November 2022 Archives
November 30
*waves* new Masto thread
Mastodon isn't just a replacement for Twitter Users flocking to the platform will need to shift their expectations for social media and become engaged democratic citizens in the life of their networks. [more inside]
Oath Keepers Seditious Conspiracy Trial - Convictions
Oath Keepers Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs found guilty of seditious conspiracy , Brandi Buchman, Daily Kos, Nov 29 2022: ...Though defendants Caldwell, Watkins, and Harrelson were spared the seditious conspiracy charge by the jury, their failure to escape the obstruction of an official proceeding charge is significant. This charge, like the seditious conspiracy charge, carries a maximum 20-year sentence in prison ... Rhodes faces a max sentence of up to 60 years in prison ... Meggs up to 86 years ... Watkins up to 56 years ... Caldwell up to 40 years ... Harrelson up to 46 years... Sentencing guidelines are only recommendations and the defendants could receive shorter terms... [Previously on MeFi.]
The Haçienda
The Haçienda - The Club that Shook Britain is an hour-long 2022 BBC documentary about Manchester becoming the center of the universe in the late 80s, with The Hacienda, a club founded by New Order and Factory Records that changed the the culture of the UK and far beyond.
Does a bear snort in the woods?
Cocaine Bear (SLYT) is freebased on true events and stars Ray Liotta and Keri Russell, reuniting her with her co-star from The Americans, Margo Martindale.
Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie has passed
So Many Barbies
Play-Doh in Panama and Monopoly in Malawi: the most popular toys in the world.
The entertainment-misogyny complex
It’s a-Here, Mario!
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Official Trailer [YouTube] A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
Why the worst recipes imaginable are blowing up on TikTok
Everything in Conway's Game of Life can be constructed from 15 gliders
The first pattern that most people learn in Conway's Game of Life is the diagonally-moving glider. Over the decades, Life enthusiasts have found that many other patterns can be constructed from gliders, by positioning enough of them to hit each other in the right way - sometimes thousands of them. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was finally demonstrated that you can construct all these other patterns from just 15 gliders... you just might need to start them really far apart. So far, in fact, that the distances between them are measured in millions of binary digits: enough to encode a two-stage constructor, the design itself, and a cleanup mechanism. Math blogger biggiemac42 explains how it was done: at the end of the post is a video of it in action.
That Summer Feeling
To commemorate the first day of sleet where I live here's Jonathan Richman to remind you of all the summer days gone by. [more inside]
You got to vaccinate people against the hate.
Why Fascism's Returning to the World - "It was the great John Maynard Keynes who pieced it together best. Fascism, he discovered, was the result of sudden, sharp plunges into poverty, especially unexpected ones, ones where people's expectations of upward mobility collided with the grim reality of downward mobility."[1,2,3] (previously) [more inside]
November 29
Amend the Constitution?
Recently, the National Constitution Center assembled three teams of legal scholars to draw up their ideal constitutional revisions. After the libertarian, conservative and progressive groups released their proposals, organizers noticed several areas of possible agreement and invited them to reconvene, this time not divided in teams. They compromised on five amendments: eliminating the natural born citizen requirement for President, allowing a legislative veto, strengthening Presidential appointment power and applying term limits to the Supreme Court and lastly making future amendments easier. (video) So is it possible that change could come to this founding document or will discussion remain trapped in the ivory tower? [more inside]
Sick of Musk?
As Twitter continues its daily descent, Post has popped as, hopefully, a hate-free replacement. Still in beta and you have to wait a few days after registering to get an account, but it certainly looks promising.
So Bad it's Bad
Plenty of movies rate a 0% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, but much rarer is the 0% audience score. Here is a list of 30 movies with a zero percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Inspired by this post on Fanfare.
50 DKP Minus!
You enter a bright new digital world, exited to explore and hyped just to enjoy the vibe. Ten months later you're yelling at someone for standing in fire. What changed? [84 min.]
A conversation between film eccentrics.
Nicolas Cage and John Carpenter are cinema’s most studious eccentrics. From Documentjournal.
HPV Vaccine
Cohost, a new social media site
Cohost.org is a new, in-development blogging platform that pledges: no ads, no tracking, your home feed is a chronological timeline of posts by the people you follow, with "clear and effective moderation done by humans." It's open to signups and it's built by a not-for-profit worker-owned software company. It's currently not that easy to browse unless you're logged in; here are some sample tags: food, autism, long post. Previously.
What do we owe these animals in our care?
"How much would you pay to save your cat's life?" On cats and kidney transplants (warning: extensive talk about pets dying)
PSA: do not use services that hate the internet
As you look around for a new social media platform, I implore you, only use one that is a part of the World Wide Web. If posts in a social media app do not have URLs that can be linked to and viewed in an unauthenticated browser, or if there is no way to make a new post from a browser, then that program is not a part of the World Wide Web in any meaningful way.
Consign that app to oblivion.
the flooding river tore away over 3 million cubic meters of rock & dirt
“Once the river broke the record, your mindset is, ‘It’s not going to get any higher.’” A riveting account of the horrifying 2021 "atmospheric river" storm and flooding in British Columbia that resulted in an estimated $13 billion in damages. [more inside]
How to buy a good cashmere sweater
It is not feasible to buy a good quality cashmere sweater for $50. (SL Twitter thread from Derek Guy, menswear writer.) (Previously)
The State of Ketchup in 2022 🍅
Ketchup Is the Absolute Worst Condiment. When Every Ketchup But One Went Extinct. Heinz Is Not America’s Best Ketchup. Oxford Scientists Crack Case of Why Ketchup Splatters From Near-empty Bottle. The Surprising Asianness of Ketchup. Climate Change Is Coming For Your Ketchup. A Skeptic Tries: Ketchup. Ketchup: Fridge or Cupboard? The Debate Is Settled. So, Can Dogs Eat Ketchup? We Have The Answer. Don't Even Think About Putting Ketchup On A Hot Dog. Queen Elizabeth Is Releasing Her Own Royal Condiments.
November 28
"Alright, Billies... we're gonna do something new!"
For six years in a row, Billie Eilish has sat down with interviewers from Vanity Fair on the same calendar day in October to answer questions about her career, her life, and her state of mind, reflecting on an eventful 12 months of pop stardom and media scrutiny. (single link YouTube)
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
Nazi messages infiltrating the US. Authoritarian powers on the rise. The involvement of Congress members with this fascist movement. Ripped from the headlines -- of 1940. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra (show page link) is an 8-part podcast that talks about the efforts of the Nazis to gain influence and even win power in the United States during WWII (before US involvement), and the fights to bring those involved to justice. This Apple Podcasts page lets you play each episode, while the show page has background links and more.
It's a One Way Trip to Brown Town
Be water, my friend, but don't drink it all
Who killed Bruce Lee? The hyponatraemia hypothesis [link to Clinical Kidney Journal article, should be non-paywalled] [more inside]
E-Z Cheeze Money
South Florida woman "might not have bothered buying the Shells & Cheese product 'had she known the truth.'" Kraft Heinz being sued [WaPo link] in a class action lawsuit because it takes more time to open up their container, add water, and stir than the packaging alleges. [more inside]
Eadburg was here (and here and here and here...)
Researchers at the Bodleian Library in Oxford have found the Old English female name Eadburg repeatedly scored on the surface of an 8th century Latin copy of the Acts of the Apostles. The markings include multiple complete and shortened versions of Eadburg, drawings, and an English transcription of the text. They were discovered by Jessica Hodgkinson , a PhD student at the University of Leicester, while researching her thesis on women and early medieval manuscripts. Much more information about the manuscript here and about the technology here.
Exploring the quietest place on Earth
Opening the door to an industrial refrigerator that has been affixed to a Cubist sculpture of Fozzie Bear Caity Weaver visits what might be the most silent, anechoic human-built space on Earth. (gift link) [more inside]
How do you make lace?
How do you make lace? Very very slowly, according to Broiderie Stitch, a two-person lace-making business in Gartner, Massachusetts. Lace was small, portable, and very, very expensive - a favorite for smugglers and an easy way to transport a large store of wealth. The lace middlemen profited the most off of this lucrative trade, but even a lowly lacemaker with just a few patterns would make more with lace than she could working as a laborer. Still, it wasn’t the best of jobs - four girls (or sometimes sixteen) would be clustered around the light of a single candle in the winter with their pillows and bobbins. Open fires would dirty the work, so small personal heaters filled with live coals might be placed under their skirts (a fire hazard, to be sure) or the lacemakers might work over a barn so the heat of the animals kept them from freezing. Summertime was much nicer, when so much sunlight made lacemaking easier on the eyes. Many old lacemaking songs are about finishing one’s work before the candles were lit, since weak candlelight made things so much harder. [more inside]
Meet Reiner Knizia: The man who’s designed over 700 board games
People want features that make things easier to use, or more pleasant
A Timeline Of Adaptive Technology In Digital Experiences [Able Gamers]
“Despite its stunning popularity today, video games weren’t always so mainstream. In fact, at its outset in the 70s, the video gaming industry was a small niche market trying to grow its customer base and introduce the world to its technology and stories. As a result, a small-yet-devoted community began to emerge, and people with disabilities saw the immediate value of what the video gaming community could offer them. As such, video game developers and companies began to focus on accessibility in their software and cultivating adaptive technology solutions to promote their companies and games in the press. AbleGamers has spent the last sixteen years creating change via direct advocacy and action in the industry, fighting to remove the barriers to gaming that people with disabilities experience. Today, the major wins for accessibility that we’ve witnessed over the past decade prove that the industry is undergoing a transformation that welcomes people with disabilities to the community.”[more inside]
something something my shiny metal ass
On the first day of christmas, my true love gave to me this thread and an advent of robots, all for free. [more inside]
November 27
Food experiments from 1994 & 1998
Some gems of the Old Web (note, posts do not link to video):
June 1994: And, if you take a grape, cut it in half but leave the sides attached by a piece of skin, and then microwave it. Sparks!
August 1994: If you leave a pop-tart in a toaster too long, the results are... incendiary.
And from 1998: Marshmallow Peep research [more inside]
June 1994: And, if you take a grape, cut it in half but leave the sides attached by a piece of skin, and then microwave it. Sparks!
August 1994: If you leave a pop-tart in a toaster too long, the results are... incendiary.
And from 1998: Marshmallow Peep research [more inside]
Bach two basics
Bach: 15 Two-Part Inventions, BWV 772-786 ....is a Youtube playlist that presents the score of each Invention as the piano music plays. Additionally, each link contains two further links. One shows in color a musical analysis of the Invention, and another has fingering for the piano student.
The Reasonably Accurate Melodeonist
Lester's Tune-a-Day Lester Bailey plays and repairs melodeons. In 2013 he finished his project of recording and posting a tune every day for a year - but then he kept going (at a lower frequency) and is still going today.
“It wasn’t that I had left the plane it was that the plane left me.”
21 old films from 1895 to 1902 colorized and upscaled in 60 fps, w/sound
Lumiere films from the very early days of film, subjected to various ML refinements and coupled with foley sounds, and you've got some amazingly modern looking movies from 125 years ago! 21 old films from 1895 to 1902 colorized and upscaled in 60 fps, with sound runs 22 minutes, with the first 4m33s describing the upscaling process.
November 26
hi hungry, I'm dad
Cells, is there anything they can't do?
@SCOTTeHENSLEY: "We developed a new multivalent mRNA vaccine against all known influenza virus subtypes. Our study describing the vaccine was just published..." [more inside]
If you fake the funk, your nose will grow.
How Bootsy Collins Impostors Pulled Off the Ultimate Music Biz Scam (David Browne, Rolling Stone)
Nazi Cola
The soft drink Fanta was invented by Coca-Cola, an American company, inside of Nazi Germany during World War II. Developed at the height of the Third Reich, the new soda ensured the brand’s continued popularity. Fanta became a point of nationalistic pride and was consumed by the German public, from the Fraus cooking at home to the highest officials of the Nazi party. How Fanta Was Created for Nazi Germany [more inside]
Assorted Aleatory Moondog
How Moondog Captured the Sounds of New York
Moondog -- Do Your Own Thing
The Genius of Moondog, New York’s Homeless Composer
Random Moondoggery and details within regarding the life of someone Mefi's Own nickyskye knew well and counted as a close friend... [more inside]
Synchronizing his work to traffic and footsteps, the musician and composer translated the clamor of street life into song.The weird and true story of Moondog
Moondog -- Do Your Own Thing
The Genius of Moondog, New York’s Homeless Composer
Random Moondoggery and details within regarding the life of someone Mefi's Own nickyskye knew well and counted as a close friend... [more inside]
Michaelsoft Binbows
An obscure ages-old internet photo sparks an investigation that leads to a giddy, joyful conclusion. Nick Robinson takes us on a journey as we learn that "MICHAELSOFT BINBOWS' isn't what you think it is. [35m] Features use of Google Earth VR which is the only thing that's made me want VR so far.
