Links posted in July 2008
July 30, 2008
Vice presidential scuttlebutt is picking up.
... which is as good an occasion as any to take our reigning champion 85-comment election politics thread and spill to a shorter page (this one). Sidebar links have been updated.
July 29, 2008
XKCD-style politics. Seriously, this guy is awesome. I hope he wins, and even goes on to higher office than Kansas state legislature. More details at the WSJ.
Ok, building on Iron Man cliff notes, can anyone list the general plot outline for your average comic book movie? Like: normal guy turns into super guy etc. There has got to be a formula.
July 28, 2008
Shooter is found to have been reading conservative pundits. The shooter shot twelve people in a Unitarian Church. We'll be hearing about the rash of conservative terrorists' war on America in 3...2...1... uh... -1... -2...
Death Race Neat, someone finally went in my brain and pulled out some of my adolescent violent fantasy....
July 25, 2008
Cliff's Notes Ironman. I preface this by saying, I thought the movie was awesome, however this is hysterically funny too.
PS....if you haven't seen Ironman but want to then I recommend you do NOT click the above link. Click it after you've seen it.
Happy Friday.
July 24, 2008
The Case for Faith, Student Edition - "In The Case for a Creator", Student Edition, former atheist Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel take younger readers on a remarkable investigation into the origin of the universe, interviewing many of the world's most renown scientists and following the evidence wherever it leads.
Their findings offer the most compelling scientific proof ever for intelligent design. Perfect for youth groups and young people eager to rebut the Darwinian and naturalistic views taught so commonly in schools. [more inside]
* rock bottom - "Where does a junkie’s time go? Mostly in 15-minute increments, like a bug-eyed Tarzan, swinging from hit to hit."
* rock bottom - "RAVE: My Life Since Getting Out of Prison"
* silver spoon - "The Disadvantages of an Elite Education"
* silver spoon - "the sedulous banality of the rich degrades teaching into a service-class preoccupation whose chief duty is preparing clients for monied careers."
The first two, in particular, are extraordinary.
July 23, 2008
Somewhere in my top 500 list of "guaranteed smile makers" are video clips of kids shows made to look like rap videos. This Bert and Ernie vid has arguably the best syncing I've ever seen in such a video although my nod for best choreography still goes to Westside Ridin' Barney (youtube).
[more inside]
July 22, 2008
Cost/Benefit Analysis of Airline Security - "considering their effectiveness, their cost and expected lives saved as a result of such expenditure", are the current air travel security measures worth it? A few yes, several no. What I found most fascinating, however, was the table giving cost-per-life-saved for various security measures. (The table is on PDF page 7 and reproduced within). Banning asbestos costs almost 20x the values lives saved. Banning unvented space heaters and requiring Seatbelt+air bags each cost about 1/70th the value of lives saved. More boring policy analysis within. small>[via Schneier] [more inside]
July 21, 2008
On colony collapse disorder and the adventures of beekeeping -
Finally, and, I suppose, predictably, I began leafing through beekeeping catalogues, weighing the advantages of wooden frames versus plastic ones and full-body “English-style” bee suits versus simpler (and cheaper) veils. By the time I ordered my hive, the initial reason for having one—to learn about colony-collapse disorder—had dissipated. The disease (or whatever it was) hadn’t turned up in the region where I live, which is western Massachusetts. But by that point I wasn’t sure whether I was writing the story to keep bees or keeping bees to write the story.
It's not in NE (yet), but bees across the country are suddenly dying off due to a mysterious phenomenon known as "Colony Collapse Disorder". There's no known cause and no proven remedy. You can learn more at the moderately self-serving helpthehoneybees.com, as publicized in this video (choreographed by the OK Go lead singer's sister, same person as did both their hit videos). [ny'er article via kottke, more links there. vid via momma k. I coulda sworn I posted this but no search revealed it. o well.]
