July 16, 2017
Luther’s Revolution
The Reformation did a lot more than transform Christianity. - " This paradox—that the Reformation could birth a peasant revolt while its instigator rallied behind the princes—is a picture of Protestantism’s confusing political legacy in miniature. Protestantism arguably brought about many of the preconditions for the Enlightenment and liberalism, and at the very least introduced Europe to a headier skepticism of authority than had prevailed before. (Indeed, Roper credits the Reformation with sparking the secularization of the West.) On the other hand, the release of significant portions of life—namely politics and economics—-from the purview of religious authority may have expanded certain freedoms, but it didn’t result in a betterment of conditions for the most disadvantaged, even as it helped transform the Christian message into something far more internal and private than that of the earlier Church." By Elizabeth Bruenig
End of an era, start of another: Volvo out of full ICE market in 2019
"We are convinced that the future of Volvo is electric" -- Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars Corporation AB, in a short promotional video from Volvo. The company has recently announced that "the cars that [they produce] from 2019 onwards will range from battery-only to plug-in hybrid – which can run for a significant distance before switching to petrol or diesel – and mild hybrids, where a battery helps a conventional engine achieve greater fuel economy." While this serves customers who have asked for more electric and hybrid car options, Adam Vaughan, writing for The Guardian, also points out "the move will also help the Swedish firm meet legally-binding carbon targets for new cars sold in the EU from 2020." [more inside]
I think this may be photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it
lashings of poisonous snakes crawling round
no clip is just itself
Videlicet is a one-off vidding zine that tells the history of fanvids, breaks down vidding techniques, and provides critical analyses of classic vids. Edited by lim, a fan artist whose work was recently shown at the Vancouver Art Gallery. [more inside]
Into the night..
George A. Romero is dead George Andrew Romero was an American-Canadian filmmaker and editor, best known for his series of gruesome and satirical horror films about an imagined zombie apocalypse, beginning with Night of the Living Dead and notably continuing on with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.[1] His other works contributed include The Crazies, Creepshow, Martin, Monkey Shines, and The Dark Half. [more inside]
we were flying along, And hit something in the air..
In 1971,, the Texas based hard rock band Bloodrock released the song "D.O.A." a tune about a plane crash and it's aftermath, described by one critic as "the most gruesome song to ever hit the Top 40. You be the judge.
A glimpse into the minds of birds
House finches in Mexico City have discovered that used cigarette butts can serve as an effective insecticide against fleas and ticks in their nests.. There is experimental evidence that their insecticide use is intentional. Unfortunately it comes with genotoxic side effects. [more inside]
“YouTube comments agree with me.”
Game Critics by videogamedunkey [YouTube] “...because there’s nothing game critics like talking about more than game critics and the work of game critics. I like a lot of Dunkey’s work but I disagree with most of this video, which criticises (among other things) big sites like IGN and Gamespot for expressing different opinions on games depending on which staff member at the site is talking at any given moment. Leading to situations where one IGN person says “Sonic sucks” and another person says “Sonic is great” and so on. Obviously I think writers expressing their individual opinions is a good thing (and there’s a reason why I always mention the author’s name alongside the links in Sunday Papers). There’s also a bunch of other stuff in there about game scores and whether you need to complete games before reviewing them and so on, all of which is the exact same argument people have been having for, oh, about 25 years now.” [via: Rock Paper Shotgun] [more inside]
You wanted to know who the 13 Doctor would be... and here she is!
In a YouTube video released today, the BBC announced that the successor to Peter Capaldi as The Doctor in Doctor Who will be actress Jodie Whittaker of Broadchurch and Black Mirror.
What goes up
Jerry Foster and the birth of modern television news. A longread biography of the man who upended television news.
Beyond 440
Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) speaks with ex-Korg engineer Tatsuya Takahasi on their collaboration on the monologue, microtuning, geometry and dreams. Plus new Aphex Twin track 'Korg Funk 5' using exclusively Korg synths. Double plus: 'AI Synths'
« Previous day | Next day »