Links

Sometime between 14:54 and 17:12, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Magenta Ain’t a Colour: "So what does the brain do when our eyes detect wavelengths from both ends of the light spectrum at once (i.e. red and violet light)? Generally speaking, it has two options for interpreting the input data: ¶ a) Sum the input responses to produce a colour halfway between red and violet in the spectrum (which would in this case produce green — not a very representative colour of a red and violet mix) ¶ b) Invent a new colour halfway between red and violet ¶ Magenta is the evidence that the brain takes option b — it has apparently constructed a colour to bridge the gap between red and violet, because such a colour does not exist in the light spectrum. Magenta has no wavelength attributed to it, unlike all the other spectrum colours." So apparently, T-Moble has trademarked a color that doesn't actually exist. Boy, I bet that makes the lawyers happy!
• A Young Mad Scientist’s First Alphabet Blocks: "We are pleased to announce the release of our Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks. These lovely blocks contain many carefully engraved illustrations of the equipment, training, and activities that a budding mad scientist will require, combined with a clever alphabetic introduction to the concept depicted."
• CBS & Paramount Announce First Star Trek Blu-Ray Sets: "Today CBS and Paramount made official what we have been reporting for months, for the first time ever, Star Trek is coming to Blu-ray in 2009. CBS announced a Blu-ray set for the first season of TOS and Paramount announced all the TOS era movies are coming to Blu-ray, all to be released this Spring. TrekMovie and DigitalBits.com have worked together to bring you all the info on the new sets."
• Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Specify Your Canonical: "Carpe diem on any duplicate content worries: we now support a format that allows you to publicly specify your preferred version of a URL. If your site has identical or vastly similar content that's accessible through multiple URLs, this format provides you with more control over the URL returned in search results. It also helps to make sure that properties such as link popularity are consolidated to your preferred version."
• Joss Whedon Goes Where No TV Man Has Gone Before: "Joss Whedon, the George Lucas of television, reveals why working on his triumphant return to the small screen, Dollhouse, has convinced him to abandon TV for good. His alternative medium: Web serials." (via Seattle Geekly)

Sometime between February 12th and February 16th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Mindfuck Movies: "Some movies inform. Some movies entertain. And some pry open your skull and punch you in the brain. MATTHEW BALDWIN gathers up the films that have caused him to clutch his head and moan." Not a bad list — of the ones I've seen, I've liked all of them except Mulholland Drive (that was two hours of my life that I'll never get back).
• Firefighters Get Eyeful When Called to Hotel: "A ruckus at the Black Angus Inn on Gambell Street ended with the hotel flooded, a man under arrest for assault and firefighters who were trying to control the sprinkler system mooned by an unruly guest. ¶ The bare-bottomed woman also ended up in jail after refusing to leave the crew alone, according to police. ¶ 'She was drunk and obnoxious, getting in the way of the firefighters,' police spokeswoman Anita Shell said. 'She was mooning the firefighters, asking to see their penises.'" Yeah, well, you spend the majority of six months without sunlight and see how desperate you are for entertainment! ;) Heh…Alaskans are wonky.
• Legal Guide for Bloggers: "The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you're doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn't help – in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven't yet decided how it applies to bloggers. ¶ But here's the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom."
• 13 Facts About Friday the 13th: "If you fear Friday the 13th, then batten down the hatches. This week's unlucky day is the first of three this year. ¶ The next Friday the 13th comes in March, followed by Nov. 13. Such a triple whammy comes around only every 11 years, said Thomas Fernsler, a math specialist at the University of Delaware who has studied the number 13 for more than 20 years."
• Star Trek Inspired Corset: If I was a girl, I'd be snapping one of these up in a heartbeat: "This corset is designed after the Star Trek: Next Generation jumpsuits." (via Boing Boing)

