July 10, 2015
Revealing the unseen
In 1945, Vannevar Bush described a physical storage, search and retrieval system that worked like an early hypertext. He called it a memex. Earlier this year, DARPA released the open-source components for it's own project named Memex, a powerful engine for searching the deep, dark web. [more inside]
"Yo, grannie... Let's go!"
Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, Carnegie Hall
Pete and Arlo, Carnegie Hall, November 30, 2013. Pete died on January 27, 2014.
Time for your annual checkup
Dr. Farid Fata, a prominent cancer doctor in Michigan, admitted in court to intentionally and wrongfully diagnosing healthy people with cancer. Fata also admitted to giving them chemotherapy drugs for the purpose of making a profit. The cancer doctor’s guilty plea shocked many in the courtroom, according to The Detroit Free Press. Fata owned Michigan Hematology Oncology, which had multiple offices throughout Detroit’s suburbs.One of the more horrifying crimes I've heard of. You're welcome. [more inside]
The heads are rolling today
"Ellen Pao is stepping down as Reddit’s CEO, a move that comes amid mounting pressure after a series of management mishaps that has angered its very vocal online community. Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and its original CEO, is taking over immediately."
People can understand strange desires; not having desire freaks them out
DoubleX Gabfest: The Beazel Better Have My Money Edition - "On this week’s Gabfest, Slate’s Hanna Rosin and June Thomas join New York editor Noreen Malone to talk about what it means to be asexual, Rihanna’s music video for 'Bitch Better Have My Money' and other prefatory uses of bitch, and the 1939 film The Women." [more inside]
The weird worlds of African sci-fi
African sci-fi features all manner of weird and outlandish things, from crime-fighting robots to technological dystopias. But could they be closer to predicting the future than they realise?
“...I’m living every moment intensely, as if it were the last moment,”
Omar Sharif, 83, a Star in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Doctor Zhivago,’ Dies. [New York Times]
Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the desert in the 1962 screen epic “Lawrence of Arabia” into a glamorous if brief reign as an international star in films like “Dr. Zhivago” and “The Night of the Generals,” died on Friday in Cairo. He was 83. His death, at a hospital, was caused by a heart attack, his agent, Steve Kenis, said. Mr. Sharif — who later became as well known for his mastery of bridge as he was for his acting — was a commanding, darkly handsome presence on screen. He was multilingual as well, and comfortable in almost any role or cultural setting.
Women on the spectrum
The Big Open-Ended Question: On Loving and Accepting My Asperger’s
For years after, I tried to hide who I was and had some success. On the rare occasions when I did disclose my diagnosis, the response would usually be something along the lines of, “Wow, I didn’t know you were autistic!” I always took that as a compliment. After I graduated from college, I got a job and earned a reputation as an excellent employee, who was praised by her superiors and co-workers for her industriousness and attention to detail. But it always ended there. ... Even when I didn’t say anything, even when I just talked about work, I could tell that I still seemed a little odd to most people. A recruiter once told me that I had “an edge” about me, and didn’t really elaborate on what she meant by that. Co-workers told me that I was “too eager” or “forceful.”[more inside]
Twelve Dollars
Whether it’s a barbecue or a bonfire, there’s nothing quite like a cold one when it’s hot outside. Here are 11 delicious craft brews to check out this season.
RIP New Album Tuesdays, 1989-2015
U.S. music fans have long remembered the anticipation of new album releases on Tuesdays, a bright spot in the long slog of the week. Brits and Dominionists were lucky and got them on Mondays, while the Aussies and the Germans had to wait until Friday for no appreciable reason. As of this week, however, the whole world will be synchronized to Friday releases. [more inside]
A damn interesting dollop of plagiarism
Damn Interesting, a regular feature here on the blue, has publicly called out comedy/history podcast The Dollop for using its articles without permission or attribution. The Dollop with its hosts, comedians Dave Anthony and Gary Gareth Reynolds, has seen its share of attention here as well. The Dollop has gone into damage control mode, deleting comments and banning people from its subReddit and Facebook pages.
Megasoid, 2007-2009 (or, RIYL BANGERZZZZZZZZ, LAZER BASS, & THE AUGHTS)
Megasoid started in the winter of 2006/2007 as a Montreal-based mobile soundsystem making aggressive street-bass and remix music. For the following 3 years Vaughn Robert Squire and Hadji Bakara spent their time playing their music out of vans, throwing amps in basements for live sets, lugging modular synths to rooftops of hotels, and setting up big PAs under bridges and at after-hours spots
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“I should be a sleight of hand artist.”
Actress Patti LuPone talks about the incident at Shows for Days at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night where she, without breaking character, Ms. LuPone walked into the audience and took an audience member's cell phone who had been texting during the play. Ms. LuPone is not a stranger to taking charge of similar incidents. [more inside]
I'm the Doctor... and I save people!
No one wants a nutty hypothalamus
Coining brr-geoisie, Daniel Engber suggests in Slate that "the case against AC has always been more a moral judgment than a scientific one", responding to the idea that America is "over air-conditioned" as argued in this article by Kate Murphy in the NY Times.
Six Years of "Scenic Routes"
If you're like me, you're still kinda recovering from the abrupt dissolution of The Dissolve earlier this week. This morning over at the AV Club, they posted a new entry in their series "Scenic Routes", which may be the best Movie-centric feature AV Club runs. And at this moment of recovery for dedicated movie geeks, it's a great opportunity to review some of their more memorable entries over the years. [more inside]
Ooh ooh a special route master!
Exhausting a Crowd is an interactive video you can annotate yourself, using footage from a London street. It was commissioned by the Victoria & Albert Museum as part of their All of This Belongs to You exhibition.
It's The Most Wonderful Time.....of the YEAR
With a tip of the clown hat to Doctor Who, everybody's favorite rap duo brings you the 2015 Gathering of the Juggalos Infomercial. [more inside]
KFCosplay
It's San Diego Comic Con weekend. Here's how KFC is celebrating it.
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