The Tyranny Of Time
Every day, tens of thousands of people line up outside the Temple of Time where the Great Clock resides, waiting their turn to enter and bow before it. “They stand quietly, but secretly they seethe with their anger. For they must watch measured that which should not be measured. They must watch the precise passage of minutes and decades. They have been trapped by their own inventiveness and audacity. And they must pay with their lives.” from Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.
"The clock is a useful social tool, but it is also deeply political. It benefits some, marginalizes others and blinds us from a true understanding of our own bodies and the world around us." Joe Zadeh writes a compelling essay in Noema magazine about the origin and meaning of globally standardized clock time.
Happy Birthday Sparky
In honor of Charles Schulz's 100th birthday, dozens of syndicated cartoonists worked Peanuts references into their strips today.
The McCallister Clan is Riding a Shooting Star
A family moves their inn from the Earth to outer space in a failed 1979 TV pilot. Obviously inspired by a certain scene Star Wars, "Starstruck," on YouTube (27 minutes), starring Beeson Carroll, Lynne Lipton and Roy Brocksmith, may remind you of a certain holiday special from the year before. [more inside]
"we were, in effect, rewriting our own childhoods"
"The songs and stories on "Free To Be" showed kids that they could question the world they lived in, that parents are just people and that emotions are real. And what's on TV might not be." [more inside]
Nothing at that scale is sacred at all
"If you look up quark masses online, you’ll find that the mass of an up quark is around 2 MeV while a down quark is close to 5 MeV. But those same sources will tell you the mass of a proton is a whopping 938 MeV. Our sums are off by about 99 per cent." Dr. Katie Mack explores the weird nature of protons in a short article.
Codified Likeness Utility
Using the Midjourney AI, graphic designer Johnny Darrell has come up with some mind-bending imaginings [Facebook link] of a "Tron" directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
PRojects IN Controlled Environments, version Sith
The overworked project manager on the redesign of the Imperial Lambda-class shuttle gets surprisingly competent feedback from an unknown official on Coruscant. She promptly decides that anyone bored enough to do a technical review of their own free will should be found proper employment for their own good. (AO3, Beth Winter, Star Wars, Gen) - because project management in any galaxy goes darkside.
Ten Years Of Being Overly Sarcastic
Overly Sarcastic Productions is a YouTube channel where the two creators/owners - going by the colorful monikers of Red and Blue - provide overviews and analysis of pop culture, myths, legends, literature, tropes, and other such topics. With the 10 year anniversary of the first video on the channel nearing, Red and Blue recount lessons learned from a decade of creating content.
November 25
A Plethora of Unaired Pilots
A Plethora of Unaired Pilots Warning: time destroyer. One YouTube user has posted over 50 unaired TV pilots. [more inside]
Steven Seagal Choke Hold...Diorama
Bobby Fingers has uploaded another diorama build video showcasing an incident between Steven Seagal and Gene LeBell. (Previously) [more inside]
Significant protests at Foxconn iPhone factory in Zhengzhou
"It's not hyperbolic to say that this is the most significant worker revolt we've seen in China for many years" says Chris Cash, Director of the China Research Group in a four minute interview with Times Radio that includes graphic footage from an unverified video. [more inside]
The Biggest Art Collab on YouTube, Season 2
The BIGGEST Art Collab On YouTube IS BACK! [S2 E1] In early 2021, graphic artist and YouTuber Ten Hundred painted a character in the middle of a large wooden panel, then sent it to another YouTuber to paint another small section, who then sent it to another, until it was done. The first panel traveled over 30,000 miles before it arrived back at Ten Hundred's studio to be auctioned for charity. For season 2, he started two different panels and sent them off. For one of them, each artist has to choose another YouTuber with fewer subscribers. Season 2 is still in progress. [more inside]
Every Bone in the Human Body and How They Break
Coins with only mention of Roman “emperor” authenticated
More than 50 Years of NASA Wake-Up Songs
As far back as Gemini 6, NASA has used music to wake astronauts - and robots - to start their day. From Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra to Puccini and Rachmaninov, from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Weird Al Yankovic, from the Ramones to the Everly Brothers to ABBA, NASA crews have woken up to meaningful and whimsical music. Archivist Colin Fries compiled a chronology of Wakeup Calls for NASA (89-page PDF). Previously. [more inside]
Buy Nothing Day
Why Brussels sprouts are good again
“It’s completely normal for people to be in the family business”
Hey, it's another listicle!
Perhaps the gentleman would like the "Poo Driver"
Prune Juice and vodka! What could go wrong?? Bon Appétit magazine known for it's exquisite taste and innovations in cuisine has a few recipes they'd like you to try.... [more inside]
Zan. Zendegi. Azadi.
Women, Life, Freedom is the cry heard across Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini 70 days ago. UN launches human rights investigation after Iranian regime murders over 300 protesters. [more inside]
November 24
Missing “Chico & The Man”
The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs of All Time according to Rolling Stone
Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, riffs, one riff wonders & primal voices
And here is Bo Diddley & Chuck Berry -- Bo's Beat from Chuck Berry & Bo Diddley -- Two Great Guitars
Only Solitaire blog gives it a bit of side eye
Chuck Berry & Bo Diddley Together LIVE (2009)
And down the tesseracted rabbit hole we go... [more inside]
Only Solitaire blog gives it a bit of side eye
More of an historical curiosity here than an actual good album — but a terrific historical curiosity all the same. ...the album is never remembered as a particular highlight for any of those guys; however, in some ways it is a rather unique artifact of the era. Even if you find it horrible, you won't ever forget how you found it horrible, that is for sure.All the same here are the two men in concert all of 45 years later:
Chuck Berry & Bo Diddley Together LIVE (2009)
And down the tesseracted rabbit hole we go... [more inside]
Restaurant-ing Through History
Short little essays about little-known facets of American restaurant history. Including such gems as: The Public Natatorium, Milwaukee's only dolphin-equipped restaurant (how could it fail?) And... [more inside]
Smokin' Bear
Smokey Bear is supposed to communicate an important message about wildfire safety. But viewers were talking about his balloon at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for a totally different reason this year: his looming, brawny, unsettling hotness.
Feel what it's like to tickle bug feet
From IEEE Spectrum comes These Haptic Microfingers Tickle Pill Bugs’ Toes subheadlined Balloon actuators and liquid metal sensors enable tactile human-insect interactions in which is described microfingers with tactile fingertip feedback so one could feel things at insect scale. This feels really important, even if right now it's just tickling bug toes.
film strip 1
Eat up, they said
These men are geniuses! Their shit tastes like candy! Adam Conover (recently previously on Metafilter) continues to press his case for treating billionaires with the respect they deserve (YouTube, 19m30s)
“So cooking it at 325° was actually the right thing to do.”
ooh.directory
It's a directory of blogs. Avoid your family today like it's 2006.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!
‘We’re dog facilitators’
Meet the hounds trained to track down rhino poachers in Kruger Park. Rhino poachers entering Kruger National Park are increasingly being run down by packs of unleashed hunting hounds in full cry, followed by a chopper tracking their hi-tech GPS collars. [more inside]
Space is for all
ESA has announced their Astronaut Class of 2022. Comprising 17 astronauts from 12 countries, of which almost 50% are women, the cohort includes 5 career astronauts, 11 reserve astronauts, and 'parastronaut' John McFall, the world's first disabled astronaut. Although not guaranteed to go into orbit, the former British Paralympian will be part of a feasibility project to see what the requirements would be for that to be possible. [more inside]
LEA Project: The ARG, The Musical
LEA is EthiCo's own Learning-Enabled Algorithm: an anticipatory artificial intelligence program built with next-generation machine learning. That's just our fancy way of saying that she's designed entirely around you! She can automate your daily purchases, manage your hectic schedule, and even suggest the perfect time for you to sit back and chill out!The LEA Project: An interactive, musical horror-comedy from composer, writer, and sound designer Eric Matthew Richardson.
This is Jo Carol Pierce.
The greatest Texas songwriter you’ve never heard of is a 72-year-old grandmother from Lubbock. This is her story. What do you do when you find yourself in the midst of middle age, you can’t stay in a relationship to save your life, and your friends keep trying to get you to check into a mental hospital? If you’re Jo Carol Pierce, you go instead to a zen monastery in New Mexico and begin writing emotional, hilarious songs about sex, suicide, and the blessed Virgin Mary. From there, you move to Austin and craft the songs into a piece of musical theater called Bad Girls Upset by the Truth, recruiting other misfits to play with you. Then—again, if you’re Jo Carol Pierce—you watch as the play becomes a big hit and you, at age 51, transform into something of a rock star. [more inside]
November 23
NOTE: Sigma cannot be deselected
Trendwatch is an ongoing series of short unsettling videos examining such current trends as New Time, modes and operation of the A-CS unit, and nausea in the workplace. (No jumpscares. Loud high-pitched beeping at times.)
Cat in costume
This Library Attracts The Public By Dressing Up One Librarian’s Cat As Literary And Movie Icons Notable photos: Queen Elizabeth II, Mary Queen of Scots, Cat With A Pearl Earring, Phantom mask, Iron Throne, Teddy Roosevelt, Gritty, members of Clone Club.... [more inside]
I've brought. . . some corn for. . . popping.
Around 20 professional singers and composers attempt to sing a very badly transcribed version of "Let It Snow" as written. (SL Twitter.)
I can't imagine a US intelligence official would be wrong on this
A 10-minute miscommunication on Slack between journalists at the Associated Press resulted in an erroneous report last week that appeared momentarily to bring tensions between NATO and Russia to their highest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis ... Last Tuesday, AP posted a news alert saying that a “senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people,” and noting that leaders in Poland were “holding an emergency meeting due to a ‘crisis situation’” ... The report, which would have represented a Russian missile striking a member of NATO, immediately sparked fear of a dramatic escalation of tensions between the US and Russia. from AP fired a reporter after a dangerous blunder. Slack messages reveal a chaotic process.
“The crowd has taken on a more violent approach towards me."
Two pro wrestlers developed ‘The Progressive Liberal’ to be the bad guy at matches. Then the atmosphere turned far darker (previously on MeFi)
Canada at a Glance 2022 | Coup d'œil sur le Canada 2022
Prepared by Statistics Canada, Canada at a Glance presents current statistics on Canadian society. Subjects covered in Canada at a Glance include population, education, health, and others to provide a statistical portrait of Canada. [more inside]
National Day of Mourning
"Since 1970, Indigenous people & their allies have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native people do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims & other European settlers. Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Indigenous ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide." [more inside]
It's Not Christmas Yet!
The 9 best Thanksgiving songs I definitely didn't just make up by Alexandra Petri at The Washington Post, with composer Jack Mitchell. [more inside]
Westeros and Essos and Valentino
Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire, love(d) them or hate(d) them, the clothes are fabulous! A Game of Clothes is a tumblr blog that deliciously, obsessively, meticulously records the real life styles the vast cast of characters would wear, and where they would wear them, and why, and who they are, and where they are from. Pretty much all the W questions, but most particularly, what would [ASoIaF Person] wear, or maybe who would wear [Famous Designer]? Basically a "Westeros Wear Daily." [more inside]
"Index, a History of the," or "Everything I Need I Get From You"
Everyone knew my full name
Being a "Foreigner" English Girl Born in Japan An interview as part of a series created by Max D. Capo [more inside]
November 22
Shaping Chinese Home Cooking in America
The family behind the wonderful recipe blog The Woks of Life is profiled in Bon Appetit by journalist and author Kat Chow. [more inside]
Coke, Salmon, Synfull and Snacke. They're all good hounds, Edward.
In the early 15th century, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, wrote a list of 1,126 names he considered to be suitable for dogs.
Link to the paper "The Names of All Manner of Hounds: A Unique Inventory in a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript" by David Scott-Macnab.
Via Twitter user @WeirdMedieval.
You Don't Need to Make a Pumpkin Pie From Scratch. Ever.
I need to tell you something. Something very important. Geraldine DeRuiter, James Beard Award Winner, (previously, previously, previously) takes on the Pumpkin Lobby (Big Pumpkin?) and their push for all food pumpkin. [more inside]
Paul Madonna severely injured by a hit-and-run.
