July 16, 2010
Game On
Just over three weeks after being sworn in, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited the Governor-General this morning and called a federal election for the 21st of August. [more inside]
Let Them Eat Rock
Boston has two Upper Crusts.
One plays rock & roll music (think AC/DC [NSFW] meets French nobility).
The other makes pizza and doesn't like overtime.
ornithopters over Pearl Harbor
La Guerre Infernale was a serialized novel for children, written by Pierre Giffard and lavishly illustrated by Albert Robida. It told the tale of the second world war, with battles between Britain and Germany, and between the United States and Japan. Sadly, it's been out of print for over 100 years, because it was written in 1908. [more inside]
Hey, you got history in my comics! You got Comics in my history!
Hark a Vagrant revolutionizes Bastille Day, for your pleasure. Please to bring your own pikes, guillotines.
Everything Below This Is NSFW
Don't Drizzle me Bro!
Possibly the best game since Calvinball, Dwile Thonking (var. Dwyle Flunking, Dwile Flonking), consists of two teams of eight or more, and a lot of beer. The World Championships were played May 29th at the Dog Inn in Norfolk, with the the Pippin Flonkers of Coventry emerging victorious. Can't make it across the pond for a match? Play online!
A good story takes time to unfold
Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life, a philosophically meandering webcomic, has been updated after a long hiatus. Previously [more inside]
FDR: "People who are hungry, people who are out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."
The United States was engaged in the largest two-front war of its, or any nation's history. Though victory was not yet certain, there were discussions on a multi-national level regarding the future peace, and on the President of the United States was looking to the post-war prospects for the nation. With that in mind, the annual address of the President to Congress and the nation was summed up in one word: Security. "And that means not only physical security which provides safety from attacks by aggressors. It means also economic security, social security, moral security -- in a family of nations." This was Franklin D. Roosevelt's third-to-last Fireside Chat, presented on Tuesday, January 11, 1944, which included what he proposed to be the Second Bill of Rights. [more inside]
Is it tinfoil hat time again already?
The recent bombing of a a Shi’ite mosque in SE Iran by the Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundullah raises again the question of whether the US is in bed with the enemy. The Groups leader Abdolmalek Rigi was recently executed by the Iranians.
In 2007 ABC News reported on The Secret War Against Iran.
"Some former CIA officers say the arrangement is reminiscent of how the U.S. government used proxy armies, funded by other countries including Saudi Arabia, to destabilize the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s”.
In 2007 ABC News reported on The Secret War Against Iran.
"Some former CIA officers say the arrangement is reminiscent of how the U.S. government used proxy armies, funded by other countries including Saudi Arabia, to destabilize the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s”.
"Dude, you're pretty sober. Drive us to Nick's!"
Nick Tahou Hots in Rochester, NY is famous for being the home of the Garbage Plate. According to Health magazine the Garbage Plate is New York State's Fattiest food, with potentially 200 grams of fat.
Awkward Stock Photos
"They're just tennis rackets." "I know."
God of War: The Movie This year's indie blockbuster. [SLYT]
Business as Usual for BP
BP admits lobbying to get convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi released in order to protect a $900,000,000 deal to drill off the coast of Libya. In the future, we'll probably be hearing a lot more about the controversy over BP's admitted role (acknowledged long ago by officials in the UK) in negotiating for al-Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds that have since been called into question (as previously discussed here). At the time of al-Megrahi's release by a Scottish Judge, US officials were sharply critical of the decision to release al-Megrahi. Investigations into the arrangement are currently underway in the US congress.
Bob Munden Fast Draw
"Fast draw is the fastest thing a human being does. Nobody does anything faster than what I do with guns." [more inside]
Go Bananas!
My metafilter is sometimes bitter and dense. Is there anything I can add to it to make it lighter?
cooking.stackexchange.com is the first non computer based Q&A site in the ever expanding stackexchange universe. If you want to know how to chop onions without crying, find out what a roux is or find the best meat replacements for vegetarians, then this may be worth a look-see.
