November 1, 2010
One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk...
Purple Burglars Burgle a Purple House I'm sure they thought they would blend right in wearing so much purple, but a petcam doesn't care what color you are wearing.
Speed-Creating
Dominic Wilcox (previously) spent a month speed-creating - inventing something new every day for 30 days with the resources around him. Amongst his creations are lightbulb bread, a diary in the form of measuring tape, and a football that makes smoothies.
Documentaries on art and artists
Gestalten TV - Exploring Visual Culture. A series of documentaries on (mostly) art and artists.
The thrill of a good fake explosion
But what has he done for me lately?
The Ambling Alp was too, at least that's what I'm told...
Hadean Lands
Andrew Plotkin (Website, Twitter), a much renowned author of interactive fiction (works include Spider and Web, The Dreamhold), is quitting his day job, and going to try and create text adventures full time, starting with Hadean Lands: An Interactive Alchemical Interplanetary Thriller (teaser scene), for iOS devices. He's using Kickstarter to help fund it, and has already raised over $11,000, $3000 over his goal, in less than a day's time. (via jscott) [more inside]
(Canada Telecom) Globalive financier Naguib Sawiris: 'We will make pain, and they will suffer'
Until recently, Canada heavily restricted foreign control of the telecommunications industry and enjoyed some of the highest prices in the world. Globalive financier Naguib Sawiris discusses penetrating the Canadian market with a vehemence not heard since Daniel Day Lewis 'drank our milkshake' in There Will Be Blood.
Look! A Small Moon!
"FUBAR" cannot be expressed as a numeric output
The nuclear weapons simulator at CarlosLabs (previously) has been updated to include fallout wind drift, pressure and thermal events to evaluate the impact of everything from a suitcase nuke to the Tsar Bomba on your city. The Missile Range Tool can show if you are in the vicinity of any delivery systems currently in service, or compare your location to the range of those used historically, such as the V2. For the effects of the cosmic collisions of asteroids and comets (and featuring rather more science) there's the Earth Impact Effects Program.
Wild Goose Chase
The Terminator was Really a Tea Party Republican
Moveon.org puts tongue in cheek and predicts the future if Democrats don't vote tomorrow. (SLYT)
Halloween Mixtapes
The pumpkins are mouldering or smashed, candy wrappers are strewn about, and your costume is tossed aside. Keep the mood going for a bit longer with some Halloween mixtapes, from film composer Alan Howarth (credits, IMDb), and three(tracklist) streaming mixes from electronic/breakbeat producers Evil Nine. If you are looking for more beats and rapping in your mixtapes, here are three volumes of Night of the Living Dead (NSFW), from Cookin' Soul.
Not unlike various films by Fritz Lang
Notes on 'The Duel of the Fates.' Bob Clark of Wonders in the Dark takes a look at a single scene from The Phantom Menace by way of Eisenstein, aspect ratios, The Last Temptation of Christ, the NFL, Slim Pickens, Godard, Fantomas, and of course Kurosawa.
Art IS a weapon
The CIA spent 20 years promoting modern art as a propaganda tool: "We wanted to unite all the people who were writers, who were musicians, who were artists, to demonstrate that the West and the United States was devoted to freedom of expression and to intellectual achievement, without any rigid barriers as to what you must write, and what you must say, and what you must do, and what you must paint, which was what was going on in the Soviet Union. I think it was the most important division that the agency had, and I think that it played an enormous role in the Cold War."
Blockin' up the Scenery, Breaking my Mind
The Bloodsport known as Sign Wars can cause neighbor to viciously turn against neighbor. "I've crawled over there on my hands and knees and put garbage bags over his signs". And respected community leaders to become petty vandals.
But do Yard Signs have a measurable effect on electoral outcome? Some media outlets would have us believe so. They certainly are Big Business, with signs becoming more elaborate and customized. And they are Not Going Away, in the Digital Age.
Geometry, Surfaces, Curves, Polyhedra
Geometry, Surfaces, Curves, Polyhedra (many of which are beautiful) l Google Earth Fractals l fractals and chaos. [more inside]
The Rehabilitation of Suharto
The current Indonesian government has proposed that former dictator Suharto be added to the country's official pantheon of heroes. This proposal has been endorsed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a party that is explicitly Islamic, despite the fact that Suharto's government by and large suppressed religiosity in the political sphere. Aubrey Belford writes in the NYT about the controversy over this proposal; although Suharto is widely credited with Indonesia's increased prosperity in the decades prior to the Asian economic crisis, he was famously corrupt, violent in his suppression of political components and he led Indonesia during its bloody occupation of East Timor, which some have called a genocide.
Twenty-First Century Stoic
William B. Irvine has written a three-part essay (1, 2, 3) for BoingBoing summarizing his book A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. The Philosophers' Magazine has also commented on the revival of Stoicism. [more inside]
Dead Drops
Artist Aram Bartholl (creator of CAPTCHA business cards) has embedded USB sticks in various walls, buildings and curbs accessible throughout New York City for Dead Drops: "an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space." (Flickr) [more inside]
My Little GTO is GFG
Long-time 3rd place auto maker Pontiac has decided to call it quits. The maker of iconic TransAm and Firebird cars, along with the (cough) less than interesting Aztek, Pontiac has lost market share to Toyota and others, and as of 2009, held the 12th place slot.
Pontiac, named for the Michigan city where the company started and an 18th-century Ottawa Indian chief, found itself on the wrong end of G.M.’s government-aided bankruptcy restructuring. Combined with a lack of moving forward with today's market, Pontiac seemed to be living in the past. [more inside]
Chrontendo plus
Chrontendo is a video podcast in which a guy systematically described and discusses every Famicom/NES game released. Currently up to 33 episodes and counting, and covering hundreds of games. [more inside]
He needs a dollar
Aloe Blacc, previously of LA-based hip hop duo Emanon, pulls a Cee-Lo and reinvents himself as a soul singer. [more inside]
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