San Francisco cartoonist Paul Madonna was driving his regular commute in a smart car through McLaren Park, when he was struck head-on by a Mercedes Benz going the wrong way at approximately 50-60 mph. [more inside]
“Facebook [isn’t] utopian or distopian. It’s just massively influential”
In 2017, as #MeToo raged, the fact that you couldn’t say “Men Are Scum” on Facebook went viral.
In 2018, Monika Bickert and her team sat in the “Oh, Semantics” meeting room (a coincience, surely) to re-evaluate this policy.
Simon Van Zuylen-Wood got to sit in and wrote about the experience for Vanity Fair in 2019: “‘Men Are Scum’: Inside Facebook’s War On Hate Speech”
(Hat tip to the most recent episode of Evelyn Douek’s Moderated Content Podcast, featuring Alex Stamos.)
In 2018, Monika Bickert and her team sat in the “Oh, Semantics” meeting room (a coincience, surely) to re-evaluate this policy.
Simon Van Zuylen-Wood got to sit in and wrote about the experience for Vanity Fair in 2019: “‘Men Are Scum’: Inside Facebook’s War On Hate Speech”
(Hat tip to the most recent episode of Evelyn Douek’s Moderated Content Podcast, featuring Alex Stamos.)
Twenty years and eight million nations later
NationStates is a free multiplayer political simulation game founded by author Max Barry back in 2002. Previously. Previouslier. Ten days ago, the game turned 20 years old! [more inside]
Cheat Sheets for Thanksgiving Arguments
Dreading a holiday dinner with more conservative relatives? Are you unwilling to just smile and pass the gravy as your right wing relative spouts some nonsense from the culture wars?
A Redditor has created some handy cheat sheets / study guides for liberal Americans who feel argumentative.
Eurovision rule changes: from 2023, Americans can cast their votes.
Not just Americans - worldwide votes will be counted. Following some jury shenanigans in the 2022 contest, jury involvement has been reduced and other voting changes mean that... "Those watching in the rest of the world will be able to vote via a secure online platform using a credit card from their country, and their votes, once added together, will be converted into points that will have the same weight as one participating country in both of the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final." Initial reaction is mixed. Eurovision 2022 was won by Ukraine; the 2023 finals will be hosted by Liverpool in England.
Cathode Ray Thread
Marine, aka moonovermarine, is a French embroidery artist much of whose work adapts imagery from games, movies, and other cultural wells. Their current project: a series of scenes from the monochrome ZX Spectrum game "Sentinel".
How the Slow Cooker Changed the World
The Crockpot arrived amid a slew of innovations, from the microwave oven to the breadmaker, that promised to save women from the drudgery of cooking for their families. But unlike its technological contemporaries, the slow cooker didn’t speed up a working woman’s cooking, it slowed it down. The crucial part was being absent for almost the entire cooking process: A woman could actually leave the house and enter the workplace, without neglecting her wifely duties. [more inside]
Modern pentathlon votes to swap horse riding with obstacles
In the wake of a coach being ejected from the Olympics in Tokyo for punching a horse, UIPM (the governing body of modern pentathlon) has voted to replace show jumping with a Sasuke-style obstacle course (a.k.a. American Ninja Warrior) following the 2024 Games in Paris. The change does not come without controversy, as several national governing bodies accuse the UIPM of violating its own rules regarding changes to the sport. [more inside]
"Cancer vaccines are an idea whose time has come."
"Although 5 decades of research have yielded many failures, [cancer] vaccines are now positioned for success" While there are currently only a few vaccines being used to treat cancer (as opposed to preventing it), "knowledge gained from [COVID-19] trials and versatile therapeutic potential of the mRNA can be applied for the development of vaccine for the infectious diseases and cancer." There are many cancer vaccines currently in clinical trials (find one) and receiving research grants. [more inside]
25﹪completed
Redditor lg_cuber (also going by Grazzy on YouTube) has been recreating the entirety of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild map in Minecraft, along with the help of a few Minecraft community friends. This is a work in progress. It is glorious to behold. [YouTube] [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
Rollin' Barth
It’s one thing to find Barth’s fiction masturbatory—that’s a matter of taste—but it’s another to hold it morally responsible for the cultural degradation we associate with fast food, commercialism, and televisual self-consciousness run amok (an especial bête noire for Wallace). Such menaces, it seems fair to point out, more likely result from political and technological circumstances coextensive with postmodernity as a historical epoch rather than from the stylistic choices of any individual author, or group of authors. from Life in the Fap Lane
November 21
“Paper or plastic?” … “MOUTH”
Natural Habitat Shorts is an animated web series featuring anthropomorphized animals going about their daily lives. Created by Brennan Brinkley, Nicole Low, and Tyler Kula, the shorts imagine animals participating in mundane activities - shopping, working, commuting - with humorous results. The videos, each of which are less than a minute long, gained popularity on TikTok last year. New shorts are posted every few weeks.
MeFiGiftGuide2022 - The Metafilter Gift Guide
Instead of turning to influencers, (sponsored) top-ten lists, or Amazon “sales,” the Metafilter community has collaborated to create gift suggestions by and for real people, who want to have real connections, and make a real difference in the world. Read below the fold for the gift guides, or check out the tag #MeFiGiftGuide2022. [more inside]
Michael Sheen wants to know where you buy your socks
Michael Sheen wants to know where you buy your socks. Michael Sheen explains what a social enterprise is. Social enterprises are real businesses but at least 50% of their profits are reinvested to benefit the community.
Dances with Dogs
He introduces me to the dogs as he harnesses them one by one: “... This is Aske ‘Qulikiqtaaq’ Walker, after baseball player Alan Walker. This is Tuugaaq, meaning narwhal tusk. This is Asgard, big guy named after the Norse god. ... This is Carlos, named after a cab driver in Mexico. And this is Grillis, named after British Adventurer Bear Grylls—I used to have a dog called ‘Bear’ but a bear came into town and ate that dog. Happily, someone in town shot that bear and gave me the meat to feed the other dogs. Seems only fair. This is Bear’s replacement in the team.”Devon Manik says, I usually hunt with the dogs. It’s really a great job. I feed a lot of people.”
Le Bob Est Mort, Vive Le Bob
In a major shakeup at the House of Mouse, Disney CEO Bob Chapek is out, with former CEO Bob Iger returning as a "caretaker" CEO to right the corporate ship. [more inside]
Six people who loved to watch television, but didn't like what they saw
The SCTV Guide To Showbiz [1h58m] is a fan-created 2021 documentary that covers the entire history of SCTV, from before it happened until after it ended. Witness a bunch of beloved comedians when they were puppies! Marvel at their chutzpah! Delight in whatever it is they do! Note: This is not a clip show of favorites. It's a history of SCTV told by SCTV with SCTV lore included. Enjoy!
"servers, sewers, alienation"
From Maya.land (previously): a "drafty as hell lol" post on public utilities, tourism, personal experience of infrastructure, technical agency, and the romantic and the invisible.
An Unlikely Ally in Recovery: Psychedelics
Jim Harris Was Paralyzed. Then He Ate Magic Mushrooms. After becoming paralyzed from the chest down, the mountain athlete found an unlikely ally in recovery: psychedelics.
Toys Are Us
Christmas is right around the corner, and maybe you need to do some shopping? Here's some vintage toy commercials. The 1950's had a tight toy game, but maybe you're more nostalgiac for the 80's or 90's?
The Inky Depths #7: Eels Give Me The Feels
This great post reminded me of a buoy that's been bobbing around - gulper eel, ribbon eel, electric eel - there are so many eels on the Inky Depths posting list, so LET'S TALK ABOUT EELS TOGETHER, it's about time, am I right?! (okay, Inky Depths #4 was about the Slender Snipe Eel. But there is so. much. more. to. talk. about.) Well I'll be hornswaggled, let's dive in! (more inside) [more inside]
Boards of Canada vs Deforum Stable Diffusion
A HD fan video for audiotrack 12 from the Random 35 Tracks Tape from the mid-90s (historical detail). The same choir-like vocal can be briefly heard on Aquarius (version 3). Previously on Stable Diffusion; alternative fan video. Texts used in generation below the fold... [more inside]
Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery
I didn't know you were keeping count
November 20
Your budget, one envelope at a time
Meanwhile, on Tumblr: Goncharov (1973)
As Twitter is in its death throes, Tumblr is thriving (for certain definitions of thriving) and doing a deep dive into Goncharov (1973), dir. Martin Scorsese. In fact, tumblr is talking about it so much that Goncharov is today's top trending tag there. [more inside]
Reservation Mathematics: Navigating Love in Native America
Blood quantum requirements first imposed on Native Americans as part of the push for assimilation continue to threaten the future of many tribes:
Tailyr Irvine interviewed Indigenous residents in Missoula and on her Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. They share their deep personal, social and political concerns about the blood quantum system, which can impact Native Americans’ most personal decisions—including with whom they have children. Through seven intimate stories, Irvine shows how blood quantum requirements are increasingly putting pressures on Native Americans’ lives.[more inside]
Internet, offline
Kiwix is a utility that allows you to download entire websites including wikipedia, Khan Academy..... [more inside]
Red River Cereal is back!
A favourite amongst many Canadians since 1924, Red River Cereal was a victim of pandemic cuts by the owner of the brand since 1995, the American company
Smuckers. Thanks to the new owner, Arva Flour mill near London Ontario Red River cereal is back! Arva Flour Mill is also the oldest commercial water-powered mill in North America, the oldest food-processing company in Canada, and the 6th-oldest continuously-operating company in Canada at over 200 years old. [more inside]
Gregory Dale Bear, 1951 - 2022.
R.I.P. an American science fiction writer. Winner of Hugo and Nebula awards, Bear wrote more than fifty books. [more inside]
Now, Leroy more than trouble
I don't understand what's going on but this is cool as hell
The Barnacle Goose Experiment is an abiogensis (wikipedia yeah I didn't know either) body horror idle clicker by Everest Rose Pipkin where you play as a researcher in a biodome tasked with generating a world out of their own body. There is sound so you may want to mute the browser tab.
You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
The Pangeos terrayacht (Robb Report, designers) is a proposed 1800-foot vessel that could house 60,000 people. [more inside]
"You need to go to school for that job?"
"Library school" is a nebulous way of describing about library and information science education. While early library schools in the US and UK were primarily vocational training for people to work in school or public libraries, iSchools cover a range of knowledge worker jobs in a variety of places. There are many places you can work with that degree. [more inside]
Facebook Is a Freak Show Ghost Town
Unlike the TikTok algorithm, which is creepily accurate, Facebook is an erratic pu-pu platter of things I never knew I wanted to see. For years, I have been unwittingly feeding it conflicting information about who I am. As a journalist, I have used Facebook casually for reporting purposes, joining divergent communities dedicated to everything from women in business to Airbnb hosts and polyamorists. After finding subjects for stories, I never bothered to leave these groups, and like creeping ivy, their posts began to overtake my feed, to delightful results.
How what you eat affects climate change
How what you eat affects climate change. One serve of beef = 330 grams of carbon dioxide. One serve of chicken = 52 grams of carbon dioxide. One serve of fish = 40 grams of carbon dioxide. One serve of vegetables = 14 grams of carbon dioxide. One serve of lentils = 2 grams of carbon dioxide. Livestock = 14% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships in the world (transportation) which is also 14%.
Alan MacMasters: How the great online toaster hoax was exposed
For more than a decade, a prankster spun a web of deception about the inventor of the electric toaster. His lies fooled newspapers, teachers and officials. Then a teenager flagged up something that everyone else had missed.
November 19
KCRW presents Bent by Nature: The Archives (1982-1991)
Bent by Nature, a podcast from LA's KCRW about the legendary DJ Deirdre O'Donoghue and her influential radio show SNAP, has made available live music archives from the show, with dozens of in-studio live music performances from the 80s and early 90s from the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, R.E.M., Tom Waits, and Robyn Hitchcock, as well as interviews. Don't know where to get started? Here's a guide. If you still can't decide what to listen to, you're in luck--there's a 24-hour streaming channel featuring a shuffling playlist of SNAP episodes restored from Deirdre's original board tapes.
Just Say 'Yes' to PR
As I delete these emails, I often wonder: Who are all these people who want to talk to a reporter, any reporter, so badly that they will pay a publicist to email every journalist they can think of—including me, a guy who doesn’t write about pool safety or divorce or witches at all? Who actually opens these emails, let alone responds to them? Do they ever work? And what would happen if I tried? from My PR Day of Yes [more inside]
The most expensive bed in the hospital
Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU (Substack) "This is one of the nicest and best-resourced ICUs in the country. So, my assumption has been that the faults of this ICU unit are likely shared by all ICUs, while the virtues probably are not." [more inside]
Key takeaway: Reading multiple books at the same time is beneficial.
