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The Squares of the City

kliuless — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:11:34 -0800

Paul Romer: A Theory of History, with an Application - "His economic theory of history explains phenomena such as the constant improvement of the human standard of living by looking primarily at just two forms of innovative ideas: technology and rules." (previously, via)
BONUS: UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY
- What cities have in common [1,2,3,4,5]
- Great structures? [1,2,3,4,5]
- The new institutionalism [1,2,3,4,5]
- Norms and deliberative rationality [1,2,3,4,5]

Sarah Palin to resign

Stewriffic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:58:18 -0800

Sarah Palin will resign from her position as Alaska Governor. ;-)

Hurricane Chris

TrialByMedia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:14:46 -0800

Shreveport rapper Hurricane Chris performs for the Louisiana State Legislature.

Emirates Flight attendants

Heliochrome85 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:05:02 -0800

"Innocuous onboard flirting is condoned: Emirates' rules require attendants to politely accept a business card or phone number if it's proffered by a passenger." Inside the life of an Emirates Airlines Flight Attendant.

Violating Terms of Services and Cyberbullying

jabberjaw — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:02:48 -0800

"We call it cyber-bullying and we don't have a law to address it." In the matter of the United States v. Drew (pdf), the misdemeanor charges against Lori Drew have been overturned. Judge George Wu noted that violations of the Terms and Services of a website cannot be considered a crime. A Congresswoman has drafted a bill (pdf) to fill in the gaps, allowing for future cyber-bullying convictions. Previously: (1, 2, 3, 4)
Cyber-bullying may affect as many as 1 in 10 students, and is considered a serious problem. The proposed bill seeks to address the issue, but does it really?

Judge Wu's written ruling will be filed next week.

Rest Stops, R.I.P.

JeffL — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:13:16 -0800

Rest Stops, R.I.P.

Storytelling in sand.

dmd — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:02:23 -0800

Drawing and storytelling in sand.

Mass webcam choreography

Dr-Baa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:23:28 -0800

Hibi no Neiro by Sour
"The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam."

Now I guess I’ll never see you again, Marie

allen.spaulding — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:35:25 -0800

Ten years ago today, Mark Sandman died on stage during a Morphine concert at the Giardini del Principe in Palestrina, Italy. His music and its impact has not always received the type of attention normally given to rock stars tragically struck down in their prime, let alone one this brilliant.
Sandman’s legacy is hard to measure, although some have tried. Frontman of both Treat Her Right and Morphine, as well as many side projects, he always seemed on the cusp of making the leap from critically acclaimed darling of college radio to major recording star (watch a live performance of Cure for Pain here). Treat Her Right (listen) toured with Bob Dylan, although once signed to RCA, never quite made to mainstream success (as Sandman put it “"RCA decided that if our little basement tape could do so well, why not spend fifty times more money and it will be fifty times better!”). Sandman died touring in support of Morphine's latest release, The Night, released by Dreamworks, the latest attempt by a big label to promote the band (listen).

Sandman’s music continues to impress, including a collection of his previously unreleased solo work issued after his death (selections can be heard here). Somewhere between proto-alt-country and swamp rock, one major aspect of Sandman’s work was innovative usage of bizarrely tuned basses, including the use of a two-string slide bass, an instrument of his own creation and one later used by collaborator Chris Ballew in his other band Presidents of the United States of America (who would write Gone Again Gone in Sandman's memory).

Perhaps more important than his musicality, Sandman’s lasting influence was the development of a local music scene in Cambridge that continues to this day. While the Pixies may be the best-known band to come out of the Boston/Cambridge scene in the 90s, as measured by their impact nationwide, Morphine may have been equally if not more influential locally. Sandman’s own record label, Hi-n-Dry has become the home of many local artists, including local favorites Dennis Brennan and Session Americana (featuring Treat Her Right harmonica player Jim Fitting, as well as others who’ve played with Sandman over the years. See them at Hi-n-Dry here). Furthermore, Sandman regularly promoted shows at the Middle East, helping develop the space from a neighborhood restaurant that occasionally rented out a stage into a major venue. Indeed, the intersection of Mass Ave and Brookline Street in Central Square, the location of the Middle East and TT The Bears has been officially named Mark Sandman Square. Even these landmarks don’t do justice to the community that he fostered and which continues to this day. Finally, Sandman was also a graphic artist, creating a comic called The Twinemen, which would later become the name of a band named in his memory.

Every week, Hi-n-Dry is offering downloads of Sandman's compositions. Or, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by any of Sandman’s old haunts, such as Toad and Lizard Lounge in Porter to the Middle East, TT’s, Plough and Stars in Central. If you’re lucky, or if you do your homework, you’ll find a band of old Cambridge regulars, playing roots standards, with a few Sandman hits thrown in.

Rap Feud Resolved

skammer — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:57:18 -0800

In February of 2009, a Canadian teen cut a scathing diss track from the depths of his Batman-and-South-Park bedecked crib calling out 50 Cent for his lack of streed cred. Not one to take a callout lightly, Fiddy has responded. (via gawker)

Betcha can eat just one!

Ndwright — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:35:56 -0800

Afterbirth for Dinner (Time Magazine, NSFW or appetite)
A firsthand account of the practice replete with video.

Alleged by its practicioners to have medical benefits as well as being common in the animal kingdom, placentophagy has been covered by the BBC (SFW), though not with video.

