January 22, 2014
What if Google was a Guy?
How dogs and cats teach their little ones to walk down the stairs
Teaching their little ones how to walk down the stairs. The difference between the canine and feline are glaring different.
Full Of Juveniles Not Using Seat Belts
Has Papa Heard The Word, 'Bout That Surfin' Bird?
Most pop bands at a promotional event where a recording of their hit is being played, make some effort to look as if they're actually performing live . A few disdain such artifice and take full advantage of such rare freedom from their instruments. [more inside]
Shell Games
The secretive business havens of Cyprus and the Cayman Islands face a potent rival: Cheyenne, Wyoming. At a single address in this sleepy city of 60,000 people, more than 2,000 companies are registered. The building, 2710 Thomes Avenue, isn't a shimmering skyscraper filled with A-list corporations. It's a 1,700-square-foot brick house with a manicured lawn, a few blocks from the State Capitol.[more inside]
A History of Pain
As part of a settlement between the Archdiocese of Chicago and the victims of 30 pedophile priests, a cache of 6000 documents has been made public, detailing the Catholic Church's efforts over many years to cover up sexual abuse and protect accused priests.
The monotony of the recording studio revealed
Unedited, raw footage (warning: nearly 4 hours) presumably recorded by MTV in 1992 of Faith No More during their recording sessions for Angel Dust (full album yt). Including unedited interviews with Mike Patton, Jim Martin, and drummer Mike Bordin.
The Facts of Breaking Bad
They tried to silence me 34 years ago, but I'm louder than ever.
"My last meal was a half a bowl of ice cream. I put it in the freezer so I could go get my sis. That bowl stayed in our freezer three years." Sister of teen murdered in 1980 tweets at @billcomeans. Story here.
A tale of taking other people's land by force
A Guide To American Football. [2:48 Video] Superbowl Sunday is fast approaching. If you do not know the rules of American Football, here is a chance to learn.
Persistence.
In space no one can hear you pizzicato...
Aided and abetted by Domenico Vicinanza Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have played a duet together. This both sounds and is less weird than one might think. Data sonification is a Thing.
PC Jr - or - Honey, I Shrunk The Bits
Fancy a $25 PC XT clone? With full Hercules graphics compatibility, peripheral support, and able to run MS-DOS and Windows 3.0? All you need is a Raspberry Pi, a C compiler, and 8086tiny, the world's smallest full PC emulator. Clocking in at around 25k of source code, this marvel of modern science is yours to do with as you will. But wait, there's more - you get the full BIOS code _and_ binary thrown in! (Also runs on just about anything 32-bit, if you don't fancy a Pi).
If that's too big for comfort, a 4043 byte Obfuscated C version, winner of the 2013 ioccc championship, is also available.
"'I don’t want to' is a perfectly good reason for saying No."
"In August 2013, a bunch of performers in adult entertainment got together to talk about our industry and said: "Shit's fucked up. The shit in question is more fucked up than it was a few years ago. Someone ought to do something." Rather than wait for someone to become an actual person who will fix things, we collectively pulled on our grown-up pants and decided to do something ourselves. Thus began the organisation called the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee." Porn actor Stoya writes about APAC and her personal guidelines for sexual consent in New Statesman; APAC has also filmed a video wherein working porn professionals explain the need-to-knows for people interested in entering the industry.
Z is for Zelda, Zeppelin, Zombie and Zardoz "for comic relief"
Alphabet Blocks for a Geek Baby "Amateur engineer/designer" Jonathan M. Guberman made his newborn son a set of custom engraved wooden alphabet blocks, with "things that his mother and I were looking forward to sharing with him" on 4 of the 6 sides. (See them all here) "The only real rule I followed in choosing subjects was trying to maintain an even gender balance" which makes them even more awesome. (Of course, your choices for certain letters may vary)
Forget technique, tricks, cheating, faking
Back in 1986, comics legend Alex Toth did a thorough critique of a Steve Rude Johnny Quest story. He didn't mince his words. (About Toth, Rude)
Wheels of steel, rolling on wood: pole roads from the history of logging
If you're looking around historic logging regions, you might come across trucks, trains or even just axles with strange, wide steel wheels. They weren't intended to run on very large tires, but pole roads for logging. Here are some trains designed for such log roads, and here's a history of logging trucks that includes three types of wooden roads used to improve logging access. Here's a short clip of a logging train running on an elevated log track, and if you're thinking about building your own log road, The Timberman provides a lot of details and some schematics (Google books), straight out of 1918.
Langston Hughes recites "The Weary Blues"
American poet, novelist, playwright and activist Langston Hughes recites his poem “The Weary Blues” to jazz accompaniment by the Doug Parker Band on the CBUT (CBC Vancouver) 7 O’Clock Show in 1958.
If only you could animate a t-shirt.
How do you say "Gesundheit" in cat?
Unreliable Narrators
“It’s still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.” [more inside]
Visible Supernova in M82
There's a new light in the night sky. Around 12 million years ago, a star exploded in the galaxy M82. The light reached earth today. [more inside]
"If you get to 12 O'Clock, You's the S#!t"
Dirt bikes are illegal in Baltimore. That doesn't stop hundreds of young men from hitting the streets every weekend, revving their engines and pulling their dirt bikes (and ATVs) into death-defying wheelies, filming each other in hopes of Youtube glory. One of these groups, the Twelve O’Clock Boys, are the subject of a new documentary. Pull your bike into a vertical wheelie? That’s twelve o’clock. [more inside]
Right-Wing Jesus Wants an Oscar
The 2014 Oscar nominations for best song are:
Happy- Pharrell Williams (Despicable Me 2),
The Moon Song- Karen O (Her),
Ordinary Love- U2 (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom),
Let It Go- Idina Menzel (Frozen), and
Alone Yet Not Alone- Joni Earekson Tada (Alone Yet Not Alone) -- wait, what? [more inside]
Just randomly suggest nonsense and people go and film it
NINTENDO COMPANY JAPAN
The beforemario blog showcases the toys and games Nintendo created in the period from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s, including:
Nintendo Popeye Trump cards, Nintendo Love Tester, Nintendo Ultra Hand, Nintendo Disney Baseball Board, Nintendo Companion, Nintendo Mamaberica baby stroller, Nintendo Monster Copy, Nintendo Bee Hive Game and Nintendo Mister Magician Coin & Stick. Full list.
Why your favourite thing sucks
The Verge examine the reasons IT fanboys fight their eternal war. [Plain text version] [more inside]
Trademark trolling at its best
King, developers of Bejeweled clone Candy Crush Saga, have trademarked the word "candy" and are attempting to use this to take down other developers' games that have the word "candy" in their names. Also, despite their thus-far failure to trademark the word "saga", they're already trying to prevent other games from having the word "saga" in their titles.
« Previous day | Next day »