July 18, 2010
It’s not a how-to, people!
Google Discontinues Nexus One
It was supposed to be the iPhone killer. Instead, the Nexus One turned out to be a bust. Google announced today that they were discontinuing the phone despite the rise of Android as an operating system.
Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya
Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya is an exhibition currently on in New York City, showcasing the work of photographer and mountaineer David Brashears. The Glacier Research Imaging Project is re-imaging historic photos of shrinking glaciers in the Himalaya. [more inside]
this is how its done
Dagestan - the place where they know how to really have a wedding party (slyt)
Please no tipping
Tea Party Express Sent to a Detour
The National Tea Party Federation has expelled a significant part of its membership, the Tea Party Express. It all started on July 13, when over 2000 NAACP delegates condemned bigoted elements in the Tea Party and asked that they be repudiated. (The bottom of this page has examples of recent racism.) A war of words ensued, with Tea Party spokespeople calling the NAACP racist and irrelevant. Mark Williams, spokesman for the Tea Party Express, was particularly harsh. On July 14, he posted an imaginary letter from "We Coloreds" to "Mr. Lincoln" on his blog. (Scroll down this link for full text and screen shot.) On July 16, the National Tea Party Federation decided to suspend the Tea Party Express, with expulsion to follow unless Williams was removed. [more inside]
The Lewis Chessmen
The Lewis Chessmen are to tour Scotland. As part of the tour they will spend five months the islands where they were discovered. Digging the Dirt's review of the exhibition gives an idea of what you're missing, and the chess pieces are part of the BBC's History of the World in 100 objects. They're beautiful pieces from a beautiful place, but underneath this the chess pieces are at the centre of some political wrangling over object repatriation. In a more low-key version of the arguments over the Elgin marbles some are demanding that the British Museum should return the 82 pieces they own to Scotland. [more inside]
Space Project
Space Project from photographer Vincent Fournier.
"Playing on the stylised notion of a sci-fi utopia, Fournier’s otherworldly photographs of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah and the Atacama Desert Observatories in Chile – alongside a series of surprisingly stringy trainee astronauts - offer an alternative view of the world, unseen by many and known by few."
How much is a species worth?
Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) is a small songbird that lives almost exclusively in the lower peninsula of Michigan. During the 1970's they were on the verge of extinction, partially due to the fact that they prefer young jack pine trees as a nesting place, and improved fire safety efforts had led to a lack of new growth in the forests. To address the lack of young jack pines, the Forest Service started a controlled burn on May 5, 1980. The fire quickly got out of control, and the resulting wildfire lead to the death of local firefighter Jim Swiderski, and the destruction of 64 homes. A recent Radiolab segment has again raised the question: how much is a species worth? [more inside]
"Hello everyone, my name is Godzilla."
Godzilla's New Life. Godzilla hates cats. Godzilla plays oblivion. Godzilla's office mate. Godzilla goes to Hawaii.
Streephers
Streefers are street photographers. A photographic meme with a rich tradition. Danny Santos II is an excellent current example. He'll even give you tips if you want to try it yourself.
Closer to God
"I was praying one day, and the Lord said, 'If you build me a treehouse, I'll see you never run out of material.'" So Horace Burgess built a treehouse. [more inside]
If you're a Leftie you like Ellison and Herbert. If you're a Rightie you like Anderson and Heinlein.
New Maps of Science Fiction
The first question that naturally comes to mind about stories and authors is "How much do you like them?" Literary critics try to go far beyond this simple query, but it is the one that people ordinarily care most about, and for us it is the most important sociological question. Using modern techniques of analysis we can recover a tremendous amount of hidden information from statistics of people's likes and dislikes.Analog Yearbook, 1977, pages 277-299. (via)
This is a partial list.
Bob Ducca isn't just the saddest divorced man in the world, he's also an addict of 12 Step recovery programs, a sufferer of ailments unrecognized by the medical community, a remote controlled motor boat enthusiast, and the holder of the world record for longest sigh. [more inside]
"Google has inadvertently waded into disputes from Israel to Cambodia to Iran"
The Agnostic Cartographer : How Google’s open-ended maps are embroiling the company in some of the world’s touchiest geopolitical disputes.
As many balls as she wants.
