A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Nov 24 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Dwarf Planet Has No Atmosphere, New Look Suggests

Dwarf Planet Has No Atmosphere, New Look Suggests

Sindya N. Bhanoo reporting for The New York Times:

Not much is known about Makemake, a dwarf planet that circles the Sun beyond Pluto. But scientists got a closer glimpse of it last year, when it passed briefly in front of a star (an event called an occultation), and they report their findings in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Previously, researchers believed that because the surface temperature of Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh) is heterogeneous, it might have an atmosphere. “If you have some patches with a higher temperature, the ice melts and creates vapor,” said an author of the new study, Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, a planetary scientist at the University of Tennessee. “And with vapor the planet can develop an atmosphere around it.”

But the new measurements — based on observations from multiple telescopes in different parts of South America — indicate that Makemake, like another dwarf planet, Eris, does not have a significant atmosphere.

I love the things we can figure out about astronomical bodies just by pointing telescopes at them.

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Nov 24 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Could Texas Become A Blue State?

Could Texas Become A Blue State?

Fantastic feature in the New Yorker by Ryan Lizza. The overal thrust of the piece is thusly. Texas has 38 electoral votes — if Texas flips blue it will be nearly impossible for a Republican to make it to the White House. The Hispanic population of Texas is increasing rapidly and there will come a point in the near future where Texas won’t be winnable for Republicans unless they can win a significant share of the Hispanic vote.

A simple observation but Lizza does a lot of really great reporting to underscore this and also to map out what various Republican factions, both in Texas and nationally, are trying to do about it. Set some time aside and read this, for real.

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Nov 23 2012
Mark Twain, probably

“Forgive Me For The Expression, But Mexico’s Name Is Mexico”

“Forgive Me For The Expression, But Mexico’s Name Is Mexico”

RTT News staff report:

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday sent a proposal to the Parliament to change the official name of the country.

The North American country’s constitution adopts the Spanish name Estados Unidos Mexicanos, which translates as “United Mexican States,” but Calderon wants to change it to just Mexico, by the name the country is known the world over.

…

“Forgive me for the expression, but Mexico’s name is Mexico,” Calderon told reporters at the presidential palace

The formal names of most countries include a noun like “republic” or “kingdom” or “commonwealth,” but there are a few that are just the name and nothing more, like Canada.

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Nov 23 2012
Mark Twain, probably

How Republicans Carried Maryland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum to Victory

How Republicans Carried Maryland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum to Victory

Walter Olson, Cato Institute:

Last week I observed that Question 6, the same-sex marriage law, had racked up strong vote totals in many Republican areas of Maryland and even carried two big GOP-leaning counties. When I wrote that piece I was working from broad county-level election returns. Now that I’ve had a chance to dig into the precinct-level returns, I can report that the story is bigger than I had realized. From the county numbers we knew that many Romney voters in Maryland must have crossed over to support same-sex marriage; now it turns out that Question 6 actually carried many of the state’s best-known GOP strongholds. Republicans voted for Question 6 in serious numbers around all the state’s major centers of population: in the Baltimore and Annapolis areas, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and in Frederick. And while the trend showed itself everywhere from small farm towns to blue-collar suburbs, it appears to have been strongest in the best-educated and most economically successful Republican communities.

The country is changing. If the Republican Party doesn’t change as well, it risks its very existence.

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Nov 22 2012
Mark Twain, probably

boxvsbox:

The Incredible Machine VS. The Incredible Machine VS. Pararancho, 1992/94

First off, there was a version of The Incredible Machine for the 3DO?

Second, I like that cover.

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Nov 21 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Nessy on Messy Nessy Chic:

The owner of this apartment, Mrs. De Florian left Paris just before the rumblings of World War II broke out in Europe. She closed up her shutters and left for the South of France, never to return to the city again. Seven decades later she passed away at the age of 91. It was only when her heirs enlisted professionals to make an inventory of the Parisian apartment she left behind, that this time capsule was finally unlocked.

Neato. (Photo from Getty Images.)

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Nov 21 2012
Mark Twain, probably

GZA involved in initiative to bring rap to NYC science classes

GZA involved in initiative to bring rap to NYC science classes

Martin Rand III, CNN:

Along with [Columbia University Professor Christopher] Emdin, Wu-Tang member GZA and the founders of the hip-hop lyrics website Rap Genius will announce a program that utilizes hip-hop to teach science in 10 New York City public schools. […]

Science has been one of the harder subjects to teach to black and Latino students, who make up 70% of the city’s rolls, according to New York’s Independent Budget Office. The 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress said only 4% of African-American seniors were proficient in sciences, compared with 27% of whites. […]

The process is simple, Emdin said. After learning the material, students will have to create rap songs relaying the material back to the teacher. This can be done individually or in groups known as cyphers, where people stand in a circle and take turns rapping.

This is a supremely fantastic idea. I really hope it works well.

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Nov 20 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Coming at you on this Tuesday is “idyllic” by the Japanese band Spiritual Vibes, fronted and produced by Nobukazu Takemura. This is one of the two original pieces from their 1994 remix album newly.

Check the nearly two minute vibraphone solo starting at 3:38 by Kazumi Totaka, who co-wrote the song with Takemura and vocalist Kikuko Nonaka.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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Nov 19 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Petition: Build a statue of Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117 on the lawn of the White House

Petition: Build a statue of Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117 on the lawn of the White House

I get political on this here tumblelog from time to time, but I try to keep it to commentary and not be overt, day in and day out, about it.

I am, however, going to have to break that rule today by putting out a call to action to sign this petition to build a statue of Master Chief on the White House lawn. I can’t think of a man more deserving of the honor than him.

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Nov 18 2012
Mark Twain, probably

As part of our continuing coverage of animal mods of games in the Grand Theft Auto series, here is a series of short vignettes about a horse in the big city.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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