Links posted in June 2009
June 23, 2009
Wordnik may be my new default online dictionary. It seems to be a good combination of reputable sources, multimedia, and crowdsourcing. [more inside]
June 22, 2009
Iran's Voice Here's where I'd usually put some snippet from the article, and maybe a link as well. Instead, I'll just say: go read Roger Cohen's lastest article on Iran.
June 20, 2009
Sometimes the best solutions to social problems aren't fair. A great oldish article from the New Yorker.
If you still have access to the UT library and can download this PDF, this article on Harper's is about the best thing I've read on the financial crisis.
And a graph (of a spurious correlation) that I stumbled upon that seems to be total mrflip bait
Journalist escapes over a wall after 7-mo imprisonment by Taliban - David Rohde, local journalist Tahir Ludin, and their driver were captured 7 months ago. The driver joined the Taliban; "Mr. Ludin joined him in climbing over the wall of a compound where they were being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan. They found a Pakistani Army scout, who led them to a nearby army base, and on Saturday they were flown to the American military base in Bagram, Afghanistan."
Related: Clay Shirky's entry in the death of newspapers essay competition ("Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism") (also also)
June 16, 2009
It's been a while since we've had a post on fixed gear bicycles (or "fixies") and normally I'd just let it go. However, this video of some sick fixie tricks from 1899 was too much to resist. Not only did I enjoy the hilarious pratfalls, but I admired the ingenuity of the ramp that converts while the rider is up in the loop. Furthermore, I also enjoyed the rider face planting into the ramp. It's a 19th century Jackass/Nitro Circus!
June 14, 2009
Disputed Iran election leads to protests and crackdown
- As we await Valatan's backgrounder on the Iran elections, some help to understand what's going down:
* Things to Keep an Eye on in Iran
* Wikipedia, of course
* Hopefully the servers at BigSoccer.com can withstand being linked to by the NYTimes.
June 09, 2009
Toys! We did another video contest, Toybox Physics and the finalists are posted on our site. You can vote for your favorite. I like the 14 sec skateboarding one personally! They are all super fun to watch.
June 05, 2009
Wes Anderson and the Substance of Style - five video essays exploring the artistic influences on Wes Anderson's style, from Charles Schultz to Martin Scorsese. Beside the content I was fascinated to hear an expert describe how the approach and grammar combine to generate an overall feel -- I feel like I understand film much better after viewing the series. It's like hearing Ron Jaworski break down football film -- he's not only telling you what he sees, but how to see it yourself.
[It wasn't initially obvious to me, but ignore the essays and watch the videos: click on the thumbnail video to the far right of each essay, right above "Related Articles".]
June 02, 2009
LaserMonks! - the economics of running a modern monastery are very different than I'd have thought.