The best reading skill no one ever taught you. Care of Elizabeth Filips, who clearly knows a thing or two about how to live a chaotically organized life.
Dam
Comparing dairy milk; almond milk; soy milk; and oat milk
Today will be different. Enough water will come.
"How The Forest Dies: The Amazon is going dry. In one parched corner, a desperate wait for water is only just beginning." A sobering portrait of the human cost of deforestation of the Amazon, from the Washington Post. [more inside]
Lies, fraud, tacky mansions, and Roblox: "My mother is very proud."
"There's no way anyone could get away with such an obvious lie, it would be too easy to check. But it turns out if something is easy to check, NO ONE ACTUALLY DOES." [1h 57m] Hbomberguy spends half an hour finding the true origins of the Roblox "Oof" sound effect that plays when you die, then gets sucked into the outrageous (yet utterly banal) world of egotistical lies of veritable videogame industry icon, Tommy Tallarico.
November 18
Your Test Results Are 11 Years + $400 Million
Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison for Theranos fraud — Dan Primack & Sareen Habeshian, AXIOS, 11/18/2022. Elizabeth Holmes on Friday was sentenced by a California judge to 11 years and three months in prison for defrauding investors in her failed blood-testing company, Theranos. Per yahoo!finance, Holmes was also fined a $400 million special assessment and must surrender to custody on April 27, 2023. She's expected to appeal. (Most recently and previously on MetaFilter, see also Wikipedia.)
Text-to-Pokemon AI
Put in a text prompt and generate your own Pokémon character. What it says on the turtwig.
This is wrong.
Flogging his new album on the Tonight Show, Bruce Springsteen settles a nearly 50-year-old argument.
This is the race for the periodic table
Bobby Broccoli brings you the tale of the the man who tried to fake an element (a 1 hour and 19 minutes long YouTube essay).
David Amram: creating a true music culture through love
David Amram is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings. He plays piano, French horn, Spanish guitar, and pennywhistle, and sings. He has worked with Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Aaron Copland, Pete Seeger, Willie Nelson, Charles Mingus, Bob Dylan, Thelonious Monk, Patti Smith, and many others.
Yesterday he turned 92 years old. [more inside]
Director Albert Pyun would like to hear from fans in his final days
Cult movie director Albert Pyun carved a reputation for himself as a B-level action/sci-fi director who brought memorable visuals and endless imagination to films that were usually filmed on very limited budgets. Sadly, Pyun was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years ago… and is now in hospice. His wife Cynthia Curnan took to Facebook to ask fans to send in personal messages so she can read them to him in his final days. [more inside]
A big meteor shower, and early citizen science by newspaper
How Newspapers Helped Crowdsource a Scientific Discovery in 1833 - In November 1833, the Leonid meteor shower was so unusually bright and intense that professor Denison Olmsted wrote to the local newspaper and asked readers to send in their observations. Other newspapers syndicated his letter, and he got responses from across the country. (Oh also, today's the peak of this year's Leonid shower.) [more inside]
Perhaps this was inevitable.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who famously spent eighteen years living in Charles de Gaulle airport before leaving in 2006, died of a heart attack last Saturday... at Charles de Gaulle airport. [more inside]
10,000 brains in a basement
Pentimento: images that have been changed and painted over
Featuring a striking art style inspired by illuminated manuscripts and early modern woodcuts, Obsidian's narrative RPG Pentiment debuted this week to near-universal acclaim. Reviewers praised its art style, story, and the sheer audacity of releasing such a game. Director Josh Sawyer sat down with Wired to discuss the game's influences (Umberto Eco, Darklands), why it wouldn't have gotten made without Microsoft's Game Pass, and the meaning of history. [more inside]
Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath
For the first time since 1991, the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) voted to introduce four new prefixes to the International System of Units (SI) with immediate effect. [more inside]
Polycentricity implies spontaneity and organic development over time
"This paper explores the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on cooperative organizations. In particular, we examine how technology addresses and creates challenges within cooperative organizations...." [more inside]
App Tracking Protection Beta is Now Available to All Android Users
App Tracking Protection is now open for all Android users. It’s a beta feature in DuckDuckGo for Android that helps block 3rd-party trackers in your apps, even when you’re not using them. You can see what personal data trackers are typically trying to collect before we block them (like your precise location, age, and a digital fingerprint of your phone). We’ve also improved performance, reduced app exclusions, and made our blocklist publicly available. Start blocking 3rd-party trackers in your Android apps today: update to the latest version of the DuckDuckGo Android app, open Settings and select “App Tracking Protection” and follow the onscreen instructions. [more inside]
'I'm the problem, it's me:' Ticketmaster's Taylor Swift meltdown
Whether you’re a Swiftie superfan, NFL diehard or just enjoy the occasional Broadway musical, virtually everyone agrees that our ticket-buying experience is beyond broken. Trying to see your favorite artist often requires participating in a process that begins with hitting the refresh button hundreds of times over the course of a few minutes and hoping to hit the equivalent of a lottery until finally allowed into a transaction. The lucky ones earn the privilege of being held over a barrel by companies that can charge them whatever and however it would like. The vast majority aren’t so lucky, and must take their efforts to the secondary resale market, where they can expect considerable if not exponential markups on the face value of a ticket. [more inside]
The Qatar World Cup Explained
The Qatar World Cup Explained is a five part series by Tifo Football exploring the geopolitics around how Qatar has ended up hosting the World Cup.
Subterranean birdsite blues
Twitter export: "Do you want to export your Twitter followers, follows or other Tweet data? With our Twitter Export tool you can quickly export followers, following list, retweets or likes of a tweet for free and download it to Excel in CSV format." Via babelfish at Ask Metafilter. Seems timely. [more inside]
November 17
It sounds like it ought to be an English word
Lyre's Dictionary generates new English words based on existing roots and patterns. I found it through its Mastodon bot but it also has a Twitter bot (for now) and an RSS feed.
in violation of the Convention on Migratory Species
Digital Gastronomy
Not 4-Bit, Just $%@& For RAM
The recently-released Atari 50 100+ game collection/90's-CD-ROM-style multimedia thingy from retro championers Digital Eclipse has been out for about a week, receiving not a single review below 8/10, making things look good for possible DLC. But why wait for more? There's already two entire podcasts aiming to cover every single Atari 2600 game made within the console's lifespan: 2600 Game By Game and Atari Bytes (the latter including bespoke game-related short stories). [more inside]
A Very Narrow Vision of Cosmopolitanism
The prescience of Steinberg’s famous cover of a New Yorker’s skewed vision of the world is not merely the outsize importance he grants to New York City, but also the schematic way he depicts other countries. For all the ironic self-awareness this cover suggests about the New York–centrism of the magazine’s readership, it is, in fact, emblematic of the fiction section’s myopia. from The View From The Fiction of the “New Yorker”
Pogueless? Help is at hand.
The Mary Wallopers are the best new(ish) band I've run across in ages, and if you like the wildest and rudest kind of Irish folk music, there's a good chance you'll love them too. Here's a video of each of the album's 11 songs to help you decide: Eileen Og, Love Will Never Conquer Me, Cod Liver Oil & The Orange Juice, John O'Halloran, The Hackler, The Night The Gards Raided Oweny's, Building Up And Tearing England Down, Lots of Little Soldiers, Frost Is All Over,, The Butcher Boy, All For Me Grog. [more inside]
You say 'Eugenics' like it's a bad thing (it is)
Inside the 'secular pronatalist' eugenics movement (Julia Black @ Business Insider, archive.org version)
Along with his 3-year-old brother, Octavian, and his newborn sister, Titan Invictus, Torsten has unwittingly joined an audacious experiment. According to his parents' calculations, as long as each of their descendants can commit to having at least eight children for just 11 generations, the Collins bloodline will eventually outnumber the current human population. [more inside]
Shedding a Light on Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a term that comes up a lot on MeFi, especially on the Green. Dr. Robin Stern, co-founder and associate director for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, has a podcast called The Gaslight Effect that explores the concept, how it shows up in different situations, and how people can reclaim reality.
“...a brutal sort of sport. Everybody falls on their backside,"
The reawakening of Stormzy
Three years after that album and that Glastonbury performance, Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. – the man you know as Stormzy – is back, and a changed man [GQ] [more inside]
November 16
Princess Arete deserves to be seen.
STUDIO4℃ is making an English subtitled version of Princess Arete available for free on YouTube until Dec. 2nd 2022. Animation Obsessive has a consideration of the film along with a history of its making. [more inside]
I just want the best for your ass - Get Up!
Marc Rebillet - Your New Morning Alarm (full version) (slyt, I guess, if we still bother to say that anymore.)
We Are Living In A Material World
Material culture (previously) surrounds us, both the old stuff and the new stuff [archive.org link]. Sometimes this stuff reveals surprising new facts, as with the recent translation of writing on a hand-shaped bronze ornament uncovered in 2021 that pushes the timeline for the existence of writing in Basque by hundreds of years. Other times, it's just a thing for kids to play with, or maybe adults, or definitely adults[NSFW], but sometimes play carries meaning. [more inside]
📢📢📢 Week 3 Update – With your help, we’re charting a way forward.
The Week 3 Fundraising Update is live on MetaTalk. We’ve blown past our Survive target thanks to you, and are well on our way to being able to 🌱Revive🌱 Metafilter! [more inside]
The Street Finds Its Own Uses
This assumption is the core of post-cyberpunk’s body politic. We are subtly conditioned to believe that the optimal way to fix the world is to fix the system — luring us into a state of realism where we must work with those who rule over us, as opposed to implementing the radical solutions that have in the past led to the kind of change the world is in desperate need of right now. from The Rise and Fall of Cyberpunk
Roy Wood Jr. -- Father Figure
From 2017, The Daily Show's Roy Wood Jr brings us an hour of comedy: Father Figure [1h]. Pointed observations about race that I appreciated while I laughed out loud in a room by myself. [more inside]
you terrorized an entire generation from 1970 to 1992.
Julia Zarankin, author of the 2020 memoir Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder (book excerpt) wrote a heartfelt "Good riddance, Canada Fitness Test." Relatedly, the memoir includes a chapter on how the desire to carry a spotting scope and accoutrements motivated a weight-lifting regimen, belatedly, after years of marriage to an amateur powerlifter. Interview with Zarankin. Recorded book talk. Life aspiration? "To sport the hairdo of a cedar waxwing, acquire the wardrobe of a northern flicker and develop the confidence of a Ross's goose." [more inside]
Zoomer Ixnayed Dumpster Guac
A Tombstone Head and a Graveyard Mind
What is it like to be 41 and meet the thing that will likely kill you sometime before you turn 45? A reflection on saying goodbye to it all. [more inside]
To put the landlord in prison borders on the unconscionable- Stadtmuelle
Nearly a decade later a deadly house fire near Milwaukee gets a feature article with the depth and history of something you would see in The New Yorker on oranges. Why?
Because with this renter and landlord the outcomes of this deadly house fire demonstrate the two justice systems in the US. The landlord is Todd Brunner, a slum lord with a lengthy history of code violations and fires at his property. It's is not shocking that the the deadly fire at the property that a bank had recently foreclosed on results in no fines, nothing. It is still astonishing that the renter, a mum who loses 3 of her children in the fire, ends up serving back to back child neglect sentences. [more inside]
Because with this renter and landlord the outcomes of this deadly house fire demonstrate the two justice systems in the US. The landlord is Todd Brunner, a slum lord with a lengthy history of code violations and fires at his property. It's is not shocking that the the deadly fire at the property that a bank had recently foreclosed on results in no fines, nothing. It is still astonishing that the renter, a mum who loses 3 of her children in the fire, ends up serving back to back child neglect sentences. [more inside]
You've been eating trash
The Official Apple Rankings with accompanying scores and reviews. 100% accurate. Sample: "The Cameo Apple tastes like a juicy dog fart wrapped in used Whole Foods napkins." How apples are ranked. [more inside]
November 15
Is tonight the night that NASA launches its SLA rocket?
"It sounds like a bunch of degenerates in there..."