Sometime between February 11th and February 12th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Darwin Survives as the Fittest: Roger Ebert on the ongoing creationism/evolution debate in the comments to an earlier post: "As Darwin went on the voyage of the Beagle and produced journals of his observations of flora and fauna, so I have returned from my voyage through all of those comments, with my own notes. Here are some species I have observed: The True Believers, The Reasonables, The Metaphysicians, The New Agers, The Hard-Noses, The Playing-It-Safers, The Conspiracy Theorists, and so on…."
• Evolution and Facebook’s "25 Random Things About Me" Craze.: "'25 Things' authors can be seen as 'contagious' under what's known as a 'susceptible-infected-recovered' model for the spread of disease. Think of '25 Things' authors as being contagious for one day–the day they tag a bunch of their friends. Meyers found that, for that one day, the growth parameter of the '25 Things' disease during its ascent phase (roughly until the beginning of February) was 0.27. This means that, on average, each '25 Things' writer inspired 1.27 new notes. " (via /.)
• Czar Struck: Obama’s Brilliant Pick for Drug Czar: "The brilliance of Obama's pick for drug czar is not just finding someone who is open to new strategies, but someone who nonetheless holds undeniable qualifications as a cop. Nobody can claim Kerlikowske is a public-health nut who doesn't know the impact of drugs on the streets. Like many Americans, he agrees that drugs should be illegal. But he understands the place for low priorities and public health–and he's willing to step back where enforcement alone has failed."
• 15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009: "It's possible that none of the firms on this list will liquidate, or even declare Chapter 11. Some may come up with unexpected revenue or creative financing that helps avert bankruptcy, while others could be purchased in whole or in part by creditors or other investors. But one way or another, the following 15 firms will probably look a lot different a year from now than they do today." The list includes Rite Aid, Chrysler, Dollar Thrifty (car rentals), Sbarro, Six Flags, Blockbuster, and Krispy Kreme.
• Surprising Stories Behind 20 Muppet Characters: "Rowlf the Dog, surprise, surprise, was first made in 1962 for a series of Purina Dog Chow commercials. He went on to claim fame as Jimmy Dean's sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show and was on every single episode from 1963 to 1966. Jimmy Dean said Rowlf got about 2,000 letters from fans every week. He was considered for Sesame Street but ended up becoming a regular on 'The Muppet Show' in 1976."

Sometime between February 9th and February 11th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Less Water, More Heat Forecast for State: "Fewer cherries and apples — but possibly more wheat. ¶ More summer days when streams grow dangerously warm for salmon — and worse winter floods flushing away or burying their eggs. ¶ More people dying in King County from heat stress. Less drinking water in the summer. A quadrupling of the acreage burned statewide in summer wildfires. ¶ But more electricity to heat our homes in the winter. ¶ Those are a few of the effects projected for Washington by the first comprehensive look at how climate change is likely to affect the state by the end of the century."
• China’s CCTV Didn’t Cover Its Own Tower’s Fire: "There were no pictures on the front page of The Beijing News. The home page of Xinhua, the official news agency, featured a photo from another tragedy: a stampede in South Korea that left four people dead. Throughout the morning, CCTV's brief bulletins about the blaze omitted footage of the burning tower. ¶ Even before the flames had been extinguished early Tuesday, images of the burning hotel had been removed from the country's main Internet portals. A directive sent out by propaganda officials left no room for error: 'No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports,' read the memo, which instructed all media outlets to use only Xinhua's dispatches. 'The news should be put on news areas only and the comments posting areas should be closed.'"
• How a Dentist Visit Became a YouTube Hit: "David's father, also named David DeVore, says his son was safe the entire time and finds the video very funny. Mr. DeVore says he filmed his son to help ease his fear of doctor's appointments. 'I was trying to teach him that the anticipation is probably much worse than the actual event,' Mr. DeVore said. 'This might not have been the right case to give an example.' "
• Sad News for Architecture Fans: Portion of CCTV Complex Burns Down: "In 2009, one of the most eagerly anticipated buildings in the last 20 years was to be completed: The headquarters of CCTV in Beijing, designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA. A striking, integral piece of that complex was the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Sadly, it looks like the hotel has almost completely burned down this morning." Yikes. More photos and video from Reuters, on Flickr, and from Shanghaiist.
• Wm. Shakespeare’s Five and Twenty Random Things Abovt Me: "14 On the topic of dating, my daughter Susanna loues to remind me: ~Jvliet was only thirteen! And I remind her that i) she was Italian, an impulsive race ii), she was actually played by a middle-aged Eunuch named Ned, and iii) she died. That always shvts her right vp."
• Things I’M Standing Next To: "Earlier last week we enabled a quiet little feature that, hopefully, allows you to navigate some of that same mystery and serendipity in the 100 million geotagged photos on Flickr. We call it 'nearby' and it is available for any geotagged photo on the site."

