June 9, 2011
Leichhardt Cat Curfew
Leichhardt, a suburb of Sydney, imposes a cat curfew at night in an effort to protect local wildlife, including ringtail and brushtail possums. [more inside]
Brooklyn, 1974
Faulkner calls for today's activists to remain today's activists
Senator John Faulkner has just delivered the 2011 Wran Lecture, where he damned the party machinations and career motivations that hinder community engagement in Australian politics. Senator Faulkner represents the honest, the old-school and the fiercely idealistic face of the Australian Labor Party. In his 2011 Wran Lecture, Falkner challenges his own party to respond to the decline in political party memberships and the rise of non-partisan community groups such as GetUp!, by engaging communities in politics and respecting the contributions of grassroots activists. This comes after the recent publication of the 2010 review conducted by Faulkner, Steve Bracks (former Victorian State Premier), and Bob Carr (former NSW State Premier): a roadmap to reforming Labor. Responses to the Wran Lecture are, predictably, mixed. (Incidentally, Faulkner has a bit of a fan-club thanks to his determination to retain his preferred choice of eye-wear throughout the decades.)
The Polite Society
"The argument is straightforward: When less legal work is available, more illegal 'work' takes place. ... But there have long been difficulties with the notion that unemployment causes crime. " Author James Q. Wilson on crime, law enforcement and the economy.
Romney in hot water for belief that climate change is real; at odds with GOP
Agreeing with the scientific community when it comes to global warming could lose you an election if you are a Republican hopeful.
My mommy won't let me play videogames!
A typically awesome commercial for Syke Energy by pixel art master Paul Robertson (previously). Bonus Stage: Some unused art for the Scott Pilgrim vs The World game that he worked on.
I really like cats
I like cats (this is not posted in mean spirits)
Writing and drawing, that is your calling
Incidental Comics — Cartoons about... just stuff.
Public Domain 2
Brian Wood is a comic book writer, best known for his subversive DMZ, which explores the city of New York in the aftermath of a second American civil war. He is now offering a 132-page artbook entitled "Public Domain 2" in its entirety as a free download on his site.
I got the whole world in my hands...
The official Google Earth plugin is one free download that makes all sorts of cool stuff possible in your browser. There's a full screen version of the program (complete with underwater views and 3D buildings) which can be searched by entering queries at the end of the URL. There's a framed version with support for layers, historical imagery, day/night cycles, and the Google Sky starmap.
Less useful but more fun are Google's collection of "experiments" demonstrating the possibilities of the Earth API, including a "Geo Whiz" geography quiz, an antipode locater, a 3D first-person view of San Francisco, a virtual route-follower, and MONSTER MILKTRUCK!, a crazy fun driving simulator that lets you careen a virtual milk truck through the Googleplex campus, ricochet off the Himalayas, or explore any other place you care to name.
Lots more can be found in the Google Earth Gallery -- highlights include
a look at mountaintop removal mining,
a real-time flight tracker,
a guide to trails and outdoor recreation,
a 360 panorama catalog,
geotagged Panoramio photos,
and the comprehensive crowdsourced Google Earth Community Layer.
And while it's too large to view online, don't miss loading the Metafilter user location map into a desktop version of Google Earth! [more inside]
My name is Johnny Canuck
"A short film chronicling the legendary Johnny Canuck, his years of triumph and turmoil, and how they mirror the history of the Vancouver Canucks franchise and their Stanley Cup run in 2010-2011." [SLYT] [more inside]
These people work in the entertainment industry?
Star of the popular sitcom 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan, allegedly told a Nashville audience during his comedy routine on June 4 that " gay is a choice," "there is no way a woman could love and have sexual desire for another woman, that's just a woman pretending because she hates a .... man", and that "gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some @## and beat those other little fuckers that bully them, not whine about it. "
Truth Wins Out, a self-described "a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism" is calling for Morgan to respond to the allegations
Steel in the Walls
The premise of HBO's hour-long special "Talking Funny" [Part 2, 3, 4] is simple: invite four top-ranked comedians — Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Louis C.K. — turn on the cameras, and let them talk shop for an hour. There are laughs, of course, but the most interesting parts focus on the technical craft of getting those laughs. Michael Bierut didn't tune in looking for lessons for designers, but he found seven. [more inside]
"Personhood" laws and reproductive rights
45 years ago yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that birth control (for married women) was legal and that the US Constitution guaranteed privacy to women seeking reproductive services. That privacy ruling was instrumental in subsequent cases [pdf]regarding the legality of birth control and pregnancy termination.
And while many states are pushing through new termination restrictions; some states are now pushing through "Personhood" laws that grant constitutional rights to zygotes and fetuses. These laws ban abortion without exception, ban certain forms of birth control, ban in-vitro fertilization, and forbid the treatment of pregnancy complications such as ectopic pregnancies. The legislations are being marketed by a "Conceived by Rape" bus tour. [more inside]
Welcome for you to come to my space - hurrah!
