August 7, 2009
One long step for mankind
Chrono-synclastic infundibulum - SLYT featuring Bob & Ray, somehow based on a concept from Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan which refers to a region of the universe in which all conflicting opinions are simultaneously correct.
Cheese and Burger Society
The Palace Of The End
The Palace of the End: Taylor Mac imagines a brief, bittersweet encounter between romance novelists Lynne Cheney and Saddam Hussein. (SLYT)
Excuse me, may I have some directions? Certainly sir, step right this way!
The 'problem'? A perceived spate of recent knife crime in Japan:
The 'result'? Pocket knife lands tourist, 74, in lockup, with nine days in a holding cell. Two other American tourists were arrested that same day at the same koban (police box) ...
- seven fatally stabbed in Akihabara electronics district ...
- woman began slashing pedestrians with a small multitool pocket knife ...
- other similar incidents ...
The 'result'? Pocket knife lands tourist, 74, in lockup, with nine days in a holding cell. Two other American tourists were arrested that same day at the same koban (police box) ...
A few battles with foods that were calling me like sirens called Odysseus
"Lunch is really nice again, not mentioning a few battles with foods that were calling me like sirens called Odysseus. I had some salad some pasta and some fish and we had a nice chat with some Russian girls at an “All-Russian” table. Catching up on all the gossip, laughing, and in general making fun of people! By the way I forgot to mention that this is a men’s and women’s tournament so if you lose early and you are lacking confidence there is a good chance to challenge one of the girls to a match." Russian-American tennis player Dmitry Tursunov blogged his experiences at a 2006 tourney in Estoril, Portugal with hilarious results. [For best results, read from the bottom of the page up!] [more inside]
The state of high-speed rail, August 2009
The Guardian ran a series of articles looking at the state of high-speed rail travel today. France intends to double its length of track over the next decade, and China is planning a massive rail-building programme, including a high-speed line which will halve the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to 4 hours. In Germany, domestic air travel is rapidly going extinct, and Spain's network has made day trips between Madrid and Barcelona a possibility. The USA, which has long neglected its rail network, is planning up to 10 high-speed lines. Meanwhile, Britain's only high-speed line goes to France, but there is talk of a 250mph line from London to Birmingham and beyond, possibly by the early 2020s. Meanwhile, the CEO of France's rail operator, SNCF, weighs in on what the UK should do.
R.I.P. Willy DeVille
Sister Sue, tell me baby what are we gonna do. She said take two candles, and then you burn them out. Make a paper boat, light it and send it out, send it out now ... Willy DeVille (formerly William Dorsay), died of pancreatic cancer on August 6, at the age of 58. So much of his music evoked the languid heat of a city night. This might be a good evening to turn it up loud. [more inside]
Flash Friday: only if you have no plans for the weekend
Knightfall. No, not batman. Puzzlequestish game with story mode, leveling, achievements, and unique twists in the gameplay.
Hell hell hell.
Just Another Post-Apocalypse Story is a short, sweet, profound webcomic by Edward Grug III, of "Love Puppets" fame, from the always-excellent Top Shelf 2.0 repository.
A post for all the epeoloatrists
Do you know what you would see a hypothecary about? Have stared down into a joola? Ever come across a jigget of sheep? Has someone called you a slubberdegullion to your face? Learn these and many more words from blogger Robin Bloor's fun 10 Words You Don't Know series of posts. Perhaps the most entertaining is the one where Bloor provides explanatory limericks with his definitions.
The Motor(less) City
Detroit is one of the most visually interesting cities in the world, however it is also one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented. Detroit Book of Love is a group of photographs illustrating what contemporary Detroit artists have been doing in regards to developing an understanding and appreciation for this complex and diverse city; from street portraits of the survivors, to the landscapes of wild new growth, to the industrial leftovers. As a group they show Detroit as it is, not what it should be or what it once was. [more inside]
Fewer Twitters with caffeine jitters?
According to the Wall Street Journal, coffee shops in New York are starting to cut back on laptops -- by reducing WiFi privileges, removing outlets, or banning the machines outright. This article has spawned a vast number of spin-off pieces and conversations across the Web. [more inside]
Primitive Mixology
Aesop's tale of the clever crow just might be a case of astute observation.
(Somehow, the story lacks the same panache when a great ape is the hero.)
Alright! Let's go on a journey — through time and space! There are 95 Pokemon stamps! Let's get all of them!
"And much like Christmas, originally about the birth of a religious savior-figure named Jesus, is now about buying things for people and hoping that they buy more things for you, much how Easter, originally about the death of a religious savior-figure named Jesus, is now about receiving rabbit- or egg-shaped chocolates, now and forever Obon is about collecting all of the Pokemon." Japan, trains, marketing, pachinko, hordes of stamp-seeking children.
Persuasion: Why men in ads are dumb, goofy or completely inept
Persuasion: Why men in ads are dumb, goofy or completely inept. Several YT commercials and a thoughtful essay.
SubPubHubbub
SubPubHubbub The real-time web, manifested by services like Twitter and Friendfeed are all the rage these days. What happens if everything online could be real-time? It can, thanks to Google PubSubHub and their ongoing effort to add it to their products. [more inside]
Faulkner Friday: Audiotastical, Listening to him from then, in the present, now.
Faulkner Friday: Listen to William Faulkner read from As I lay Dying, while enjoying a photo montage of his life. Part Two. Still not satisfied? Then listen to Faulkner read from Old Man. Part II. Bonus: Audio of most of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
Perambulating Penthouse
The Ford Treasury of Station Wagon Living blogged. (Vol 2). Downloadable at the Internet Archive. Scans of drawings here. [more inside]
Demolition City!
Set the charges, and stand well back. No cell phones, please. This is very dangerous work, but it's been a long week for you, hasn't it? You deserve to spend your day working in Demolition City.
AOL: Digital journalism without the burden of legacy infrastructure
Almost three years ago, AOL started on a path towards being a "low-cost producer of high-quality content at scale" when they purchase Weblogs, Inc. in late 2006. At the beginning of 2009, AOL count[ed] more than 75 sites in its publishing portfolio and plans to add 30 more in the coming year, all gathered under Media Glow. AOL currently has approximately 1,500 content-writing staff, around 1,000 of those people are working full time for AOL, the rest are freelancing. That's twice the number from a year ago, and AOL has set the goal of doubling or tripling the total by next year. The TechCrunch article states that these writers include former journalists at BusinessWeek, New York Times, USA Today, ESPN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Consumer Reports, Condé Nast and scores of regional and national newspapers and magazines. In an interview, Marty Moe, SVP of AOL Media, said: "Principally, we have none of the legacy costs associated with producing print publications, for example. We don't own printing presses, or fleets of delivery trucks. We don't have the elaborate editorial structures geared to producing products over a printing press." (via)
Arduino
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
(Previously) [more inside]
Sneak some zucchini on your neighbor's porch night!
Sneak some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night! On August 8th, participate in clandestine summer squash gifting. [more inside]
The New (Desktop) Hotness: Rainmeter 1.0
PrettyDesktopFilter: Rainmeter has joined forces with Enigma for the release of Rainmeter 1.0, which finally makes code-diving for the creation of [HUD-styled] desktops a thing of the past. (via: 1 2) [more inside]
underground designs
A Robespierre of the internet
The coolest entrepreneur in the coolest part of the coolest city in the world right now is walking towards me, but you wouldn’t know it. Meet Blaise Bellville the proprietor of Platform. [more inside]
Flying to the Edge of Space
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