Links posted in June 2007
June 30, 2007
Curious George: How has tech changed your life I cant write (with a pen or pencil) more than 50 words without my hand cramping up. Is it age? Or is it being used to the keyboard.... [more inside]
Prehistoric music Instruments from Ireland and beyond, and the sounds they made.
June 29, 2007
David Lynch's Dune... overdubbed. A parody re-release trailer for David Lynch's 1984 cult-classic DUNE.
Curious George.
My gooseberry bush has exploded this year, and I have a bumper crop of the lovely green sour things. Now what can I do with them all?
Bloxorz. Friday Flash Fun with sublime graphics, super gameplay and scintillating sound. Via ABS.
June 28, 2007
Make your photo into a Wall Street Journal style hedcut. How cool is that? caveat emptor: photoshop tutorial, not a webmachine.
The last episode of Red vs. Blue: Why were we here? [Via.]
An armada of rubber duckies is heading for Britain.
The vast flotilla of 29,000 plastic yellow ducks, blue turtles and green frogs broke free from a cargo ship 15 years ago.
Since then they have travelled 17,000 miles, now they are heading straight for Britain.
"It's like looking at the sun..." Summer is here, and girl-watching season is upon us. And, of course, some guys take it too far. And as a result, find their pictures and stories of street harassment posted on HollabackNYC, or one of the other local sites.
Viking age Inca bones
found in ... Norway?
Shurely shome mishtake? - Ed
June 27, 2007
The CIA's "Family Jewels" document was released to the National Security Archive yesterday, 15 years after the Archive filed a Freedom of Information request for the documents. The document consists of almost 700 pages of responses from CIA employees to a 1973 directive from Director of Central Intelligence James Schlesinger asking them to report activities they thought might be inconsistent with the Agency's charter. [more inside]
On baby names. Parents are feeling intense pressure to pick names that set their kids apart. Some are even hiring consultants. The Wall Street Journal on the art of 'branding' your newborn.
June 26, 2007
The Dramatic Chipmunk
- (which is in fact a Prairie Dog, itself not a dog but a rodent).
YouTube clip, 5 sec, AUDIO required(!), SFW.
I cannot believe this hasn't been posted...
[more inside]
60 years of UFOs. I particularly enjoyed the Project Serpo reference; I'd never heard of it before.
Incarcerex: It's Time for a New Bottom Line. [As requested, via MeFi.]
June 25, 2007
The challenge of being a heterodox economist. After grabbing a free drink in the Friedman reception, I strike up a conversation with economist Michael Perelman in the hallway... Perelman, who is there for the EPI reception, works at the margins of the discipline; he is one of a few hundred self-described "heterodox" economists at the conference. His last book, Railroading Economics, was about the creation of the "free market mythology"... I ask him about how he relates to the so-called mainstream of his profession. "It's a mafia," he says quietly, his eyes roving over to the suits spilling out of the Freedom to Choose room. [more inside]
Fundamental physics in 2010 (low-quality flash video): a talk by notable theoretical physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed, professor at Harvard, as delivered to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in February 2007. He gives a great introduction to the status and crises in the Standard Model of Particles and Interactions, together with his impression of how the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with its unprecedented ability to make observations in the 10-19m range will change the model. The talk should be accessible to a general audience.
You are all monkeysig. [more inside]
B.C. Legislature murals to come down. Last April, B.C. MLAs voted to remove murals from the Legislature, on the basis that the depictions of the First Nations were inaccurate and offensive (the murals, painted in the 30s, show aboriginals as subservient and inferior, and take a casual approach to representations of their culture). The debate continues -- is the removal tokenism, a whitewash of history, or simply a just correction?
US university students will not be able to work late at the campus, travel abroad, show interest in their colleagues' work, have friends outside the United States, engage in independent research, or make extra money without the prior consent of the authorities, according to a set of guidelines (pdf) given to administrators by the FBI.[more inside]
June 24, 2007
Dice Wars
is an obsessively playable flash game that feels a bit like Risk.
I started playing it months ago and I'll still give it a quick game before bed.
Vague online profiles helps dating chances ... so suggests Psychology Today. Finally, a scientific justification for lying on your Match.com profiles.
June 23, 2007
The Ancient Standard. From King Tut's taste in wine to ancient pornography.
Metrosexual tarot carts. What does your future hold? And will that afghan go with that new lamp?
