http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57j8EJO07pI
I’m back from an (unannounced) hiatus for WWDC. Have some Camera Obscura performing “French Navy”. Tracyanne Campbell’s outfit… wow. I think I need to go lie down.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.
Get Ready, Because Voyager I Is *This Close* to Leaving Our Solar System
Get Ready, Because Voyager I Is *This Close* to Leaving Our Solar System
Rebecca J. Rosen for The Atlantic:
Last week, in the corners of the Internet devoted to outer space, things started to get a little, well, hot. Voyager 1, the man-made object farthest away from Earth, was encountering a sharp uptick in the number of a certain kind of energetic particles around it. Had the spacecraft become the first human creation to “officially” leave the solar system?
…
We’re not quite there yet, Voyager’s project scientist and former head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Edward Stone, told me. The spacecraft is on its way out — “it’s leaving the solar system” — but we don’t know how far it has to go or what that transition to interstellar space will look like.
We launched Voyager I in 1977, and it’s still operational and transmitting data.
‘Depraved’ sex acts by penguins shocked polar explorer
‘Depraved’ sex acts by penguins shocked polar explorer
I unfortunately had no choice but to click this BBC News piece by Matt McGrath:
Accounts of unusual sexual activities among penguins, observed a century ago by a member of Captain Scott’s polar team, are finally being made public.
Details, including “sexual coercion”, recorded by George Murray Levick were considered so shocking that they were removed from official accounts.
…
He was shocked by what he described as the “depraved” sexual acts of “hooligan” males who were mating with dead females. So distressed was he that he recorded the “perverted” activities in Greek in his notebook.
Necrophilia is now hooliganism. Also I like the idea of being so upset by something that you start writing in Greek.
U.S. Boy Scouts board member speaks out against gay ban
U.S. Boy Scouts board member speaks out against gay ban
David Adams, Reuters:
Jim Turley, chairman and chief executive officer of Ernst & Young and a board member of the Boy Scouts of America, has joined calls to end the group’s exclusion of gays.
…
The group, founded 102 years ago, has so far resisted calls to change its policy on homosexuals. “While the BSA does not proactively inquire about sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA,” the Boy Scouts said in an earlier statement…
It’s a start, but it’d be nice if something substantive happens at some point.
Above is a short video uploaded by the Minneapolis Police Department showing an officer reciting instructions/a warning to OccupyMN protestors. Amy Forliti for the AP:
After a dozen Occupy Minnesota protesters were arrested at a downtown demonstration, the group quickly took to the Internet, posting video that activists said showed police treating them roughly and never warning them to leave.
But Minneapolis police knew warnings had been given. And they had their own video to prove it. So they posted the footage on YouTube, an example of how law enforcement agencies nationwide are embracing online video to cast doubt on false claims and offer their own perspective to the public.
I don’t believe I’ve heard of a police department uploading videos like this before, although Forliti goes on to mention that several departments across the country have done it for years. I like this. Transparency is great and all that. Plus, it’s nice that Milwaukee uses it for reasons besides rebutting critics:
Just last month, the department posted video of an officer punching a woman in the face while she was handcuffed in his squad car. Spokeswoman Anne Schwartz said the department wanted to share what had happened, while reiterating that the officer was fired for his conduct.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Stephen Morris of the University of Toronto presents this short video on the physics of dominos falling.
A domino can knock over another domino about 50% larger than itself. A chain of dominos of increasing size makes a kind of mechanical chain reaction that starts with a tiny push and knocks down an impressively large domino.
Original idea by Lorne Whitehead, American Journal of Physics, Vol. 51, page 182 (1983).
Yes, this is referencing a real paper published in a real journal.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Hellllo everybody! Today we have a special treat. Toby “Radiation” Fox has put together what he calls an “anti-remix” using the Super Metroid soundset and it’s frickin’ awesome! Here’s what he had to say about it:
“Another “anti-remix,” this time using instrumentation from Super Metroid, with motifs similar to the battle with Spore Spawn and Mother Brain. I imagine it playing during one of those horrendous timed sequences where you’re urgently escaping from something but ALSO have to fight through a gauntlet of crazy bosses.”
So this is crazy.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Jacky Chen of Reuters took this photo, which was posted on MSNBC’s PhotoBlog. It shows musicians performing in a field in North Korea.
There is probably some ultrahorrible context behind this photo, but I love the visual. Plus, with six singers, drums, an accordion, and an amp, how can you go wrong?
Law professor says he’ll sue Idaho over ‘Five Wives Vodka’ ban
Law professor says he’ll sue Idaho over ‘Five Wives Vodka’ ban
Jessica Gresko, AP:
Idaho officials may face a sobering lawsuit over their ban on a vodka that makes a cheeky reference to polygamy, a Washington law professor says.
In a letter dated Wednesday and published on his website, George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley informs Idaho officials he will sue on behalf of the producer of Five Wives Vodka if the state doesn’t reverse its decision not to allow the vodka’s sale. He says the ban is unconstitutional and he gives the state 10 days to reverse its position.
I mean, maybe a dick move on Idaho’s part, but why would you name alcohol that in the first place? These guys are totally trolling right.
How the Electric, Self-Driving Miracle Car Will Change Your Life
How the Electric, Self-Driving Miracle Car Will Change Your Life
I am really excited about self-driving cars. I would immediately, directly benefit from them, but aside from the selfish reasons, I’m legitimately excited by what they’ll do for us. People who can’t drive because of age or medical reasons will have easy personal transportation. The millions of hours spent commuting every day can be reclaimed. I can ramble about this for quite a while.
Steven Kopits of Foreign Policy wrote a piece about the economics of electric cars, with a heavy emphasis on what autonomous driving can do for their value. In the piece is an idea I never thought of: self-driving cars don’t need passengers at all:
Many Americans only drive their cars to work, park, and leave them until they drive home at night, making them essentially unavailable for use by others for most of the day. But if the car could drive itself, it could return home to take the children to school, members of the family shopping, and seniors to visit friends or keep appointments. …
If transportation could be purchased as a service, however, this constraint would be lifted. Localities could have a fleet of electric vehicles on call for local trips, allowing EVs to operate within short distances only — just as the typical taxi does.
Can you imagine a fleet of self-driving, municipal taxis? A car sharing system like Zipcar, except that the cars come to you.
Exciting times ahead.