June 19, 2010

Rest In Peace, Manute Bol

Former NBA player and humanitarian Manute Bol has died. [more inside]
posted by emd3737 at 6:33 PM PST - 74 comments

You Can't Catch Me

You Can't Catch Me, Music and Lyrics by Chuck Berry. The Stones covered it. John Lennon was sued (twice!) for covering it and appropriating the lyrics. If Iggy Pop and the Stooges were never sued for doing the same thing as "Come Together" in 1970, perhaps it's because nobody could understand what exactly he was saying, not even the bands that took their names from the adapted lyrics. Perhaps JJ Cale was thinking of the chorus when he wrote Call Me The Breeze in 1971. Finally, though Jonothan Richman's "Roadrunner" clearly took inspiration from the Velvet Underground's Sister Ray and Bo Diddley's "Road Runner"(among other things), but, as a Berry fan, you can hear Richman echoing the lyrics in the Spirit of 1956 going Faster Miles an Hour, with the radio on, tuned to Rock And Roll. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:22 PM PST - 43 comments

Further Woes for Already Troubled Detroit Public Schools

The linguistic shortcomings of Otis Mathis has been mentioned in this space before. The now (possibly) former president of the Detroit Board of Education has rescinded his original letter of resignation after school superintendent Teresa Gueyser accused him of fondling himself during one-on-one meetings. [more inside]
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:10 PM PST - 35 comments

Build it and they will come

A 24-hour website-in-a-day competition with national honours on the line, FullCodePress is currently underway. This is the third competition, and the first with a team from the United States. The competition chooses non-profit organisations, and the teams have 24 hours to build a fully-functioning site. Catch up with the overnight highlights, or see the sites being built by the Codaroos, Code Blacks, or Team USA as they develop. For those not allergic to twitter, cheering and trashtalking here.
posted by szechuan at 1:53 PM PST - 19 comments

Fonts used on South Africa 2010 World Cup jerseys

Typography of World Cup jerseys: In general, or just Italy’s. Or read an interview with Paul Barnes, who designed the faces for – yes – Italy and several other Puma-sponsored countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Switzerland, Uruguay).
posted by joeclark at 1:38 PM PST - 7 comments

Full Week

Full Week: nothing but pure, list pulverizing accomplishment in six easy phases.* With interactive calendar! (Revolving Floor previously.) [more inside]
posted by jjray at 1:08 PM PST - 12 comments

"We're going to leave forensic evidence!"

Something Left, Something Taken - A dark but humorous animated short about forensic science and the Zodiac Killer. [more inside]
posted by Sibrax at 11:17 AM PST - 7 comments

An "Unreal" Look at 25,000 Barrels

An "Unreal" look at 25,000 barrels. (Previously)
posted by pashdown at 11:00 AM PST - 37 comments

We're going to the moon now to find a suitable site to play three-sided football

We're going to the moon now to find a suitable site to play three-sided football.
posted by ennui.bz at 9:06 AM PST - 27 comments

The solution is constant false alarms until you get it right

"If these people can't predict an earthquake, then what's the point of them?" Italian seismologists accused of manslaughter. (via simon singh)
posted by lucia__is__dada at 7:35 AM PST - 31 comments

Maybe the decision to take a human life deserves >140 characters?

Utah Attorney General Announces Execution on Twitter. Today marked an evolution of sorts for Twitter. It’s no longer just for following your favorite celebrity rants or for informing your followers you’re having a ham sandwich or just took a shower. And self-promotion on Twitter seems so yesterday. Consider Friday’s tweets from Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Around midnight, he tweeted that he’d given “the go ahead” to execute condemned inmate Ronnie Gardner.
posted by Fizz at 7:16 AM PST - 84 comments

Perspective

Something to think about. (slyt) Nick Vujicic's website.
posted by infini at 5:31 AM PST - 12 comments

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