January 19, 2006
genetics
Disney eats crow.
Disney eats crow. Disney, whose former CEO Michael Eisner rejected the idea of Disney being hired to market Pixar's movies, who insisted on owning their sequel rights, and who apparently hoped Finding Nemo would flop so that he could get better negotiating terms with Pixar, is now in talks for buying Pixar outright for approximately $6.7 billion in stock.
Steve Jobs gets his revenge... again. How much revenge? 50.1% of $6.7 billion dollars, apparently.
cars and trucks incompatible. also, airplane crash tests, whee!
"We tacitly agree to accept a certain level of carnage in order to use the highways in ways we value." [pdf, 750kB] Three particle physicists analyze data from crash tests and crash statistics, and show that pickup trucks pose a much greater risk to other drivers than any other type of vehicle, even SUVs. [pdf, 880kB] Also, I found some totally rad videos of airplane crash tests from nasa. Sweet!!
I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
The Movie Deaths Database. 273 movie deaths, categorized and rated by greatness.
NYC2123
NYC2123: The first full-length graphic novel for the PSP (also readable on all Internet browsers). Now comes complete with a futurama mash-up and a behind-the-scenes video of the illustration process (last two links go to youtube).
RIP, Wicked Pickett
Wilson Picket passes on. Pickett, one of greatest stars in the Stax stable, the singer of such classics as "In The Midnight Hour," and "Mustang Sally," (the latter a standard for just about every R&B singer and garage band in the world) has died of a heart attack. he was 64.
Protect domain names for the Children!
"Each day, tens of thousands of our precious domain names are bought by greedy corporations and squandered for non-sustainable commercial development." But the Domain Name Preservation Society wants to help. Donate your names after you no longer need them, and they will retire protected within the sanctuary. Otherwise, what domains will our children be left with if we do not protect the endangered domain names of today?
You know it makes sense
Its that time of year again, don't be un-Australian this Australia Day. You know it makes sense. (1st link is .wmv)
A single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man's hat.
Ideas In Food. Beautiful photographs of totally surreal cuisine.
The Return of Jerry Moses and the Jewish Migration to Shanghai
"Ala ZongGoNin! Ala YouTaNin!". Jerry Moses last walked on Gaoyang Road in 1947. It was called Chaoufoong Road then, and it was home to many of the 18,000 European Jewish refugees who had sought refuge from Nazi Germany in Shanghai's Hongkew District (today known as Hongkou) during the run-up to World War II. He casts his gaze at the lane, his brow loosens and he begins to nod. "This is it, this is it," he says softly. "I know this is it." One week into his first visit to Shanghai in almost 60 years, Moses has found his third home in an exile that lasted from 1941 to 1947. He strides into the space, his manner now much closer to that of the 12-year-old boy who had left than the 70-year-old man who has returned. More inside.
Defense of Bill Cosby
Defense of Bill Cosby [...]My crimes that afternoon were two. I committed the transgression of wearing a tweed jacket, black sweater, black slacks and glasses, a no-no for the “ thug barbers" there because to be an appropriate African American by their standards was to wear saggy pants, sport jerseys and doo-rag caps. My second transgression was to bring a book, James Baldwin’s Notes of A Native Son.
Detroit, how hast thou fallen?
"Oh, Detroit! Detroit, how hast thou fallen! No power in noonday to defend the helpless women and children from outlaws, till they have fully glutted their hellish appetites on the weak and defenseless." This full-text version of A Thrilling Narrative From the Lips of the Sufferers of the Late Detroit Riot, March 6, 1863, with the Hair Breadth Escapes of Men, Women and Children, and Destruction of Colored Men's Property, Not Less Than $15,000 contains firsthand testimonies from African American victims of this forgotten race/draft riot, which was overshadowed by a much larger one in New York City. [more inside]
The Atlantic Ideas Tour
The Atlantic Ideas Tour It's been almost 150 years since a group of writers that included a group of writers that included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., and James Russell Lowell founded The Atlantic Monthly. The magazine is klcking off a year–long celebration of its upcoming 150th anniversary by having each issue this year based around articles from their archives. [more inside]
Cubeoban
Cubeoban -- Arrange the colored blocks so that they cover the colored dots. (Flash.)
Happy 20th birthday, PC virus
On January 19, 1986, the first PC virus — Brain — was detected. It was virtually harmless, and the Pakistani creators claim that it was only intended to protect their copyrights. (They did, after all, include their own address and phone number in the machine code.) In the past 20 years, though, both creating viruses and destroying them have become billion-dollar industries.
The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart
Choose your own adventure! You are the manufacturer of a premium product. Wal*Mart wants it. They want it cheap. Do you buckle to their demands and out-source, reduce the build quality, and make money on volume? Turn to page 67. Or do you keep your American employees, increase quality, and make money by targeting the higher-end market? Turn to page 28. The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart.
Jesus, his hooker, and her pimp
The Girl of Your Dreams. "Jesus had a dream girl. Jesus had a girl that He wanted to marry for several thousand years. But she treated him like shit."
Plagiarism - or web 2.0 in action?
Top Ten Sources takes posts from RSS feeds and aggregates them in full for the public to see. Some take offence; some say it goes beyond expected usage; some call it plagiarism - others say it's legal, that detractors should get a life or are even thinking about investing. Some people don't appear to want their RSS feeds to be aggregated at all. Will this discussion set blogging policy for the future? Or will it block the web 2.0 pipe?
And awaaaayyyy we go...
Osama threatens attacks, offers truce Now THIS should be interesting. Do we deal with terrorists or take a chance of another 9/11?
The Oil Spot Strategy
What is the "Oil Spot Strategy", and is the U.S. following it in Iraq? Scholars, pundits [reg. required] and politicians have been calling for a strategy in Iraq based on the one the British used during the Malayan Emergency for awhile now. There have been indications that the U.S. has been listening. It sounds like a good idea, the only problem being that it is estimated to take about ten years to work [2nd section].
Kearl's Guide to Sociological Thanatology
Kearl's Guide to Sociological Thanatology, covering such topics as How We Die, The Politics of Death, Bids for Immortality and Longevity, and so much more!
Great Firewall of China
Smash and grab, the hi-tech way. Are the Chinese government responsible for recent sophisticated hacking attempts on such targets as the British parliament and the US Army's Aviation and Missile Command?
Many hands make (neon) light work
Lee Evans plays a one man jazz trio - with no instruments.
Warping time, the safe and legal way.
The Scanner Photography Project takes images with a large-format camera that uses flat-bed scanners instead of paper. The results can be interesting.
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