August 15, 2008
The Open-Source Train Moves Forward
What could be less important to the blue than a news item involving model railroading and Java? Yet in an important decision, a U.S. Appeals court has ruled that that the terms of the Artistic License are enforceable copyright conditions. "For non-lawgeeks, this won't seem important but this is huge," said Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig. [more inside]
Quad Quadricycle
Destined for display at this year's Burning Man, a very impressive quadricycle is out and about in an early appearance. (via) [more inside]
Animated Knots
A break from the Olympics
A Beautiful Place to Die
"STOP. The area ahead has the worst weather in America. Many have died there from exposure, even in the summer. Turn back now if the weather is bad."
A Boston Globe piece on the White Mountain National Forest, the common disregard for danger of those who hike in it, and the people who often go and get them when things go wrong.
A Boston Globe piece on the White Mountain National Forest, the common disregard for danger of those who hike in it, and the people who often go and get them when things go wrong.
Walk Like a Russian (oh whey oh)
This year alone, over 20,000 Russian Orthodox pilgrims followed an icon of St. Nicholas from Kirov to Velikoretskoye on foot. The 180km-long pilgrimage through the Russian countryside dates back to the 14th century.
Sergey Kozmin's photos. Some extra info
here.
Great Showdowns of the 8-bit Era
Great Art of your favorite 8-bit characters If you are a fan of retro arcade and 8-bit classic video games check out this interpretation of some of the greatest rivalries in old style gaming. How many can you name?
A unique sideshow
O Hangout, My Hangout
The vault at Pfaffs where the drinkers and laughers meet to eat and drink and carouse
While on the walk immediately overhead pass the myriad feet of Broadway
As the dead in their graves are underfoot hidden
And the living pass over them, recking not of them,
Laugh on laughers! Drink on drinkers!
While on the walk immediately overhead pass the myriad feet of Broadway
As the dead in their graves are underfoot hidden
And the living pass over them, recking not of them,
Laugh on laughers! Drink on drinkers!
Rhetorical Questions
Rhetorical Questions. "Who will win the presidential debates? What does each candidate’s use of words say about how he would govern as president? Can Obama’s rhetorical skills lift him to the heights of Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan—or will his speechmaking do him in? After watching all 47 (!) of the primary season’s debates, our correspondent has the answers—and some harsh criticism for the moderators."
God-like powers, at last
Flash Friday Fun! Excellent, physics-based game wherein you control the sun, trying to grab planets and keep them in orbit. Any game that includes the admonition not to "go hyperbola" is OK by me.
Dalek prototype
Credo Quia Absurdum
E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal organization rooted in the California Gold Rush. Although some of its primary functions are beer drinking and implicitly poking fun at stodgier fraternal orders, it has also developed into a locally important benevolent organization. [more inside]
Masterpieces of early photography
More than 5000 masterpieces of early photography gathered by German site zeno.org. Here they are arranged by photographer. Among the photographers are Eadweard Muybridge, Louis Daguerre, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Jacob Riis and Lewis Carrol. There are way too many interesting photographs in here to mention, so here are but a few: Tolstoy brandishing a pen at Chekov, dapper German, running soldier, old guy and typewriter and men dressed for a costume party.
National Geographic Map of the Day
National Geographic Map of the Day. Previously featuring maps that run the gamut from automotive discovery and exploration; through literary, witchhunts and imaginary; to historical and Olympic.
Sir King Penguin
Nils Olav has been a member of the Norway's King's Guard since 1972. Today, in a grand ceremony, he was knighted, becoming Sir Nils Olav. [more inside]
Video of Lenin without so much Trotsky, please...
Enhancing video using photos "Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene" sounds a bit dry, but watch the demo video. Not only are exposures correctable, resolution can be enhanced enough to do a flawless digital zoom in post, and objects can be undetectably changed or removed from shaky handheld video.
This is amazingly cool for video people, but also turns the slippery slope of "Can I trust what I see?" into a gaping chasm.
Blocky 2 - Return of the Damn Smilies
Blocky 2. Simple kiddie game with cutesy graphics and annoying sound effects, or addictive puzzle with surprising depth and strategy? Both? Either way, I've played it too often; now it's your turn. [more inside]
King Curtis
So, there was this little rock band from England, and they got pretty famous and all, so famous that they initiated the era of stadium concerts, back in '65, at a little place in Queens called Shea. But there was an opening act that night, led by a sax-blowin' fellow name of King Curtis, and he kicked total muhfukkin ass, and it wasn't even with his baddest band! You can hear them here. Jump Back! [more inside]
Da gebt der Natur die Ehre/ Froh, an Aug' und Herz gesund/ Und erkennt der Farbenlehre/ Allgemeinen ewigen Grund!
Goethe's Theory of Colors: example of a "research style" that has "played a crucial role in the history of physics", or "tedious heap of mythical, uninformed or impressionistic color anecdotes"? Learn more about "Goethian science", then miss the point entirely by viewing a PDF recreating his experiments photographically, or playing with his triangle online. [more inside]
What, you know him too?
Where Is Bob? We have a manager — Bob. Bob is incompetent, overweight, unattractive, uncouth, socially awkward, and generally, not a very nice person at all. For a while, we were convinced that Bob had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But then, something happened — Bob stopped showing up for work on a regular basis. Sometimes he wouldn’t even bother explaining his absence, acting as if spontaneous five-day weekends were simply the norm. And that is how everyone came to wonder — where is Bob?
Theatres of Machines
Database Machine Drawings - Early modern machine drawings from the late Middle Ages up to 1650. Traced by engineers (or by their order), some are inscrutable, others Escherian.
Solo-circumnavigating the world at 16.
Sixteen-year-old Zac Sunderland can't drive a car legally, but he's hoping to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. Zac departed from Marina Del Rey, California on June 14, and right now he's blogging from somewhere off the Marshall Islands. If you have Google Earth, you can chart his latest position here. Here's the route he plans to take. Links to video and more press stories here.
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