July 2007
97 posts
NY Public Library giving away free public domain...
Cory Doctorow:
The New York Public Library has just installed an Espresso book-on-demand machine and they’ll print any of over 200,000 public domain titles from the Open Content Alliance free of charge for any patron.
Library users will have the opportunity to print free copies of such public domain classics as “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, “Moby Dick” by Herman...
R. Kelly - Trapped In The Closet: Chapter 13...
In his divine providence, bless his heart, R. Kelly is treating us to another series of installments (Chapters 13-22) from the best serialized hip-hopera thine eyes have ever seen. Yes that means more from cheating Bridget and her paramour, the midget (“that shitted on [him]self”), the spatula waving neighbor, the homosexual deacon, and the other sordid figments of Kelly’s...
Video: Amazing Coordinated Samsung Dance
An amazing coordinated dance by Samsung. What’s really impressive is that it appears that the dancers use only their costumes to make the images and patterns. [Thanks Samantha]
(via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Pixels Are The New Pies
An interesting infographic trend: Square blocks of color are now being used to represent percentage-based statistics instead of the traditional pie chart. Some recent examples are shown here.
The chart on the left is from a NY Times story on atheism and the afterlife, making its choice of colors seem a little weird. And is that empty white block in the center supposed to represent the empty...
there's only like three doors on the first floor,...
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Project Wonderful - Your ad here, right now, for as low as $0 July 30th 2007: I’ve been watching the Up Series of movies with my girlfriend and OH MY GOODNESS, am I loving these movies. 7 Up starts with interviewing fourteen British children in 1964 about where they see...
The Golden Compass 5-Minute Preview
Another of the many things I missed by not going to Comic-Con this year was a 5-minute preview screening of The Golden Compass. Thankfully, the clip is now online, and I’m so glad. There are flying witches, duty-bound polar bears, sassy daemons and Nicole Kidman acting more icy-cold than you’ve ever seen her. I’ve rarely been this excited to see something that isn’t...
Chuck E Cheese bots modded to play hiphop
Cory Doctorow:
Whereismyrobot sez, “There is a movement of Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz fans that are buying the old robots and setting them up in their homes or garages. Some program them for good, while the creator of this video obviously programmed these for evil.
This is a lot better than indie bands ironically covering rap songs.”
Link
(Thanks, Whereismyrobot!)
(via...
A Camp = Nina Persson of the Cardigans - Tour...
Nina Perrson brings her side-project A Camp from Sweden to NYC soon (or maybe she already lives here, I’m not sure). This coincides with news of a new album…
Six years after the solo debut with A Camp, Nina Persson has started working on a new album with Niklas Frisk and her husband Nathan Larson. She has started with a bang with half a dozen songs that are going to get lyrics about...
Jason: In Mountain View until Saturday. If anything sweet happens in EDT, let me know — I’ll have 3 hours to prepare for it. (via Twitter / Jason)
New Weakerthans - "Night Windows"
First single from the Weakerthans’ forthcoming, forth LP is a mellow affair, and it’s the best new tune you’ll hear today. It’s all about the rimshots (a surefire sign the proceedings will remain on the ‘lovely’ side of the spectrum), marking off an eighth-note pulse through the verses, before the toms and “full moon”s set the starry scene....
Freaky Bambi Photo
[via]
(via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Scientists Breed World’s First Mentally Ill Mouse
Scientists have created the world’s first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness. It is believed to be the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to have a mental illness. Animal rights activists have obviously condemned the research.
(via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Colbert Down!
Stephen Colbert (busy taking over the world) adds one more notch on the “celebrities are clumsy, too” bedpost. Before filming a recent episode the faux-news anchor broke his left wrist while running around the studio of The Colbert Report to pump up the audience before taping. He really does hate the left!
This past week, he removed a giant foam hand to reveal the cast, saying...
The Horror of Japan’s Severed Mouth Woman
The video recounts the well-known story of the severed-mouth woman (kuchisake-onna), a malicious blade-wielding lady with a slit mouth (which she keeps hidden behind a surgical mask) who is bent on cutting open the mouths of strangers. Apparently a modern interpretation of an old Heian period legend, this tale sparked a mass panic in Japan in the late ’70s and early ’80s, as news reports...
Fox News On /b/, Domestic Terrorism and LULZ
Omnious narrator: Anonymous hacked his site and plastered it with gay sex pictures. His girlfriend left him.
“She thought I was cheating on him with other dudes,” he laments.
Ominous narrator: ‘LULZ’ is a corruption of ‘LOL’ which means ‘Laugh Out Loud.’ Anonymous gets BIG LULZ out of pulling random prants… for example, messing with online games like Habbo Hotel!
Chilling. The music in the...
Final Harry Potter Book Blasted For Containing...
NEW YORK—Harry Potter fans throughout the world were shocked, disappointed, and outraged to learn last week that J.K. Rowling’s 750-page… (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
JK Rowling gives a bit more closure to all the...