[NSFW] "...[L]ife to me was very dangerous and people were not to be trusted; truth to power is very important. My films are still playing to people, because people haven't changed – as a matter of fact, they've gotten worse." BBC Culture looks back with Ralph Bakshi and others at "Fritz the Cat at 50: The X-rated cartoon that shocked the US". Here's the full movie on the Internet Archive. | Wikipedia — Fritz the Cat & Ralph Bakshi |
HEP2go, a physical therapy exercise reference
HEP2go is a site that helps physical therapists and other rehabilitation professionals create home exercise programs for patients and clients, and helps patients by providing clear instructions and examples for each exercise. The inventory of exercises is divided up by anatomical category and exercises are annotated with text descriptions, photo illustrations, and -- in many cases -- short demonstration videos. (Click the "play" icon in the lower left corner of the photo to get a Vimeo inset to pop up and play.)
Next Into the AI Woodchipper: Science
Meta has released Galactica, a large language model trained on scientific literature.
Some early results:
Zero point energy and the theoretical design of an ion cannon: early results; Multiphasic Deflector Shields vs. Proton Torpedoes: A Comparison.
And it has side hobbies! Like taking hallucinogens and writing WWII naval yarns.
The Three-Continent Joyride Known as “Team America”
“You can’t win an unwinnable war. DEA knows this and the agents know this,” Irizarry said. “There’s so much dope leaving Colombia. And there’s so much money. We know we’re not making a difference.” from DEA’s most corrupt agent: Parties, sex amid ‘unwinnable war’ [AP]
A Theme Park Crisis Is Wrecking South Korea’s Bond Market
Imagine the turmoil if a newly elected president of the United States announced that the U.S. government would no longer honor any outstanding Treasury bills because most of them were issued under his profligate predecessor. That’s essentially what Kim Jin-tae, the governor of South Korea’s Gangwon province, did. In doing so, Kim sparked a nationwide credit crisis that is spreading internationally, in the most farcical and unnecessary economic self-destruction this side of Liz Truss. Enhancing the absurdity is the origin of the crisis: Legoland Korea, a theme park based on the familiar brick toys. (archive.today link)
"Fremont is as good a Center of the Universe as any..."
Many places claim to be the Center of the Universe, places like Tulsa, Seattle and Wallace, Idaho. [more inside]
“Now you're playing with power!”
Someone Named Gumball Uploaded All 285 Issues Of Nintendo Power To Archive.org “All 285 issues of Nintendo Power are now unofficially available in .cbr format. At just over 40 gigabytes for the whole shebang, the vast majority of the collection comes courtesy of Retromags, a community-run project dedicated to archiving classic video game magazines. A couple of remaining issues were sourced via Reddit by Gumball. Scanned in full color, the collection is a wonderful way to browse through gaming and media history.” [via: Kotaku]
We knew this was coming 😭
From the creator of Best of Nextdoor comes Best of Dying Twitter, a chronicle of the bird site's current Elon Era.
While Best of Dying Twitter retweets some informative threads (Threadreader links here and here), most of the account is devoted to the lulz. [more inside]
November 14
Police Decertification Reform in Commonwealth of Virginia
Statewide police conduct standards will soon be enforceable almost two years after law passed “ From 1999 to Feb. 2021, just 81 law enforcement officers lost their ability to work in Virginia because of unacceptable conduct on the job.
Since then, numbers have surged. Between March 2021 and Aug. 5 of this year, 103 Virginia police officers have been decertified” .
the first time a police chief has ever been decertified in Virginia
increased potential crimes involving computer trespass, to include making an unauthorized copy of data.
[more inside]
…a half-dozen glittering new towers stab through the San Jose gloom
Migratory Patterns of The Modern American Skyscraper, a short story by Derrick Boden in Clarkesworld.
[more inside]
Americans Who Tell the Truth: A Portrait Series
An excerpt from Robert Shetterly's Portraits of Earth Justice Robert Shetterly began painting the Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits over twenty years ago as an act of defiance and love; defiance against the culture of lies promoting the war against Iraq, and love for the people who throughout our history have had the courage to tell truth to unjust power while demanding that our ideals be mirrored in our actions. [more inside]
Day of 8 Billion
On 15 November 2022, the world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people, a milestone in human development.
Goldfish learned how to drive during about a dozen 30-minute lessons.
In a new experiment, six goldfish learned to drive a tank of water on wheels around a room. This feat of steering suggests that fishes’ navigational abilities hold up even on land. Illustrated by cartoonist JoAnna Wendel as part of the Wild Things series for Science News Explores.
The Bee-Bee-See at 100
Obviously a Chance of Typos
FTX's Unbalanced Balance Sheet. FTX is the latest crypto-star to disappear into a black hole. Matt Levine dissects the startling balance sheet of the company. It's a tragedy to the people who got burned, but to bystanders it is comedy gold. To wit:....(archive version) [more inside]
Who said it?
Ways to stay connected to your chronically ill friends @ Thanksgiving
10 Ways To Stay Connected to Your Disabled / Chronically Ill Friends This Thanksgiving [text based article at autostraddle]
"I’ll such lays here begin shall end above."
Postpartum confinement is the general term for remaining in bed or in seclusion for a period of time after childbirth. Many cultures have some form of this practice including China where it's called "Sitting the Month" and Latin American cultures of spending the first 40 days after childbirth in "quarantine" or la cuarentena. However, the practice of prepartum confinement, often simply called bed rest, is still used for certain pregnancy complications but used to be a more normalized part of European pregnancies for certain classes. [more inside]
Why Birds Are Anti-Aging Superstars
Yes. No? Maybe.
Is Link wearing pajamas in A Link to the Past? An investigation [Polygon]
“Link’s green tunic is an iconic game costume that stands the test of time. But when I first booted up The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on Game Boy Advance at a young age, I was fully convinced that Link spent the entirety of the game running around in his pajamas. In the game’s still-incredible opening segment, Link wakes up after receiving a telepathic plea for help from Princess Zelda. Soon after, Link ignores his uncle’s instructions to go back to sleep, doesn’t bother to change, and — once he sees that his uncle has been killed — barrels into a dungeon crawl through Hyrule Castle to save Princess Zelda. Does Link really save both the Light and Dark worlds in little more than a Hylian nightie? Is he an elite-trained child warrior wearing combat fatigues to bed? And did his uncle manage to pass on his mustache-growing skills before he died?”
it's been a sweet love, yeah
Well, excellent friends, it's Monday, again, and this thread must be traveling on, now, 'cause there's too many places it's got to see... [more inside]
Parks replace downtown freeways
The U.S. city of the future - "What does the city of the future look like in the USA? Let's take a trip to Any City, USA of the mid 21st century. With a look at the existing situation, current trends, and recent government policy, let's take a look at where we'll work, how we'll get around, and where and who we'll live with in the coming decades." [more inside]
November 13
Kherson liberated (Ukraine war month nine)
Kherson celebrates liberation after 8 months of Russian occupation (Kyiv Independent photos). Buildings mostly stand, but infrastructure is largely severed. Zelenskyy says Russia has committed war crimes there, as in other occupied regions. 179 settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River have been liberated. Russians continue defensive operations on the east bank. [more inside]
Making A Life Out In The Wasteland
It's a hostile world, but you're determined not just to survive, but thrive. Come meet The Weird and Wonderful Fans STILL Playing Fallout 76 [43m], an MMO game panned on its release but years later is home to Elizabethan actors, any number of outlaws, and even a cannibal cult (in a world where death is irrelevant). Even in the irradiated wastes, community will be found.
beef beef beef
"one time in college a professor spent 90 minutes talking about an example scenario that involved beef and i thought nothing of it until several weeks later when i found out that my classmate had made a minute long compilation of all 125 times he said "beef" in one lecture"
Horror In The Basement. Also Comedy.
During quarantine, many of us watched a lot of movies, and perhaps yearned for a time when one could browse the shelves of the local video store looking for inspiration. For Jeff Kuykendall, writer and cult / horror movie aficionado, the solution was simple: build a video store in his basement. Midnight Video: the Private Video Store I Built in Quarantined Cabin Fever. [more inside]
MEFI FUNDRAISER AUCTION ENDING SHORTLY
How (not) to reject or waste energy
The bulk of rejected energy is an unavoidable byproduct of combustion and heat engines. We can, however, avoid wasting energy when heating/cooling houses and apartments. Learn about thermal bypass, thermal bridges, wind washing, heat pumps vs furnaces, air leakage, the stack effect and building envelopes. Weatherproofing? Deal with air leakage, make sure that insulation is installed properly and seal your attic. *(Data on energy flows from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, including one for 2021). [more inside]
Guaranteed to infuriate and/or delight
All 240 Artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ranked From Best to Worst by Bill Wyman (the journalist, not the bassist in the Rolling Stones) in Vulture, takes a long, hard look at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and ranks them. Originally written in 2018, it's been updated to include this year's RRHoF class. [more inside]
timeline cleanser
it endures every modern indignity
"When @paulpowlesland told me in 2017 that he was going to up-anchor, squat a fucked post-industrial river in East London & try to precipitate its ecological recovery, I thought he was as crackers as his psychedelic cat leggings." — Jon Moses
on Twitter. Full article: London's forgotten river and the barrister who saved it. via @ambrosen
“It’s peaceful up here, I mean, why wouldn’t you want to be up here?”
The Mountain Dogs follows two beloved golden retrievers, Sampson and Baylor, as they climb to the summit of the Pinnacle Trail in Stowe, Vermont each day without their owners.
November 12
Keith Levene, founding member of the Clash and PiL, dead at 65
Keith Levene has died of liver cancer at the age of 65 His stint with The Clash was brief. He had a much larger impact on punk and post-punk as one of the original members of Public Image Ltd. His bright, echoing, shimmering guitar, at times lush, at times harsh, influenced generations of bands to come.
Ellen Needs Insurance
'Ellen Needs Insurance' is the real story of an actor in her quest to get coverage Ellen is a Screen Actors Guild member who's $800 or so short in acting earnings this year to get insurance. When she can't get enough gigs, well....create your own! Which is to say, make a film about trying to get insurance and hire others in the same situation. Fundraising efforts can be found here.
Still Life
Almost 50 years ago Dallas—and the country—was gripped by the tragic story of John McClamrock, a high school football player paralyzed during a violent tackle. But after the newspapers moved on, another story was quietly unfolding, one of courage, perseverance, and a mother’s fierce love. [more inside]
Twitter Poisoned
What do I think are the symptoms of Twitter poisoning? There is a childish insecurity, where before there was pride. Instead of being above it all, like traditional strongmen throughout history, the modern social media-poisoned alpha male whines and frets. This works because his followers are similarly poisoned and can relate so well. Cached version
Joni & Elton
In a very rare interview, Elton John spends 25 minutes talking to Joni Mitchell about how she is today, her Newport Folk Festival performance, and many songs and what they bring to mind for her. It's a lovely interview, and Joni seems to be doing really great!
There's nothing better than doing a show & seeing 10 guys dressed as you
Judy Tenuta was the first comic to win "Best Female Comedian" at the American Comedy Awards. Her albums Attention Butt-Pirates and Lesbetarians! and In Goddess We Trust received Grammy nominations. [more inside]
Man repatriates 19 antiquities after reading Guardian article
John Gomperts returned ancient objects worth up to £80,000 he had inherited from his grandmother, including artifacts from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Pakistan.
The (Culinary) Past Was A Mistake
B. Dylan Hollis is a content producer who makes recipes from vintage cookbooks with a comedic flair. Some recipes go well. Others...don't. [more inside]
"I have been wanting to make this video for 4 years."
F.D Signifier [previously 1, 2] is back with another Black Media Breakdown video essay: You're Wrong About Black Panther (2018) [1:20:57 YouTube video, auto-transcript only] [more inside]
"the entry level hug"
"These are the hugs I miss" by Linda McIver: "One person can give many different hugs, but hugs between the same two people tend to develop a distinctive character over time."
Climate change risk calculation comes home
Risk Calculators Launched to Help Americans Plan for Climate Change. (Bloomberg) "American communities facing a warmer future, with more intense floods, storms and wildfires, on Monday got two new digital tools that will aid officials in calibrating infrastructure and strategies to adapt." [more inside]
November 11
Origins and Originations
The Long and Winding Road to Eukaryotic Cells - "Despite recent advances in the study of eukaryogenesis, much remains unresolved about the origin and evolution of the most complex domain of life." (via) [more inside]
Every Math Problem We Can Solve is a Miracle
Bubbles
If you like waving bubble wands and/or putting bubble wands in front of a fan or even popping bubbles then this bubble simulator may please you.
