August 21, 2017
More like Mastodon't, amirite?
Mastodon is big in Japan. The reason why is… uncomfortable
Ethan Zuckerman on a social network's surprising/disturbing source of popularity. [more inside]
Ethan Zuckerman on a social network's surprising/disturbing source of popularity. [more inside]
Some rural markets and towns even experienced a 55% decline post-plague
A new study of annual to multiannual levels of lead in the Alpine glacier, Colle Gnifetti, in the Swiss-Italian Alps provides further validation of the calamitous character of the plague and the accompanying events in the 14th century. These new hard-core data demonstrates the impact which the Black Death had on society and economy.
Six cents of every tax dollar to the moon
The Atlantic, August 1963: Two scientists argue that sending men to the moon is worth the cost.
Potpourri
Dogs on trampolines [bouncy EDM soundtrack]. That is all.
Wait, there is more: Bodega Cats (previously) posted a picture that charmed the internet: This looks like the CD cover for an all-cat, sassy girl band.
Ooh, one more thing: Everyone needs a hug.
Wait, there is more: Bodega Cats (previously) posted a picture that charmed the internet: This looks like the CD cover for an all-cat, sassy girl band.
Ooh, one more thing: Everyone needs a hug.
Syllabus for White People to Educate Themselves
The “Syllabus for White People to Educate Themselves” is the perfect thing to send both white allies genuinely interested in learning more, and that special Facebook commenter who loves playing “Devil’s Advocate.” Whenever anyone asks you for stats, “proof,” or info no one who has an actual human schedule has the kind of time to provide, you can send them here. [Google Docs link via Teresa Jusino at The Mary Sue]
"Boone... I'm going into the next office."
STAR GATE was one of a number of "remote viewing programs" conducted under a variety of code names, including SUN STREAK, GRILL FLAME, and CENTER LANE by DIA and INSCOM, and SCANATE by CIA. These efforts were initiated to assess foreign programs in the field; contract for basic research into the the phenomenon; and to evaluate controlled remote viewing as an intelligence tool.
Records of the Stargate Program were published by the CIA earlier this year.
And other kids are being framed too.
Soul Snatchers: How the NYPD’s 42nd Precinct, the Bronx DA’s Office, and the City of New York Conspired to Destroy Black and Brown Lives [more inside]
Seersucker's Curious Class Struggle
Seersucker's Curious Class Struggle [via mefi projects] The Whelk provides a thorough, and thoroughly engaging, history of America's most underrated fabric.
Uncanny Japan
Uncanny Japan is Thersa Matsuura's podcast dedicated to Japanse folk lore, customs and historical oddities.
A Most American Terrorist
[Dylan] Roof was safeguarded by his knowledge that white American terrorism is never waterboarded for answers, it is never twisted out for meaning, we never identify its “handlers,” and we could not force him to do a thing. He remained inscrutable. He remained in control, just the way he wanted to be.Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah on what created Dylann Roof.
“Use some mercy, human.”
The Undertale Drama by Chloe Spencer [Kotaku] “Undertale’s stigma as a toxic fandom arose after incidents involving harassed YouTubers, pornography, and fans who plastered the internet with in-game jokes. Over time, a game that started out as heartwarming and lovable gained infamy for supposedly having one of the worst fandoms on the internet. Undertale’s descent into online infamy was largely due to the pervasive thought that there was only one way to play the game.” [Previously.]
The Steep Game
Neil Chayet (1939–2017)
Neil Chayet broadcast one-minute summaries of quirky lawsuits on the radio for more than 40 years. He died of small cell cancer last Friday, at age 78. Obits at NYTimes, the Boston Globe, and Harvard Law. [more inside]
After 15 years Whedonesque Shuts Down. Site was Inspired by MeFi.
Yesterday, Joss Whedon's ex-wife Kai Cole accused him in a scathing editorial (published in The Wrap) of having multiple affairs with actresses, co-workers, fans and friends and of being a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals.” Today, in apparent response, Whedonesque has been shut down by its founders/admins. Whedonesque turned 15 on July 29. The site was inspired by MeFi, and its design was based on an early version of Metafilter, with mySQL/Perl code reportedly tweaked by Mefi's Own prolific. [more inside]
Another deadly collision.
Top Navy admiral orders fleetwide investigation following latest collision at sea. Previous collisions involving U.S. Navy vessels. Discussion over at r/Navy suggests pervasive lack of sleep contributes to the problem.
How Blind Astronomers Will Observe the Solar Eclipse
Like millions of other people, Wanda Diaz Merced plans to observe the August 21 total solar eclipse...But she won’t see it. She’ll hear it. Diaz Merced is an astrophysicist who also happens to be blind. While searching for ways to study stellar radiation without relying on sight, she has developed a way to represent complex data about our universe as sound (transcript). [more inside]
Beyond the cheesy fried enchilada funnel cake: 2017 state fair foods
At this years Iowa State Fair (BBC previously) the usual corn dogs, golden fry choco pocket and cheeses and other foods on sticks (more previously) were available, amongst the butter sculpting, baking contests and writing your bucket list. These could be followed by Iowa's big pork leg, or perhaps Thanksgiving balls, apple tacos or bauder mud, washed down with honey lemonade. Or perhaps healthy choices like a vegetable, or peanut butter and jelly, on a stick (previously golden fried), eaten while Skip Hitchcock judges your potatoes or you rest up with your cow. Amongst the 44 new foods, the pork almighty emerged as a popular winner. But, what delicacies were available at other nearby state fairs... [more inside]
How Hate Groups Forced Online Platforms to Reveal Their True Nature
What gave these trolls power on platforms wasn’t just their willingness to act in bad faith and to break the rules and norms of their environment. It was their understanding that the rules and norms of platforms were self-serving and cynical in the first place. (SLNYT)
Bury My Heart at W. H. Smith's
RIP Brian Aldiss, British science fiction writer, part of The New Wave. He wrote the novels Non-Stop, Hothouse, Greybeard and the Helliconia trilogy. He also wrote the short story 'Super-Toys Last All Summer Long' which the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence was partially based on [more inside]
The Ancient Roots of "Make It New"
The Making of “Make It New” by Michael North is an exploration of the ancient Chinese origins of Ezra Pound's phrase "make it new". At first obscure, the phrase became well known when Pound became seen as the central figure of early English-language Modernism. In the latest issue of Translatlantica Clément Oudart puts North's article in context with recent scholarship in an introduction to a thematic issue on American modernism. In recent years Pound's centrality has been challenged, and his fascism has been recognized as fundamental to his poetry, as laid out in The Pound Error by Louis Menand. The phrase survives as a challenge to authors, and in 2014 Pankaj Mishra and Benjamin Moser discussed whether writers can still "make it new".
Ellen Pao on sexism in Silicon Valley
"This Is How Sexism Works in Silicon Valley My lawsuit failed. Others won’t."
Ellen Pao: "I would sue Kleiner Perkins for sexual harassment and discrimination in a widely publicized case in which I was often cast as the villain — incompetent, greedy, aggressive, and cold. My husband and I were both dragged through the mud, our privacy destroyed. For a long time I didn’t challenge those stories, because I wasn’t ready to talk about my experience in detail. Now I am."
The Ice Cap Zone discovery shocked me, at least.
Turns out there's perhaps even more than we thought to the "Michael Jackson made music for Sonic 3" thing.
Previously.
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