JK Rowling gives a bit more closure to all the closure she provided in Potter #7. Lots of spoilers. (link) (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
The largest island on an island on an island...
Mark Frauenfelder:
Josh says:
A couple of days ago you noted Elbruz.org’s geographical claim, in this post:
There is a larger one on Glover Island on Newfoundland.
I should know: I believe I’m the only person to have ever slept on an island on an island on an island. I went to Newfoundland once and camped on one the islands in the lake on Glover.
Link (This is a Google...
GEEK: MST3K Returns To Our Screens (Though It...
I was originally going to write some boring article about scientists inventing a cure for smoking and alcoholism or whatever, but then I went on Slashdot and found out that the men of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 are back in the saddle and, as my blood beat in my ears and a dizzy red miasma enveloped me, I knew I had found my story. Then I just pretty much fainted away in my desk chair.
I...
Zach Galifianakis does a video for Kanye West
Filed under: Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
Comedian Zach Galifianakis has outdone himself this time. First, he appeared in the Fiona Apple video, “Not About Love.” Now he’s lip syncing in Kanye West’s new music video for “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”. We know Kanye’s in on it because it’s posted here on West’s official website. I don’t...
New Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining" (And Under The...
Still weeks off from getting the full Under The Blacklight platter from Rilo, but there’s a “Silver Lining” to ease the anticipation. Considerably less porno-funky than “The Moneymaker” — in fact it’s a slice of sugary ’60s soul by comparison — the hook’s got Jenny in love and cheering like a metaphorical metallurgist: “Hooray...
BBC: W's grandpappy planned fascist coup of USA
Mark Frauenfelder:
Kevin says:
A BBC Radio 4 investigation sheds new light on a major subject that has received little historical attention, the conspiracy on behalf of a group of influential powerbrokers, led by Prescott Bush, to overthrow FDR and implement a fascist dictatorship in the U.S. based around the ideology of Mussolini and Hitler.
Document uncovers details of a planned coup in the...
#321; The Failure of an Entrepreneur
Bonus comic today folks! (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Noise du Jour’s Villains: “Gaston” from Beauty and...
My lifelong carnal obsession with over-the-top villains began at the tender age of four, when I was shown Ridley Scot’s magnificent failure, Legend. While I was ostensibly watching it for the unicorns, it was Tim Curry’s portrayal of “Darkness”, a satanesque, cloven-hoofed demon, that really fired my imagination. And so in my tiny, twisted brain (which has only become more shrunken and wrung...
VIDEOS: Tegan & Sara - 'Back in Your...
Tegan & Sara’s ‘The Con’ is a great album. I don’t love-it-love-it, but I’ve been listening to it more than anything else - and I think it keeps getting better and better - some of the songs are really catchy. Here are all the videos associated with the album so far….
‘Back in Your Head’
Canada’s folk-punk twins Tegan and Sara unveil...
The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men
When a new Coen Brothers movie comes out, something happens to me: my entire spinal column begins to quiver, from neck to coccyx. The sensation has not paled even after a couple of notably inferior Coen Brothers films: their mediocre remake of the The Ladykillers and the enjoyable but decidedly un-Coen-esque Intolerable Cruelty.
But good lord, this trailer for their upcoming version of Cormac...
Statetris: Tetris with US states
Cory Doctorow:
Statetris is a Flash-based Tetris played with falling US states. Get ‘em into the right spot or the US will overflow into Canada and everyone gets socialized medicine!
Link
(via Neatorama)
(via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Time Releases Annual List Of Least Influential...
Time Magazine’s eagerly anticipated annual list of the 299 million least influential Americans hits newsstands this week. (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
NOTCOT.ORG *5297
Now that the smoking ban in the UK has gone into effect, Tank is launching a series of books designed to mimic cigarette packs the same size, packaged in flip-top cartons with silver foil wrapping and sealed in cellophane. (Want more? See NOTCOT.org and NOTCOT.com) (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Marmaduke's affair with his owner-lady is...
Marmaduke’s affair with his owner-lady is gaining new layers of complexity and subtle nuance as their relationship progresses. This strip marks a maturation from Marmaduke’s former brand of comedic sex-farce to a sensitive and poignant style of realistic post-Hollywood domestic romance. OR Marmaduke wants coffee. (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Sleeptight: No Space For Bed Bugs
If you’re like me, chances are you have a lot of facial hair and sleep in the foetus position. Combine the latter with an unhealthy desire to economise space, and there you have the Foetus Space Economising Bed.
Granted, you won’t want to take your date back to your flat, but at least you can say, “I look like a squashed up dildo when I sleep.” Alternatively, you could...
