September 1, 2012
Singing the Big Blues
Corporate music at IBM. Chronology. Song clips. Scans of selected songs from Songs of the IBM, with commentary. A description of the 1937 IBM Symphony by Vittorio Giannini. 106 IBM Company Songs.
Second study corroborates Sun influence on radioactive decay even deep underground.
Sun seems to influence radioactive decay through no known mechanism. Radioactive decay is supposed to be the ultimate random process, immutably governed by an element's half life and nothing else. There is no way to determine when a single radioactive atom will decay, nor any way to speed-up or slow down the process.
And now...the sun's influence has been corroborated.
The Man Who Would Be King (of the Guitar)
He began his career playing banjo and as a teenager amplified it using a phonograph needle. He was a pioneer in the development of the electric guitar, sometimes working on his own, sometimes working with the Gibson Guitar Co. He was an inventor and innovator, in both music and electronics. He influenced generations of guitarists (even those who’ve never heard of him) in many musical genres (even some he personally disliked). He had a musical partnership with his singing wife, with whom he recorded, toured, and appeared on their own television program. He sometimes performed a stage trick that involving a hidden singer backstage. He lived a long and productive musical life, both in and out of the popular mainstream, and passed away, still active, in his 90s.
He was not Les Paul.
Meet Alvino Rey, King of the Guitar. [more inside]
He was not Les Paul.
Meet Alvino Rey, King of the Guitar. [more inside]
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
By general consent, Jean-Siméon Chardin was one of the supreme artists of the eighteenth century and probably the greatest master of still life in the history of painting. - Robert Hughes [more inside]
Hulk feel strongly about toilet paper etiquette.
I'll Say A Little Prayer
Legendary lyricist Hal David, most famously partnered with composer Burt Bacharach, and countless pop performers ranging from Dionne Warwick to Tom Jones to The Carpenters and beyond, has died at age 91.
Knock knock!
Fawn comes to visit. Tinkerbell comes to visit. Raccoon comes to visit
(and gets a memento.) Bear cub isn't allowed in. Turtle finds his way in. Gilly has some issues.
The next big cricket tournament in the USA
In another attempt to increase the popularity of cricket in America, a tournament based on T20 (Twenty-twenty), an extremely short form of the game where a match can last as little as three hours, is planned for next year. Though cricket is one of the oldest sports in the country, and the USA is one of the 106 members of the International Cricket Council, speculation still periodically emerges (Slate, BBC) on whether the nation is ready for cricket's big 'breakthrough'. [more inside]
Ale to the Chief
After much online fervor, speculation, and FOIA requests, the White House has released the recipe for its home-brewed honey ale and honey porter.
Cosmic Ray mystery
Through the examination of carbon-14 formation in tree rings (abstract, main article paywalled), scientists have concluded that about 1200 years ago, the earth was bombarded by intense high radition, as if from a solar flare or supernova. The problem? Such an event would've been highly visible and documented at the time, and scientists were unaware of of any such record. At least until an ungrad in biochemistry googled it for them. [more inside]
The Drowned World
A radical path of change.
Top Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini: Church 200 years behind the times. 'Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini was a courageous and outspoken figure during the years he headed Europe's largest Catholic diocese'. In an interview recorded in August, and published the day after his death, he said: "The Church is tired... our prayer rooms are empty." 'Martini, once tipped as a future pope, urged the Church to recognise its errors and to embark on a radical path of change, beginning with the Pope.' [more inside]
Crossing a line?
"Video games have for so long been like, 'Look, war is when you go in and kill people who deserve to die, because they are destroying the things that you love—and have fun.' It was such a strange disconnect for us going into this project that we had allowed war to become such a spectacle-based entertainment, and we wanted to make a game in our medium that spoke to the truth of war just like every other medium had done."
Warning (,although all the linked articles state as much, all links include spoilers for the videogame Spec Ops: The line) [more inside]
113 Super Smash Mega Fantastic Dynamic Sensual Explosive Electrifying Spectacular Hits
The Act of Killing
"The Act of Killing is about killers who have won, and the sort of society they have built. Unlike ageing Nazis or Rwandan génocidaires, Anwar Congo and his friends have not been forced by history to admit they participated in crimes against humanity. Instead, they have written their own triumphant history, becoming role models for millions of young paramilitaries." [more inside]
Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom
There are only seven weeks until we run out of Doctor Who until Christmas!
So, what should you do? Well, it's 2012, so what better way than to look at the end of the world, as visualised in the 1970s, and watch some Doomwatch?
Doomwatch was was created by Gerry Davies and Kit Pedler, who originated Doctor Who's Cybermen, and were the show's early scientific advisors. [more inside]
use value vs. exchange value
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