December 31, 2011
Top Gear - India Special
Jeremy Clarkson has been accused of offensive behaviour after making jokes about India's people and culture in Top Gear Christmas special. Eat English muffins!
Bonus track: Rick McGinnis reviews 2011 tv series box sets.
In 2012, I resolve...
... to pick up my violin.
... to open potato chip bags from the bottom.
... to be more patient with people who think Macs are computers.
Meanwhile, in Shinar
A carving of the Tower of Babel has been found on a stone tablet dating back over 2,500 years.
Dave Brubeck with young Russian violinist
"During a visit to Moscow in the '80s, Dave Brubeck met the faculty and students in Moscow Conservatory. While he was improvising on a Ei, uhnem, a Russian folk song, a young man downstage stood up to play Stéphane Grappelli-style violin jazz with him."
Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt: What Are You Doing New Years Eve?
I miss Caprica and bitterly resent that it was cancelled.
December 30, 2011
Innovation America: Did You Know?
What Sony played at its annual shareholder meeting in 2009 (via Spengler): We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.
Vocabulary builder: Arshgeweih
Arschgeweih n (genitive Arschgeweihs or Arschgeweihes, plural Arschgeweihe)
A tattoo on the lower back of a (mostly female) human. tramp stamp, arse antlers
Arsch (“ass”) + Geweih (“antler, horns”)
December 29, 2011
Outcasts
"Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution."
Communicable
"New skeletal evidence suggests Columbus and his crew not only introduced the Old World to the New World, but brought back syphilis as well."
Note to self: Add "old carbon" factor from deep, upwelling ocean waters to future archaeology lectures.
Norse Mythology
1 - Creation of the Universe
More below the fold.
2 - Creation of the World
3 - Day Night, Sun Moon
4 - Golden Age of Asgard
5 - Gods of Asgard
6 - Yggdrasil & Norns
December 28, 2011
San Francisco 1955 in Cinemascope
"Tullio Pellegrini ... combined a 16mm Bell & Howell Cinemascope lens with the wonders of Kodachrome and made this homage to the city of San Francisco" (via Boing Boing).
Vampire warrioress
Wearing a dress from the Spring/Summer 2012 Ralph Lauren collection, Kate Beckinsale graces the cover of Harper's Bazaar Arabia.
More to the point: Screen Gems has released images from Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein’s Underworld: Amakening including Kate Beckinsale in Selene's practical latex vampire warrioress gear.
The door to the underworld
The house at 58 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn is "the world's only Greek Revival subway ventilator" and disguised emergency exit.
Analogous: 23/24 Leinster Gardens, Paddington, London W2.
A Feast of Ice and Fire
"From Sister’s Stew to lemon cakes to the seventy-seven course feast for Prince Joffrey, food and its presentation is integral to A Game of Thrones and the world of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Now, A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook to A Game of Thrones offers readers the chance to cook and sample some of the enticing meals from George R. R. Martin’s world for themselves."
How to deal with slow walkers
This works much better than when I go "beep! beep!"
Anna Calvi: Rider to the Sea
You probably thought you had already seen the hottest video you were going to see all year.
December 27, 2011
The Hexed
Charles II's genome was actually more homozygous than that of an average child whose parents are siblings.
Thus, Empress Maria Anna was simultaneously his aunt and grandmother and Margarita of Austria was both his grandmother and great-grandmother. The inbreeding was so widespread in his case that all of his eight great-grandparents were descendants of Joanna of Aragon and Duke Phillip of Austria.
Someone get this man an anchor job at the CBC. Ba-dum, tsh!
Though I admit I am going to have to factor the problem into my neo-feudalist manifesto.
First image: Clockwise from the top: Philip IV of Spain, Philip II, Charles II and Emperor Leopold I of Austria.
First world problems
Benedict Cumberbatch has complained he suffers from ‘class-typing.’
‘I realised from quite early on that, although I wasn’t trying to make a class specialty of it, I was playing slightly asexual, sociopathic intellectuals.’
He has a point. But whinging about the problem only serves to exacerbate the problem.
Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (1894)
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in D minor is the last symphony upon which he worked, leaving the last movement incomplete at the time of his death in 1896.
This version of Bruckner: Symphony No. 9, conducted by Johannes Wildner with the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia, features a reconstructed finale.
