Words for the wise from the mouth of a fool.
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Saturday, February 25, 2006
Google Video is making film and video from the National Archives available--great NASA footage, WWII-era newsreels, and films from the Department of the Interior (via digg.)
Friday, February 24, 2006
One of my favorite novels is Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, I grew up reading battered copies of Tom Swift and Mad Scientist's Club books from the library, and these days I read MAKE and nineteenth-century history with equal enthusiasm. So of course I was thrilled when Boing Boing pointed toward Scientific American Boy. Enjoy them along with me, won't you?
The Court accounted themselves Alarum'd by these things, to Enquire further into the Conversation of the Prisoner; and see what there might occur, to render these Accusations further credible. Whereupon, John Allen, of Salisbury, testify'd, That he refusing, because of the weakness of his Oxen, to Cart some Staves, at the request of this Martin, she was displeased at it; and said, "It had been as good that he had; for his Oxen should never do him much more Service." Whereupon this Deponent said, "Dost thou threaten me, thou old Witch? I'l throw thee into the Brook": Which to avoid, she flew over the Bridge, and escaped. But, as he was going home, one of his Oxen Tired, so that he was forced to Unyoke him, that he might get him home. He then put his Oxen, with many more, upon Salisbury Beach, where Cattle did use to get Flesh.
Cotton Mathers' Wonders of the Invisible World and other first-person accounts of witch trials.
Both via Incoming Signals, the Library of Congress collection of World War II Military Situation Maps and, likely for a different audience of appreciators, William Faulkner's hand-drawn map of Yoknapatawpha County.
I like them both. But then, it's my blog.
News from the nerdcore front:
Preparing for a tour of the East Coast and Southeast, MC Frontalot has released a new track, Fresh Dog, which maintains the Front's rep for flow.
A bit harder edged but proving just as fun is Futuristic Sex Robotz*, a couple Goons who have released a full-length nerdcore album--with as much emphasis on the hardcore roots of that word as the nerd part. Not that the nerd is at all neglected, what with tracks like "WoW" and "Fuck the MPAA", and the Creative Commons license that comes with the download. Good stuff.
* It's times when I post phrases like this that I wish I ran AdSpace ads, just to see what would come up.
He's a secret agent...with ninja training...and a jetpack....who also happens to be a monkey.
Spy. Ninja Training. Jetpack. "Monkey" plus any two of those three and I was already sold. So of course there's no way I won't be blindly obey the instructions of the trailers for Spymate, even if the reviews end up saying it's one of the worst movies ever. I'll be there anyway.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Live-action chocolate will no longer be getting in the animated peanut butter...at least not where the Chinese government has any sway (via the Beat):
In one of the more bizarre orders from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, TV shows and films featuring human thesps with animated companions will be banned. "These human live-action, so-called animation pieces will not receive distribution or distribution licenses," read the order, issued Feb. 15. ...
CGI and 2-D characters alongside human actors jeopardize "the broadcast order of homemade animation and mislead their development," according to a report from the state-run Xinhua News Agency."
An editor at Harper's steps forward to claim credit for the creation of the flash mob (interesting to see that the Wikipedia article has already been updated based on the Harper's article.) (via Metafilter.)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
"Despite the controversial game design, the game is regularly listed by the Japanese public in the top 50 best Famicom games. However, many others believe the entire game was a cruel joke on the gaming community."
I can't believe I'd never heard of Takeshi's Challenge before reading about it today on Metafilter.
Along with Dorkbot, another cool Seattle group worth checking out: Science on Tap. Looks like the next meeting is next Monday. Who's interested?
Monday, February 20, 2006
"But how would I find the gene sequence? Simple. I went to the Web site of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (no password required) and downloaded the DNA sequence for a 770-base pair gene called the Enhanced Cyan Fluorescent Protein. That’s what Brent wanted me to program into my yeast. It took me about 15 minutes to find. Far easier to track down was the 200,000-base pair sequence for smallpox. Only two known samples of smallpox exist; the blueprints are free online."
If you think Pandora's Box isn't yawning open already, go over to Bioware for Dummies and prepare for the most fascinating (and more than a little unsettling) thing you'll read all week (via Boing Boing.)
Sunday, February 19, 2006
A hacker gives an interview for a Washington Post story on the condition that he can remain anonymous. But he provides a photo to the post, which when Slashdot readers combine the photo file's metadata with the story, come within about a stone's throw of identifying the hacker. Whoops. (via Waxy)
The Power Records Blog. Those of you who knew me back in the era of record players know why I'm so excited. The rest of you are about to get a look into my childhood.
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