Eclecticism

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."