I. Feierlich - Misteriso - 00:00
II. Scherzo - Bewegt - 23:18
III. Adagio - Langsam - 34:16
IV. Finale - Misterioso - Nicht Schnell - 59:19
December 25, 2011
Heather Dale: The Huron Carol
This version performed by Heather Dale, and sung in Wendat (Huron), French and English.
William.S.Burroughs - The Junky's Christmas
Francis Ford Coppala presents.
December 24, 2011
December 23, 2011
Unearthed (2011)
A short film by Dalang Films.
At the Mountains of Madness (2011)
Cthulhu Films' Michele Botticelli and Sebastián Ohaco present H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness. Click CC for subtitles.
Malukah: The Dragonborn Comes
With a Voice wielding power of the ancient Nord art.
Skyrim for the Nords!
December 22, 2011
Prometheus
The first trailer for Ridley Scott's Prometheus has arrived (images at the link).
I don't want to get my hopes up... but this looks spectacular.
In Russia, game plays you
While I grew up with Pac-Man, in Russia the games were more practical.
The biggest hit is 'Repka Silomer' (The Turnip Strength Tester), where players pull a lever as hard as possible to wrench a turnip from the ground.
Kotaku visited The Museum of Soviet Video Games* earlier this year (images and adventure at the link).
* Actually, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. Which makes more sense.
Related: A Soviet game and watch clones site which justifies the existence of the entire internet.
Is that a phone in your pocket?
"The Nokia E-Cu concept phone doesn't need to plug in, it charges from any heat source." Which is clever, but mainly I like the copper-coating. Which, I assume, turns green in your pocket.
To ooze slowly sideways
"A new satellite survey may have solved the mystery behind one of the world's strangest weight-loss methods: moving to a large area of northern Canada with unusually low gravity."
Ambient engine noise
For some it's the sound of the ocean, for others, wind chimes. For me, it's the Enterprise D.
December 21, 2011
To Fly. To Serve.
Remember England?
Hat tip to Mr. Jané.
Who Dares Wins
"In the pitch-black Libyan desert 70 years ago this week, a former hotelier and four comrades crept through a German camp and blew up 37 enemy aircraft, cementing the status of the SAS."
House of Lies
Kristen Bell's new show is based on Martin Kihn's book, House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time (first link nsfw due to Kristen Bell in her underwear).
December 20, 2011
Trail signs
Mum would tell us how, as a child in England after the War, one of her chores was to wipe away the chalk signs left by passing gypsies. I would have armed her with chalk, a guide to Romany semiotics, and sent her up and down the lane.
The story came to mind with the news police in Chengdu have published symbols from a thief's code.
No quarter
A rare 18th century red Jolly Roger flag captured in 1780 has gone on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard.
A Jolly Roger with a red rather than a black background was the most feared as it meant the pirates paid no heed to the usual rules of engagement and no life would be spared if a ship was captured in a fight.
Craig Rhos-y-felin
A new paper in Archaeology in Wales, produced by Dr. Rob Ixer of Leicester University and Dr. Richard Bevins of Amgueddfa Cymru of the National Museum Wales pinpoints the exact source of rock believed to have been used 5,000 years ago to build the first stone circle at Stonehenge.
More, including images of a suspiciously hengey outcrop, at the link.
December 19, 2011
Chariot of the gods
Ridley Scott talks about Alien, Prometheus, H.R. Giger, and the Space Jockey (hat tip to Beautiful Atrocities).
The lowest note in the known universe
In space, no one can hear sound waves 57 octaves below middle-C, in this case emitting from a black hole in the Perseus cluster.
In musical terms, the pitch of the sound generated by the black hole translates into the note of B flat. But, a human would have no chance of hearing this cosmic performance because the note is 57 octaves lower than middle-C. For comparison, a typical piano contains only about seven octaves. At a frequency over a million billion times deeper than the limits of human hearing, this is the deepest note ever detected from an object in the Universe.
A word from British Forces News
"Fears about the impact of Government cuts on forces pupils in the Falklands have been allayed. It follows a visit by the The MOD’s education chief, who flew 8,000 miles to reassure staff and pupils at Mount Pleasant Primary School."
In related news: We have always been at war with Oceania.