June 22, 2007
In NYC tonight? Come see the first show I've ever produced! Woulda posted earlier, but didn't wanna be a self-promotin' monkey. Now, it's close enough to time I suppose. More info inside. [more inside]
First-born children 2.3 IQ points smarter, says totally dumb and bogus study. So, older siblings in denial of the obvious, and much cooler, popular, smartser younger siblings -- FIGHT!!!
13 minutes (not wasted) with Tom Lehrer. Doesn't include "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" or "The Masochism Tango" but still a video to cherish - a genius - even makes maths sound like fun.
June 21, 2007
Nothing could put this guy off his stroke. Man insists on continuing to pleasure himself despite getting stabbed. SFW.
If I Post It For what surely (???) will be a limited time only, here's is the OJ Simpson "If I Did It" tome, in its entirety, on Scribd. Download the PDF before they take it away...
Colin Powell advising Barack Obama. Mr Powell, 70, who left office in January 2005 under a cloud left by the war in Iraq, has served three Republican presidents, but made clear that he is considering backing a Democrat to succeed his former boss, George W Bush.
June 19th is Juneteenth
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862. It was not until June 19th, 1865 that the last slaves in the United States were to learn that they had been freed. In
Texas and 24 other states it is an official holiday.
[more inside]
June 20, 2007
Salman Rushdie knighted, to chagrin of some. Iran's foreign ministry summoned the UK ambassador in Tehran and said the knighthood was a "provocative act". Pakistan voiced similar protests, telling the UK envoy in Islamabad the honour showed the British government's "utter lack of sensitivity". Britain denied that the award was intended to insult Islam.
June 19, 2007
QE2 Sets sail for a new home. The Queen Elizabeth 2,arguably one of the most famous ships in the world, is set to become a 100 million dollar tourist attraction in a specially designed dock located in The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Some are very upset at this sale.
Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road. The Pope lays down Drivers' Ten Commandments. [more inside]
The World Without People.
Interesting article from Scientific American. It's like Day of the Triffids or Earth Abides. Except shorter. And no plot.
via
June 18, 2007
Me and My Avatar A cool series of photos pairings of people with their avatars from online gaming worlds in the NY Times. I'm fascinated to see how people see themselves. via.
Jet Power Do you remember the Sinclair C5? You know, the C5 -- that sedate, low-slung vehicle that travels at the speed of sound and blasts the driver's ears out.
GOTHS! The undead sub-culture.
June 17, 2007
We just need new dishes on the menu.... Current Plagues: Jellyfish (Japan/Pacific Ocean), locusts (Kansai) & hares (Milan).
Green dye, er, die in Dundee. New meaning to the words "tree huggers!"
June 16, 2007
The Victorian Surrealism of Jeffrey Michael Harp. [Via.]
The Star Spangled Banner. The song, as performed by the U.S. Marine Band (mp3), the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (mp3), Jose Feliciano (YouTube), Jimi Hendrix (YouTube), Marvin Gaye (YouTube), Carl Lewis (mp3), a nervous French-Canadian girl (YouTube)... [more inside]
"Committed To Parkview,"
was written for Porter Wagoner 25 years ago by Johnny Cash for Porter upon his learning that he and Wagoner had both spent time in the Nashville sanatorium.
[more inside]
The world of Genji [more inside]
June 15, 2007
McDonald's UK is answering EVERY question posted to them. Stolen from the blue, but I honestly laughed until I cried
Stunning monkeys!
At peacay's gorgeous site.
The one on the right is Kitworthy, no?
I think of Dean Moriarty. It's the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of On the Road. The work itself is much older, and is still spawning controversy and lame rip-offs. Go back and reread the original, 'cuz Jack's America is long gone.
Another 5 ways to hustle free drinks
Try these bets and you'll never have to pay for another drink again!
This is a follow up to the Top 5 ways to hustle free drinks blog post that circulated around the internet a month ago.
LMNOPUZ
is a collaborative, online crossword puzzle.
I think it's gonna take them awhile to work out the bugs (it times out a lot and has occasional glitches), but what a killer app!
How to fly hassle-free with sex toys. If you're one of the 500,000 (half a million!) people traveling to San Francisco for this year's Pride Parade, before you pack your one suitcase of sweaters and hot pants (you'll need both) and your five suitcases of sex toys, think about the TSA for a minute. (Ugh, not like that.) Sure, uniforms are hot, and some of you may have those nonconsensual cavity-search fantasies rarin' to go, but save your fetishes for Pink Saturday and pack your sex toys with care. Otherwise, be prepared to have your expensive toy collection ripped apart by security dogs and your favorite dick detonated by the feds. Imagine arriving and having to explain, "Honey, they blew up the Ballsy Jeff Stryker 10-inch."
