April 9, 2013
ONETWOTHREE DEATH
"A single cow yields a very large amount of beef..."
Snack Data is a publicly–accessible database of food. It serves as a definitive resource for snack enthusiasts throughout the world.
Permadeath. Puzzles. Portals. Pong
2x0ng (and its predecessor, Xong) is a hybrid roguelikes that has the appearance, sound and mechanics of Atari age games. Levels are randomly generated, and the rules are up to you to discover.
Here is a video review for your elucidation.
Available for PC, Mac and Linux.
David Frost interviews Paul McCartney
Road Trip!
If I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman
Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace talks about her first year as a woman since publically coming out as transgender last year. She'll address it further on Against Me!'s upcoming album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Laura Jane has already played the title track live, along with other songs from it like
Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ. The album may have been delayed by the departure of their fourth drummer, Jay 'son of Max' Weinberg. Punknews has officially endorsed Mikey Erg as a replacement.
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
It's the simple things
Felix Baumgartner
The Man Who Pierced the Sky. "When Felix Baumgartner [autoplays sound] set out to make a living by stunt jumping—from cliffs, buildings, and bridges—the young Austrian had no idea where it would take him: to a pressurized capsule nearly 24 miles above New Mexico, last October 14, preparing to free-fall farther than any man in history, and at supersonic speed. Detailing Baumgartner’s quest, William Langewiesche explores what drove him to ever greater heights."
Silicon-based viruses of the analog kind
A selection of glass viruses by artist Luke Jerram (a full gallery and photographs of other sculptural work are also available directly from his site)
Enter, Stranger
How we made Knightmare
The creator and the dungeon master of the 1980s fantasy game show revisit dodgy technology and terrified children. The wikipedia entry explains more. Knightmare mentioned previously on mefi
The Fishing Party
The BBC documentary The Fishing Party captures the mood of the Thatcher era with devastating accuracy. First broadcast in 1986, it follows a group of four City businessmen on a fishing trip to Scotland as they air their opinions on politics, money, education, discipline, women and dogs. Hilarious and appalling by turns, the whole documentary can now be viewed on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. (Bonus link: the director Paul Watson describes the making of 'Mrs Thatcher's least favourite film ever'.)
A Love Letter to 2011
Drone meets laser, end of drone.
Navy saves $1,399,000 versus short range missle. For the patient I particularly appreciate the appearance of R2D2, with modifications, at about 2:50 minutes.
Out with the new and in with the old
When Bill Ackman hand selected Ron Johnson as the new C.E.O. of JCPenney (previously) people took notice. However, after dismal fourth-quarter results, Bill Ackman had strong criticisms for Johnson, calling his tenure "very close to a disaster." Last night, JCP announced that Ron Johnson has been replaced by ex-CEO Myron Ullman.
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory
Long known by photographers, the Helsinki Bus Station Theory explains the creative process in an interesting way.
The Solway Spaceman
On 24th May 1964, Jim Templeton, a fireman from Carlisle in the North of England, took his young daughter out to the marches overlooking the Solway Firth to take some photographs. [more inside]
For eccentric book-lovers with beards and cats
"..it is refreshing to see Jason Merkoski, a leader of the team that built Amazon's first Kindle, dispense with the usual techo-utopianism and say, “I think we’ve made a proverbial pact with the devil in digitizing our words.” [more inside]
Fwoosh! Zoom!
"If you spend any time looking for records at flea markets and garage sales, you come to recognize a variety of common vintage records: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Barbra Streisand, box collections of "best of" classical music, the band America.
And then there are the rare finds, the albums that you would never expect to exist. My latest find at the Alameda Point Antiques Fair falls into that category ... it became my possession for $2. And now yours, via SoundCloud, for nothing."
Sounds of X-15s, Atlas missiles, Nieuport biplanes, and more.
