August 30, 2012
Eastwood-Chair 2016
Perhaps you missed Mitt Romney's speech tonight, where he accepted the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Maybe you were too busy trying to understand the special appearance of Clint Eastwood, who spent most of the time talking to a chair.
Or maybe you just couldn't listen to Mitt because you were too busy making memes about his scolding of "Invisible Obama." If this last statement describes you, you might just be The Internet.
B is for Bézier Curve
U is for USB Drive: A collection of flash cards for “design geek-hipster-interwebbers” to teach their children the A-B-Cs in their own style. It is currently only a concept.
The Association of Religion Data Archives: Churchgoers give far less than they think
"Parting with treasure easier said than done: Churchgoers give far less than they think" is the latest feature article from the Association of Religion Data Archives, which "strives to democratize access to the best data on religion." The site includes a browsable archive of religious survey data, a quick statistical roundup, international religious profiles, feature articles on topics like the rise of Mormons, Muslims and nondenominational churches in the USA ("nondenominational and independent churches may now be considered the third largest religious group in the country...Only the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention are larger"), links to sources like the 2010 U.S. Religious Census, a Religion Research Hub (with tutorials and helpful advice on best practices when theorizing, conceptualizing and measuring religious behavior) and lots more.
It's Time For This American Life To Grow Up
TF5-4523: The Mapmaking Process
Attention all GIS afficionados and fans of old-school maps! Report for duty and watch the U.S. Army's 1973 half-hour training film TF5-4523 in order to educate yourself in the process of cartography: part 1, part 2, part 3. The videos cover everything from surveying to printing, and all the steps in-between.
The Preserved Silent Animation project, part of the UCLA Digital Library Program
"Although best-known for its restoration of feature films, UCLA Film & Television Archive has been preserving animated films for more than three decades, with over one hundred titles to its credit. The short subjects, trailers, and promotional films presented here provide a representative sampling of that work. They have been preserved from best-surviving and sole-surviving 35mm nitrate and 16mm prints, showcasing many forms of animation spanning the entire silent film era." The UCLA Preserved Silent Animation project, one of over 80 collections made available through the UCLA Digital Library Program.
well that just goes to show you what a moon can do
Tomorrow, Friday, August 31, 2012, you'll have that rare chance to do something "once in a blue moon". Perhaps a little moon music will be in order? Like, say... Blue Moon? DUH! Or, getting a bit more regional, Blue Moon of Kentucky? Then there's the other colors: Kiko and the Lavender Moon, Yellow Moon, Pink Moon, Silver Moon and... [more inside]
Human filters for the sewage pits of the Internet
Who scrubs the Internet of its awfulness? Buzzfeed interviews a former employee of the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children tasked with processing reports of child porn. [Buzzfeed url and title is nsfw, trigger warning for sexual assault & exploitation]
“I used to take them at their word. I can’t do that anymore.”
824,273 disabled veterans are currently awaiting a response on claims from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. On average, it takes the government 257 days to respond, and there has been a 7.2% growth in claims over the last 1.3 years -- so the delays are growing. While they wait, veterans often cannot access health care from the agency or receive disability compensation. Plus, the backlog on claim appeals is at least 3.5 years. So how can veterans avoid the backlog? A special investigation by the Bay Area Citizen shows that processing speed is a matter of geographic location: veterans in sparsely populated areas have their claims filled faster than those living in urban centers. Interactive Map: Where is Worst Backlog? Related video and transcript.
Ignore the long-term brain damage of fantasy football
You've been harangued by an office mate to join his fantasy football league, but you never played before. Here's a quick guide for dummies. You don't know the history of fantasy football? Not sure you should play? It's not just about football, it's also about the fun in delivering smack talk. Fantasy football isn't just for guys. [more inside]
Sylvia Robinson: from rhythm and blues singer to hip-hop legend
She was born Sylvia Vanderpool, but Little Sylvia grew up to be the Mother of Hip-Hop, Queen of Sugar Hill. Sylvia Robinson's rise from rhythm and blues singer to the woman who formed The Sugar Hill Gang and ran the first label to release hip-hop. [more inside]
Kung Pao Chicken
Ding Baozhen (1820-1886) was a governor of Sichuan province during the Qing dynasty. The emperor bestowed upon him the title Gōng Bǎo - "palatial guardian". He supervised the reconstruction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. But he achieved immortality through the dish named for him: Kung Pao Chicken. [more inside]
RIP Bill Brent
Bill Brent was the publisher of the zine Black Sheets and the alternative sexuality directory The Black Book and the author of the book How To Make a Zine (recently republished in a revised edition) as well as a lot of erotica writing. He was very active in the San Francisco Bay Area sexuality, kink, and zine scenes from the early 90s onward. Unfortunately, he committed suicide in August 2012; Liz Highleyman penned an in-depth obituary of Bill.
What Color is this? in 9 languages
Four years ago, we showed English language speakers random colors and asked for the color names. Four years later, with CrowdFlower contributors now in every country of the world, the experiment becomes much richer.
Who do you side with?
Marikana Miners' Strike
Two weeks ago 34 striking miners were shot dead by police at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa. Now, using laws once used by the apartheid regime to prosecute black activists fighting for democracy, the remaining 270 miners from the protest have been charged with their fellow workers' murders.