Sometime between February 8th and February 9th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• The Invasion From Outer Space: "From the beginning we were prepared, we knew just what to do, for hadn't we seen it all a hundred times?–the good people of the town going about their business, the suddenly interrupted TV programs, the faces in the crowd looking up, the little girl pointing in the air, the mouths opening, the dog yapping, the traffic stopped, the shopping bag falling to the sidewalk, and there, in the sky, coming closer . . . And so, when it finally happened, because it was bound to happen, we all knew it was only a matter of time, we felt, in the midst of our curiosity and terror, a certain calm, the calm of familiarity, we knew what was expected of us, at such a moment."
• Rands in Repose: A Twitter Decision: "* Decision #1: A user chooses whom they follow. * Decision #2: A user chooses whom they no longer follow. * Decision #3: A user should be judged only by what they say. ¶ These are simple decisions of empowerment. As Twitter's popularity grows exponentially, both veteran users and recent arrivals need to remember that these basic decisions mean Twitter is yours to build with however you choose. "
• New Nikon 35mm f/1.8G Adds Normal to DX DSLRs: "Nikon Inc. today announced the AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens, which is the first fixed focal length, fast-aperture DX-format lens that affords photographers superb image quality along with the creative possibilities and versatility of the classic 50mm focal length (FX-format equivalent of 52mm). When mounted on a DX-format camera body, it enables photographers to document their world with a lens that produces a picture angle similar to the field of vision as seen through the human eye. Whether new to D-SLRs or a seasoned enthusiast, users will appreciate the extreme low-light performance and the expanded ability to dramatically separate the subject and background with the new 35mm DX lens' wide f/1.8 aperture. "
• Comics Grammar and Tradition: "Comic book lettering has some grammatical and aesthetic traditions that are quite unique. What follows is a list that every letterer eventually commits to his/her own mental reference file. The majority of these points are established tradition, sprinkled with modern trends and a bit of my own opinion having lettered professionally for a few years now. The majority of these ideas have been established by Marvel and DC, but opinions vary from editor to editor, even within the same company."
• Want Olympics Tickets? Most Already Gone: "CoSport's allotment of individual tickets for the entire United States was 48,000 — about 3 percent. The New Jersey company received 14,179 orders with requests for 166,800 individual tickets. Forty percent of those requests came from Washington state. ¶ Only a small percentage were filled. Most fans who requested broad ranges of tickets got only a few events. Many, even those seeking tickets to less-popular events, such as Nordic combined, got nothing." Bummer! With the 2010 Olympics just a few hours north of us, Prairie and I had figured it'd be fun to head up to see something. I hadn't even heard that tickets were on sale at all yet, but it looks like we've already missed our chance.

Sometime between 18:43 and 23:36, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• ‘Jeopardy’: What Is High-Tech?: "'Jeopardy' originally used cardboard and magic markers but now broadcasts in HD with a $4.1 million all-digital production. Alex Trebek talks about how the show has changed over the years"
• Make Love Not Porn :: Porn World vs. Real World: It's a pity they have to hide this site behind a "Click if you're over 18" button. I know, I know…"think of the children!" I am thinking of the children. I'd bet good money that there are a lot of people under 18 who could use reading this stuff…especially as with the state of sex education in this country, most of them are probably learning about sex through internet porn clips more than anything else. Oh, and this is most definitely a NSFW link.
• A president using obscenities is so much better than an obscene presidency.: "1. Barack Obama puts some salty language (in quotations attributed to others) in his memoir Dreams of My Father. 2. Obama reads the audiobook himself. 3. Obama gets elected President. 4. Blogger posts remix-ready clips of POTUS profanity online." Funny and wrong. I don't recommend the prank calls page, they're just as funny as any prank call is (that is, not very). The audio clips themselves are definitely worth a juvenile snicker or two, though. (via Metafilter)
• Today’s Playmates Are More Like Anime Figures Than Real Humans: "Oh, Playboy, why do you want your 'readers' to lust after androids? That's the only explanation we can think of for the proportions of your lovely ladybots. We culled the stats for every centerfold from December 1953 (Marilyn Monroe) to January 2009 (Dasha Astafieva), then calculated each woman's body-mass index. ¶ A clear trend emerged: While real American women have steadily eaten their way up the BMI slope — just like American men — Playmates have gone from a sylphlike 19.4 to an anime-ideal 17.6."
• The Sexual Evolution of Pepe LePew: "Is this a politically correct revision of the earlier 'What part of non don't you understand?' skunk-on-cat courtship? Or is it an extension of that courtship, and we're to believe Pepe's tireless sexual assaults finally wore the poor cat down, and what looks like love is simply Stockholm Syndrome? Or is this like that amazing scene in Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett wakes up the morning after her spousal rape with a smile on her face and a song in her heart?" Prairie and I were wondering about this, too — the new commercial featuring Pepe is the exact opposite of classic Pepe…which, of course, was harassment, stalking, and possibly rape. Heh. Cartoons are weird.