Coal Fire Burns Beneath Town Since 1962 The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania is all but abandonded now. 46 years ago, a carelessly set garbage fire set a vein of coal in the mines below the town on fire. [more inside]
June 14, 2007
"Gold Farmers": video with associated links. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but this, the developmental speed of the internet from social appendage towards full corpus, initially surprises me.
BBC headline: "FBI tries to fight zombie hordes" This made me really happy just now, despite the less-than-exiting contents of the article.
Ebay cuts all advertising with Google "San Jose's eBay cut its advertising Monday shortly after Google unveiled plans for a party in Boston to hawk its online payment service, Google Checkout. Attendees of eBay's user conference, eBay Live, which starts today, were all invited for free drinks, food and massages." From Article
Sorry, gotta go
- convincing sound files for when you really, really want to end that pesky call. Takes me back to the old days when my mother, talking on a black rotary dial phone, would frantically make doorbell pushing motions to us kidlets so she could escape a boring call.
I like "My carriage is here".
June 13, 2007
Today is "Blog Like it's the End of the World" Day. The "blogosphere" (I hate that word, even though it was on The Daily Show) is blogging about some weird events. It almost sounds like the undead are walking. [more inside]
A 19th-century weapon was found in a bowhead whale that was recently shot (by a similar weapon)by native Alaskan hunters. This was a legal hunt, since the whale hunt quotas for native people in Alaska and Russia were recently renewed for five years. [more inside]
Better dead than red? - gingerism threatens carrot-tops. (Yes, carrot tops are green, but try telling non-reds that.) [more inside]
Exploring the mind-body orgasm. Q: Do you think there might come a time when orgasms really get detached from the genitals? A: It's happening right now. People have described orgasms through imagery, nose orgasms, knee orgasms.
June 12, 2007
17 Foods to Try Before You Die (Just because trying them afterwards is so tacky). Let the controversy begin.
Rome Reborn. Architects, archeologists and computer nerds have spent ten years coming up with a 3D real-time computer simulation of Rome in the time of Constantine, when it was the Greatest City in the Universe. Zigzactly! Ferpectly right!
The art outlaws of East L.A. Long before flash mobs, Gamboa began perfecting the practice of the spontaneous art action when he and three other East L.A. artists formed the venerated avant-garde performance group known as Asco, named after the Spanish word for “nausea.” Here you had, in the middle of the 1970s, four style-conscious art jesters — three men, one woman — cavorting in outrageous outfits around the streets and empty lots of East L.A., making a scene, actions sprinkled with cutting social commentary, then disappearing. A Dada daydream in Chicanoville, USA.
NYC Short Notice Meetup? Got some big apple biz tomorrow. Who's free for a beer after? [more inside]
June 11, 2007
9 ways to simulate a panic attack. YouTube starring my favorite Muppet, Grover.
This ain't no disco (photos of creative workspace)
Another animal post, but not much about the squee (for which some may be grateful). Taxidermy with a difference. (Some parts of site are sort of icky and possibly NSFW -- especially the "Sculpture" section.)
June 10, 2007
Chinese public health posters [more inside]
June 09, 2007
Haight-Ashbury vs. Laurel Canyon. Steel cage match. To the death. Summer-of-Love style.
I didn't know he could reach Prince once took a swing at Sinead O'Connor.
OMG I'm 13 again! [YouTube] Star Trek Bloopers, in all their dark, grainy glory. Cheesy, sometimes almost impossible to see, but still funny. And definitely much [more inside]
The Flying Scotsman. "He is the underdog who took on vastly superior odds, not with fancy machines and sophisticated back-up but a training diet of marmalade sandwiches, a bike made of scrap parts, including bearings from his washing machine, and a determination to win despite obscurity and an empty bank account."
Telephone exchanges There was an "Anti digit dialing association," back around 1964, which positioned itself against the eradication of what were called telephone exchanges. Telephone exchanges were the earliest versions of phone numbers. Named telephone exchanges were introduced in the 1930's and 1940's when 5 digits were no longer sufficient for the number of subscribers. They became mandatory in the 1950's when 7-digit dialing was instituted throughout (most of) the United States. It was believed that a word plus 5 digits would be easier to remember than would 7 digits.
June 08, 2007
Clark and Michael. "What have I always said is the most important thing?"
