September 11, 2012
Mathematics world abuzz with a proof of the ABC Conjecture
Shinichi Mochizuki believes that he has found a connection between prime numbers by developing a 500 page proof of the ABC conjecture [more inside]
Streaking? Oh man that's so cray cray!
This is how you do it: Streak at high school sporting event and get away with it. [NSFW warning: Butt.]
Whooooaaaaaaaaaaaa....
LS3 - Legged Squat Support System can carry 400lbs over 20 miles without refueling. And is the stuff of nightmares.
the quiet place project: a quiet moment or two online, without capital letters
the quiet place project is actually three projects: the quiet place, a 30+ second respite from flashing notifications, 90 seconds, the prolonged version, and the thoughts room, where you can type any thing and it will crumble away. best experienced at a computer with a space key and the ability to make web pages go full-screen, or you could let the music play in the background. that's nice, too.
TARP's former Inspector General is mad as hell
The American people “should be enraged by the broken promises to Main Street and the unending protection of Wall Street” writes Neil Barofsky, former Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program in his new book, Bailout, about his time in that office. His trenchant criticisms of Washington egos, moneyed interests, and political games has some calling him an "idealistic alien" and others vehemently defending him. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner comes off particularly poorly in Bailout, unsurprising in light of his well-known feud with Barofsky over the efficacy of the bailouts. (previously)
Obama’s Way
"To understand how air-force navigator Tyler Stark ended up in a thornbush in the Libyan desert in March 2011, one must understand what it’s like to be president of the United States—and this president in particular. Hanging around Barack Obama for six months, in the White House, aboard Air Force One, and on the basketball court, Michael Lewis learns the reality of the Nobel Peace Prize winner who sent Stark into combat."
Magic the Gathering is Turing complete
Bush Knew More About Bin Laden's Plans Than We Realized
NYT Op/Ed on 9/11: 'The Deafness Before the Storm' "goes into teeth-grinding detail about how the Bush administration had even more advance notice about Osama Bin Laden's attack than we previously realized." Summary: significantly more negligence than has been disclosed.
John Peel - The scope of music on these shows is still gobsmacking.
A user on Soundcloud has posted 458 full John Peel shows. The shows range from 2004 BBC episodes all the way back to several 1967 Radio London shows. Some of the shows playlists can be found on the John Peel wiki as well. John Peel has, of course, been mentioned on the blue before.
The dangers of Google image search
Be careful about using Google to find media for your big presentation. You might end up offering a tribute to US veterans while standing in front of a gigantic picture of four warships which belong to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
If hashtags were rice grains ...
Jake Davis, aka Topiary, was part of LulzSec. He was 18 when he was arrested in the Shetland islands on July 27 2011, after what The Guardian describes as 'one of the biggest manhunts on the planet'. He is currently on bail in the UK, but faces the possibility of extradition to the USA and several decades in prison there. As part of his bail conditions, he is barred from going online. Here, he describes what that is like. [more inside]
John Romero's "Daikatana"
Transit Triathlon
If you've spent any time in Washington, DC during the past few years, you're probably familiar with Capital Bikeshare; the region's immensely popular bikesharing program. The system's big red bikes are designed for casual use, and are built like tanks to avoid damage, vandalism, and theft. This past weekend, one Falls Church, VA resident undocked one of the 40lb bikes, and rode it to the finish line of the Nations' Triathlon. [more inside]
Flowers are very pretty
" the flawed, bonkers and brilliant" Pre-Raphaelites
A new exhibit on the sometimes maligned, but often adored, Pre-Raphaelite painters is at the Tate Britain.
"You get the impression, in this exhibition, that the Pre-Raphaelites had a good time because they were the only Victorian men who recognised women as sexual beings"
previously
Vice President Biden on 9/11
Joe Biden commemorates 9/11 - tear-inducing
Troubled Life of a Tech Company Chef
Hungry? A former Google chef says, “They had no budget, it was foie gras and Kobe steaks every day.” The Semi-Charmed Life Of A Tech Company Chef
"The banners of the King of Hell come forth"
The limit does not exist
The complete guide to America's jobs crisis and the failure of monetary policy using animated gifs
Conked Out
Last year the RSC [Royal Society of Chemistry] launched a huge public investigation into a matter of national importance: are spiders afraid of conkers? A tale of ancestral folk wisdom, natural insect repellents, and surprisingly well-designed school science experiments. Particularly worth it for the 5-minute documentary produced by the kids of Roselyon School.
Brad Does Acid
Twitter user hella_brad stumbles upon a new and novel use for the platform: Livetweeting an acid trip.
NO NEWS
Breaking: There Is No News A supercut of awkward silences in news reports.
Get out there and bother each other! That’s what it’s all about.
Legendary curmudgeonly rockist Athens GA music zine Chunklet is still around, and teaming up with Vice magazine to bring you such new Classics of argument-fomentation as The Wheel Of Punk™ (and the Wheel of Punk™ in action). [more inside]
If you don't like memes, you're gonna have a bad time.
9/11 from space
"It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point." Astronaut Frank Culbertson's reflections as he orbited the Earth on Sept. 11th, 2001.
Glocal et al
Actual things that came out of human mouths at day one of Techcrunch's Disrupt SF Conference. (New York magazine)
Male nipples are OK, female nipple bulges are not
Pining for the moon
In March of 2009, an R.E.M. tribute and benefit concert was held at Carnegie Hall. One of the most interesting covers of that evening was Ingrid Michaelson's take on "Nightswimming."
Michaelson used a looping pedal to slowly build the harmonies, so that by the end of the song she was accompanied by a whole choir of her own voice. While the Carnegie performance isn't available online, you can see a pared-down but still extraordinary performance from her appearance at the Sirius XM studios. (YT)
Warupichi
Future Bling of England
London advertising agency Iris have come under fire for the design of their staff benefits booklet. The photographs, while beautifully composed, are being criticised for their referencing of the chav stereotype, particularly at a time when benefit claimants are seeing drastic cuts proposed by the government. [more inside]
The debate that dare not speak its name
Earlier this month Australian Christian Lobby head Jim Wallace suggested a homosexual lifestyle was more hazardous to health than smoking, but he was not was not comparing homosexuality with smoking. Smokers were offended.
Last night, on the ABC's Q&A program (Transcript) the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, backed the comments, claiming ''It's very hard to get to the facts here because we don't want to talk about it, and in this country censorship is alive and well.".
But Wallace's claims were based on a 25-year-old study by a discredited researcher. [more inside]
But who is this singular other?
Cinema is another life A minor epic of demonology by Raúl Ruiz, from the excellent newish film journal Lola.
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