June 19, 2013
Yahoo is releasing inactive Yahoo IDs
Yahoo, on June 12, announced that it is releasing inactive IDs. Yahoo says they are "committed and confident," while others think it is a "spectacularly bad idea" and a "dirty trick."
Ag Gag
And THAT happened!
A snuggle buddy of unusual size
Subjective Cartography
If New York Were A Blank Slate, How Would You Fill It In? is a piece on Becky Cooper's book Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers both famous and not. Cooper's Map Your Memories tumblr. Found from Brain Pickings, which has much more. [more inside]
Food in My Beard
Fuck Yeah Coelacanths!
Fuck Yeah Coelacanths! "It's a Tumblr about coelacanths. For all your coelacanth needs."
[via mefi projects] [more inside]
Two Mayors Away from Ruin
After the demolition accident caused the death of 6 people in Philadelphia in the beginning of this month, it was brought to light that a resident issued a complaint with Licenses and Inspections regarding unsafe working conditions at least two weeks prior to the building collapse. Tragically, the LNI inspector took his own life, feeling responsible for the accident. Now Philadelphia City Council is denying liability for the accident stating it is not responsible for the work of private contractors, despite the flawed LNI inspection of the demolition site as well as the laughable demolition requirements established by the city,
Don't Stop Believing
James Gandolfini, best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano on The Sopranos, has died at the age of 51.
[more inside]
A promising development
New software system from MIT could help people improve their conversational and interview skills "[N]ew software developed at MIT can be used to help people practice their interpersonal skills until they feel more comfortable with situations such as a job interview or a first date. The software, called MACH (short for My Automated Conversation coacH), uses a computer-generated onscreen face, along with facial, speech, and behavior analysis and synthesis software, to simulate face-to-face conversations. It then provides users with feedback on their interactions."
Slim Whitman, RIP
Country crooner Slim Whitman has passed away at the grand old age of 90. His gentle, relaxed and pristine voice (featuring an effortlessly soaring falsetto and a mighty fine yodel, friends) is the kind that, well, you just don't really hear anymore on the pop music landscape. Let's take a moment to revisit a musical aesthetic that now seems a million miles away... Cattle Call, Rose Marie, North Wind, Blues Stay Away From Me and Indian Love Call. So long and happy trails, Slim.
We Hate Movies
We Hate Movies is a hilariously nerdy and affectionate podcast about bad movies. Its sister show, Blame It On Outer Space, mocks conspiracy theories and paranormal tall tales.
Learn programming with grids!
'Lets Grid' is an online programming environment that is designed to get people into programming. I tried to strip away all of the complicated set-up that goes along with real-world programming and just give students the very basics they need to create cool things and share their creations with the world.
No more issues
In case, you know, you get bored on the internet
The fifty best (public domain) classic movies that you can legally watch online for free right now, all neatly collected for y'all by Flavorwire (paginated version).
Dogs groomed to look like things that are not dogs
Dogs groomed to look like cows, giraffes, Queen of Hearts (??), bison, Pittsburgh Steelers, etc. [more inside]
Filip Topol of the Czech band Psi Vojaci dead
Filip Topol - lead singer of the legendary Czech underground band Psi Vojaci (Dog Soldiers) - is dead (translation) at the age of 48. [more inside]
Uh oh. The KKK's got death rays now!
Did you hear the one about the KKK-member in NY who made a death ray? In a weird twist, he targeted Jewish Groups--for sales. "An industrial mechanic with General Electric Co., who is also allegedly a member of the Ku Klux Klan, designed a deadly, mobile radiation device that he tried to sell to Jewish groups and then to a southern branch of the Ku Klux Klan, according to a federal complaint unsealed Wednesday in Albany" (found via TPM)
Scotland's Young Fathers: modern moody mix of hip-hop, afrobeat and R&B
Graham Hastings, Alloysious Massaquoi and Kayus Bankole are a musical trio from Scotland. They first met at a local hip-hop night for under-16 youth in Edinburgh, where the music scene is more focused on indie rock than beats and rapping. They started collaborating a few years ago, and now go by the name Young Fathers. They mix rap, grime, modern R&B, afro-beat, noisy samples and more, though they write music from a pop-perspective, and consider themselves "pop boys." They have two short releases that are something between EPs and albums, plus a handful of singles. Their primary releases, Tape One and Tape Two, have been (re)released on the US label Anticon, and they have a handful of official videos: Deadline, Sister, Rumbling and Romance are the first four tracks from Tape One; I Heard is the first video from Tape Two; The Guide is separate single to stream and/or download, for free on Soundcloud.