Visualization visualization
"Nowhere else is the lifegiving power of water so clearly demonstrated"
In winter, the Kalahari Basin in northern Botswana is a dusty, windswept wasteland of scrubby flora, with precious little rain. But not for long. As captured by a somber and wondrous segment from the original BBC Planet Earth, summer showers from the Angolan highlands soon feed a meandering river that splays out across the wilderness, flooding a vast inland delta that transforms hundreds of miles of arid desert into a verdant everglade teeming with life: the Okavango. This seasonal miracle, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders, attracts all manner of megafauna that have adapted to its myriad creeks and lagoons, from migratory birds and amphibians to all five Big Game species (making it a boon for ecosafaris). And though it is (like most things) under threat from exploitation and climate change, conservationists worldwide are working tirelessly to defend it. [more inside]
Toledo wipes out medical debt for 41,000 citizens
After months of discussions and public meetings, Toledo City Council passed a medical relief debt proposal by a vote of 7-5, approving $800,000 to purchase the medical debt of an estimated 41,000 Toledoans. As part of a collboration with the non-profit RIP Medical Debt, the city's plan will create up to $240 million in debt relief for its citizens. Toledo is the first city to approve a community-scale medical debt relief. [more inside]
Liking the last few days of BTC price action? You'll love this.
I guess the government found a utility for blockchains: Investigating fraud via blockchain. The DOJ and IRS have announced the seizure of 51,351 BTC stolen from the original Silk Road. In 2012 James Zhong devised a scheme to steal BTC from the Silk Road (previously: 1, 2, 3, 4). He was successful... [more inside]
No more Sledge-O-Matic
Gallagher has passed. Comedian Gallagher, who tormented audiences with smashed fruit through many years, has passed. After making a solid career working his same act over and over again, then becoming a mean, right wing crank, he has died. "And there was much rejoicing".
Largest higher education strike in the United States to begin Monday
This monday a multi-unit strike comprised of 48,000 student employees (TA's, student researchers, and post-docs) will be held across all UC campuses. The average TA salary in the UC system is $24,000. The students are bargaining for Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), the ability to add dependents to their university healthcare, job stability, and parity for international students, among other demands. University administration referred to these demands in a letter to their staff as part of the unions "social justice agenda". [more inside]
Rest in Peace Kevin O'Neill
Comic book illustrator Kevin O'Neill, best known for his work on Marshal Law, 2000 AD, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, has passed away of cancer at 69. [more inside]
Local ride-hailing startups thrive in the towns that Uber forgot
I Am Vengeance, I Am The Night
Kevin Conroy, known for his iconic performance as the Caped Crusader over a range of media starting with Batman: The Animated Series, has passed away at the age of 66.
Inside a Legendary Designer's Recipe Sketchbook
Cipe Pineles changed magazines forever. Her illustrated recipes tell a personal tale. A pioneering magazine art director illustrated recipes that became a book after her death, in part through the work of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat illustrator Wendy MacNaughton. MacNaughton had never heard of Pineles when she came across her forgotten sketchbook [more inside]
TrustCor Systems: Do they still run man-in-the-middle attacks?
TrustCor Systems is a root certificate authority trusted by all major browsers, app stores, and email clients, but Prof Joel Reardon of AppCensus discovered irregularities with TrustCor and found that TrustCor has "identical slate of officers, agents and partners as a spyware maker" subsidiary of the surveillance company Packet Forensics, including Raymond Saulino. As late as 2010, Raymond Saulino and Packet Forensics sold tools that carry out man-in-the-middle attacks using forged certificates. Ryan Dickson of Google's Root Program identified additional irregularities [more inside]
Samuel L. Katz, a Developer of the Measles Vaccine, Dies at 95
Samuel Katz, 1927-2022, was the US virologist who was part of the research team that created the measles vaccine. Before its invention, measles killed 2.6 million people a year - by 2020, that number was just over 60,000. Coverage of the vaccine fell by 4% during the pandemic, but a new initiative from the Global Vaccines Alliance is now underway to reach 85 million children before the end of next year. [NYT / Archive/ via]
November 10
CSS Friday Fun
the grim reapers of their own obsession
But buyers beware: Nepenthes [carnivorous plant] collecting—as I eventually learned almost too well—is next-level stuff. There’s a lot more to these plants than fertilizer and YouTube how-tos. They’re botanical prima donnas, liable to walk out on life without notice if their specific needs aren’t met. And your new hobby will shove you into a strange world. There’s something dark in the pits of those pitchers, and it’s not the rotting bugs. If you fall in, you may land in an acidic soup of crime, addiction, and existential angst. Mat Orchard thought he could handle Nepenthes. They nearly ate him alive.
The archaeology of shipwrecked Lego
This is the story of what happened when a container full of precisely 4,756,940 pieces of Lego washed off the cargo ship Tokio Express during a storm off Land’s End in February 1997. "Even harder to find are examples of the 4,200 black Lego octopuses that had also been on board – they are almost impossible to spot when caught up in seaweed. As Tracey reminisces in the book, she found her first octopus back in 1997, not long after the cargo first went missing, but did not discover another one for a further 18 years." [more inside]
Type Cast
You could win a bar bet with this one: Friz Quadrata has appeared in more episodes of Law and Order than any actor...because Friz Quadrata is the show's title font across all its incarnations. On the big screen, some directors use the same typeface for titles across multiple films: John Carpenter and Albertus, Ingmar Berman and Florida (free knockoff here!), Stanley Kubrick and Futura, and (sorry) Woody Allen and Windsor. [more inside]
That Cave Still Has Power Over Her
Nothing frustrates Roberta quite so much as being told she can’t do something, and nobody draws her ire quite like programmers, who she says would often go over her head to complain to her husband. In 1997, she told the Philadelphia Inquirer she found “a lot of arrogance” among the young, male programmers at her company. (This also describes the person she married.) “They like to think, ‘We know something you don’t.’ I remind them that I'm the designer. I know what I'm doing,” she said. from Why Roberta Williams Came Out of Retirement to Remake a Beloved Text Adventure [Vice]
The highest degree of reprehensibility
Alex Jones ordered to pay nearly half a billion dollars to Sandy Hook families in additional damages (CNN). "This depravity, and cruel, persistent course of conduct by the defendants establishes the highest degree of reprehensibility and blameworthiness," said Judge Barbara Bellis in her decision. [more inside]
The English Civil War in the style of Westside Story
The English Civil War in the style of Westside Story [Youtube, Horrible Histories]. And the post-Civil-War restoration of Charles II as a rap song. [Youtube, Horrible Histories]
Chimpanzees strength: long over-estimated?
In 1923 a primatologist named John Bauman conducted the first quantitative test comparing human and chimpanzee strength. His conclusion, that pound-for-pound chimpanzees were "more than three" times stronger than humans, gave rise to almost 100 years of conventional wisdom about chimpanzees' near mythical strength. This wisdom prevailed until 2017, when a team of scientists conducted the most rigorous study to date of chimpanzee strength, and concluded they averaged only 1.5x stronger than humans. That said, if the muscles on this hairless alpha male are anything to go by, some individual chimps are probably far stronger
How We Stopped And Listened To The Birds
Drawing the Times is a platform for graphic journalists and cartoonists, publishing special issues on climate change, "meat-free cities" and refugees. Tânia Alexandra Cardoso's ongoing series on Amsterdam (Chapter 1, Chapter 2)
during the pandemic explores how an "emptied" city is full of decades of decisions on urban redevelopment.
The Death of the Key Change
Gloomy Octopus Tantrums
These octopuses need their space! Gloomy octopuses are one of the few animals that throw projectiles at each other. They like to lead solitary lives but because ideal den grounds may be few and far between, sometimes they are forced to live near each other. Irritable gloomy octopuses throw things at each other when annoyed. Who doesn't want space sometimes?
The NYTimes article is under paywall. If you are over the free article limit, please go to the PLOS abstract here.
"A sum of spaces and colors, forms and odors"
Early botanical gardens were often created for the purpose of growing plants for medicine with the oldest one dating back to the 1500s in Padua Italy. Ethnobotany continues to be a rich field for study with many medical and pharmacy schools also maintaining their own "drug gardens." [more inside]
This has to be the coolest guitar ever
During a concert at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ in September 2022, the guitarist Julian Lage got to play a short improvisation and Charlie Christian's Seven Come Eleven on Christian's own 1940 Gibson ES-250, showing Lage's typical joy at playing, seeing what sounds he can coax out of this legendary instrument. [more inside]
"Heartbreak In the Key of Roger Miller" - Joe Purdy & Friends
A friend sent me link to this vid and I just keep going back to it. My hope is that it'll catch you, too. This young man (more and more men are young to me as the years stack, I'm guessing Jon to be in his early 40s) this young man often sends me good links. He's from West Virginia, I've told him for years that he's got dirt on him, in a good way, maybe it's more that the dirt is in him; West Virginia seems to get inside the people, I think mostly in a good way. [more inside]
The People You're Paying To Be In Shorts
A legend in the sport of basketball, Michael Jordan found himself in a much different position as the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2011 - but as the Secret Base team recounts in their latest Jon Bois documentary, even while hating losing, he found enjoyment in the struggle.
November 9
Guess the Christmas song with a new Heardle spin
One of the guess-that-song daily web games, Heardle Decades, has added Christmas Heardle -- listen to a few seconds at a time, type the name of the song or artist to search among dozens of Christmas songs, and try to guess the song within the first 12 seconds of the tune.
oh no
Help Alex Norris, creator of webcomic.name, pay their legal expenses. More information on the lawsuit can be found at this post on /r/comics.
LEG
The morning Super Deluxe shut down, filmmaker Allen Cordell finished his next video for them, a sequel to the previous one he'd made for them. Recently, I'm guessing an obstructive Turner Broadcasting higher-up recently experienced Occurences or something, because the video has finally been uploaded to Allen's Vimeo channel. No description can prepare you for a little gameshow called... WHOSE LEG IS THIS.
Occasionally the rich get poorer
Tom Brady lost big on FTX. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan lost big on FTX. Everybody who owns cryptocurrency lost big on FTX. FTX is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, and it may be insolvent. The founder of FTX lost big on FTX, losing an estimate 94% of his wealth in a single day.
I couldn't see all the cards in my hand
When You Just Ain’t Got it All Together Dewayne Noel from Dry Creek Wrangler School shares some wisdom for the young folks (and not so young folks) who watch his channel. (SLYT, 16 minutes)
Embracing community at a drag bingo show in rural Wales
That night, I felt community so strongly , from the folks who came to the venue hours earlier to help move tables and hang fairy lights, to the people who’d travelled from neighbouring towns to be there, to the pal who made sure there were virgin mojitos on offer after I’d spoken to her weeks before about how I’ve been struggling with alcohol again. I felt part of something bigger which made me reflect on what that actually means. People often talk about rest and joy being found in ‘community’, but what is it and how do we find it as adults? [more inside]
📢📢📢 Week 2 Fundraiser Update – With your help the site will SURVIVE.
📢📢📢Now, we ask you to help REVIVE Metafilter 📢📢📢 As of today’s fundraising update, we’re only $500 a month away from our Survive target!* The community is coming together to keep the lights on at our shared online home. But we need to go further to safeguard Metafilter’s future. It’s time to 🌱Revive Metafilter.🌱 [more inside]
Planet: Critical
Planet: Critical by Rachel Donald interviews diverse exports on topics related to climate change, the environment, human society, and economics (see her archives tab). [more inside]
November 8
Be a Pepper!
United States 2022 Mid-Term Elections Come to a Head
Commencing with an unusual total lunar eclipse, Election Day 2022 is upon us at last. Pundits and prognosticators predict that the Republicans will reclaim at least one house of US's bicameral federal legislature and at the state level many legislatures and governorships are up for grabs as well. Less scrutinized, but perhaps every bit as important, many states will elect officials who will be responsible for the security and integrity of elections going into the 2024 presidential election cycle. There's a lot at stake. [more inside]
Need a Peptoc? Encouragement from kindergarteners
Peptoc Hotline features pre-recorded life advice and encouraging messages from the students at West Side Elementary, a K-6th public school in rural Healdsburg, California. Call 707-873-7862
(707-8PEPTOC). [more inside]
Mastodon is having its moment in the sun
Mastodon's popularity is soaring, and it's all due to the chaotic actions of one man. As people explore what else is on offer for social media, Mastodon has emerged as a viable open-source alternative, with no ads. Reuters has an explainer, as does CNN, New York Times, and the Guardian. [more inside]
Was stitched up by a postie, that's not glamorous
November 7
The Present Crisis: The Naked Truth, or, The Situation Reviewed!
150 years ago, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for president - "Letter to the New York Herald, April 2, 1871 - I claim the right to speak for the unenfranchised woman of the country and announce myself as a candidate for the presidency."[1,2,3] (previously) [more inside]
Where interoperability can kill
Examples of Medical Device Misconnections (FDA) Patients may require dozens of different devices at once. [...] Because these connectors are easy to use and may be compatible with different medical devices, users can mistakenly connect unrelated systems to one another.
