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A two minute clip of the 10^th annual Leonard J Waxdeck bird calling contest at Piedmont High School. (May, 1973) [more inside]
posted by Going To Maine at 11:35 PM PST - 7 comments

Armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a camp on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory last week, in what some are calling “the next Standing Rock.” For years Wet’suwet’en First Nations people and supporters have been blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline by building camps and villages in the pipeline’s way. In response to this week’s RCMP raid, people blockaded the ports of Vancouver; 57 of those protesters were arrested today as satellite protests also erupted in Montreal, Ottawa, and Saskatchewan. Freda Huson, a spokesperson of the hereditary chiefs who has lived in the path of the pipeline since 2010, says “Our people’s belief is that we are part of the land. [...] And if we don’t take care of her [...] we as a generation of people will die.” [more inside]
posted by hungrytiger at 10:29 PM PST - 54 comments

For those looking to journey into Korean Cinema after Parasite's big win at the Oscars, the Korean Film Archive launched a YouTube channel with more more than 200 titles currently streaming, free to watch, with subtitles. VIA
posted by dancestoblue at 9:00 PM PST - 10 comments

"...at a rate of 5.78 liters per square meter(per hour)" for the rooftop prototype" "The team settled on a 10-stage system for their proof-of-concept device, which was tested on an MIT building rooftop. The system delivered pure water that exceeded city drinking water standards, at... (given rate)". [more inside]
posted by aleph at 7:10 PM PST - 46 comments

On the heels of the controversial sale of the .org TLD by ICANN last year, which may still be on pause after much pushback, ICANN is now also working with Versign to introduce annual price hikes for the .com TLD up to 7% a year over the next few years. While the additional funding will also support DNS stability and security, the plan doesn't seem to have much support. ICANN is still accepting public comments through February 14 for consideration.
posted by p3t3 at 4:08 PM PST - 38 comments

The game Bloodborne (a few previouslies: here, here, and here) uses a number of cutscenes to convey important story information and set the mood before its boss battles. In this YouTube video, Lance McDonald uses a heavily modified version of the game to enable a developer feature that allows free camera movement at any time. He reveals a number of impressive stage-magic tricks of perspective, lighting, and prop movement (normally obscured by the camera's viewport) that combine together to create the seamless cutscenes entirely in the game's engine. Spoilers for the game throughout. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla at 3:32 PM PST - 3 comments

’Reaper of death’: Fearsome new dinosaur species discovered in Alberta [Calgary Herald] [more inside]
posted by readinghippo at 3:05 PM PST - 18 comments

2019 Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition – Underwater Photography Guide, January 13, 2020: “... winners include dramatic animal behavior, stunning marine life portraits, heart wrenching and uplifting conservation scenes, weird and wonderful blackwater creatures, ocean adventure, and many, many photos that showcase the powerful beauty that is found in our underwater planet. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from 78 countries...” [desktop images; previous contest winners in 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010].
posted by cenoxo at 2:58 PM PST - 6 comments

A functioning postal service, made visible in stamps, is an unmistakable expression of national legitimacy. [...] The postage stamp is an excellent vehicle for spurious, tenuous, or completely fictitious states to declare their existence. In philatelic circles, such stamps are called bogus Cinderellas: “bogus” because the states represented are dubious, and “Cinderella” because they carry no real postal value*. Most serious stamp collectors consider them illegitimate despite their extraordinary ability to conjure an entire nation on a tiny piece of paper. In short, bogus Cinderellas are the “outsiders” of the philatelic world. (Outsider Art Fair) See also/via: The Joy of Collecting Stamps From Countries That Don’t Really Exist (Atlas Obscura) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 2:41 PM PST - 16 comments