Rutka Laskier Short but very moving. [more inside]
Friday YouTube:
Scraper bike.
personal disclosure: I live about 2 miles from where this was produced.
Castlewars,
a fun little castle-themed card-based flash game.
via Ol' Blue
Numa numa - the USS Enterprise version [via] [more inside]
Idiot Comics
More cynical than Perry Bible Fellowship even, but well done.
To the lighthouse with stories from New England, New Zealand and Cape Wrath.
At the Barbiere, Milano. A simple visit to the barbershop, but everything's just better in Milan.
Don't know much biology. A biologist replies to Kansas senator and presidential hopeful Sam Brownback's questioning of evolution.
June 07, 2007
Canada's tallest pingo under threat from a bush-fire. What's a pingo? I'll admit -- I had to look it up. Happy Scrabbling!
Goodbye Everybody! Afer 50 years in daytime TV, Bob Barker tapes his last The Price Is Right [more inside]
Historical references to the Tiananmen Square massacre have been eliminated from most of mainland China. So it it surprising that mistakes will be made?
June 06, 2007
But I'm not well (Flash video thing.)
British sofa sets new 92 mph speed record. More details: "The souped-up sofa from furniture-modder Edd China laid claim to the top spot in the Fastest Furniture category in the Guinness Book of World Records reaching a top speed of 92 miles per hour. Sofa-driver Marek Turowski (who won his place in the driver's seat in an eBay auction) described the record-setting run as 'terrifying,' adding that 'you feel every bump... worse, you feel like you might take off.'" The previous speed record was also set by a British sofa.
Man buys 'Boost Plus', gets what he paid for.
UK 2012 Olympics Logo causes fits So far, the reaction to the logo is uniformly negative, with only one brave pundit trying to make lemonade...but in addition to grave concerns for epileptics, one witty commenter noticed that it looked suspiciously like Lisa Simpson performing an indecent act.
June 05, 2007
Curious George: myspace judicata Should I create a MySpace profile for my business? [more inside]
Demotivators, a spin on the always-annoying motivational posters. [more inside]
June 04, 2007
Bzuh??
Is this good thing or bad thing? Because at first it looks like Extra Super Greedy Evil Expoitation Supreme, but then you read further and it looks like they're providing goods at drastically reduced prices, and creating jobs for the poor. We can't blame corporations for wanting to tap new markets, but is this beyond the pale? Will this benefit more than a handful of poor people?
[more inside]
Sharks on Prozac! [more inside]
Keep your lolcat off your keyboard! PawSense detects when your cat is trying to send lolCode messages to other kitties, and uses INVISIBLE HIGH-PITCHED NOISES to deter them.
How can a software utility know if a cat is on my computer?[more inside]
A: If you carefully measure cat paws, you will find that practically all cat paws are significantly larger than a typical keyboard key.
Picture This A selection of photography galleries for your enjoyment and to bring a little beauty to your workday: The Photography of Lilya Corneli, Desiree Dolron's photography and artwork, Chris Anthony's rather spooky/Goth photography, and Hours of Darkness, featuring both night/low light photography and galleries of photographs of modern ruins.
June 02, 2007
LOLfeeds
Riding the crest of the shark-jumping wave of lolkitty mania is LOLfeeds; featuring pictures of cute fluffy kittens labeled with up-to-the-minute captions from CNN, the Beeb, Boing Boing and our sister station Mefi.
My personal favorites, though, are the personal ads from Craigslist; some of which are eerily appropriate.
Post yer faves here.
Find the star! We missed the Phlash Phriday due to an Uberlord Mind Blip, so here's something I found on the *cough* blue place. [more inside]
Corporate capitalism sucks. (From The New York Review of Books.)
Acquire your very own squirrel dressed up like your most favourite public figure. Do it. Only $3!
The super-secret eeky thread Since I was negligent enough to let the site idle overnight through to lunchtime, I feel the need to make amends. I figure a new thread to stuff around in may help. I will not be giving cash compensation before you ask.
June 01, 2007
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.
The Crazy Dave Tapes
Absolutely NOT SAFE FOR WORK...
Presuming you work around people who may be offended by profanity, violence, screaming, loud noises, men in pig masks and diapers simulating copulation with cardboard cutouts of Dolly Parton, grotesqueries, misogyny, misanthropy, masturbation, gross out humor, rock and roll, deformity, flashing lights, pointlessness, bigfoot wrestling a grizzly bear or partial nudity.
[more inside]