Update a few minutes later: The Memory Hole got that one quickly. For the record:
How To Be Alone
A video by fiilmaker, Andrea Dorfman, and poet/singer/songwriter, Tanya Davis.
North Korea special
I will update this post with content as I come across it. First, the BBC's Lucy Williamson wears mourning clothes to honour the passing of North Korea's hereditary dictator. Somewhere, Orwell's corpse is spinning.
The full North Korean state television broadcast. There is something immensely satisfying in the Wagnerian quaver in the announcer's voice.
From the comments: "She's not crying as hard as the people out on the streets! Shoot her!"
Out in the streets, North Koreans weeping hysterically over the death of Kim Jong-il.
From the comments: "The Two Minutes Weep: only slightly less known than the Two Minutes Hate."
More below the jump:
The VICE Guide to North Korea: "Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with."
A North Korean military parade.
Joint military exercise of Korean People's Army cheers up Pyongyanites.
Life in the People's Paradise of DPRK.
From the comments: "Oh, God. They're using Windows in North Korea."
December 18, 2011
Whereto the Temptations of the Devil would inveigle us
Engineers have unearthed a 17th-century cottage, complete with a cat skeleton, near Lower Black Moss reservoir in the shadow of Pendle Hill.
It is believed the cat was buried alive to protect the cottage's inhabitants from evil spirits.
In fairness, the cat was just as likely there to ward off the Pendle witches.
Engerland
In Tudor England, football was more dangerous than sword fighting. I don't expect the stats have changed much, to be honest.
In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit
Well appointed Hobbit homes also make for excellent storage.
For your own collection: Lego Lord of the Rings!
Kate Beckinsale on Underworld Awakening
No shocking revelations but shockingly I don't mind a bit.
December 17, 2011
The Last of Us (VGA 2011 Trailer)
This is in game animation, I suspect taking advantage of the capabilities of next generation consoles rumoured for this time next year. Most probably Naughty Dog's flagship production for the PS4, this is worth watching in HD (nsfw, violence).
Update: Note to self - Google is your friend. The Last of Us is set to drop for Q1 2012. This for the PS3 though I am baffled at the black magic involved. Just spectacular. Writer and creative director Neil Druckman and game director Bruce Straley, who worked on the brilliant Uncharted 2 (but not Uncharted 3) discuss the work at Eurogamer.
Au clair de la lune, mon ami Pierrot…
"At the French site Anecdote du Jour you can listen to the world's first audio recordings, made in 1859 and 1860 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville."
Population control
The 100 worst atrocities in human history.
Note: Even this New York Times article admits Saddam Hussein makes the list, though they are careful not to make mention of the fact. As all right thinking people protesting on his behalf knew at the time, it wasn't our problem.
Play up, play up
World beating: Modern Warfare 3 hits $1 billion in 16 days.
It beat James Cameron's Avatar to the record by 24 hours - earning $1 billion in just 16 days.
Charty: Skyrim beats Modern Warfare 3 sales in the UK.
Extraordinary: Around seven out of ten households in the UK play video games, 30 percent of them are home to regular gamers who play at least once a week.
December 16, 2011
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011
A gift, dare we say it, from God.
Vanity Fair hosts photos in memoriam.
Also: Julian Barnes remembers an excruciating conversation with Christopher Hitchens.
And: The Richard Dawkins Foundation is publishing a selection of Christopher Hitchens obituaries.
Better yet: Links to an audio archive of fifty Christopher Hitchens conversations with Hugh Hewitt.
Hitch porn: "Here are a couple of [Christopher Hitchens] appearances on early episodes of Peter's Uncommon Knowledge, along with another lost dazzler, William F. Buckley, Jr., who I hope is needling Hitchens nonstop at this very moment."
The only proper tribute: How do you deal with the death of a great person who doesn't believe in heaven? This problem I know from experience.
But wait: The immortal rejoinders of Christopher Hitchens.
Finally: On deathbed repentance.
Updates: Peter Hitchens, In Memoriam, my courageous brother Christopher, 1949-2011.
Rider on the storm
In 1959, Marine Corps pilot Lt Col William Rankin become the only human being to ever parachute through a full cumulonimbus “anvil” cloud and live (via AoSHQ).
December 15, 2011
Dan Dare's desk of the future
This Aviator Wing Desk is the second thing I will buy after I win the lottery. The Devon Spitfire Leather Chair being the third thing.