How a Single Spy Turned Pakistan Against the United States
More than two years later, the Raymond Davis episode has been largely forgotten in the United States. It was immediately overshadowed by the dramatic raid months later that killed Osama bin Laden — consigned to a footnote in the doleful narrative of America’s relationship with Pakistan. But dozens of interviews conducted over several months, with government officials and intelligence officers in Pakistan and in the United States, tell a different story: that the real unraveling of the relationship was set off by the flurry of bullets Davis unleashed on the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2011, and exacerbated by a series of misguided decisions in the days and weeks that followed. In Pakistan, it is the Davis affair, more than the Bin Laden raid, that is still discussed in the country’s crowded bazaars and corridors of power. - The Spy Who Lost Pakistan (SL NYTIMES Magazine)
What next after capitalism?
Recent posts here, here and here discuss a growing sense that climate change is going to be worse than we thought. A link to Charles Stross's musing on a future that included climate change was discussed on MeFi here.
But Kim Stanley Robinson asks a slightly different question: If capitalism is the driver of climate change, what happens next? What does post-capitalism look like?
Team Hoyt Immortalized!
Team Hoyt has been honored with a bronze statue! Team Hoyt is a fixture of the Boston Marathon. For 30 years, Dick has pushed his son Rick the entire 26.2 miles.
Rick has Cerebral Palsy and decided in 1977 that he wanted to participate in marathons and other sporting events around the country. And thus, Team Hoyt was born! [more inside]
NDT 2013
Last week Emporia State University won the National Debate Tournament for the first time. Ryan Wash and Elijah Smith won the round over Northwestern's Peyton Lee and Arjun Vellayappan in a close 3-2 decision. (link goes to a video of the round) [more inside]
All Your TV Are Belong To Us
More than five years after it was first announced, it looks like beloved British 1970s/80s science-fiction show Blake's 7 (previously) is coming back to television. The story about the innocent freedom fighter framed for sex crimes against children and his criminal compatriots fighting the Authoritarian Federation is getting a fresh lick of paint at SyFy. It will be directed by Casino Royale and Green Lantern director Martin Campbell. But should it return? [more inside]
Today we begin a "cyber march" on Washington
A group of respected entertainers (and some not-as-respected celebrities), businessmen, Civil Rights leaders and academics have signed an open letter calling on the President to #EndTheWarOnDrugs. [more inside]
Oh, pretty boy, can't you show me nothing but surrender?
You keep doing your work, because you have to, because it's your calling... one does their work for the people. And the more people you can touch, the more wonderful it is...
Patti Smith's Advice to the young [more inside]
"about the size of your face"
In Sri Lanka a new species of giant tarantula has been discovered by the British Tarantula Society. They prefer to live in "well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings." For spider lovers, there's video footage.
Quiz Bowl SCANDAL!
Inside the biggest scandal in quiz bowl history. Probably attracting more media attention than quiz bowl has ever received, it was recently revealed that a Harvard player accessed questions prior to several recent national tournaments, leading NAQT to strip Harvard A of multiple national championships. Coverage has been extensive, ranging from Bloomberg to The Telegraph.
For the Next Six Months I'm going to make your life better.
The Free Help Guy found that he had nothing to do for six months. So decided to spend that time helping others with their "morally deserved, fun, interesting and different" projects.
Today he's helping tourist Gillian Chin (@Geeliann) explore London with an Oyster Card, a warm hat and a series of clues to be solved by Twitter Followers.
San Francisco by air at night is beyond beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous aerial footage of San Francisco bay (shot in gyrostabilized ultra-high def, so watch in full-screen if you can). [via]
The day the irony detectors died...
Fairsearch (a group led by Microsoft, Oracle and Expedia) has filed a complaint [PDF] with the EU claiming that Google has a monopoly in the mobile market and is using its mobile position to force its other products on users.
Raccoon Tightrope Walking
Raccoon walking across phone lines I could never do this. I'm so scared of heights.
Brain games are bogus
"Brain training games don't actually make you smarter." Looking at recent meta-analyses and replication attempts of studies showing increased cognitive abilities gained from brain-training games, the New Yorker article comes to the conclusion that the results are suspect and these games haven't been shown to improve cognitive abilities broadly. Currently, brain training is a multi-million-dollar business.
« Previous day | Next day »