312 performances; a grown-up collection of song performances, each an individual story that all echo and reflect on each other. The original cast album is available to listen to on YouTube [23 tracks] [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »