lightcastle | Entries tagged with links

Combining some obnoxious rich people, the Lucille and Mitt tumblr.

Sleepy Lions

Stealing the heart of a saint? That's a horror movie plot waiting to happen.

The Value-Added Teacher Model sucks. I need to read more Mathbabe, as she has lots of interesting things to say. Quants for the rest of us is good. (And it seems I need to check out Duck Duck Go.

Things to do to stop Google from collecting and using all your information. (I suspect us Android users are out of luck, everything on our phones belongs to Google.

Black Bloc tactics as cargo cult.

So is Libertarianism really just an attempt to preserve older forms of private power and not concerned with liberty at all?

Some advice for doing your own FOIA requests. (USA only.)

Here there be Monsters.

The Binding of Isaac sounds like one messed-up game.

Arguments against the idea that religious views upholding male superiority, male-only leadership in religious posts and female subservience within the religion are simply a pretense for a pre-existing misogyny.

This puppy is deeply suspicious of broccoli.

Via mellybean71, Re: Your Brains in Zombie Sign Language.

At least one person thinks the IPO spells the end of Facebook.

An old one from shadesong: superheroes in sweaters.

I think I need to read this book on original pronunciation of Shakespeare.

A random link walk led me to this discussion of "Lucifer" as a proper name for Satan.

A reminder on the limits of statistical significance. (Warning, pdf.)

Some horrifying posts on depleted uranium are linked here. (There's also an awesome comment about Gawker in that post.)

This appears to be a Watson fan page. I love this picture.

That'll do for now.

Sometimes I am amazed to think upon the fact that Morgan Freeman helped teach me how to read.

Not me, in case you were worried.

It is, however, my friend, tattoo artist, model, muse, and interior decorator, the awesome Maery Contrary - a.k.a. Kessel Run.

I was particularly impressed by her deft handling of the "Star Wars or Lord of the Rings" gotcha question.

I'm cleaning out some old tabs I wanted to get back to since I've been sick all day.

I would also like to remind people that punctuation is not grammar.

Here we have an attempt to extend Manhattan over the whole globe using Google Maps. It isn't perfect, of course, which just reminds me of debates over the Mercator projection and the idea that all maps and models are approximations which may or may not be useful. (I remember explaining science this way, once. Science lets you draw maps of nature, but maps are not the territory.)

I know you all know about it now, but I still kind of love that they are going to clone a wooly mammoth.

I have to admit I have a weak spot for nested demotivational posters.

Femme fatale Cthulhu. (sort of) None of the other pieces by Ray Ceaser have really grabbed me, but I haven't hunted through the whole gallery.

It's back to work and I keep glancing at interesting things but don't have time to write. So you get a link dump from tabs.

(One of my 2012 quasi-resolutions is to set up a proper reading system. I will solicit "you should be reading these" suggestions, as well as asking what to use to manage them.)

Carbon nanotubes create wearable sensors. This kind of thing has been kicking around for a while, and seems to really getting to the point where smart clothing could be pretty commonplace.

From Obsidian Wings, some useful German words we could use in English:

Verschlimmbesserung, noun [from Verbesserung (improvement) and Verschlimmerung (deterioration/worsening)]: intended improvements or upgrades that end up making everything worse. Verb form: verschlimmbessern

kaputtreparieren, verb ("kaputt" + "repair"): repair or tinker with a thing to the point that it becomes broken.

The Occupy Movement (and I'm still iffy on whether I like that term, but it seems to have stuck) has been fascinating to watch, although why anyone is surprised they are having some of the problems they are having surprises me. The fact it exploded quickly and that it pretends to be non-hierarchical almost guarantees some form of these "do any of you realize you didn't invent social justice movements or protesting" moments.

Barbie trashes her dreamhouse.

The two types of sloth may be an example of convergent evolution. (Also, Sloth babies are cute)

Add this parasitic fly to the list of possible causes of colony collapse disorder. (Also, do not read if the whole "larva then eat their way out of the insect's head" thing is going to bother you.)

Three New Hampshire republicans have proposed a bill that says “All members of the general court proposing bills and resolutions addressing individual rights or liberties shall include a direct quote from the Magna Carta which sets forth the article from which the individual right or liberty is derived”.

A reminder, correlation does not mean causation, although it allows you to imply all kinds of things.

