August 29, 2017
Sunvault: the first English anthology to collect solarpunk writing
Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation is the first English language anthology* to broadly collect solarpunk, "a fundamentally hopeful new genre" that "envisions a future of green, sustainable energy used by societies that value inclusiveness, cooperation, and personal freedom." The included short stories, poems and artwork are almost entirely exclusive works that were submitted by authors and artists from around the world, depicting various glimmers and glows of hope for the near-to-far future. You can find snippets of art and text in this collection of promo material, and links to other works below the break. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
Not Advertiser Friendly
More and more Youtube channels are discovering that their videos aren't advertiser friendly according to Google's algorithm. It seems to affect channels across all of Youtube and no one knows exactly how the algorithm works.
You Can Pace but Can You Amble?
Two articles on horse genetics affecting their special gaits: the pace and the amble. The first article discusses the gene that creates the pace, such as the Tennessee Walker has. The second article Vikings Spread Smooth-Gaited Horses talks about the gene expressing the "amble," a gait new to me but can be seen in Frisians. The same research team found both these genes. Fascinating stuff.
You are sitting in jail because you cannot afford bail.
The Bail Trap Game : an 8 bit game that explores money bail and the consequences for different types of people
“The idea was what I called a ‘real world role-playing game.'”
How Warren Spector Created a Genre, and Set Games Free [Rolling Stone] “One of the hottest games at the moment is Prey. Two of the most ambitious big budget titles released last year were Dishonored 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. What do they have in common? They wouldn't exist without Warren Spector. In 1990s games like System Shock, Spector helped pioneer a genre in which each individual player is able to pursue their own personal playstyle and use the flexible rules of the world to solve puzzles and complete objectives – a genre that's been dubbed the "immersive sim." Spector himself uses that term, though he's not very happy with it. "I've been trying to find a better way to describe the game style, because ‘immersive sim' sounds kind of highfalutin and pretentious," he says.” [more inside]
Finding Home in War
well, have a nap.
From Alex Wellerstein, the creator of NUKEMAP [previously], comes MISSILEMAP, "an interactive web visualization meant to aid in the understanding of information about the capabilities and consequences of missile launches, in particular nuclear-armed ballistic missiles."
Let's talk about pies
While some Brits dining out review (picture) what a pie is or is not (derails: cheesecake, tart, more tart, pizza, and quiche on AskMe, and pies, tarts and flans), other folk rank or make, or just eat, them. Or fight you. Pies can be famous or obscure or filled with bolognese. Elsewhere in pie nation, in Leicestershire Pukka Pies are improving while Melton Mowbray continues to be the world pie capital and the home of winners. Order in a Tipton pub ("all 4lb comes to your reinforced table") - a counterpoint - or in Wales enjoy a pastai, in Sheffield add Hendo's, or in Bristol - anyone for cricket? Further west, Chrissy was disappointed, while State Fair attendees were not surprised. And, as we near Christmas, enjoy the mighty British (and legal) mince pie. [more inside]
How much meatloaf?
Check, please: Couple completes quest to eat at every Cracker Barrel in the USA.
A gentleman should be be a rebuke and scandal to venal and vulgar souls.
The Brazilian president Michel Temer has abolished an Amazonian reserve the size of Denmark, prompting concerns of an influx of mineral companies, road-builders and workers into the species-rich forest.
What does it cost to hang onto the office of President? In Brazil, President Michel Temer paid for that privilege with R$13.2 billion (US $4.2 billion) worth of measures — decrees and amendments aimed at securing sufficient votes in the Lower House of Congress to avoid a criminal investigation by the Supreme Court into the president’s alleged corruption. Video (FB)
What does it cost to hang onto the office of President? In Brazil, President Michel Temer paid for that privilege with R$13.2 billion (US $4.2 billion) worth of measures — decrees and amendments aimed at securing sufficient votes in the Lower House of Congress to avoid a criminal investigation by the Supreme Court into the president’s alleged corruption. Video (FB)
M'Larceny
Throughout 2012 and 2013, Aaron Cashatt, outfitted in a trademark white fedora, went on an "epic hotel room hacking spree", stealing first linens, then televisions, and finally guests' possessions, fencing them for cash that he would spend on "drug benders, clubs, and casinos." His burglaries relied on a well-known exploit that the locks' manufacturer initially refused to fix for free. [more inside]
Character is what you do when you've got a lot to lose
Ed Skrein has had a pretty good couple of years in Hollywood, parlaying his turn as the lead villain in last year's Deadpool into a big role in the Hellboy reboot as Ben Daimio, a Japanese-American Marine officer. Ed Skrein is not Japanese-American; in fact, he is British, and of Austrian Jewish descent, which raised charges of whitewashing. After learning the background of the character and seeing the controversy, Skrein bowed out, saying on Twitter that "Representation of ethnic diversity is important... It is our responsibility to make moral decisions in difficult times and to give voice to inclusivity."
"A country of inveterate, backwoods, thick-headed, egotistic philistines
Everyday Cycling in the Netherlands
BicycleDutch is a YouTube channel by Mark Wagenbuur about cycling in the Netherlands (and occasionally other places), with rider povs of many excellent examples of Dutch bicycling infrastructure. [more inside]
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