Artist Aelita Andre might only be four years old, but that has not stopped her opening her first art exhibition in New York. 'She is said to be the youngest ever professional artist with nine of her paintings on show at the Agora Gallery, in Manhattan, already selling, with pieces priced up to $9,900 (£6,000) each. Angela Di Bello, the director at the gallery, said Aelita had already developed a style of her own.' 'Is a 4-year-old Australian the 'next Picasso'?' [more inside]
I like you. I think we can get along very nicely.
Pratt-le
30 years later, Neil Peart breathlessly recounts, track by track, the making of Rush's seminal album Moving Pictures.
ABC Afterschool Specials
Anyone who grew up in the pre-Internet age is bound to remember the 4 p.m. showings of After School Specials on ABC. The melodramatic teen cautionary tales always contained an awesomely literal title—"She Drinks a Little" (alcoholic mom), "My Other Mother" (foster parents), and "Schoolboy Father" (teen pregnancy)—and a Life Lesson by the 44-minute mark. [more inside]
missing puck spotted, still lost
The search for the puck that scored the Stanley Cup winning goal last year (previously) finds new hard evidence that linesman Steve Miller picked it up. The hall of fame is calling for changes to ensure this doesn't happen again. And as two storied franchises fight for their first Cups in quit a while, Steve Miller is on the ice again, a linesman for games 1 and 3 of the finals so far.
Don't do it! Take the job! Have a life!
Piled higher and deeper. The PhD Movie
Daddy Issues
The Daughter Test. Steven Levitt of Freakonomics decides he's ok with the government restricting things if they're something he wouldn't want his (extremely cute) daughter to do. Kevin Drum responds. Ross Douthat responds. Feminists are squicked. [more inside]
Dolphin Paratroopers
Dolphin Paratroopers "The most bizarre Soviet marine mammal system was a dolphin paratrooper. A dolphin wore a harness attached to a parachute, and could be dropped from heights up to 3,000 meters." Not a computer game, but Brian "Skeptoid" Dunning on the military's killer dolphins in the US and elsewhere. All the more fascinating for being soberly researched and bullshit-free.
Alice's Bucket List
Alice Pyne, a UK teenager with cancer, recently started her blog, Alice's Bucket List, with a personal wish-list. Top of the list is 'To make everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor'. Her request has been brought up in parliament and helped by likes of Charlie Brooker (NSFW) has since become a top trend on twitter.
I am large, I contain multitudes
"How is one to know which aspect of a person counts as that person’s true self?" Does it lie "precisely in our suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions, while our ability to reflect is just a hindrance that gets in the way of this true self’s expression?" Or is "the most distinctive and essential to a human being is the capacity for rational reflection?" Or is the authentic self "the ideologically-validated self"?
Insert joke I would have learned at band camp here, if I had gone to band camp.
Genghis Barbie is a "post post-feminist feminist" French horn quartet that plays breathtaking renditions of Somebody to Love, Kiss from a Rose and Janelle Monae's 57821. Oh, and Thong Song.
The Kids Are All Writing
Glee's Chris Colfer is writing a children's book. The Land of Stories, aimed at middle grade readers, will come out next year. He joins many other famous folks who have decided to write for younger readers. Perez Hilton is doing one. Madonna's done many. Even the "stars" of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice got in on the kidlit craze. Of course, many of these authors don't actually write the books they publish. Even if/when they do, many readers find the results underwhelming. "If you are looking for the next Beatrix Potter or Maurice Sendak, you will not find it here," claimed the Guardian. There are exceptions, but it seems that for a lot of celebrities, literature for children has become merely another form of brand extension. Author, Adam Rex has countered with "An Open Letter to Everyone Who Thinks it Must be Easy, Writing Kid's Books" Or, as EB White said, "You have to write up to children, not down..."
Cardboard bike helmet better than plastic
Kranium is a bike helmet that is made from cardboard and out performs the standard polystyrene-filled lids.
Bot-a Hari Lives
Facebook Espionage. Weiner did it to himself. But that doesn't mean there aren't people out there looking to do it to you. Henry Copeland, blogads founder, has uncovered suggestive evidence of bot-spies on facebook being used to track personal information of influential people. All you need is the photo of a hot chick.
Happy Birthday Les Paul, 5565 98
In another deadly strike in Google's war against productivity (previously), today's Google homepage features a playable guitar in honor of Les Paul's birthday. [more inside]
Plus, my competition gets pretty distracted by my cock
Dildo Sport: the first strap-on athletic accessory that helps you play hard and win big!. SLVimeo; 1.20, NSFW. [more inside]
IOS 5, third-party apps and the Cydia market
It used to be called "Sherlocking". British student Greg Hughes' Wi-fi Sync application was rejected by the Apple App Store for security reasons. Undeterred, he sold it on the Cydia store for jailbroken iPhone apps. At WWDC on Monday, IOS 5 was unveiled, with the latest iteration of the iPhone operating system offering Twitter integration, a built-in to do list, an adless longform reader... and Wi-fi sync. [more inside]
"Art, or Real, or Advertising?"
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