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Wanna see a magic trick?
Harvard's James Mickens (previously) recently gave the keynote address at the 27th USENIX Security Symposium. The title? Q: Why Do Keynote Speakers Keep Suggesting That Improving Security Is Possible?
A: Because Keynote Speakers Make Bad Life Decisions and Are Poor Role Models [more inside]
Replace shareholder-value capitalism with stakeholder capitalism
Elizabeth Warren has a plan to save capitalism - "She's unveiling a bill to make corporate governance great again." (via) [more inside]
Pete Tong's History of House, a look at classic dance hits
Pete Tong looks back at classic dance hits with from decades past with History of House, talking with the musicians behind those timeless tracks. There are currently 12 segments online: Kings of Tomorrow - "Finally" ֍ The Shapeshifters - "Lola's Theme" ֍ Inner City - "Good Life" ֍ Josh Wink - "Higher State of Consciousness" ֍ Roger Sanchez - "Another Chance" ֍ David Morales - "Needin' U"* ֍ Reel 2 Real - "I Like To Move It" ֍ Mylo - "Drop the Pressure" ֍ MJ Cole - "Sincere" ֍ Felix Da Housecat - "Silver Screen (Shower Scene)" ֍ Candi Staton - "You Got The Love"* ֍ Ultra Naté - "Free" ֍ Bonus links inside [more inside]
If given the opportunity, I just go kick ass.
There’s something fascinating about an actress who has made her name not through sex appeal, but the way she moves, punches, and scorpion kicks. Hollywood rarely allows women to be powerful like this. To be taken seriously, they must be EMOTIONAL and FRAGILE. Instead, Michelle Yeoh is STRONG and PLACID and GOOD AT BEATING PEOPLE UP. Michelle Lhooq interviewed Michelle Yeoh for GQ.
100 Favorite Horror Stories - NPR Reader's Poll Summer 2018
A solid list. The list takes in some of the early entries in the popular sub-genres (zombies, werewolves, vampires) but also includes cosmic horror, short story collections and others.
The un-celebrity president
Jimmy Carter finishes his Saturday night dinner, salmon and broccoli casserole on a paper plate, flashes his famous toothy grin and calls playfully to his wife of 72 years, Rosalynn: “C’mon, kid.”
She laughs and takes his hand, and they walk carefully through a neighbor’s kitchen filled with 1976 campaign buttons, photos of world leaders and a couple of unopened cans of Billy Beer, then out the back door, where three Secret Service agents wait.
Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been A Member Of The Communist Party?
In the 1930s and 40s, jazz pianist Hazel Scott was a child prodigy, the star of Cafe’ Society, a fighter for civil rights, Hollywood strike leader, and the first African-American woman to solo host her own TV show. So what ever happened to The Queen of Jazz?
Let's talk about talking
Small talk is dreadfully boring. Let's jump right into the truly interesting parts of the new people we meet. Small talk is wonderfully interesting. Let's take a moment and appreciate the joys of lightweight conversation. [more inside]
Dearly beloved
23 Prince Albums, New Anthology Come to Streaming Services [Rolling Stone] [Pepsi Blue Purple] “Until now, a limited slice of Prince’s catalog was available on most streaming services. Luckily, that slice included his indispensable Eighties LPs like Dirty Mind, Purple Rain and Sign o’ the Times. But on streaming services, the latter half of Prince’s career effectively disappeared. That started to change in June, when Prince’s estate reached a deal with Sony to acquire the distribution rights to 35 of the singer’s albums. 23 of those titles are now available on services like Apple Music and Spotify, including several LPs stocked with late-period Prince gems like Crystal Ball (“So Dark”), Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (“Man o’ War”), Musicology (“Call My Name”), Planet Earth (“Chelsea Rodgers”), 20Ten (“Sticky Like Glue”) and more.”
Lick the Rock! Lick it!
Geoscientist Mika McKinnon felt hurt by the viral tweet mocking rock licking for science, so she explained (threadreader) why you might lick rocks, noted which rocks will kill you, and judged pop culture rock-licking technique. Bonus Last Jedi content (threadreader).
There is no inherent limit in the destructive power that may be attained
Edward Teller and the 10 gigaton bomb.
We Got Some Work To Do Now
Scooby Dos and Scooby Don'ts is a podcast that aims to review every single episode, special, movie and other narrative-based product in the Scooby Doo franchise (including stat counts and property damage tallies). Currently, they're up to the chaotic and nostalgic 'wilderness years' of the 90's and early 00's, but still have many movies/special and four (going on five) entire TV series to go, and plan to pick up the podcast whenever new media is released thereafter.
"I’m a serial educator"
"A physicist-turned-farmer left L.A. for a mountain getaway. You can visit for goat cheese and cajeta." A mile high in the San Gabriels, on the far northern edge of the Angeles National Forest — about 1,000 square miles of looming mountains that fill the horizon northeast of downtown Los Angeles — a herd of Nubian goats forages amid the chaparral. It’s a small herd, as herds go, about 60 goats rustling through sagebrush and desert almond, buckwheat and scrub oak trees. Gloria Putnam is the goatherd of this motley tribe, and she walks among them, picking mistletoe tangled in an oak to feed the matriarch of the herd, an 11-year-old named Rosie. Piñon Ridge rises above them, bandaged with clouds. A trim red barn in the distance is the only spot of color.
(I would title the Björk one "Broomin' Behavior")
- David Lee Roth as microwave popcorn.
- Ozzy Osbourne as windshield wipers.
- Michael Stipe getting a friend’s attention in a busy restaurant.
- Prince sips a cup of really bad coffee.
- Stevie Nicks as a VCR, rewinding a tape.
- John Mellencamp enjoying a summertime snack. [potentially NSFW]
Dollar General: not so much as an opportunity as a diagnosis for towns
Where even Walmart won't go: how Dollar General took over rural America (The Guardian). As the chain opens stores at the rate of three a day across the US, often in the heart of ‘food deserts’, some see Dollar General as an admission that a town is failing. There are more Dollar General locations than McDonalds locations in the United States, and the company's growth doesn't show any sign of slowing down (Retail Dive). [more inside]
Moderation is the Commodity
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a discrimination complaint against Facebook today for letting landlords target protected attributes for ads on the Facebook platform. Should we let Facebook slide by on this one? Tarleton Gillespie wants us to take a closer look at what we're really expecting out of platforms. His thesis: by letting platforms turn moderation into a commodity, we've let that conversation shift away from duties and responsibilities. [more inside]
Oh hivemiiiiiiind!
On this day three years ago, webcomic author Ryan North and his dog got stuck in a hole. (previously)
Prisoners With Jobs
“The prison organizing has coincided with a movement that has taken hold across the country as teachers go on strike and protest slashed education budgets in their states. The hope is that the prisoners may eventually be able to build a coalition with the teachers and potentially even coordinate their strikes.” - LOUISIANA PRISONERS DEMAND AN END TO ‘MODERN-DAY SLAVERY’. Another nationwide Prison Labor strike planned for August 21st.
Re: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Augmenting Long-term Memory
In this essay we investigate personal memory systems, that is, systems designed to improve the long-term memory of a single person. In the first part of the essay I describe my personal experience using such a system, named Anki ... The second part of the essay discusses personal memory systems in general. Many people treat memory ambivalently or even disparagingly as a cognitive skill: for instance, people often talk of “rote memory” as though it's inferior to more advanced kinds of understanding. I'll argue against this point of view, and make a case that memory is central to problem solving and creativity. A detailed long read from Michael Nielsen including a discussion of how he prepared himself to write an article on AlphaGo for Quanta Magazine.