If you're an internet pirate, don't blow up toilets.
(NYTimes)
Friday, May 25, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Summer 67, 40 years later
A series of articles on the Summer of Love from the San Francisco Chronicle
A series of articles on the Summer of Love from the San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Mingering Mike - Imaginary Soul Superstar
I just checked out the new book that catalogs the 1968-1977 discography of Washington D.C.'s Mingering Mike, and I'm blown away by the man's commitment to a career that never existed. I've known people that never worked half as hard at jobs they were paid for. Mingering Mike created an astonishing array of artwork for singles, albums, and soundtracks - none of which he ever recorded, or even intended to record. Through his magic-marker artwork, you can trace the career of a would-be showbiz dynamo, as he cruises effortlessly from soul to funk to disco to the white satin champagne jams that drive ladies wild. We should all minger so well. I wonder what his imaginary backing band is doing these days?
Get it.
NPR covers Mingering Mike
Friday, May 18, 2007
Four must-see videos from late-50's brother-sister rockabilly act, the Collins Kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIyLA81eLr8
Thanks, Daddy-O.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Thanks, Daddy-O.
"This chamber is, for the most part, silent—ominously, dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing. We stand passively mute in the United States Senate."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D, WV, prior to the Iraq invasion.
From the forthcoming book "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore, excerpted in Time
Sen. Robert Byrd, D, WV, prior to the Iraq invasion.
From the forthcoming book "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore, excerpted in Time
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Taking the fantasy out of fantasy football
50,000 MyFootballClub members are about to bid for an English football club. They will make history together, voting on team selection and on which players to buy and sell.
Members will attempt to guide the club up the leagues, sharing equal ownership and control. Just like a football management game – but for real
50,000 MyFootballClub members are about to bid for an English football club. They will make history together, voting on team selection and on which players to buy and sell.
Members will attempt to guide the club up the leagues, sharing equal ownership and control. Just like a football management game – but for real
"Tinky Winky sad whenever someone dies, but ..." He left it hanging there.
Tinky, you're too kind. Good riddance.
Tinky, you're too kind. Good riddance.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Microsoft is making noise about Linux patent violation again. (money)
Well worth reading.
And here's a nugget of that Ballmer charm we've all come to expect:
No wonder software developers with a soul hate Micro$oft so fiercely.
Well worth reading.
And here's a nugget of that Ballmer charm we've all come to expect:
In the meantime, with Microsoft seemingly barred from striking pacts with distributors, only one avenue appears open to it: paying more friendly visits to its Fortune 500 customers, seeking direct licenses.
If push comes to shove, would Microsoft sue its customers for royalties, the way the record industry has?
"That's not a bridge we've crossed," says CEO Ballmer, "and not a bridge I want to cross today on the phone with you."No wonder software developers with a soul hate Micro$oft so fiercely.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Trikke - Cool human powered trike based on using angular momentum for forward propulsion.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Gone (mother jones)
It is a fact widely accepted by biologists but little known by the population at large. By the end of the century, half of all species on Earth may be extinct. Who will survive the world's dwindling biodiversity, and why?
It is a fact widely accepted by biologists but little known by the population at large. By the end of the century, half of all species on Earth may be extinct. Who will survive the world's dwindling biodiversity, and why?
Saw Fernando Orellana'a Drawing Machine v2 at the Science Center artbots show in Philly yesterday. A really cool concept.
Fernando - If you're reading this, change your bic! It's out of ink.
Fernando - If you're reading this, change your bic! It's out of ink.
“The art world is the biggest joke going,” he has said. “It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak.”
Banksy profile in New Yorker
Banksy profile in New Yorker
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
An amazing short from studiosmack that shows the ubiquity of urban advertising in high contrast
(via coudal)
(via coudal)
Monday, May 07, 2007
What does $456 Billion buy?
Including the $124.2 billion bill, the total cost of the Iraq war may reach $456 billion in September, according to the National Priorities Project, an organization that tracks public spending.
Including the $124.2 billion bill, the total cost of the Iraq war may reach $456 billion in September, according to the National Priorities Project, an organization that tracks public spending.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Friday, May 04, 2007
If you're in or near Philly tonight, come see my band Jet Weston and his Atomic Ranch Hands play at Whiskey Dix on N.7th tonight at 10PM! Say hey! I'll be the guy on upright bass.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Ceiling height affects how you think, feel, and act
(via lifehacker)
“When a person is in a space with a 10-foot ceiling, they will tend to think more freely, more abstractly,” said Meyers-Levy. “They might process more abstract connections between objects in a room, whereas a person in a room with an 8-foot ceiling will be more likely to focus on specifics.”
(via lifehacker)
“When a person is in a space with a 10-foot ceiling, they will tend to think more freely, more abstractly,” said Meyers-Levy. “They might process more abstract connections between objects in a room, whereas a person in a room with an 8-foot ceiling will be more likely to focus on specifics.”
Freedom of information not so free. Cryptome was recently shut down by it's ISP, Verio - with no explanation.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The Blues: Having different words for light and dark blue may affect how we see them (Nature)
Friday, April 27, 2007
The beautiful, simple design of the Fender Telecaster makes it especially attractive to modify and customize. I've been drooling over some of the amazing work at telemodders.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Super-Earth like regular Earth, only more super.