Actor James Gammon Dies
Gravelly-voiced character actor James Gammon has passed away of cancer at the age of 70. His career spanned more than 50 years in television, (with roles from "Gunsmoke" to "Grays Anatomy",) film and theater, but most will probably remember him as either the cantankerous manager of the Cleveland Indians in the 1989 comedy "Major League" or as Don Johnson's crotchety, retired longshoreman father on the television show Nash Bridges. [more inside]
Fayum mummy portraits
"They are the earliest painted portraits that have survived; they were painted whilst the Gospels of the New Testament were being written. Why then do they strike us today as being so immediate? Why does their individuality feel like our own? Why is their look more contemporary than any look to be found in the rest of the two millennia of traditional European art which followed them? The Fayum portraits touch us as if they had been painted last month." The Fayum mummy portraits were painted between the first and third centuries AD, in Roman Egypt, and preserved by the dry Egyptian climate. Wikimedia Commons. According to Wikipedia, 900 portraits are known to have survived. John Bavaro has been creating modern versions using the Brushes app on the iPhone. Via the Brushes Gallery on Flickr.
Dyson Blue?
Rent a room, find a room.
AirBnB is a web site that allows you to find or offer rooms, couches, apartments, houses, backyard tents, treehouses, castles, islands... for rent. Terrific for travellers on the cheap or who want unique experiences in lodging. There are some fantastic properties on here--many of them reasonably priced.
Making Things Easier
Broken Secrets is all about things you may not know but might find useful. These secrets are not things you shouldn’t know; more likely, they’re just interesting things you might not know yet. [more inside]
Thanks for the Memories, Sterling Cooper
In the halcyon days of 1962, an agency was charged with little more than creating "chirpy advertising messages" for the brands it represented. Today, the agency charged with digital strategy for Mad Men must contend with modern day issues: "Fan fiction. Brand hijacking. Copyright misuse. Sheer devotion." [PDF]. [more inside]
Startup Religion
The rise of a new generation of Mormons [non-gated] - Many of the most successful US professionals are also members of the world's youngest major religion, which is being embraced by the elite in spite of its reputation. (via mr)
Pie in the Sky?
CSS3 Pie. Google's Frame requires users to install Frame in order to get the benefits of CSS3 support (among other things). CSS3 Progressive Internet Explorer aims to bring support for CSS3 in IE versions 6 through 8 via a server side script. It's early days for the extent of supported properties but there are more to come. If it's ultimately functional and useful long term remains to be seen.
On the loss of a friend.
Laurie Anderson on Letterman, plus an introduction
Performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson frightens milliennial when she appears on Letterman to perform Only An Expert with the very natural addition of a verse about the Oil Spill. (via the Awl, who also offers a nice introduction to Anderson)
too many people...
"Facebook's popularity is based on the reality that human beings are social creatures. Staying connected with people we know is innate to us. But maintaining separate social groups that we don't want to clash is also innate." The Five Stages of Facebook Grief.
Daily Mail tube map
The Bicycle Bus
A detailed and fascinating glimpse inside the lives of two people spending decades living out of a bus on the West Coast, selling and trading bikes to get by. The Bicycle Bus has spent some time in the spotlight, but it is now parked. If you live in Eugene, OR, you should buy one of his bikes!
This Tide is not for Turning
Illegal immigration is not just a US problem.
Joe Sacco: Not in my country, A tale of unwanted immigrants.
The Big Picture (Joe Sacco previously 1; 2 ).
Joe Sacco: Not in my country, A tale of unwanted immigrants.
The Big Picture (Joe Sacco previously 1; 2 ).
Urban Decay in Japan
The next morning I recalled a question the woman had asked me the night before: of the two ingredients of wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic of impermanence, did I prefer wabi, the rusticity, simplicity, and irregularity of things in their created state, or sabi, the patina of age, the wear and tear that comes with constant use, the intimations of transience. I'm in the sabi camp: sabi as a concept is in all probability etymologically related to the verb sabiru, to rust, and for us lusters after rust, Yubari is sacred ground.Spike Japan is the blog, or ongoing essay, of Richard Hendy, a long-time resident of Japan, about urban decay and population decline in Japan. The writing is digressive, knowledgable, opinionated, witty and engaging. The longest series is a travelogue of Hokkaido, in which the section on Yubari is the most stunning, though I also like the tour of Kuril Islands' dispute tourist attractions. There's much to read on Spike Japan, but let me point you towards the melancholic Requiem for a Railway, about Hendy's trip along an abandoned railway line.
Cigars within cigars
Inception (WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW) (trailer) (prequel comic) (cast interviews), the new film about shared dreaming by Christopher Nolan, has shocked audiences into gasps of delight and confusion. Two days in, the film, having impressed critics, is already inspiring elaborate debates about its complex and surreal plotline, with theories and heated discussions here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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