Who had them
Two lost episodes of Doctor Who have turned up in the private collection of Terry Burnett, a television engineer who bought them at a school fete in the 1980s.
...
The find makes only a modest dent in the number of missing episodes, with 106 instalments broadcast between 1964 and 1969 still being sought.
Nazi raccoons march on Europe
In fairness, with raccoons how would you know the difference?
December 14, 2011
Looking for Richard (1996)
Under most circumstances, I wouldn't embed a relatively recent film in its entirety. But as Looking for Richard does not appear to be available on DVD I am making an exception on educational grounds.
It's important to think with and my favourite Shakespeare besides. Al Pacino gets to the heart of Richard III, argues we shouldn't be intimidated by the accents, and demonstrates Shakespeare's enduring insight into our shared, often troubled, human condition.
Which I realize is a bit much to say but... trust me. This is the best introduction I know of for people who weren't raised with Shakespeare or, worse, had it ruined for them by high school English class.
Not just popular culture, not just politics neither. If you don't know the play, by about half way through Pacino's take it will be obvious Ricard III is not just Tudor propaganda, it's naked horror.
Looking for Richard from samarkkanda on Vimeo.
We could use a Tudor claimant about now to sort things out good and hard, btw. Noblesse oblige suggests some degree of oblige to the people of England. We haven't seen much of that since 1968.
Southern accent: Perform Shakespeare's plays in Shakespeare's dialect.
Meanwhile, in Toronto
It is a dream come true for anyone who has ever pondered riding a motorcycle dressed as a Stormtrooper or Batman.
Other officially-licensed creations include suits from Iron Man 2, Tron and X-Men's Wolverine.
Sartorial: Sadly, these Barney Stinson Armani Suitjamas are currently unavailable.
Florence + The Machine: Shake It Out
Hat tip to Beautiful Atrocities.
December 13, 2011
We don't even belong to each other
With its 50th anniversary Blu-Ray release, Rick McGinnis considers Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn and feminism.
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the dawn of the modern woman.
Topical: Why I am glad to be single.
The important thing to understand about Monty Python
Monty Python was documentary. Free the sheep!
December 12, 2011
Duran Duran: Girl Panic!
Silence doesn't mean you're forgotten. And John Taylor's bass is still off the hook.
Hang on, lads, I've got an idea
The Italian Alpine Club has installed an Italian Job hotel 9,300-ft up Mont Blanc.
The entire structure, which was built off site and airlifted into place, is manufactured to 'resist the extreme stress of high altitude'.
Rapid prototyping
Mass customization meets social media: uFlavor's flavor printer mixes 42 different ingredients at 300 gradations to create bespoke soft drinks on demand.
Plus you get a percentage every time someone buys your drink. It's a Brave New World.
Alan Cumming & Cyndi Lauper: The Ballad of the Pimp
Because Kurt Weill doesn't get old.
December 11, 2011
Vítězslav Novák - Lady Godiva Op. 41 (1907)
Lady Godiva by Vítězslav Novák. Conducted by Libor Pesek with the BBC Philharmonic.
December 10, 2011
Glass microbiology
Luke Jerram is an artist who makes glass sculptures of disease.
Luke Jerram makes HIV:
Ignorance is strength
Lacking an exceptional knowledge of anatomy, the British enjoy robust health in comparison to Italians.
I can leave the gym sweaty to have my shower at home and not catch a chill en route. I can swim after eating and not get congestion or cramp. I can walk around with wet hair and not get "la cervicale".
I even brag about it. At restaurants I will say: "Let me sit in the draught. I'll be fine. I'm English."
Well, what I like best
"Honey is an effective antiseptic wound dressing, mainly the result of the antibacterial activity of hydrogen peroxide that is produced in honey by the enzyme glucose oxidase."
I knew the ancient Egyptians used honey as an antibiotic but until now I did not know how it worked.
December 09, 2011
Occupy Comics
Alan Moore: “[The Occupy movement] is a completely justified howl of moral outrage and it seems to be handled in a very intelligent, nonviolent way, which is probably another reason why Frank Miller would be less than pleased with it. ... I’m sure if it had been a bunch of young, sociopathic vigilantes with Batman makeup on their faces, he’d be more in favour of it.”
Frank Miller: "'Occupy' is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America. 'Occupy' is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached - is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves."