Sometime between February 5th and February 6th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Universal Studios Home Entertainment: Caprica on DVD 4/21/09: More info from iO9: "Can't wait to see Caprica, the prequel series showing the tawdry origins of the robotic Cylons? Now you won't have to: the show's pilot is going direct to DVD on April 26. ¶ The show isn't scheduled to start airing on Sci Fi until 2010, but an unrated, uncut version will be out on DVD in April."
• Dollhouse: Dollhouse’s Sexuality Is Creepy on Purpose: "…the marketing reflects the fact that sexuality is woven into the fabric of the show — and it goes to some very creepy places on purpose. The show is about men and women being brainwashed and hired out, and some of their assigments have to do with sex, says Whedon. The show goes into some situations that make Whedon himself intensely uncomfortable, even if they don't bother any of the show's other writers. ¶ Dushku was adamant that whatever TV show she made next should address sexuality, 'not just by virtue of being all hot, but by talking about sexuality: why it drives us and how it works.' One of the show's goals is to 'get the audience to ask what of their desire is acceptable, and what is creepy. In order to ask that we had to go to kind of a creepy place,' says Whedon. 'We may have crossed the line.'"
• Base System: xkcd explains the "base system" of making out. It's all so clear now!
• Movie Review – Coraline – Cornered in a Parallel World: "There are many scenes and images in 'Coraline' that are likely to scare children. This is not a warning but rather a recommendation, since the cultivation of fright can be one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing. As long as it doesn't go too far toward violence or mortal dread, a film that elicits a tingle of unease or a tremor of spookiness can be a tonic to sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments. "
• All the Way Through to "Kerplunk": Some teasers on the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies: "I'm keeping this as spoiler-free as I can, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm not gonna tell you what happens. The discs will be out at some point in the future and it's something you should experience yourselves. There's singing, there's swimming, there's sadness, there's love and broken hearts and broken hearts mended. There's everything this show has offered us before, only three more blessed-be episodes of it." (via @nedthepiemaker, of all people!)
• Neil Gaiman’s favorite bad review for Coraline:: "While watching this movie I couldn't help thinking it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers for kids." (Neil's reaction: "Coraline is currently 84% at Rottentomatoes.com: of the bad reviews, this is my favourite. I wish it was on the posters."

Sometime between 14:21 and 18:52, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Why Your Avatar Matters: "A great avatar will help people remember you instantly. And you should use it everywhere, across the board. Use it on your blog if you have one (you should). Use it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, everywhere. Even if people don’t automatically remember your name or your website, they’ll remember your avatar and make an association. When they see it again later, on another network or site, they’ll be more likely to pay attention, to friend you, and maybe remove a few of those degrees of separation."
• The 20 Worst Foods in America of 2009: "Uno Chicago Grill’s individual 2,310-calorie Classic Deep Dish is still the worst pizza that could pass your lips. Romano’s Macaroni Grill’s 2,430-calorie spaghetti and meatballs is a truly lethal plate of pasta. And Bob Evans’ 1,543-calorie banana pecan pancakes won’t just break your fast—they’ll destroy it. What’s more, we found 17 more deplorable dishes worthy of spots on our 'worst' list. For now, be sure to avoid them—but here’s to hoping these are 20 foods we won’t see on restaurant menus next year."
• Exclusive: Stephen King on J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer: "Both Rowling and Meyer, they're speaking directly to young people. … The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good."
• Ancient Fossil Find: This Snake Could Eat a Cow!: "Never mind the 40-foot snake that menaced Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 movie 'Anaconda.' Not even Hollywood could match a new discovery from the ancient world. Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than 2,500 pounds. 'This thing weighs more than a bison and is longer than a city bus,' enthused snake expert Jack Conrad of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was familiar with the find. 'It could easily eat something the size of a cow. A human would just be toast immediately.'"
• Masked Man Robs Stores With Klingon Sword: "Colorado Springs police are looking for a man who hit two 7-Eleven convenience stores early Wednesday, armed with a Klingon sword. Both clerks described the weapon as a Star Trek Klingon-type sword, called a 'Batleth' or 'bat'leth.'"