They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life. "We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
No fairytales allowed: Guantanamo and the fine art of lying
(guardian, uk)
Eventually it came to me: I could not remember being lied to so often and so consistently. In Guantánamo, lying was a disease that had reached pandemic proportions.
(guardian, uk)
Eventually it came to me: I could not remember being lied to so often and so consistently. In Guantánamo, lying was a disease that had reached pandemic proportions.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
[Anti-Jive] Oh shit. I've been name-swiped by some thieving piker. Whoever it is appears to like goddamned Starbucks. The shame.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Lego Rings from the Giant Robot store. They need the female adaptor rings for some Wondertwin powers activation.
On November 26, 1977, the audio portion of the ITV television transmission in southern England was hijacked. Vrillion of Ashtar (audio) addressed the people of Earth (wiki) in what was widely believed to be a hoax.
Some aren't so sure.
This is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth.
Some aren't so sure.
This is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth.
VA Tech shooting profiteers? Hey - It's the American Way. Nice, friendly capitalists are buying adwords related to the shooting. Even AdAge calls it "tacky", which is probably the understatement of the decade. I suppose the next step is to preemptively sponsor attacks and to have the adwords sewn up in advance. (via boingboing)
Lots of concept and storyboard art from the 1953 Disney short "Toot Whistle Plunk & Boom" at Cartoon Modern. Wardomatic has a large set of finished film stills.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
If you're anything like me, you're:
a) finishing plans on a system that controls the weather by telekenetically operated invisible satellites, and
b) loudly lamenting the lack of German metal go-go mod dance parties featuring housepets on youtube until your friends tell you to just shut up about it already.
Get back to your drawing boards weathermasters, because b) is check.
a) finishing plans on a system that controls the weather by telekenetically operated invisible satellites, and
b) loudly lamenting the lack of German metal go-go mod dance parties featuring housepets on youtube until your friends tell you to just shut up about it already.
Get back to your drawing boards weathermasters, because b) is check.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Little Boxes by Garrison Keillor (salon)
The Current Occupant, trying to escape the dreaded term Moderate Republican, has done violence to the Constitution and flown in the face of reality. He invades a country and allows neocon ideologues to play at colonialism until the country has descended into chaos and thereby costs the lives of young Americans who had other plans than to be blown up in a war whose purpose now is forgotten. And then he wraps himself in Old Glory and dares you to say otherwise. We are now three-quarters of the way through the Attention Deficit Administration and who knows what dark surprises remain?
The Current Occupant, trying to escape the dreaded term Moderate Republican, has done violence to the Constitution and flown in the face of reality. He invades a country and allows neocon ideologues to play at colonialism until the country has descended into chaos and thereby costs the lives of young Americans who had other plans than to be blown up in a war whose purpose now is forgotten. And then he wraps himself in Old Glory and dares you to say otherwise. We are now three-quarters of the way through the Attention Deficit Administration and who knows what dark surprises remain?
The New Suburban Poverty (The Nation)
The most familiar historical example--much lamented by a generation of progressives who came to associate the migration to suburbs with racial backlash and urban decline--is the mass exodus of middle-class white ethnics from the nation's central cities, which accelerated in the wake of the riots and social unrest of the 1960s. In more recent years, it's often assumed, the forces fueling the growth of suburbs have only made things worse--the social landscape more segregated, the sprawl more extreme, the gap increasingly vast between people who rarely set foot in cities and those who rarely leave them.
The most familiar historical example--much lamented by a generation of progressives who came to associate the migration to suburbs with racial backlash and urban decline--is the mass exodus of middle-class white ethnics from the nation's central cities, which accelerated in the wake of the riots and social unrest of the 1960s. In more recent years, it's often assumed, the forces fueling the growth of suburbs have only made things worse--the social landscape more segregated, the sprawl more extreme, the gap increasingly vast between people who rarely set foot in cities and those who rarely leave them.
In fact, however, the gentrification of many urban neighborhoods, from Brooklyn to San Francisco to Washington, has forced many working-class residents out. In a reversal of the classic migration story, many of these displaced residents have fled to the suburbs, lured in part by the growing pool of mostly low-wage jobs there--cleaning homes, mowing lawns, staffing restaurants, strip malls and office plazas. Alan Berube, co-author of the Brookings Institution study, says the "decentralization of low-wage employment" is one of the main factors driving suburban poverty rates up.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Why does design go so wrong so often?
This is perhaps the most egregious example I've seen lately. Italic serifs with swooshes? Who Okayed this shit?
This is perhaps the most egregious example I've seen lately. Italic serifs with swooshes? Who Okayed this shit?
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Porolith is a nice Tetris-like flash game that relies on linking colors rather than shapes.
(via jayisgames)
(via jayisgames)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Pyramid-building "solved" (bbc)
"This is better than the other theories, because it is the only theory that works," said Mr Houdin as he unveiled his theory with a 3D computer simulation.
"This is better than the other theories, because it is the only theory that works," said Mr Houdin as he unveiled his theory with a 3D computer simulation.
Ikea housing (via boingboing)
The typical BoKlok arrangement is an L-shaped, two-storey block with three apartments on each floor. One such block can be put up in a day.
The typical BoKlok arrangement is an L-shaped, two-storey block with three apartments on each floor. One such block can be put up in a day.