The 2.5%
George Lucas was so convinced Star Wars would flop in 1977 he bet Spielberg a percentage of the take on Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
How to reheat pizza
I wasn't going to post this due to an irritating, faux folksy presentation. Then I tried reheating pizza in the frying pan. Seriously, do this.
Tanya and Janna Friske: Western
I have no idea what they are talking about.
December 08, 2011
Grant a pardon to Alan Turing
"Responsible department: Ministry of Justice
"We ask the HM Government to grant a pardon to Alan Turing for the conviction of 'gross indecency'. In 1952, he was convicted of 'gross indecency' with another man and was forced to undergo so-called 'organo-therapy' - chemical castration. Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save. This remains a shame on the UK government and UK history. A pardon can go to some way to healing this damage. It may act as an apology to many of the other gay men, not as well known as Alan Turing, who were subjected to these laws."
Sign this petition (UK citizens).
I resemble that remark
Speaking as a guy sporting a bald head, fake “tribal” tattoos and a torso that’s three Carlsbergs away from a beer gut: Time for my new career!
December 07, 2011
Radiant Story
Skyrim feels so big in part because at 16 square miles it has a lot of territory to cover. More than this, its procedurally generated Radiant Storytelling system means you will not run out of things to do once the main quest line has been completed.
Skyrim round up: Handy both for my fellow cultists and one easy-to-skip post for everyone who has not drunk the Nord Mead.
i - Dovahkiin Guetenberg: 4000 pages of in game books in handy Kindle (MOBI) and Nook, iOS (EPUB) formats.
ii - Uncommon taste: Potage le Magnifique has caused grown men to weep with joy.
iii - Elder Scrolls Sweet Roll: Featurs a visual upgrade and some frosting.
iv - Not art / Art: The 20th century has a lot to answer for.
40,000 lines
BioWare's Mass Effect 3 audio lead, Rob Blake claims the script for the forthcoming title will be about as long as the first two games combined.
Related: Screenshots of the new Mass Effect 3 multiplayer feature, implemented via BioWare Montreal.
PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset
The best part is how the virtual 7.1 surround induces hallucinations. I am waiting for her to show up now.
December 06, 2011
Animal crackers
The Da Vinci code revealed.
Ron Piccirillo believes it is possible to see the heads of a lion, an ape and a buffalo floating in the air around the subject's head along with a crocodile or snake coming out of the left hand side of her body.
Make up your own mind about the faces in the clouds (have you ever really looked at your hand?), but he is on to something with the "heart gnawed by a swelling serpent."
If you take the path to the left of her and the river to her right, our subject is positioned as the Middle Pillar of a caduceus. Typical Hermetic humour...
This is the correct procedure
Iggy Pop on French television. The year, 1977.
Nouvelle Vague: Master & Servant
PS: This epic cover of "Fade to Grey".
December 05, 2011
The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick
Did Philip K. Dick dream of a message from God?
The trouble is that the Exegesis
Wee console
"... boredom during a bathroom visit could soon be a thing of the past following the development of a urinal-based games console which allows men to aim, shoot and fire at targets with their stream."
Bobbie Wygant's Empire Strikes Back Special
I keep telling my students I am a time-traveler from the 1980s. They think I'm joking.
Bobbie Wygant's Empire Strikes Back Special from Atombomb.tv on Vimeo.
December 04, 2011
Great Battles of the Ancient World
"Great Battles of the Ancient World consists of 24 lectures given by Professor Garrett Fagan, focusing on warfare in the ancient Mediterranean world. The first eight lectures chart the development of warfare from prehistoric times to the glory days of the great states of the ancient Near East and Egypt. The next eight lectures cover warfare among the Greeks and their distinctive form of combat using hoplites, a type of armored infantry that fought in close formation called the phalanx. And the last eight lectures study the legions of Rome, which evolved brutally effective tactics that gave them dominion over the entire Mediterranean basin."
For example, Lecture 13 - The Athenian Expedition to Sicily.
December 03, 2011
Adventures in customer service
Conclusion: Canada's unemployment rate is too low.