Eat the meat you are Fed: It's good, we guarantee it!
The last mystery of the financial crisis. It's long been suspected that ratings agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's helped trigger the meltdown. A new trove of embarrassing documents shows how they did it. by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone.
The politics of empathy
Having Daughters Rather Than Sons Makes You More Liberal In remarkable research, the sociologist Rebecca Warner and the economist Ebonya Washington have shown that the gender of a person's children seems to influence the attitudes and actions of the parent.
It's a Curated Group of Potato Chip Bags
World's Smallest Museum Finds the Wonder in Everyday Objects "Tucked away in a lower Manhattan back alley, the freight-elevator-sized, generically named Museum is one of New York City’s newest curiosities. While it’s only open 16 hours a week, during the day on Saturdays and Sundays, the museum’s contents are viewable 24/7, lit and sealed by glass doors." [more inside]
Tell us what you think about human spaceflight
The Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), on behalf of The National Academies, is seeking input papers on human spaceflight until July 9th, 2013. You can also read the current submissions. [more inside]
Quinoa absolutely loves a juxtaposition. And irony. And gummi bears.
My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter. Pinterest collection featuring the high style exploits of "Quinoa," an imaginary stylish toddler with her imaginary stylish friends.
Maps of Tweets: locals v. tourists, languages, and mobile devices
Digital mapping startup MapBox teams up with social data warehouse Gnip to create some stunning visualizations of every geotagged tweet since September 2011. [more inside]
Because 7 Minutes Was Too Much for You Candy Ass Sissies
Well, all you lazy butt people who couldn't manage 7 minutes, here's hope. Norwegian researchers have discovered an even shorter and effective workout. Straight off the heels of the 7-minute workout (which really was more of a 21 minute workout), the 4-minute program (but designed to be done 4 times, so 16 minutes of HIIT total) is said to contain the minimum amount of exercise required to develop appreciable endurance and health gains.
Mark Kleiman talks about legalizing marijuana.
On blogginheads.tv Mark talks to Glenn Loury about helping the state of Washington to legalize marijuana. Licensing, costs, restrictions, methods of sale etc. One of the best conversations on the topic I've heard.
They had me at "1980 something space guy"
Today saw the release of the first trailer for The LEGO Movie, and there are some interesting things to note about it. [more inside]
Another win for Pittsburgh
Andy Warhol bridge to be "yarn bombed" Maybe some of you saw the post about the Rubber Ducky coming to Pittsburgh. Well, apparently, now Pittsburgh is getting one of their bridges covered in yarn. This is so bizarre. I hope it all happens at the same time. Bath time fun for everyone!
Talking Famous Female Suicide: The Right, Wrong, and Vice Way
Vice's Women in Fiction issue contained “Last Words”, "a fashion spread featuring models reenacting the suicides of female authors who tragically ended their own lives." Jezebel called it "almost breathtakingly tasteless" and republished the photographs here after Vice removed them from their website. [more inside]
I am willing to perform work of national importance
Margaret Doughty is a 65 year old UK citizen, and founder of Literacy Powerline, recently applied for US citizenship after living in the United States for more than 30 years. When she noted in her application that she has a moral objection to taking up arms for her new country, the USCIS asked for a letter on official church stationery. But Ms. Doughty is an atheist. [more inside]
Obesity Reclassified as a Disease
"No one should have to use xhamster"
In global politics, playing by the rules doesn’t always help.
The End of the World SF Blog
"I started the World SF Blog in February of 2009 – a century in Internet time! – partly as an excuse to promote my then-forthcoming anthology of international speculative fiction, The Apex Book of World SF – but mostly out of what can only be described as an ideological drive, a desire to highlight and promote voices seldom heard in genre fiction... The change I have seen in the four years of the blog is heartening. In a way, I have decided to stop now because the blog has fulfilled everything I ever wanted it to, and so much more." - Lavie Tidhar. The World SF Blog leaves behind 61 short stories and a serialized novella by authors from 33 countries, plus exclusive interviews, articles, guest posts and round tables (on WP.com where it's likely to stay up for a while)
Wegmans the Musical
A Little Old-Timey Song or Two
« Previous day | Next day »