September 15, 2011
I Wanna Be Your Doguu
Dogu are stylized clay figures from the prehistoric period of Japanese history. After Erich von Däniken popularized his 'ancient astronauts' ideas, Dogu became associated with alien visitors and appeared in many videogames.
More information from The Met and Wiki.
More information from The Met and Wiki.
Dr. Conan T. Barbarian, Ph.D
A new lecturer has joined the faculty of Trinity College: Dr. Conan T. Barbarian. Among the courses he will teach are "Vengeance for Beginners" and "Deciphering the Riddle of Steel."
Florence Nightingale's Statistical Diagrams.
Florence Nightingale's Statistical Diagrams. Famous as the mother of modern nursing, she was also an immensely talented applied statistician and visual information artist. These skills were instrumental in persuading 19th century British health authorities to improve hospital hygiene. She originated a graph type now known as “Nightingale's Coxcomb” and used it to dramatic effect. Examples of these graphs were presented in her monograph, “Notes on matters affecting the health, efficiency and hospital administration of the British army” published in 1858. That same year she became the first female fellow of the Statistical Society of London (now Royal Statistical Society). An animation of the coxcombs here. The Nightingale Crimean War coxcombs are considered by some to be one of the three best graphics in history. [more inside]
This is why America can't not have a postal system.
Floating Worlds is a new book detailing the never-before-seen correspondence between illustrator Edward Gorey and author Peter F. Neumeyer, who collaborated on three children’s books between September 1968 and October 1969. During that period, they regularly sent each other letters and postcards, many of which Gorey embellished with illustrations. [more inside]
La parenthèse urbaine
La parenthèse urbaine. A stop-motion journey around an abandoned Paris railway line (SLV)
You weren't going to eat that butter, were you?
Got a bit of free time this weekend? Have a hankering to make some art? Here's just what the doctor ordered - a (wordless) YouTube video on how to make a real lithograph on your kitchen table, using aluminum foil, butter, and Coke. French artist Émilion has also prepared a short manual on the process in English (pdf).
Safe, legal...but impossible to get?
The number of restrictions on abortion enacted on state-level has increased dramatically since the 2010 midterm elections. Remapping Debate presents an interactive graph visualizing the various states' restrictions. [via Feministing]
Tom Scholz
Donald Thomas "Tom" Scholz (born 10 March 1947) is an American rock musician, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, inventor, and mechanical engineer, best known as the founder of the hard rock band Boston. He is also the inventor of the Rockman guitar amplifier. [more inside]
The most lifelike dead animals anywhere.
You probably thought this dear was alive. And this coyote was alive. And this pheasant was alive. NOPE. They're dead. They've been taxidermized by Chuck Testa. Ojai valley taxidermy. [more inside]
Butch Sightings
Butch Sightings is a social interaction art project that was inspired by my interest and appreciation for butches & studs (females and/or women who appear masculine, queer, old school, dyke, bulldagger, aggressive [AG] and other terms to be added as I come across them). [more inside]
Gone in a Flash
Microsoft announced today that Internet Explorer 10, part of Windows 8 and a massive UI and structural redesign, will come in two flavors: a desktop app that will continue "to fully support all plug-ins and extensions, " and the flagship version intended for touchscreen devices called Metro, which will be as "HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free". Specifically, Metro won't support Adobe Flash. [more inside]
Dinosaur Feathers in Amber
Yet Another Parody Trailer From A Beloved Source
Corn, Lightning, Aurora, Ice and Stars
The ever-lower cost of motion control technology is allowing amateurs to create increasingly spectacular films of timelapse astrophotography: the latest work from Randy Halverson, Eric Hines and Ágúst Ingvarsson. (Full-screen viewing is highly recommended). [more inside]
Do I stay or do I go now?
This week Pat Robertson (controversial as always) addressed an uncomfortable question. What are we obligated to do when our spouse becomes completely incapacitated? This is a relatively common situation for the elderly, one person declining faster than the other, but the same questions remain as with a couple in their thirties. Do you live with celibacy, divorce or commit infidelity? Dan Savage’s rules on cheating include a pass for caregiver/spouses in this situation to preserve the marriage. Things can become more difficult when the sexual relationship does not end after a partner becomes infirm.
Plus ca change
Drew Gardner is an English photographer with a wide range of interests (Eccentrics, Guinness records) though perhaps his most beguiling collection is of Descendants, portraits of, well, descendents of the rich and powerful in some of their most iconic poses.