Rock and roll / Rock et roll
While Quebec’s status as the only primarily French-speaking province in Canada has resulted in a distinct cultural industry—particularly with regard to film and music—the province still enjoys many cultural products from English Canada. While movies and TV shows are often subtitled or dubbed into French, it is rare that the same is true of music. A notable exception is the music of Toronto-based Big Sugar. [more inside]
Divine Lorraine
One of the city's first high rises, Philadelphia's Lorraine Apartments were designed by flamboyant architect Willis G. Hale in 1892. In 1948, the building was sold to Father Divine, leader of the International Peace Mission Movement and became The Divine Lorraine Hotel. [more inside]
Dad in a dirndl
Hey! Gotta gotta pay back!!
Some ebook buyers are getting refunds. Pending approval by the court, a group of publishers (Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group, and HarperCollins) have settled and agreed to pay back close to $70 million to consumers. They've also agreed to end Agency Model agreements with publishers. The lawsuit against the others continues and one company finds this settlement unfair.
The Daddy
Alan Clarke was a British television and film director who produced some of those most hard hitting and controversial work of the 70s and 80s including Scum, Made In Britain and Elephant. [more inside]
An Empire of Stars
A cold autumn day was dawning as the German soldiers of the Altenwalde Versuchskommando prepared their V2 rocket for launch. They'd done this a hundred times before, but when the V2 finally roared up into the sky over the North Sea, the men of the AVKO couldn't help but smile and cheer. Soon the rest of the soldiers and officers around the launchpad were cheering as well. British officers and soldiers. Because this was Operation Backfire, the beginning of something that most people don't even know existed - the British Space Programme. [more inside]
They later attached strings.
Gamemaster Howard Philips (previously) found a ca. 1984 brochure for the Nintendo Advanced Video System, a pre-NES marketing prototype, and shared it on Facebook: The cover. Pages 2-3. Pages 3-4. Medium-res photo of the whole brochure. And a bit of oddity from the past. (Non-FB link)
After the immigrants, you're next
Actual fascists in actual black shirts are actually marching around Athens waving swastikas and burning torches, and maiming and murdering ethnic minorities, and world governments appear frighteningly relaxed about it as long as the Greek people continue to pay off the debts of the European elite. When the lessons of history are taught by rote, they can be easy to miss when most needed. This time, Europe must remember that the price of fostering fascism is crueller and costlier by far than any national debt. - Laurie Penney: It's not rhetoric to draw parallels with Nazism
Loophole antennas
Suppose I could offer you a choice of two technologies for watching TV online. Behind Door Number One sits a free-to-watch service that uses off-the-shelf technology and that buffers just enough of each show to put the live stream on the Internet. Behind Door Number Two lies a subscription service that requires custom-designed hardware and makes dozens of copies of each show. Which sounds easier to build—and to use? More importantly, which is more likely to be legal?
If you went with Door Number One, then you are a sane person, untainted by the depravity of modern copyright law. But you are also wrong. The company behind Door Number One, iCraveTV, was enjoined out of existence a decade ago. The company behind Door Number Two, Aereo, just survived its first round in court and is still going strong.
Why Johnny can't stream: How video copyright went insane by MeFi's own James Grimmelmann.
Chore list of Champions
From a January 26, 1947, contract between Kurt Vonnegut and his pregnant wife, Jane, to whom he had been married for sixteen months: "I, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., that is, do hereby swear that I will be faithful to the commitments hereunder listed..."
"A client sent me a cheque for £6,000. I lost it. I always intended to ask them to issue another but never got round to it."
BBC readers procrastinate.
Forever Football?
CorgiCam
Unlivable cities
China's megalopolises are "awful places to live" claims an article in Foreign Policy by Isaac Stone Fish. [more inside]
I'MMMMMMMMMM SPASTICUS!
In 1981, in response to the UN International Year of Disabled Persons, Ian Dury released the single Spasticus Autisticus. Despite Dury himself being disabled, the song provoked a negative response from the National Spastics Society (now Scope). The BBC denied the song airplay, effectively killing it as a single. Last night, as part of the Paralympic opening ceremony, John Kelly, Orbital and the Graeae Theatre Company performed a version of the song to an audience of millions, bringing the revolutionary classic back to the prominence it surely deserves. [more inside]
IAmA President
Starting around 1:30 p.m. Pacific time yesterday— and announced less than 30 minutes before — Barack Obama answered redditors’ questions about war, taxes, basketball, and beer. In Reddit jargon, the chat was an “AMA” (“Ask Me Anything”) in the “IAmA” subreddit (as in “I am a chef,” “I am a plumber,” “I am a President of the United States”). (SLWired) [more inside]
SUPERFRIENDS
Faking It, Old School.
Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop is a new display coming to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It features some fantastic historical photoshops composites, multiple exposures, forced perspectives, and other clever camera trickery, and they've released a preview of some of the images they'll be hosting. [more inside]
Art is a drag
San Francisco Drag Artists recreate iconic Cindy Sherman portraits. A retrospective of Sherman's photographs is now at SF MOMA.
Stanford researchers' cooling glove 'better than steroids'
New "cooling glove" discovered by accident at Stanford seems to hugely increase the efficiency of muscle training. The temperature-regulation research of Stanford biologists H. Craig Heller and Dennis Grahn has led to a device that rapidly cools body temperature, greatly improves exercise recovery, and could help explain why muscles get tired.
Illustrated Aesop's Fables through history
Historical versions of Aesop's fables - text and pictures - collected by Laura Gibbs. She gives thousands of historic texts in English, Latin, and Greek, but even better, has Flickr sets of the historic illustrations (that page is sorted by artist) from editions by Rackham, Caldecott, and other artists going back to the 1400s. [more inside]
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