Not to be missed is the Geocities placenta preparation page including recipes for placenta pizza, placenta roast, placenta lasagna, and of course, placenta cocktails.

Link to an actual preparer of placenta pills (Very NSFW)

Previously

Geisha Missile. Geisha Dance. Geisha Army. Geisha Transfrom. Fried Shrimp.

youarenothere — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:39:16 -0800

Geisha is robot.

Machu Picchu Post

homunculus — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:32:41 -0800

Machu Picchu Post. Cute animation about an air mail pilot in the Andes and his strange encounter with a boy and his llama. [Via]

Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

Autarky — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:58:47 -0800

"Suddenly there was this amazing silence. The plane was gone. I must have been unconscious and then came to in midair. I was flying, spinning through the air... Over 37 years ago Juliane Koepcke survived a two mile free fall, landing virtually unscathed in the middle of the rainforest. But that wasn't the end of her ordeal. She spent ten days in the juggle before finding rescue.
Think that's amazing? There have been others (about 1/4 of the way down):

1. "Lieutenant I. M. Chisov of the former Soviet Union was flying his Ilyushin 4 on a bitter cold day in January 1942, when it was attacked by 12 German Messerschmitts. Convinced that he had no chance of surviving if he staged with his badly battered plane, Chisov bailed out at 21,980 feet. With the fighters still buzzing around, Chisov cleverly decided to fall freely out of the arena. It was his plan not to open his chute until he was down to only 1000 ft above the ground. Unfortunately, he lost consciousness en route. As luck would have it, he crashed at the edge of a steep ravine covered with 3 ft of snow. Hitting at about 120 mi/h, he plowed along its slope until he came to rest at the bottom. Chisov awoke 20 min later, bruised and sore, but miraculously he had suffered only a concussion of the spine and a fractured pelvis. Three and one-half months later he was back at work as a flight instructor." Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Calculus. 2nd ed. United States: Brooks/Cole, 2000. p 85

2. Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade was on a bombing mission over Germany on 23 March 1944 when his Lancaster bomber flying at 18,000 feet was blazed apart and in flames when he was forced to jump, without a parachute or be burned to death. He dove out of his destroyed aircraft hoping on a quick death. His speed accelerated to over 120 miles per hour and he impacted on a snow covered sloping forest. He was completely uninjured and later captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story. (www.urbanlegends.com/death)

3. The longest survivable fall, 26 January 1972, was Vesna Vulovic a stewardess in a DC-9 which blew up at 33,330 feet. She was in the tail section of the aircraft and though injured survived the fall.

Want to top them all? Here's how to survive a fall from 35,000 feet. (previously)

And, lastly, how about having this Tom Petty song stuck in your head the rest of the evening.

Easy Rider....well, maybe not, his butt is gonna hurt when he's done

HuronBob — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:11:26 -0800

Food, photography, and a Vespa
Clay Enos one of the best still photographers in the country, is embarking on a road trip from New York City to Vancouver. Clay will be riding 150 miles per day on a Vespa GTS 300, planning to eat only locally produced food along the way..

Follow Clay via flickr, twitter, and gps. He should be on the road tomorrow morning!

CitiApartments

Stephen Elliott — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:42:57 -0800

San Francisco's largest residential landlord is refusing to give back security deposits. CitiApartments is possibly going broke and, according to the head of the San Francisco Tenants Union, refusing to refund many tenants security deposits (he says they're getting three to four complaints a week). CitiApartments' buildings are filled with vacancies because their business model is purchasing buildings and then harassing and intimidating tenants into moving out so they can raise the rent.
The end of the SFAppeal article states: "if a person really wanted to push back against whatever it is that CitiApartments is doing, they could pretty easily twist the knife a bit on craigslist simply by flagging every single CitiApartments listing."
Here is the website dedicated to fighting CitiApartments and here are links to a three part series on CitiApartments by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. And here is an article on CitiApartments parent company from San Francisco Business Times.

Are those $100's in your wallet or are you just happy to see me?

zinfandel — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:32:57 -0800

When Money Buys Happiness. List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever bought that gave you the most happiness. Count how many items appear on both lists.
Maybe money can buy happiness, Mack Metcalf notwithstanding. (Previously. Via.)

The Death of Macho

waitangi — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:20:14 -0800

The Death of Macho - "The axis of global conflict in this century will not be warring ideologies, or competing geopolitics, or clashing civilizations. It won’t be race or ethnicity. It will be gender. We have no precedent for a world after the death of macho. But we can expect the transition to be wrenching, uneven, and possibly very violent."

fuck yeah too much time on your hands

Lutoslawski — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:18:44 -0800

There is a subgenre of single-themed tumblelogs that aim for hagiography—they want to celebrate rather than tear down the subject at hand. These often go by the prefix "Fuck Yeah"—as in, among others, Fuck Yeah Rachel Maddow,Fuck Yeah Skinny Bitch, Fuck Yeah Puppies.

Slate article on single-theme blogs. Some of the better ones: look at this fucking hipster, it's lovely i'll take it, Owl Tattoos, fuck you penguin, happiest people ever, stfu marrieds.

Warfare 1944

Hactar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:12:13 -0800

The sequel to Warfare 1917 (previously) has been released: Warfare 1944. I was going to save this for tomorrow, but it seems that we've had a Flash Thursday today.