SIGGRAPH 2010
A preview of SIGGRAPH 2010, which is already producing the usual spate of demonstration videos, some fascinating, some slightly disturbing. [more inside]
Largest home in America
The immodestly named Versailles1 in Florida is possibly the largest home in America. At 90,000 sqft it is nearly twice the size of the White House and includes 23 bathrooms, a 10 car garage and 10 Segways to get around. The WSJ reports on Touring the (Almost) Largest Home in America. Of course the owners ran out of money and now the hulking shell of Versailles, sitting precariously for the ages a few feet above sea level, is for sale (click through for virtual tour).
I've been thinking 'bout... shaking my tailfeather
Hanson's (catchy, if you ask me) video "Thinking 'Bout Something" is an homage to Ray Charles's great performance of "Shake a Tailfeather" in The Blues Brothers. As an added bonus, look closely at the tambourine player; it's our favorite, Weird Al. [more inside]
For considerably less than six million dollars, too.
REX is a "bionic" motorized exoskeleton that could make wheelchairs obsolete. Videos: 1, 2. Made in New Zealand by two British inventors, REX will be available internationally in the middle of 2011. Reported Retail Cost: (US) $150,000
Blurring online & offline social networking & economics.
*sigh* Sometimes I hate computers...
"Millions" Of Home Routers Vulnerable to a Web Hack
At the upcoming Black Hat Conference, to be held on July 29th in Las Vegas this year, a security researcher and ethical hacker named Craig Heffner will reveal a software tool to exploit a large-scale vulnerability in most home routers that will give users outside of the network access to the device. [more inside]
HOW SUPERMODELS ARE LIKE TOXIC ASSETS
There is very little intrinsic value in Coco Rocha's physique that would set her apart from any number of other similarly-built teens. 'When dealing with symbolic goods like “beauty” and “fashionability,” we would be hard pressed to identify objective measures of worth inherent in the good itself.' 'The social world of fashion markets reveals how market actors think collectively to make decisions in the face of uncertainty. And this social side of markets, it turns out, is key to understanding how investors could trade securities backed with “toxic” subprime mortgage assets leading us into the 2009 financial crisis.' 'In 2002, a tall and skinny 14-year old girl competed in a dance contest in Vancouver, Canada. There she encountered a modeling agent, who asked her to consider going out for modeling jobs. Today, the 22-year-old Coco Rocha is celebrated as a “supermodel”'. [more inside]
Don't Rape
Society teaches 'Don’t get raped' rather than 'Don’t rape' "When Stevens reads articles about drunk driving, the police are quoted telling people to stop drinking and driving. But when she reads articles about sexual assault, there is no warning telling would-be attackers not to rape. Instead, the authorities tell potential victims to take precautions." [more inside]
Did the Vatican just equate ordaining women with molesting children?
Did the Vatican just equate ordaining women with molesting children? Sure sounds like it to a handful of women priests. The church is backpedaling a bit today, but not very hard.
WordPress, Thesis and the GPL
Who gets to make money off WordPress? Dust-up brewing in the world of WordPress as theme author Chris Pearson and WordPress head honcho Matt Mullenweg battle out the question: Is a theme a 'derivative work'? [more inside]
You'd think the death toll sign would be a deterrent
"Andrew Doughty [...] brah you have BLOOD on your hands. No one ever even went to Queens Bath before these books were released, and now over 10 people have died there." The Strange Case of Queen's Bath, Kauai. [more inside]
Scientists prove that lunch came before breakfast
Whatever you do, don't tell Warport Security that you have a bomb
Flash Friday: Mardek 3 is an rpg similar in style and length to the Final Fantasy or Earthbound games from the SNES days. But that's not all! [more inside]
Coming to a keyboard near you.
India unveils new rupee symbol. The new symbol. Measures are already afoot to have the rupee sign declared a computer standard, meaning it could join currencies such as the pound, dollar, euro and yen on keyboards within two years. And in case you wondered, Where do currency symbols come from?
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Dolphin escapes from SeaWorld tank in Japan, but is caught a few moments later. (SLYT)
Not raoulmoatley funny
Raoul Moat left prison, shot several people and hid from the police for a week before shooting himself. Not long after, the Facebook group 'RIP Raoul Moat You Legend' was set up to predictable outrage and condemnation from the UK Prime Minister (and then condemnation of his reaction.) An astounding radio interview with said group's founder. [more inside]
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