Bonus video of Helen Pankhurst being set up as her great grandmother Emmeline, with audio of the great suffragette herself
Michel Houellebecq is missing.
Novelist and H.P. Lovecraft biographer Michel Houellebecq is missing. Houellebecq was due to give a reading from his new work Le Carte et le Territoire, in the Netherlands on September 12th. [more inside]
I can't file that, Dave.
An office space right out of sci fi by Kubrick. Apparently, the employees at SuperGroup are all science fiction fans. So they hired a design firm to turn their office into something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey and Star Trek.
Red: A Simple Flash Game
Red is a simple Flash game. Shoot the descending circles. Some are big and slow, some are small and quick. Shoot the power-ups to collect them. Soon you'll have a shield and some auto-turrets to help you clear the screen. But beware: it gets harder and more frantic as the wind increases. How long can you survive? A fun Missile Command/Asteroids hybrid. (Via reddit)
George Lucas was ahead of his time after all!
A team of astronomers monitoring data from the Kepler, a craft designed to identify potenially habitable stars, have just announced today that they have located one orbiting a double star system (NYT Link). Early data suggests it's a gaseous planet, but it is also within the range considered "sustainable for life". Still, if there's no life there, Kepler's got over a thousand other exoplanets to check out.
Officially, the newly-discovered planet is named "Kepler 16b," but astronomers have already nicknamed it "Tatooine".
Creating the Future of Education and Work
In February 2011, every teacher in Providence, Rhode Island was pink slipped. Not all 1,926 of them got fired, of course, but with the district facing a $40 million deficit, anything is possible. The district says it needs flexibility, just in case. Every school district in the United States faces its own version of what’s happening in Providence. However, “IMAGINATION: Creating the Future of Education and Work” is focused not on how we got here but rather how we can move forward from here immediately even as the education system continues to struggle. [more inside]
The Atlantic Cities
Hello Cockie! Whose a pretty bird?
The cockatoos are talking, and they're borrowing our words. Wild cockatoos, native to Australia, have been heard to utter English phrases. Escaped or freed pet birds pass phrases to others as they move up the hierarchy of their flock, as explained in an 8 minute news clip (MP3 linked in the page) featuring an interview with Martyn Robinson at the Australian Museum. [more inside]
a shitstorm of unicorns, babies, puppy dogs, and couples ice skating
Chat History: a story of love, loss, and IM.
The 30 Harshest Musician-on-Musician Insults in History
"..what musicians might lack in verbosity, they more than make up for with vitriol. And UK musicians are far bitchier than US ones (or, perhaps, the UK music press just delights in reporting on insults)." [more inside]
We Have Graphs
The FBI is teaching its counterterrorism agents that “main stream” [sic] American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a “cult leader”; and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a “funding mechanism for combat.”While the FBI's monitoring of Muslims and infiltration of mosques in the United States is nothing new, this is the first time I've seen any of documents they use to train some of their agents. [more inside]
The fantasy of being the Roger Ailes of veracity is not collective — it's his and his alone.
TP FPP
Public Service Announcement: Over is Right. Under is Wrong.
"I didn't call you for a month because [big shrug] ... New York."
Hot on the heels of Amusingly Horrible Things Moms Have Said: The Bracket
, it's Amusingly Horrible Things Significant Others Have Said: The Bracket
Neuroscience: removing free will since 6th century BC
Grauniad USA
A new US-oriented front page for the Guardian online, reflecting a 'new digital operation based in New York'. US visitors to the .co.uk front page will be redirected to .com, but you can choose which version to see at top left. [more inside]
Alligator Boots
Alligator Boots Behind the scenes of the never-aired 'hip-hop puppet show.' From Kanye West and the producers of Crank Yankers. (Via the AV Club.)
We are the Code's Lunch
He admitted family and friends had been fooled along with a nation of television watchers
Norwegian 'wild man' faked famed blog while living in a Swedish hotel. Kristoffer Clausen is trying to survive for one year in the Norwegian wilderness. His only food will be what he can hunt, fish or collect from the nature. This is a video from his first sucesful hunt. (warning: successful hunt.) Here is his blog. [more inside]
Thinking Machine
Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S.* is a fictional character in a series of detective short stories and two novels by Jacques Futrelle. Van Dusen was also known as "The Thinking Machine" for his application of logic to any and all situations. Most of Futrelle's stories are online. Futrelle himself went down with the Titanic.
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