June 10, 2010
The Best Batman Comic Ever Made
Concurrent virtual exhibits of historical political cartoons courtesy of Duke University
This past Spring, Duke University hosted concurrent exhibits that featured curated images of satirical political cartoons. Fortunately, the exhibits are free to enjoy from the comfort of your bed/couch/desk chair. From the Nasher Museum of Art, there is Lines of Attack: Conflicts in Caricature, comparing pieces from as early as 19th Century France to post 9/11 US. From the Perkins Library, we get Abusing Power: Satirical Journals, an exhibit of 19th and early 20th Century pieces from around the world.
Happy 100th to the Wolf!
Reggie Watts is back: "being meta it don't help me"
The Works
The Works was a production of the Computer Graphics Lab at the New York Institute of Technology, and (had it ever been finished) would have been the first all 3D CGI feature film. Here are some stills and here's a short clip. [via PopCrunch]
The (lego) Lee Enfield sniper rifle
So much for that ace in the hole
In 2006, gas developers offered Josh Fox a hundred thousand dollars for the rights to seek natural gas below his land via the process of hydrolic fractioning. Curious as to what this entailed, he checked out what had happened in places where it had been practiced before. It caused him to make the documentary Gasland. He's been talking it up since then here and there. [more inside]
Pocket Change
"Reading 'Our tribute to a brave little boy,' you will also find 65 cents in nickels and dimes melded to the plaque." Some mismatched bricks on an unremarkable building in Park Slope and a plaque in a hospital are the clues to an astonishing story of two airplanes, a mid-air crash, and a little boy traveling alone. [more inside]
The End of Men
The End of Men, in The Atlantic. An article about the rise of women (now over 50% of the U.S. workforce), and implications of the attendant changes for both women and men. [more inside]
Ephemera Magica
Ephemera Magica: A Daily Offering of Vintage Magic: "I found some great and mysterious things in some old boxes my Mom passed on to me from my Father and Grandfather. I am scanning and posting a page, trick, letter, or booklet from a huge collection of vintage magic articles every day." Click on each of the pictures for larger versions, or check out the Ephemera Magica Flickr Feed. [via mefi projects]
Theremin Guitar Hero - Vocalists and Guitarists Need Not Apply
Greig Stewart, aka ThereminHero, began posting videos of video game song covers made on the theremin shortly after he started playing the theremin in 2008. That's small beans, as theremin covers (prev), even video game covers, are plentiful. OK, how about performing the vocals in Rock Band on the theremin (plus an OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator for overdrive and hand claps)? Still not impressed, or maybe you're wondering where his computer science background might fit in? Right then, try Theremin Hero Air Guitar! [more inside]
The Spill, The Scandal and the President
The Spill, The Scandal and the President continues the high-quality political reporting we've been getting recently from Rolling Stone magazine. [more inside]
The Fast Bike With The Funny Name (tm)
Healthy competition can advance technology, and motorsports is a good example of this. The Isle of Man TT has been a motorcycle proving ground since 1907, with a bike earning its mettle by doing ton-up on the 38 mile course. Enter Michael Czysz and his MotoCzysz E1pc. After disastrous failure at the Isle of Man TT the previous year, his company redesigned their electric sport bike from the ground up. The results could have wider implications for electric vehicles as a whole. Previously. [more inside]
"I've got Kevin Costner on the phone. He'll know what to do for sure."
How BP cleans up a coffee spill. (SLYT)
AwwwSNIKTowwww
Chirstopher Uminga (previously) and Comics Alliance Present: Comic Book Heroes With a Severe Cute Condition.
Of course you realize this means war!
Libraries and commercial publishers have struggled with each other over the skyrocketing costs of academic journals for years. As costs have increased more rapidly than library budgets, the libraries have had to cut journal subscriptions and other acquisitions. The recent recession has necessitated further cuts. Against this backdrop, Nature Publishing Group told the University of California that next year subscription prices would increase 400 percent, with the average annual cost of a journal increasing to $17,479. UC Libraries fought back with a combative letter to UC faculty suggesting that faculty should consider boycotting the journals, and cease submitting or reviewing articles for these journals. NPG responds, saying that UC currently pays unfairly low rates, and that "individual scientists, both within and outside of California are already suffering as a result of [UC]'s unwarranted actions."
