October 23, 2008
Plaid Stallions!!
All Kinds of 70's awesomeness!! Plaid Stallions!!
Czech this out
And here I was worried about my cellphone cooking my brain...
Vinni Puh
Vinni Puh only because, with all the hate and nasty stuff happening, we need something to just make us smile. (SLYT) via
Confused about what caused this whole credit crisis?
Confused about what caused this whole credit crisis? Let me Paddy Hirsch from Marketplace explain it to you in this surprisingly entertaining and easy to understand video. While you're there, check out his explanation of short selling and credit default swaps. I wish this guy was my finance professor.
A testament to the power of the netroots
8 Against 8 Last weekend, a ragtag group of 8 lesbian bloggers slapped together an idea - join forces to raise $8,000 in 8 days to defeat Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would eliminate same-sex couples' right to marry in the State of California. They set up a donation page and launched 48 hours later (midnight this past Monday). None of them were expecting the immediate and passionate response. Within 24 hours, they had raised $2,500. In 2 days, over $5,000. Yesterday, before day 3 out of 8 ended, they had already shattered their goal of $8,000. Blogs and the media started buzzing with 4 days to go. Moral of the story: it doesn't take months and a huge budget to run a successful fundraiser, just a crazy idea and a few laptops.
America must look negative ads in the eye and try not to vomit
Last week, an absentee ballot request mailer was sent out locally by the Republican Party of Virgina. The return envelope bears an ambiguous, yet eerily familiar, picture along with some strong words. Some bloggers weigh in. via
20 significant American comics
Benjamin Darling and the Maroon Society of Malaga Island
The story of Benjamin Darling and his descendants begins with a dramatic shipwreck and ends, generations later, in a dark moment of human injustice [more inside]
We've got games your 10 year old wouldn't be good at.
Wanna play the first two Fallout games for totally cheap? Good Old Games is now open to the public. Via Blue's News, some interesting discussion there about "DRM Free" claims and whether or not Freespace 2 is really "free."
Gimme Five
The Women of ENIAC
It's hardly the case today (unless you live in Iran), but once upon a time, all computer programmers were female. While the (male) engineers who built ENIAC, the world's first modern computer, became famous and lauded, the six women who actually programmed ENIAC have been largely overlooked. Now a team of researchers and programmers is trying to raise money to tell the story of these pioneering women in a new documentary, before it's too late. [more inside]
A Genuine Fake Poniatowski Gem?
The Neoclassical Gem Collection of Prince Poniatowski - Prince Stanislas Poniatowski was the vastly wealthy nephew of the last King of Poland. Living in Rome, he built up a stunning collection of gems depicting scenes like Hercules Bagging the Pygmies in the Skin of the Nemean Lion. The collection was sold by Christie's at auction in 1839 and that's when the questions started… [pdf]
Starch and Sniff
During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the SAS came up with a very creative way of identifying and apprehending PIRA bomb-makers: They set up a laundry.
Chugging beat
Will the Mormon Church decide who gets married in California?
Prophets and politics. "The Mormon Church works to ban gay marriage in California, even as gay people in places like Rexburg, Idaho, come out of the LDS closet."
Religious Ikons
Cyberbattles in the shadows
Hacking Al-Qaeda's websites: Hacker wars are the latest front in the fight against Al Qaeda. CNN says here that AQ may be unable to post propaganda videos as a result.
But who is attacking? As far back as 2002, people speculated that Western intelligence agencies had compromised them, and a pornographer claimed he did. More recently, there are Shiite vs. Sunni battles, as when Ayatollah Sistani's website was cracked. In 2004, Zarqawi's site was breached.
buy-ology blue
"You aren't in as much control as you think you are." Buyology by Martin Lindstrom. Cigarette Health Warnings Stimulate Smoking. Subconscious Encounters: How Brand Exposure Affects Your Choices . A sign is anything that can be used to tell a lie. [more inside]
Aunt Bee and Big Al say vote McCain!
Okay, this election is officially weird. Opie, Andy, Richie and the Fonz apparently want us to vote Obama. Sadly, it's missing the kind of catchy songs featured in Fonzie's other PSA (NSFW).
Studio Veldkamp
Hey Look! The Harvey Kurtzman Archives!
"Almost all American satire today follows a formula that Harvey Kurtzman thought up."
- Richard Corliss [Via Tom Spurgeon's TCR]
America's Secret War
America's Secret War: charming Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to the Iraq-Iran border to investigate claims that the United States is supporting militant groups that are attacking Iran.
eCycling.
Electronic waste is a massive worldwide problem. Some deal with it themselves and profit from it, whilst others dump their waste on other countries. Some stats and an eWaste Guide.
Long Exposure
The Return of Terry Tate
Terry Tate would like to let you know to Get Out The Vote! He also has a couple of messages for Sarah Palin. He's coming From Russia With Love to tell you Reading Is Fundamental to establishing your world view. [more inside]
The International Reply Coupon
"When one writes to a stranger and requests a reply, it is considered polite to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. This works well when both persons live in the same country; however, if they are from different countries, the enclosed postage stamp will not be valid." The solution, introduced in 1906, was the international reply coupon. Like nearly everything else stamps-related, they are collectible. Brought to you by the Universal Postal Union. [more inside]
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