Revisiting Animal Crossing: New Leaf Was A Mistake [Kotaku] “There’s a reason why I don’t return to Animal Crossing games long after I stop playing them. In Animal Crossing, the life simulation game goes on whether you’re there or not. The hours and calendar days pass in real-time. The seasons change. The villagers mosey on about their business. The weeds grow. The cockroaches take residence in your home. Whenever I make the decision to quit playing an Animal Crossing game, I never want to return for fear of triggering an animal’s decision to leave town due to my neglect. [...] In New Leaf, your character plays the role of town mayor. Colton let me have it when I spoke to him, lecturing me on the importance of what it meant to be an elected leader, only softening the blow by exclaiming his happiness at seeing me. Every other villager in Tennant reacted a bit differently. Each laying on the guilt with emotional surgical preciseness—cutting me deep.” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 12:41 PM PST - 32 comments

"Vagrant Story is 20 years old! It is not only in the conversation as the best game Square has ever made, it is a towering achievement of the genre both at an artistic and technical level. Here I will share some details about the game that even Hideo Kojima was jealous of ⬇️⬇️⬇️" [via @dreamboum]
[Non-Twitter link via ThreadReaderApp]
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:22 AM PST - 20 comments

Home again in post-crash, subprime Indiana. "There is no cultural divide between the coastal financial elite and the petty usurers in flyover states; there is only the capitalism of small differences, the scalability of exploitation. The operations are the same." (SL The Baffler by Jonathon Sturgeon)
posted by crazy with stars at 9:36 AM PST - 44 comments

Malian Ballaké Sissoko is a master of the kora. Listen to him play Nalésoko. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:36 AM PST - 9 comments

“The inspiration for the film was Jim. He’s such a passionate, friendly, open-minded, and courageous man – a role model of sorts,” Bregel said in an interview with vimeo.com, which recently There’s a lot to know about Jim Hall, a retired Baltimore planner of 40 years: He planted trees all over the city. He has a great collection of city maps. And in 1967, Hall began an art project that would take 40 years to complete – transforming his body via tattoos and surgery – into a work of art. But those things alone aren’t why Jonathan Bregel and Steve Hoover (aka friendzone) chose to make this admirably restrained short piece about Hall titled “out of the blue.”
posted by Harry Caul at 9:22 AM PST - 6 comments

Captain Awkward on money, romance, and capitalism: I’m stressed about my boyfriend’s money management skills and how I can help him without getting myself into a bad financial situation. I also recognize that he’s probably embarrassed on top of being stressed, so I’m trying not to make him feel ashamed. He was raised below the poverty line and when he made it “big” in his industry, he was earning huge salaries, so I think he’s allowed himself to fully enjoy it. Now he’s unemployed but is still living a “huge salary” lifestyle. [more inside]
posted by Bella Donna at 8:41 AM PST - 40 comments

Ignition interlock devices are becoming ubiquitous. They can distract drivers and cause crashes. (SLNYT)
posted by Etrigan at 8:38 AM PST - 64 comments

5th Quarter: Bands of the South is a web series spotlighting Marching Band culture, from elaborate field shows to intense fanfares. (Episode 1 on Instagram). Co-curator Russell Hamilton shares personal memories of the Southwest DeKalb High School Marching Panthers coming to give motivational drills. Co-curator Renata Cherlise includes family photos of her parents "living it up at ‘The Classic’ representing The Bethune Cookman Wildcats."

Blvck Vrchives is a collaborative platform for visual histories created by Renata Cherlise in 2015. The most recent project is The Class of Blackness which explores collective memories of everyday Black life through the yearbooks of predominately Black high-schools across America. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:19 AM PST - 3 comments

In The Outsider, Cynthia Erivo plays Holly Gibney, a strange and gentle private investigator "As an autistic woman, I found Holly’s mere existence on-screen to be more than I had expected. While she isn’t explicitly given an autism diagnosis, her mannerisms, speech patterns and highly specific skills are suggestive. There are so few of us in the public consciousness. I undeniably love the character; I’ve always had a soft spot for characters who are strange but talented." [more inside]
posted by shoesietart at 8:01 AM PST - 10 comments

Money Is the Megaphone of Identity - "If you don't give money its purpose, it will end up defining yours." [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 5:11 AM PST - 8 comments