September 5, 2017
Matt Chats with Cats
"He big, he beg, he only have three leg." A surprisingly underrated YouTube channel in which a man named Matt chronicles his ongoing adventures with the various stray cats of his neighborhood, including an ongoing, unrequited and increasingly bold affair with a stray calico behind the back of his own feline.
Big change for the "gig economy"?
Today marks the trial of Lawson v Grubhub, whereupon the State of California will decide if food couriers and their ilk are henceforth defined as employees or contractors.
The Tiny Country that Feeds the World
"The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country, with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It’s bereft of almost every resource long thought to be necessary for large-scale agriculture. Yet it’s the globe’s number two exporter of food as measured by value, second only to the United States, which has 270 times its landmass. How on Earth have the Dutch done it?" [more inside]
Holger Czukay 1938-2017: Music is a certain vibration of time
Nine years ago, MeFi music nerds celebrated Holger's 70th birthday. Today, a Cologne newspaper announced his death (original German) (English Google translation) (Pitchfork) Holger's CAN bandmate Jaki Liebezeit died in January of this year; Holger's wife Ursula died in July. This is terribly sad, but won't you come on in and celebrate him one more time? [more inside]
“Here's to you!”
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Witcher [YouTube] Time flies when you’re in great company. Join Geralt of Rivia as he reminisces about the 10 years it’s been since you’ve first joined him on his adventures in The Witcher series of games.
Waiting for the bus in the rain, in the rain
Which lucky city will take the 2017 title of Sorriest Bus Stop in America? Coming out of round one, Tampa's (probably) alligator infested stop defeated Prince George's County, and looks to take on Chapel Hill's freeway bypass framing stops (which thoroughly trounced San Juan's sad strip mall stop). [more inside]
Hurricane Irma: a Category 5 storm
Hurricane Irma is now a record Category 5 storm (Ars Technica), becoming "... [the] strongest Atlantic hurricane outside Gulf and Caribbean ever recorded" (Miami Herald). Forecasts are such that where landfall happens is very uncertain and officials in Florida are calling for evacuations. [more inside]
Nearly!
DeActivate
Following on from the success of the left wing pro-Corbyn organisation Momentum, young Tories have tried to launch a similar campaigning group called Activate.... it's not gone terribly well so far.
In case of apocalypse, heat rock
* Step one: start fire.
* Step two: heat boulder.
* Step three: download documents from piratebox. [more inside]
That be gert flush.
The Bristol Post tells the story of a first date that ended, erm, badly: She climbed in head first after her own turd, reached deeper into the window, bagged it up, and passed it out, over the top and back into the toilet from whence it came. She called out to me to help her climb out from the window, I grabbed her waist and I pulled. But she was stuck. Stuck fast. She was stuck fast, upside down in the gap. [more inside]
Let's all play with Freddie the Funnel Web Spider ... wait, no ...
An episode of the UK childrens show Peppa Pig [previously], has been pulled off the air in Australia again for advocating playing with spiders. The 2004 episode was previously removed for saying that spiders can't hurt you. In the banned episode, Daddy Pig is seen repeatedly picking up the spider by a string from its web. The episode ends with Peppa declaring: “We are all going to have tea with Mister Skinny Leg". The cartoon’s comments that spiders are “very very small” was also judged to be inappropriate. Related: an analysis of the Peppa Pig in London episode and the politics of Peppa Pig.
u mad bro?
The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong
In 1951, Anna May Wong was TV’s first Asian-American leading actor. And then her groundbreaking show disappeared... The Search for Madame Liu-Tsong.
How Science Found a Way to Help Coma Patients Communicate
After suffering serious brain injuries, Scott Routley spent 12 years in a vegetative state. But his family were convinced that he was still aware – could a pioneering ‘mind-reading’ technique prove them right? [slGuardian]
World's Oldest Library is Treasure Trove
St. Catherine's Monastery, built c.550, houses an astonishing array of manuscripts. New research is being carried on all the time, especially on palimpsests. Languages are being recovered/discovered, and one scientist blogged about what it was like to work there UC Berkeley Conservator. Ohio State Univ. is also doing research into the slavic connections Scriptoria Slavica. The monastery has been a pilgrimage site for centuries and a crossroads meeting place for many faiths St. Catherine's Monastery
OoooOoooooOooO Ooh Oooh Ooooooooo
Horse-Riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles
The Pack Horse Library initiative, which sent librarians deep into Appalachia, was one of the New Deal’s most unique plans. [more inside]
Opera Singers Dubbed With Dial-up Modems
Opera Singers Dubbed With Dial-up Modems. (this is a link to a single 19-second YouTube video. Don't @ me.)
“After Auschwitz, there were no laws.”
Vidal Sassoon: Anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser. Towards the end of his life, the famous hairstylist recounted his days as part of the 43 Group, a group of Jewish British ex-servicemen who fought the fascist organisations they encountered at home on their return from the Second World War. The UK was the only country in Europe other than Franco's Spain to allow fascist parties after 1945. [more inside]
You are listening to Los Angeles ATC
Watch a live stream of Los Angeles Airport's main runways. Actually, an incredible simulation. Actually, it's a simulation of a live stream. Actually, it's a large-scale 3-D rendering of LAX (and its sky conditions) rendered with accurate airplane models (and airline livery) arriving and departing based on their transponder data and other info (the YouTube description provides a complete list of resources with links). LAX air traffic control provides the soundtrack. [more inside]
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