Jason: 759 pages is a little over 24 hours. This must be a record for me. (via Twitter / Jason)
Bible Spoiler
Apologies for spoiling it for those who haven’t read it. [via] (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Jason Hall: Let the hours of furious reading begin! (via Twitter / Jason Hall)
Jason Hall: Standing in line. Someone just walked by and took a picture of me because I ‘look like Harry Potter’ (via Twitter / Jason Hall)
Jason Hall: I have my wristband, T-minus 4.25 hrs (via Twitter / Jason Hall)
Wish I Could Save Your Life, But That Kind Of...
Patent madness keeps on growing as patent attorneys keep trying to convince people in all different professions that patents are an important strategy to “protect” their interests. It explains the ridiculous explosion in patents in areas that never would have bothered with patents in the past. That’s why we see things like tax strategies being patented. Now, Marc has alerted...
1500 Filipino Inmates Do Thriller
The population of an entire Philippines prison re-enacts Michael Jackson’s famous Thriller video. 1,500 Filipinos jostling around like zombies, then breaking into spontaneous dance when they corner Filipino Michael Jackson and his transvestite “girlfriend.”
Honestly, I’m speechless: this is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen on the Internet. According to the YouTube page, this is...
Iron & Wine - 2007 Tour Dates, presale, new...
Iron & Wine @ Pitchfork Fest 2007 (CRED)
Iron & Wine’s next full length, Shepherd’s Dog, will be released on September 25, 2007. Not coincedentally, Iron & Wine just announced four new tour dates right around that date. One of them is in NYC @ Town Hall on September 30th. There’s a presale. All dates, and a video of Iron & Wine covering Radiohead @ The PFork...
Sources: Barista Not Actually Flirting With You
SAN FRANCISCO—Though she greets you every morning with a smile, sometimes chats with you, and makes sure the chocolate syrup is evenly… (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
Photoshop Phriday: Band Name Movies 3: Song Titles
Movie titles are callously disappeared and then replaced by song names! Read all about it here! (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Pick: Eco Disaster...
Sunshine
(directed by Danny Boyle)
Sweltering in the humidity today it’s hard to imagine being so upset about the sun going out, but that’s the horrific premise in Danny Boyle’s excellent new sci-fi fantasy Sunshine, which is out this weekend. The movie is set 50 or so years into the future, as the crew of the Icarus II are about to move outside of communication range on their...
Google Reader is More Podcast-Friendly
Hello and welcome to a new exciting post from Google Operating System. Stafford from Seul writes to tell us about a new feature in Google Reader: “I use Google Reader primarily to catch podcasts - it provides a nice Flash MP3 player within the post. Has anyone noticed that you can click on “popout” which will open the Flash player in a small window so you can keep moving through...
Re-Enactment Request #2: Reservoir Dogs
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE.
The 25th of my Reenactment Series.
Holy clusterf$#&, you guys must have picked the hardest, longest scene in any movie, with the most characters. This is a personal record: 8 characters, about 8 minutes of dialogue, totalling up to 9 minutes and 30 seconds… this is the biggest one yet… I hope I lived up to your expectations. Also, this is where I...
Glow-in-the-dark cross-stitch
Mark Frauenfelder:
Monkey says: “Subversive Cross Stitch just announced their glow-in-the-dark fun cross-stitch kit by Ray Fenwick.
“Crafty Query” features an interview with fenwick as well!”
The kit, which contains everything you need to make this, costs $25. Link
(via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)
M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel Cover Richard &...
Remember when Zooey told Patrick Fugit to “Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, and you’ll see your future”? Not the greatest advice, but you did it ‘cause she has those huge, hypnotizing eyes? Well Zooey’s used those powers of persuasion on indie-folk troubadour M. Ward, getting him to collaborate on a soundtrack cut for The Go Getter, an upcoming indie flick...
The Intrepid Pigeoneers
In October 1918, World War I was gradually drawing to a close in the Argonne Forest in northeastern France. Inch by inch, more than one million Allied fighting men slowly wrestled Europe from the occupying Germans, with considerable casualties occurring on both sides. Losses were particularly heavy amongst a battalion of Americans which had pressed too far into enemy territory, leaving 550...
Get ready for House to berate five new cast...
Filed under: Industry, House, Casting
Three out, five in. With the resignations of Doctors Eric Foreman and Alison Cameron and the firing of Doctor Robert Chase during the third season finale of House there isn’t really anyone that Gregory House can abuse anymore. Don’t despair, though, because five new actors are joining the cast of the FOX medical procedural for House to play with...
The Decemberists in Central Park
I’ve been to my fair share of Decemberists shows. Six, in fact. And even though they do tend to play some of the same songs each time (“crowd-pleasers” I think they call them), they never get old. Whether that’s because the songs themselves are timeless — they are — or whether the band just never plays them the same way twice — they don’t —...
Javascript 3D engine
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but here’s an extremely clever hack from the Useless Pickles blog that will render 3D objects at a usable frame rate using standard Javascript.
You might be familiar with another method in which you create a bunch of 1 pixel-high divs to draw each triangle with a series of horizontal slices. This becomes unbearably slow, however, as you need...