I was going to write something about the Hugo Schwyzer dust up over the holidays, but since I always thought he was a douchebag anyway...

Well, my nightmares are set for tonight.

From a very unexpected source, this video makes the case for Riho.

Of course, others might argue for Dragon Dragon

What it says on the tin.

I am happy to be most accessible via Normal Toy or Rye Daub.

This is really quite a useful chart.

Still clearing out old links:

I appreciate an authority figure who can remind someone that women and girls are important too, so when a lawyer asked for special dispensation if his daughter's child was a boy, so he could attend the bris, Judge Kimba Wood said fine, as long as he understood that if the child was a girl, there would be a public celebration of the fact in her courtroom.

And as long as we're talking gender, a three-year old shows us you can handle gender and its many variations with class at any age.

Off to France, where there is a group called La Barbe, who protest the lack of women in positions of authority in France by showing up wearing fake beards. (I know a God of Knowledge who would approve.)

And while not steampunk or Strowler, let me point you to The First English Dictionary of Slang, in case you want to speak like a 17th Century dandyprat.

This idea of pleasure activisim sounds a lot like what I thought Epicurianism to be before I read any Epicurus.

Screw you, 2012! Billboards in Tennessee say the Rapture is May 21, 2011! (Good Christians aren't going to let a falsely interpreted Mayan prophecy steal their eschaton!)

The logic is simple math, according to the people who put up the billboards.

According to Camping's prediction, the Rapture will happen exactly 7,000 years from the date that God first warned people about the flood. He said the flood happened in 4990 B.C., on what would have been May 21 in the modern calendar. God gave Noah one week of warning.

Since one day equals 1,000 years for God, that means there was a 7,000-year interval between the flood and rapture.

Interestingly, this is right after an annular solar eclipse.

RIP Leslie Nielsen.

Speaking of people representing Canadianess, an interesting snapshot of how some cultures are viewed from the outside by way of a piece from visitbritain on extending a warm welcome during the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

For instance:

Never call a Canadian an American. Canadians may take offence if labeled American. Some Canadians get so annoyed about being mistaken for US citizens they identify themselves by wearing a maple leaf as pin badge or as a symbol on their clothing.

Some more RSA Animate, 21st century enlightenment.

Congrats Alouettes!

By the way, photographing art is hard.

Some random links:

NPR had a bit about Why siblings so rarely have the same personality.

Of course, science should be written with a certain amount of distance, which results in
journal article abstracts sometimes seeming a bit understated.A patient had a fire in his chest cavity during dissection of the left internal mammary artery before coronary artery bypass graft.

There are some classes where it is best to pay attention

And now some videos.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah as told by The Professor Brothers

A banned ad from Durex condoms using the lounge classic Feelings.

Current Music: Cell Block Tango - Original Broadway Soundtrack

Why did no one tell me about this blog before?
Mind Hacks: Neuroscience and psychology tricks to find out what's going on inside your brain.

And I didn't know NASA keeps a Climate Change Website.

Current Music: Tracy Grammer - Phantom Doll

This xkcd reminds me I should link to Information is Beautiful.

Is anyone I know a member of mubi or The Auteurs? I remember coming across it when writing for Brafton, and thinking it might be interesting.

Not quite the same, but I've heard good things about Jinni as well. (And while it's no NinjaVideo, TV shack seems ok.)

Thanks to the wonderful gashin, I present to you what I suspect will be my favorite story of the week.

A German student "mooned" a group of Hell's Angels and hurled a puppy at them before escaping on a stolen bulldozer, police have said.

This first issue of Arpeggio, a new web comic, is based on a real-life incident involving someone I know.

I leave it as an exercise to my readers whether the musician I know actually gave the response in question, or just inspires people to think she would have given the response in question.

From miss Andrea, a creepy post that argues the life experience of the average female matches the brainwashing process laid out by Robert Jay Lifton in the 1950s.

Probably triggery for some. Really interesting reading, though, and it makes me wonder whether a similar argument can be made about all processes of socialization..

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Some counters to the idiot Evo-Psych crowd, pointing out that Human Culture itself is an evolutionary force

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It says 16 Magnificent CosPlay fails, but the IronMan costume is GOLD.

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Glowing octopus!

(Also, why an octopus is more awesome than your mom.)

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Here, as mentioned by northbard, is your fucking JET-PACK! (actually propellers, not jets)