Sometime between February 2nd and February 4th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Cash 4 Gold Would Like to Melt Down and Recast Their Reputation: "How about that? A polite letter, with a clear goal: Bury the 'Cash 4 Gold' name in my article so that it doesn't scare off every would-be gold seller with an internet connection. I was kind of thrilled. People approach me all the time looking for ways to promote keywords, but this was the first time someone else was trying to buy me out of their Google search results. This was just like in the movies, right? Guy writes an article exposing underhanded business practices, business leader arranges a meeting to kill the story."
• Princesses Preen in a Pauper Economy: "Hime-kei appears to have been inspired by American filmmaker Sofia Coppola's movie Marie Antoinette, with its lush rendering of the decadence of the court of Louis XVI. The rush of young Japanese women to emulate the look of 18th-century French aristocrats has grown from a fad into something of a movement, whose leader is the popular singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It even has its own magazine, Koakuma Ageha, with a circulation of 350,000. If Coppola's movie created the wave, Osaka-based Jesus Diamante was ready to ride it. Established in 2001, the label had offered luxurious clothing styled for a hypothetical heiress with a likeness to French actress Brigitte Bardot. But the impact of Marie Antoinette prompted it to introduce such lines as Marie Wanpi, with a ball gown sporting a large ribbon on the chest and a Cinderella coat with a fur collar and sleeve edges. "
• Passport RFIDs Cloned Wholesale by $250 eBay Auction Spree: "The $250 proof-of-concept device – which researcher Chris Paget built in his spare time – operates out of his vehicle and contains everything needed to sniff and then clone RFID, or radio frequency identification, tags. During a recent 20-minute drive in downtown San Francisco, it successfully copied the RFID tags of two passport cards without the knowledge of their owners." I'm really wishing I'd renewed my passport before the new RFID-enabled passports went into production.
• How Twitter Was Born: "The original product name / codename 'twttr' was inspired by Flickr and the fact that American SMS shortcodes are five characters. We prototyped with '89887″ as our shortcode. We later changed to '40404″ for ease of use and memorability. @Florian was commuting from Germany, so in order to operate with him we secured a 'long code', or a full 10-digit phone number linked to a small-potatoes gateway. Twttr probably had about 50 users in the 89887 days."
• Untouched East Germany Flat Found: "A flat apparently untouched since before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has been discovered in the German city of Leipzig, German media report. An architect who renovates buildings in eastern Germany unlocked the door last week and was shocked to find himself in a veritable East German time warp. "

Sometime between January 30th and February 2nd, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Its a Catastrophe for the Apostrophe in Britain: "On the streets of Birmingham, the queen's English is now the queens English. England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned. But some purists are downright possessive about the punctuation mark." Ugh…so instead of teaching proper usage, it's better to give up and drop apostrophes entirely? Horrid.
• Getting Geeky With Twitterrific and AppleScript: I don't use Twitterrific (though perhaps it's time to take another look at it), but there's some fun Applescripty geekiness in here. Best bit of news out of the whole thing, though: The Talking Moose is on Twitter! If you understand why that's cool, then you know you've been using Macs a long time.
• Hummer Drivers Get More Tickets. A Lot More.: "People who drive Hummers receive almost five times as many traffic tickets as the average driver, according to a new study. 'The sense of power that Hummer drivers derive from their vehicle may be directly correlated with the number of violations they incur, or perhaps Hummer drivers, by virtue of their driving position, are less likely to notice road hazards, signs, pedestrians and other drivers,' Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning, said in a statement. Mark S. Foster, author of 'A Nation on Wheels: The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945,' was even more direct, essentially calling Hummer drivers colossal jerks. 'Hummer drivers feel like kings of the road because of their elevated driving positions,' he said. 'As these statistics show, they are leading the pack when it comes to violating the law, which may reflect their driving attitude.'"
• Frozen in Indifference: Life Goes on Around Body Found in Vacant Warehouse: "This city has not always been a gentle place, but a series of events over the past few, frigid days causes one to wonder how cold the collective heart has grown. It starts with a phone call made by a man who said his friend found a dead body in the elevator shaft of an abandoned building on the city's west side. 'He's encased in ice, except his legs, which are sticking out like Popsicle sticks,' the caller phoned to tell this reporter. 'Why didn't your friend call the police?' 'He was trespassing and didn't want to get in trouble,' the caller replied."
• Has the Viaduct Collapsed Yet?: Of particular importance to Seattleites. Via @slog and @paulbalcerak.