Mefi auction opens
As part of Metafilter fundraising, our auction opened last night. See Metatalk to learn more or discuss.
Step Right Up, Step Right Up
Folks, US "democracy" has become such a clown show that English and Australian tourists are booking specialized election experience tours & disrupting canvasses.
“Honda Honda Honda Honda”
Japan: the early 1980s. You have a small, urban, low fuel car containing a foldable motocycle which you are trying to market to younger demographics. Who do you hire to promote the car but ... a ska band from England called Madness, famous for their 'nutty train'. And thus a series of adverts for the Honda City came to be, and the tune became the song “In The City”. Though never released as a UK single, the track became the b-side to Cardiac Arrest and has since been performed live; the song Driving In My Car also appeared in the ads. The fuller and stranger story of the Honda City car from Honda's own website, Marco On The Bass and Autoweek. Bonus: Madness allegedly derived their 'nutty train' from this Dave Allen sketch.
Virgin Atlantic job applications double after end to gendered uniforms
"Even the Politburo doesn’t have this choice..."
You learn a lot by watching world leaders at the supermarket. Boris Yeltsin's visit to a Texas supermarket in 1989, seeing the plentiful food and the plethora of snacks, was claimed to have shattered his vision of Communism. George Bush was supposedly amazed at seeing a supermarket scanner at a grocer's convention in Orlando but this reaction was found to have been wildly overstated. [more inside]
When your Pokemon Crystal deserves the best.
Poet, programmer and professor Allison Parrish writes: "Over the summer I dug in deep with Game Boy modding and made this: the Game Boy Pocket SP. [...] In this post, I’m going to talk about why and how I made the Pocket SP, and how you can make your own."
Independent India's First Voter Dies at 105
Meet the Modlins
Here’s one way to start this story: Who is the uncredited man at the end of Rosemary’s baby?
Here’s another way:
On a spring night in Madrid in 2003, the Spanish photographer Paco Gómez got a call from his brother-in-law. He had seen a messy pile of discarded photos on Calle Pez, a street in the gentrifying neighborhood of Malasaña, close to where Gómez lived. His brother-in-law thought it was the kind of thing that would interest him. He was right: Gómez put on his shoes and hustled out the door of his apartment. … The photos contained something much stranger than mere unknown lives for Gómez to imagine his way into. In one, a man in ratty underwear stood in a bare room in a posture of crucifixion. In another, a statuesque teenage boy posed like a magazine heartthrob. In still another a woman with a lustrous ponytail stood before a Dalí-esque canvas of angels and demons. … Though he didn’t yet know it, Paco Goméz had just met the Modlins.
Here’s another way:
On a spring night in Madrid in 2003, the Spanish photographer Paco Gómez got a call from his brother-in-law. He had seen a messy pile of discarded photos on Calle Pez, a street in the gentrifying neighborhood of Malasaña, close to where Gómez lived. His brother-in-law thought it was the kind of thing that would interest him. He was right: Gómez put on his shoes and hustled out the door of his apartment. … The photos contained something much stranger than mere unknown lives for Gómez to imagine his way into. In one, a man in ratty underwear stood in a bare room in a posture of crucifixion. In another, a statuesque teenage boy posed like a magazine heartthrob. In still another a woman with a lustrous ponytail stood before a Dalí-esque canvas of angels and demons. … Though he didn’t yet know it, Paco Goméz had just met the Modlins.
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
What will never let you down or desert you? a) This car, b) This album, c) This thread, d) This Mason, e) This Mason [more inside]
November 6
I Knew You Were Muggle
"The first film in the world to be fully created with 3D pen."
Honest Government Ad: Visit Western Australia
In the ongoing tradition of satirical Honest Government Ads by The Juice Media, this one about a new gas project that, if approved, would be be very bad for climate change. Honest Government Ad: Visit Western Australia.
if Tetris were Thanksgiving dinner with your shittiest uncle
Want to hate Tetris, or for Tetris to hate you? The answer may be Hatetris (which you can play here), an adversarial Tetris game (by MeFi's Own qntm) that tries to serve you the worst possible pieces you could ever not hope for. Here's a detailed writeup of understanding and breaking the high score record by David & Filipe, who just shattered their previous record with 148 whole points.
"[T]he cruel jokes don’t ruin his day anymore"
Limb lengthening used to be surgery primarily performed on little people (great first-person account here, shorter news article) or people with limb length discrepancies (YT channel, podcast). However in the last 15 years, more of the people who are getting the procedure done are getting it for cosmetic reasons, often "men with confidence issues." Surgery (and aftercare) is painful, time-consuming, and expensive yet it became much more popular during the early pandemic when lengthy recovery time would be less apparent. [previously. CW most of these links involve surgery talk and/or photographs]
Announcing #MeFiGiftGuide2022, a soft fundraiser for Metafilter.
These next two weeks, we are collecting questions on ask.metafilter.com to help find fantastic holiday gifts that show love for friend, family, nature, and our global community. These questions, tagged with #MeFiGiftGuide2022, will be collected into an FPP on Nov 24, the night before Black Friday, to spread our community’s love and wisdom across the universe (or at least to the hearts of our future MeFi members). [more inside]
"Time has arrived to go over the top" & other vintage headlines
Craig Conley of oneletterwords.com (previously) has over 4,000 vintage headlines for you to peruse, including: [more inside]
Solar co-ops, microgrids, and coal country climate action
City Climate Corner podcast (with transcripts!) explores how small and mid-sized cities/jurisdictions are tackling climate change and its impacts, such as extreme heat. Episodes (mapped geographically) include Contra Costa, Rotterdam, Flagstaff, Laramie, Fort Collins, Quinault Nation, Columbia (MO), Anchorage (and a special episode on Alaskan youth) and more.
Remembering Mimi Parker of Low
Mimi Parker of Low has died. The vocalist and drummer died from ovarian cancer last night; her husband and bandmate Alan Sparhawk released a statement today: "Friends, it’s hard to put the universe into language and into a short message, but{...}
She passed away last night, surrounded by family and love, including yours. Keep her name close and sacred. Share this moment with someone who needs you. Love is indeed the most important thing." [more inside]
Up n under, up n away.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup is currently underway in England, for the first time it's not just one competition but four: Men's, Physical Disability, Wheelchair and Women's competitions. The basics of Rugby League are that the attacking team has six tackles to take forward the ball and score a try (4pts) by touching down the ball across the opposition line. A try further entitles a kick at goal, with success rewarded with 2 more points. More rules here. [more inside]
November 5
Mother of otherness, eat me.
Keen for some inspiration for next year's Halloween costume? Consider Red, a 2017 short film by artist Del Kathryn Barton with Cate Blanchett as a redback spider who orgasms then eats her mate. Of the aggressive score by Tom Schutzinger, Barton says, "it really comes at you and slaps you around, and the film really needs that.” Yes, yes it does. [more inside]
save mefi btw @ start of the fundraiser it was like a matter of weeks
"I already had a recurring payment to metafilter, so when I saw the casual banner note about fundraising, I initially ignored it. As others have suggested, making the situation more obvious/dire might attract more attention. I've since sent a one-time payment and upped my monthly payment. I'm not saying this to brag, but to stress that it nearly didn't happen due to me initially not realizing the severity of the problem." Anyway I figured that's fixable, so now you know! [more inside]
"You all come out, come out, my dears, to Lavender Country"
Patrick Haggerty, trailblazing gay country singer, 1944-2022.
If you're a longtime MeFite or a longtime public radio listener, you might know Patrick Haggerty from his StoryCorps story about a conversation he had with his dad as a teenager in the 1950s, where his father told him, "don't sneak." [previously, and previouslier.] But Haggerty - in addition to being an organizer, an activist, and a Marxist, who was kicked out of the Peace Corps for being gay - was also widely acclaimed as the first out gay country star as the leader of the band Lavender Country, who as early as 1973 were releasing songs like "Come Out Singing" and "Back in the Closet Again." [more inside]
Hearthstone Closing Down for Some
The Hearthstone Access Project, posted previously, is winding down after a little over a year. [more inside]
Look up McGruff crime tips 39 and 888853 on dril's Twitter
In 2011, Joe Staton and Mike Curtis breathed new life into Dick Tracy. In 2008, dril tweeted the word 'no'. In 2009, he helped breathe life into Weird Twitter. And now, the creator of Daily/Hourly Pornhubbed Heathcliff (content warning: random Pornhub comments) has created Dril Tracy, the Twitter bot that replaces sufficiently long text in Staton/Curtis-era-and-onward Dick Tracy comics with random dril tweets. [more inside]
[it looks better] in the dark, which is a compliment I receive a lot too
"When I started this, I thought this video was going to be like a chill travelog, that was like 30 minutes long, and, uh, it didn't turn out to be that." Jenny Nicholson does a fascinating four hours (almost) on the history and status (as of 2021) of Evermore, a Theme Park/Live Action Role Play experience. [more inside]
The face of the sun, a dying robot, meteor strikes, lovely moons
October 2022 in humanity's exploration of space. Let's start from the sun. The European Space Agency (ESA) Solar Orbiter zoomed very close to our star and captured great images of its corona. [more inside]
Airport Books and the Bad Ideas They Create and Spread
If Books Could Kill is a podcast where Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri discuss and critique books that capture the public imagination. The first episode is about the infamous shitshow Freakonomics, and other staples of airport bookstores will follow in subsequent weeks. It is currently only on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but the plan is that it will be available everywhere.
the move to onshoring is hypocritical
From the edited discussion (video) on The Geopolitics of Stuff in the inaugural issue of The Polycrisis: The last two years has demonstrated the power of feedback effects—how crises and policy responses magnify each other. Uneven international access to finance for energy worsens climate vulnerability, causing countries to then pay a higher price for debt.
November 4
Akemi Ishii – Lambada (ランバダ)
[Quick link to the music video] Years before the Macarena enraptured the planet for a short while, we witnessed another dance phenomenon that had swept Earth (including Japan) – Lambada. There was no way to escape it from 1989 to 1990. [more inside]
"Our radical ideas are now the conventional wisdom"
USENIX is ending the Large Installation System Administration Conference after 35 years. "LISA made LISA obsolete (That's a compliment!)" by Thomas A. Limoncelli takes us back to 1987, when "System administration is important" and "Open systems like TCP/IP and POSIX (Unix) are the future" were radical ideas, and shares LISA history (including: "LISA was LGBT-friendly when other conferences most certainly were not."). [more inside]
Lock Up Your Daughters ... Darcy's in Town!
From '50s pulp fiction P&P to bodice-ripper Northanger Abbey, it's the worst Jane Austen covers ever. (SL Twitter thread, with some additional egregious examples in the comments.)
His Back Pages
Fractal calculations, Kanagawa vibes
Koch snowflake a little too symmetrical for you? Consider the Kochawave Curve [pdf] (arxiv.org page), a variant that leans hard to the side and has a number of interesting properties and tilings of its own.
From Salem to Stonewall
What is a Groomer? is a documentary by little hoot and Caelan Conrad on moral panics, LGBTQ+ stigma, and stochastic terrorism.
Stand on that X there
Using freehand machine embroidery, Peter Frederiksen recreates scenes - and sometimes even short animated clips - from classic cartoons, and sometimes makes more abstract sketches. His web site is a bit neglected and the freshest images are on his instagram page. [more inside]
You've Been Played
Every week brings word of another company bringing gamification to the workplace, whether it’s Amazon workers in India competing to deliver packages in order to score “runs” in a thirty-day, cricket-themed Delivery Premier League for rewards like smartphones and motorbikes, or United Airlines’ short-lived experiment to help staff “build excitement and a sense of accomplishment” by swapping their bonus with a lottery — available only for those with perfect attendance records, of course. In You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games to Control Us All, MetaFilter's own Adrian Hon examines how "points, badges, and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life as tools for profit and coercion." [more inside]
How much coverage are you worth?
To highlight the scale of the [missing white woman syndrome] problem, [Columbia Journalism Review] has developed a tool to test your own newsworthiness. By entering basic demographic data (none of which is saved by CJR) at areyoupressworthy.com, you can calculate your own worth, according to the American press.
November 3
Bringing Humans into the water cycle
Bringing Humans into the water cycle [via mefi projects, where you can learn more about the project]
Rachel Aviv at the height of her powers
artist, blogger, grandson
"I spent the last couple weeks finally tackling a project I've put off for years: finishing a stained glass menorah project my grandfather started decades ago and left incomplete when he died." -- by Metafilter's own Josh Millard. (Related Twitter thread)
[via mefi projects]
"You up for listening to a bit of music?"