Happy Birthday, Mon Capitaine
Today is the 100th birthday of Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, inventor of the aqualung, noted conservationist, filmmaker and television documentarian, was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France in 1910. He died at the age of 87 in 1997. [more inside]
Age is just a number
Sad breaking news on a previously discussed topic as 16 year old Abby Sunderland is feared lost at sea. [more inside]
Visualisation of Larry Niven's Ringworld (spoilers)
It's by doing whatever that one becomes whoever
Improv partout? N'importe qui descends on an amateur football (soccer) match outside Montpelier, Improv Everywhere style. Allez, pantless dude in the sombrero! The force behind this is Rémi Gaillard, a shoe salesman turned French prankster. My favorite prank is Le Tour de N'Importe Qui, which turns unsuspecting casual cyclists into trophy-winning heroes. (videos contain brief images of male nudity from behind)
From the highest mountain tops...
Our amazing planet. I could study this all day.
A nightmare of a reelection for Sally Kern
You might remember the intolerant Oklahoma State Representative, Sally Kern, who claimed that homosexuals are a bigger threat to our nation than terrorists. Well, she’s up for reelection this year and what has to be one of her biggest nightmares is happening – she is being challenged for her seat by a transgendered person. [more inside]
Joyce’s Ulysses Banned Again
Joyce’s Ulysses Banned Again—by Apple, Not the Government. According to Sarah Weinman at the Daily Finance; she says that a Webcomic adaptation of the book, Rob Berry and Josh Levitas' Ulysses Seen, (previously seen here on Mefi), has been banned from iPads and iPhones because of cartoon nudity. Here is the image that is causing all the controversy. Warning: Contains crudely illustrated male genitalia. via Slate.com. And this isn't the first time. Read about the original censorship and legal battles regarding Joyce's Ulysses..
There Is A LIght That Never Goes Out
A firm tied to Thomas Kinkade (previously, previously), the best-selling franchise artist and "Painter Of Light", has filed for bankruptcy
Failures Are Not an Option
Trouble started soon into Hayabusa's treacherous round-trip journey to Itokawa when she lost her companion, Minerva. On arrival, she stumbled and dropped the sample she was sent to retrieve, and we thought the worst when she stopped calling. One accident left her disoriented and unable to find her way, and another reduced her progress to a slow limp. But on Sunday, with unfailing help from home, Hayabusa returns, three years late and seven years after she departed.
Madchester memories
"We caught up with the legendary Peter Hook to interview him about the good old days." Peter Hook's Extraordinary Stories. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) (MLYT)
neocolonial OCP-like company towns: changing the rules (in a good way)
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ending Poverty In the 1990s, Paul Romer revolutionized economics. In the Aughts, he became rich as a software entrepreneur. Now he's trying to help the poorest countries grow rich—by convincing them to establish foreign-run "charter cities" within their borders. Romer's idea is unconventional, even neo-colonial—the best analogy is Britain's historic lease of Hong Kong. And against all odds, he just might make it happen. (via cc) [more inside]
Worst. Divorce. Ever.
The Revolution Will Not be Tweeted
Remember all the enthusiastic press coverage about the all-important role Twitter played in helping to organize Iranian activists on the ground during the protests that sparked the Green Movement after the last Iranian elections? (Discussed previously here, here and here on the blue.) Some in the press even dubbed this period "Iran's Twitter Revolution". Think again, Golnaz Esfandiari argues in Foreign Policy's latest installment in its "Misreading Tehran" series, because "Simply put: There was no Twitter Revolution inside Iran."
Ceeeeeease and Desist! Wooo oo ooh.
The fictional high school chorus at the center of Fox’s Glee has a huge problem — nearly a million dollars in potential legal liability.
“If I want, I could make you say ‘I . . . like . . . altar . . . boys.’ ”
Amsterdam Live
Slicing Maestro
Seth Roland does amazing things with wood. From bookends to tables and more, he does remarkable things with wood and a band saw.. Fine Woodworking magazine's website has a video.
Standing on the ankles of giants
A great advance in computer engineering: introducing the "Doubleton"!!!!! A fascinating example of the intersection of uncritical thinking, mediocre implementation, and a solution in search of a problem resume padding. [more inside]
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