[Warren G]
Let me call this old bitch, see what this bitch doin
{*mumbling*} Call this bitch, raggedy-ass, shit man
[more inside]
Everywhere Girl. There's a Weird Science to Stock Photos: Getty et al have to predict months in advance what people will want photos of. Some things are easy: more sprinters and swimmers in the last half of this year, more Hispanics and old folks in the last half of this decade. Some aren't: "We hadn't been studying biotechnology, and suddenly everyone wanted a shot of 25 sheep on a seamless white background." (Way to screw up their job, Vanalyn.)
And every once in a while... some random girl's photo shoot crystallizes the platonic form for carefree college girl: studious, spiritual, adventurous, jet lagged (or just sleepy?) Yup, it's Everywhere Girl!
It's Lovely! I'll Take It! A collection of poorly chosen photos from real estate listings. With love.
July 18, 2008
Today is International Brewers Day. Celebrate by going out, drinking some beer, and toasting your favorite brewer (or brewery). [more inside]
A lusty Tomahawk chop to Taleyarkhan et al. who claimed to have shown nuclear fusion in a tabletop sonoluminescence experiment in 2002. Purdue finds some counts of academic misconduct and though it does not specifically implicate the 2002 Science publication it sure doesn't look that great in the overall scheme of things. I seem to remember some of Frommhold's students thinking this was pretty much impossible at the time of publication.
It's Time for Campaignin! I finally caved into peer pressure on the internet and clicked on the link. Holy shit it actually is pretty god damn funny, srsly!
The new theme for Hockey Night in Canada? - needs more sheep baa's and gunshots.
July 16, 2008
Petition to end the ban on travel into the US by HIV positive individuals. Tell your Senator that NOW is the time to abolish the HIV Travel Ban!
We are so close to ending the inhumane HIV Travel Ban, which prevents individuals living with HIV from traveling to or becoming citizens of the United States. By writing your lawmakers today, you can help ensure that they keep the removal of the ban in PEPFAR legislation, and help us end this unjust policy.
Tell your Senator that it is time for the U.S. to stop discriminating based on HIV status - they need to ensure the discriminatory HIV Travel Ban is abolished.
July 15, 2008
Federal government is looking to apply Title IX to NSF , and in particular, is examining discrimination in the sciences at universities receiving federal grants.
July 14, 2008
Where the Hell is Matt? Dancing! With kids, crabs, Japanese Dutch waitresses, poppies and even our own Stevie Ray. Strangely inspiring. [recommended: click the hi-res option]
July 11, 2008
Click at the risk of destroying any allure this may hold for you. Putting faces on the disembodied voices of phone sex operators. (thx VSL)
July 10, 2008
Bush shoots a fist pump and says "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluters" as he leaves G8 Summit. No, not metaphorically, he really did that. To other world leaders.
James T Kirk. Before I take off I thought I'd share this. Was having kind of a bad day then a friend sent me this and it instantly cheered me up. Enjoy!
July 09, 2008
I keep hearing about this Wall-E movie (I think the closest we have here is Kung Fu Panda), which led me to read a little about it, which led to tangential surfing, which led me to this little nugget:
Without a head the cockroach would just sit around without doing anything much.
[more inside]
July 08, 2008
Nanocindy certainly picked the right time to enter the baseball bet. Now that the Brew Crew has Sabathia'd itself up a notch, perhaps it is time that natedogg got in on the game... The Cardinals need Carpenter and Wainwright back as soon as possible.
Kiva, Heifer -- following on the discussion of Bill Gates' philanthropy, it's worth noting that the long tail of piggy bank philanthropy well outweighs what the plutocrats plump in. I highly recommend Nick Kristof's article last week recounting the remarkable cascade effect direct giving to a well-chosen charity can have. Even if you aren't in a position to donate money, though, you're probably in a position to loan it (see inside).
The most appalling thing I saw while I was in Africa was the rice distribution center in Ethiopia [pic after the jump]. About a hundred people wait around for hours until the trucks come by to unload food; the cycle repeats. We're doing it all wrong -- these infantilizing handouts deter local food production, feed corruption and bureaucracy as much as they feed the indigent, incentivize (as you see) standing around for food rather than earning it, and gift food at a sustenance level but skills at a starvation level. It's the development equivalent of feeding tubes for a persistent vegetative state.