Producer Rick Rubin and former Beatle Paul McCartney listen to isolated tracks for a classic recording. (SLYT)
To a Nacreon in Heaven
In Norse mythology, the earthly realm of Midgard and the divine plane of Asgard are connected by a shimmering rainbow bridge -- the magnificent Bifröst. Though scholars debate whether the legend of this lustrous path was inspired by the famed aurora borealis or the star-studded arc of the Milky Way, there is perhaps another possible candidate: nacreous clouds [timelapse]. Also known as polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), these breathtaking formations can be seen (quite rarely) in the high polar latitudes in wintertime at dusk, when a mass of super-cooled water ice forms so high up in the stratosphere that it reflects light from a sun that's well below the horizon at ground level. The result: diaphonous pearl-white sheets and iridescent streaks that light up the bleak twilight landscape with an otherworldly glow. (It's not all sunshine and stratospheric rainbows, though -- when mixed with nitric or sulfuric acid, these 10-15 mile-high clouds can contribute to ozone depletion over the polar caps [video].) Not a fan of winter weather? You may chance to see their more temperate cousin, the spectral and blue-tinged noctilucent cloud, which sometimes forms in summertime months north of 50° latitude (and north of 50 miles straight up). Or if you live near a space coast, you might see one of a menagerie of "twilight phenomenon" -- artificial light-clouds formed by multi-stage rocket plumes backlit by the sun -- including the spectacular space jellyfish. Just make sure to keep your eyes on the road... [more inside]
Bobtail squids can ooze glue from their skin.
A squid biologist takes to the streets — and Skype — to share scientific knowledge. Squid biologist Sarah Mcanulty (@sarahmackattack) runs the Squid Facts hotline and recently hosted #Squidtember (with lots of delightful illustrations by Natalie Metzger aka The Fuzzy Slug.) Want a squid fact? Text "OH YEAH!" to 1-833-SCI-TEXT
That's a Long, Long, Long Learning Curve
"something extratextual was always going to be conveyed"
Maya.land is one of those idiosyncratic personal websites with, for example, a page about heraldry and the Internet. ("Heraldry scales nicely down to avatars.") Maya most recently posted about choosing a new font. "...a lot of what we think we’re perceiving in an artwork or Thing is the part that can be flawlessly reproduced, but the way our minds grab onto it is all about its aura – the origin, the context, the situatedness that a mechanical reproduction wouldn’t duplicate."
On cutting toxic, clingy people out of your life
Describes ending contact with people who want contact, but use contact for emotional abuse. Various phases, pleading, threat, etc.-- and the infuriating third parties who insist that your should maintain contact or forgive. [more inside]
Notwithstanding your right to strike
The Ontario government is preparing to use the notwithstanding clause - "a magical section of the Canadian constitution that allows provincial governments to simply ignore... the fundamental freedoms and legal rights of Canadian citizens" - to force the lowest paid education workers who have fallen furthest behind inflation to stay on the job. The union has vowed to strike anyway, starting Friday, despite the threat of daily fines of $4,000 for each worker and $500,000 for the union. [more inside]
Rolling rolling rolling
In the early years of the 20th century, pioneering inventors began the quest to fulfill humankind's greatest transport dream: motorized roller skates. Some used a V-twin engine, 2-stroke lawnmower engine,
drills,
jetpack or segway but could the future be an electric moonwalk?
November 2
Big Microgametophytes
The 3D Pollen Project have scanned and modeled about twenty types of pollen grain for those with access to a printer. [more inside]
La Divanée
Jessica Mitrani’s stylish short tells the true story of the sedentary Catalan Countess of Guell, Palomba Matas Mujika de Pumeral y Santiago, who at the age of eighteen famously reclined on a chaise lounge refusing to ever stand again. Narrated by Rossy de Palma, the Spanish star of "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" — who is known for her own dark and unorthodox beauty — the film recounts what would happen if the countess kept to her word, and is soundtracked by a sleek cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I’ll be Your Mirror”.”
Ladies That Stayed
A photoessay by Carol Guzy. Affectionately known as babushkas, these elderly women sheltered in place through the early days of the war in Ukraine.Nadia Panasivna Yerukhymovych, 89, sings a moving folk song called Mother's Braid CW: possibly disturbing imagery; dead animal
Magic on Deck
The Sun Always Shines on EV
BBC News: “...they saw a Fiat Panda which had been converted from petrol to electricity. They imported a similar car into Norway and used the first modern-day EV on the country's roads to launch a campaign of civil disobedience, making a point about how it needed to embrace an alternative to polluting fossil fuel vehicles. They racked up fines as they drove the car through toll booths, parked illegally and refused to pay vehicle taxes, arguing that this new form of sustainable transport should be free of these levies in order to make it more attractive.” More in [Goodwood] [Which Car]
$7 Million Says I Won't Cheat Again. Spoiler alert: he cheated again
The divorce of Melania Trump's former social secretary and the heir to Bunny Mellon's fortune is a classic example of why you should follow your lawyer's advice. Thomas Lloyd and Rickie Niceta married in 2006. He cheated on her in 2014 and after they reconciled, he voluntarily and against the advice of his lawyer signed a post-nuptial agreement to get her to stay in the marriage. The cost: he would give Rickie $7 million if he cheated again. He cheated again and now a court in Maryland says he needs to cough up the money.
"[APE] makes me feel heavy. It’s a good feeling."
Physical education is a part of public education in the US. APE (Adapted PE) is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Here are some tips for being inclusive of students with autism in physical education and some more scientifically-backed suggestions (pdf). [more inside]
Help Metafilter survive! - Annual Fundraiser week 1 update
It’s Metafilter’s annual fundraiser! Contributions from the community keep the lights on, and we’ve been asking you to help fund Metafilter. Here’s an update on MeTa about our first week of fundraising. [more inside]
Comiclopedia -- Now More Than Ever
Comiclopedia, once the brainchild of the late Sir Cornelius Kousemaker, the owner of the oldest comics shop in Europe still in business. Did you know there are now 14,000 comics artists counted there by country? From Algeria to Yemen -- will wonders never cease? It's no wonder Kees Kousemaker got himself knighted. [more inside]
You own a social network. Isn’t it fun?
The Infinite Conversation
From the site: "an AI generated, never-ending discussion between Werner Herzog and Slavoj Žižek. Everything you hear is fully generated by a machine. The opinions and beliefs expressed do not represent anyone. They are the hallucinations of a slab of silicon."
Running While Black
For too long, the running community has pretended as though it were possible to keep politics out of running. As if, somehow, running is the great equalizer where people can come together and compete on an equal playing field, transcending all markers of identity. The truth is, when I go for a run as a Black woman, that in and of itself is a political act and one that puts me at risk—fearing for my life. As long as we live in a world steeped in white supremacy—and we do—being a Black woman will never be separate from my identity as a runner. From a conversation with Alison Désir (Instagram link), author of the new book Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport that Wasn’t Built For Us, in today's Culture Study newsletter by Anne Helen Petersen. [more inside]
How an Australian doctor saved millions of babies' lives
A vial of human serum, an ice box and an illegal flight: how an Australian doctor saved millions of babies' lives. John Gorman is probably the most famous Australian you've never heard of. His groundbreaking medical research to treat a blood disease has saved millions of babies' lives around the world and it wouldn't have happened if not for an ice box, an illegal flight and his sister-in-law.
No music. No human voices. Just the sound of … Australia
... 2hrs of the forest of the giants, the tallest flowering plant in the world, a eucalypt that can reach 90m in height. And beneath its arbour is an incredible array of wildlife, including an incredible chorus of birds. Ann Jones (previously) recorded this near Marysville in Victoria. It was a cold, misty morning on Taungurong Country and among the first sounds that can be heard in this recording is a male lyrebird practising some of his repertoire – both mimicry and his own sounds. [more inside]
November 1
wow birthday. such cake
Takeoff 1994 - 2022
Takeoff, one-third of the hyped and influential rap trio Migos, died in Houston last night. He was 28. [more inside]
I hate this part with the doors
Julie Powell's untimely departure
Julie Powell is dead. Her manic and maniacal cooking of the entire oeuvre of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol I was at one time the best of the web. While Julia Child herself did not approve of the tone or struggle of the project, foodies, weirdos, and weird foodies flocked to read Julie's updates. [SLNYT] [more inside]
Rabbit Test
Rabbit Test is a short story by Samantha Mills, published online by Uncanny.
Content Note: Sexual Assault, abuse, traumatic miscarriage, psych ward treatment, and suicide.
at least 6 cases of cholangiocarcinoma in the community since 2004
A photo essay. A photographer spent years documenting the cultural, ecological and potential human health impacts in communities downstream of Alberta’s oilsands. Photo warnings: terminal illness, dying, funerals and animal death (hunting and aftermath).
A United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances wrote “Indigenous Peoples appear to be disproportionately located in close proximity to actual and potential sources of toxic exposure.”
A United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances wrote “Indigenous Peoples appear to be disproportionately located in close proximity to actual and potential sources of toxic exposure.”
Childcare's in Chaos. Private Equity & For-Profit Chains Are Swooping In
As the industry consolidates, it runs the risk of putting profits ahead of kids—and setting back the movement for universal childcare. (archive.ph link)
Crumbs of Truth
Black, White, and Grey All Over: Where Binary Teaching Fails Underground Comix - The newly relaunched Gutter Review (previously Neotext Review) takes a look at teaching underground comics, generational changes in reading, Robert Crumb and the place of offense in literature. Previous Robert Crumb. Previously.
I'd always wondered, "Why am I so into music?"
"I don't think that would solve anything - running away... [y]ou can't run away, man. WE have got to do something."
D. H. Peligro the drummer for the Dead Kennedys since 1981, died on Friday October 28th at the age of 63. Peligro also briefly worked with many punk bands and also the Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as fronting his own band, Peligro. Flea from the RHCP called him "the truest rocker" He was outspoken about his experiences of racism as a Black drummer in a punk band. DK has put up a brief announcement on Facebook and Jello Biafra posted his own remembrance on the Alternative Tentacles website.
D. H. Peligro the drummer for the Dead Kennedys since 1981, died on Friday October 28th at the age of 63. Peligro also briefly worked with many punk bands and also the Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as fronting his own band, Peligro. Flea from the RHCP called him "the truest rocker" He was outspoken about his experiences of racism as a Black drummer in a punk band. DK has put up a brief announcement on Facebook and Jello Biafra posted his own remembrance on the Alternative Tentacles website.
Taylor Swift has 229 songs?
When you get tired of debating U2's catalog in Bondcliff's post, Rolling Stone has all of Taylor Swift's songs ranked for your consideration.
Finally, a thing everybody can agree on!
If there's one thing everybody loves, it's U2! And if there's one thing nobody ever argues about, it's a list of things. So with that in mind, let's all talk about Vulture's ranking of All 234 U2 Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best! [more inside]
The man who saved countless lives
Dilip Mahalanabis, who came up with “the most important medical discovery of the 20th century,’’ died last month. Dr Dilip Mahalanabis was one of the main movers behind Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT, sometimes known as ORS), which can cut deaths from dehydration, especially due to diarrhea, from 30% to around 3%.
Doctors had been treating dehydration with IV rehydration for decades, but that is expensive, and requires trained staff. Starting with refugee camps in Bangladesh in 1971, Dr. Mahalanabis realised that the same mixture of boiled water, sugar and salts could be given orally. It could be done quickly and cheaply, and most importantly, it didn't need a doctor. People could learn how to make the mixture, and share the recipe with neighbours. [more inside]
The Eerie Comfort of Liminal Spaces
“I wanted there to be less of me”
[Trigger warning: child abuse, domestic violence and systemic failures to protect kids.] In the state of colorado, court appointed investigators act as “parental responsibility evaluator” in custody cases, making recommendations to judges for the custody of children, some of whom have been abused by their parents. There is little to no oversight over these investigators, not all of whom believe most abuse victims. E.g.: “The #MeToo movement informs us that, you know, about 90% of all allegations are true, or something around there,” he said. “In my forensic work, that’s completely flipped on its head: About 90% of the allegations I hear are false.” Kilmer emphasized the estimates are based on his “own experience,” not scientific research. [more inside]
Nineteen and Pregnant in 1969
This is the most beautiful and memorable pieces of writing I've come across in a long time. Excerpt from Making the Rounds: Defying Norms in Love and Medicine by Patricia Grayhall