Ghostofaflea 6 hours ago
Customer loyalty
Dear Koodo,
I was considering upgrading my old Motorola to the Nexus S. Then I noticed your $50- VISA gift certificate offer only applies to new activations. If there had been no promotion, I would have upgraded my phone. But seeing as you do have a promotion but care more for new business than existing customers, I am now considering closing my account with Koodo and moving to a carrier who wants to keep my business.
jaki (Koodo Customer Service) 3 hours ago
I agree, but we are offering up to $25 off accessories on android phones!
Ghostofaflea 2 hours ago
Seriously? You do realize Virgin also offers a contract free service AND has the Galaxy Nexus on the way this week. Koodo has last year's phone and won't even extend existing customers the courtesy of the same offer as people who have never done business with you.
I have been with Koodo for years. Obviously this has been a mistake.
jaki (Koodo Customer Service) 14 minutes ago
Well you have to compare apples to apples,
1) Assuming your with Virgin right now and you are looking to upgrade you are looking at getting $25 accessories off too (I walked over and asked a rep) you could be saying "oh Koodo is giving away $25 giftcards not accessories."
2) How is the phone you are looking for last years model? And why are you bring the Galaxy Nexus in to this? I thought you are looking for a Nexus S
3) Yes we are both non contract but SuprtTab takes for say a $80 monthly plan you are looking at 62months (5 years) and honestly our plans are way better
Virgins
4) Are you sure you want to be with a company that copied EVERYTHING from Koodo? They copied our tab, unlimited incoming combo, data saver, Canada wide and just now they copied our new data saver.
I understand how you feel, I suggest you give retention a call tell them about your situation and they will most likely reward you with additional tab credits towards a Nexus S.
Good Luck.
Ghostofaflea 8 minutes ago
1) I am not with Virgin, but I will definitely take them up on your suggestion. Let's see if they will give me $50- to leave Koodo.
2) I am bringing the Galaxy Nexus into this because Virgin is offering me the latest Samsung product with the newest version of Android, a better processor, more memory and a bigger screen than the last year's model Samsung Koodo is offering me. Though you aren't even really offering me last year's model unless I am a new customer.
3) If you could be bothered to use English grammar and spelling I might reply to this point. Suffice to say their data plans are better than yours.
4) Virgin sure didn't copy everything from you. Unless their PR is as bad as Koodo's. Try Googling my name, btw. I have 1.2m unique readers a year and 40% of them are in Canada.
jaki (Koodo Customer Service) a minute ago
Pain in the butt typing on my phone, grammar least of my worries.
What kind of data plan are they offering?
John Carter - Trailer 2
If he isn't a Virginian, he isn't John Carter. But if it's OTT, it's got a shot at being Edgar Rice Burroughs. Plus Kashmir makes everything better.
The lone and level sands stretch far away
Let's build a beacon to tell aliens who we were.
There is no escape into the past
Šuruppak offers up four and a half-thousand year old math homework.
Drew Ryniewicz: Billie Jean
Drew was robbed! That said, Paula is right; Simon could usefully have throw some Avril Lavigne her way, on Rock Night, say.
December 02, 2011
Stanley Kubrick's photos of 1940s New York
"Before becoming a legendary director, Stanley Kubrick was a poor kid from the Bronx who did photojournalism for Look magazine in the 1940s in and around New York City."
Dual-use research
Dutch scientists have created a super-flu which, if released, could trigger a pandemic and a death toll in the millions. And, of course, they plan to publish how they did it.
U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) chair, Paul Keim, adds a note of caution.
Getting more out of Google
Here are some tips and tricks for refining your Googling.
75 years in prison for videotaping police
It's even worse than it sounds.
December 01, 2011
McQ
Lauren Paxman considers McQ, the Alexander McQueen diffusion range: "One frock in particular - the £465 Puffball tartan dress - has become the party dress of the season.
Five personality flaws Skyrim forces you to deal with
"One of the first things my wife said, after watching me play Skyrim for a few minutes, was, 'What must the computer think of you?'"
Related: Buying pants at the mall / Exploring a cave in Skyrim.
Skyrim: Total War
AKA The King of Iron Helmet Tournament: "In his videos, ColloseusX created a whole host of showdowns: 42 Imperials versus 10 Forsworn, 40 Stormcloaks versus 2 Draugr Death Overlords, 30 Bandits versus 2 Falmer Skulkers—and more, all viewable in 1080p."
Or 30 Bandits vs 1 Frost Dragon. This is all live, in-game animation, folks.