Continued... [more inside]
July 07, 2008
What I Did Last Month - Last month I asked people on twitter whether they would allow me to take over their Facebook accounts for a week. Within a half hour I had to remove the request due to the volume of incoming username and passwords. I selected two people that were in the medium friend range and appeared to use Facebook in an active way, and asked for a one page "how-to" guide on how to be them before I started. Here is a description of that week in the words of one of the people I took over :: Lessons Learned from Ze Frank (Being Me) (shorter version) :: and x... gets the square - Ze Frank Wuzz Inside My Internetzz...! (same person, in more detail)
Brains and Brawns! A Russian man has just been crowned world champion in the sport of chess boxing. Apparently the idea originated in a French comic strip from the early '90s. In 2003 a Dutch artist decided to bring the 'sport' to life. The 'sport' is played by starting a chess match in the middle of a boxing ring. After four minutes, the chess board is cleared and the opponents box for three minutes. A match consists of six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing. A match is decided by knockout, checkmate, or points [more inside]
July 06, 2008
BillG's Last Day At Microsoft
- feat. Jay-Z, Bono, Napoleon Dynamite, Bill Gates playing Rock Band Guitar Hero (!), and so much more...
[more inside]
July 05, 2008
The Pitchfork Guide to Upcoming Releases: Summer '08 - Welcome once again to the Pitchfork Guide to Upcoming Releases, our seasonal guide to upcoming releases! This installment covers a wide swath of the crucial cuts you'll be jamming on through the summer and into the fall, from LPs and EPs to singles and music-related DVDs of note. [more inside]
GORBACHOV - Think Proletarian Chicks with Hammer and Sickle fighting Zombie enemies of the people alongside our eponymous glasnoster, recast with sword&sandals, laser eyes, oiled chest and iconic birthmark - as an eyeliner emotel music vid. Stunningly bizarre. If your rig will handle the HD I recommend it. [via Panopticist -- one of my favorite blogs; posts only every few weeks but when he does it's solid gold]
Crazy Baseball Play - finally, the baseball equivalent to this (2005 remake). Check out not only the video highlight (next-to-last clip) but also the delightful photogallery with reaction shots. Something tells me "Shocked Red Sox dude at Yankee Stadium" is about to be a mini-celebrity in Bahstin.
July 04, 2008
FontStruct is a free font-building tool brought to you by the world’s leading retailer of digital type, FontShop. [via doncarlo]
A switch hitter vs. a switch pitcher. This happened a while ago but I've been meaning to watch the video. Here it is on the off chance some of you missed it.
July 01, 2008
What if you surveyed people about aspects of music that they might like or dislike? What if you explicitly wrote a song to embody as many of those qualities as you could? You'd get The Most Wanted and Most Unwanted Songs ever written. The Most Unwanted Song contains themes of cowboys, holidays, and advertising. The singers are opera sopranos (rapping! no less) and kids and the instruments are heavily focused on bagpipe and accordion. There are constant tonal and tempo changes and it is way too long. In other words, Mike Patton could have written it and it sounds like something that zieglerfe would listen to on purpose. Listen to the songs on this edition of Crap From the Past (most wanted ends segment 'b' and most unwanted is most of segment 'c').
[more inside]
Ever wondered what your Myers-Briggs "letters" were? This subject just came up today in emails with a friend of mine, turns out we have the same letters.
So at my last job there was one co-worker within R&D who was really into Myers-Briggs personality testing, she had read so much about it she could usually guess people's letters based on their behavior. I was an odd duck for her though and she needed me to take the test to figure it out. The reason for her confusion is cause until me she had never run across an ENFJ. Most of the folks in R&D were INTP's, go figure.
At my current job we actually had to take a personality test and had a workshop centered around learning more about our coworker's personality types and how to improve our communication with each other based on what we learned about each others communication styles from the personality testing. It wasn't Myers-Briggs but it had several common features. I actually found it to be a really good exercise.
So if you're ever wondered about the whole Myers-Briggs thing (choose the Jung typology test), the above link will let you know where you fall. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be a lot of INTP's here too. ; )
Drive Your Bike to Work Day - missed it this year, but enjoy the pix. [thx dennis] [more inside]