- Evolution Door – YouTube
A new kind of door made of hinged triangles.
- The Food Lab: The Science of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies | Serious Eats: Sweets
Thanks siderea for bringing this to my attention! This man spent a lot of time and effort exploring how each aspect of a chocolate chip cookie recipe contributed to its flavor, texture, etc… Good reading next time you want to make cookies.
- Tunnel vision: how an obsessed explorer found and lost the world’s oldest subway | The Verge
Neat article about the fight over the fate of an abandoned subway tunnel in Brooklyn. Also neat is the CSS trick they use expand a smaller image in the article to full size.
- LA building’s lights interfere with cellular network, FCC says – Network World
One more reason to find an alternative to fluorescent lighting.
- The Daily Dot – How the creator of ‘Vampire Diaries’ used Kindle Worlds to get back at her publisher
This is really kind of awesome. The creator and original author of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ series was fired by her publisher (it was a work-for-hire arrangement.) The same publiser later joined the Kindle Worlds program that lets fan-fiction authors sell their fanfic of certain series through Amazon, receiving some money while the rights-holders also get their cut. So the original author has created fan-fiction of her own original creation, is selling it through Amazon, and it’s currently topping the charts. She’s using the platform as a way to finish the story in the way she intended before she got cut loose by the publisher.
- How to Use Your Google Maps — Offline | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Thanks to andrewducker! A simple trick to store a section of maps for offline use. This’ll be great for when I’m using the iPod.
- Nightmare Before Christmas Live – YouTube
An extremely well-done liver performance of “Jack’s Lament” from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. The actor playing Jack has a great physicality that matches well with the movements from the movie.
- Flappy Bert
Flappy Bert. Of course. Because Sesame Street has turned into the spiritual sucessor of the original Muppet Show.
Tag: links
Protected: Random bits
Delicious Links for 2013-10-11
Delicious Links for 2013-05-19
- At a minute or two ’til two – Seedy Songs and Rotten Rhymes – the poetry of the playground
My favorite vocal warmup.
- This column will change your life: Helsinki Bus Station Theory | Life and style | The Guardian
This article has changed my perspective on the path of my career. I’ve sent it along to a few students.
- OMNI Magazine Collection : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
I remember OMNI magazine from when I was a kid. The public library had it for a while, and my uncle used to have a subscription. It was always this weird mix of science reporting and science fiction, with some weirder pseudo-science stuff in there as well.
- Diane Duane, It Wasn’t Sunil Tripathi: The Anatomy of a Misinformation Disaster – Alexis C. Madrigal – The Atlantic
In response to Reddit’s infamous mis-identification of the Boston Marathon bombers, Diane Duane had this superb quote: "The problem here? A lot of these people think they’re Sherlock Holmes. And none of them are."
- Twitter / FelicityMorse: JUST DIED. BEST HEADLINE BEST …
I can’t argue, this is quite possibly the best headline ever in the history of newspapers.
- Why Google Glass is a clear winner for the blind | AbilityNet
Great analysis of how Google’s new wearable computer can be a huge benefit for the visually impaired.
- Judge holds self in contempt for his smartphone – Yahoo! News
I love to read little accounts of honesty and integrity in our judicial system.
Delicious Links for 2013-05-06
- Rick Hautala – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I just read about the death of Rick Hautala, a science fiction and horror writer. He was friends with Mark Steensland, who used to teach film here in Erie. And he wrote a couple of screenplays that I got to work on.
- Alfred Anaya Put Secret Compartments in Cars. So the DEA Put Him in Prison | Threat Level | Wired.com
So this is fascinating – a man who used to make hidden compartments is convicted as a co-conspirator in a drug-ring trial because some of the actual criminals made use of the secret compartments he built.
- BBC News – Huge survey reveals seven social classes in UK
Something to keep in mind if we ever do move to Scotland like Gill keeps dreaming of.
- Freelancers Union :: A Federation of the Unaffiliated – Pages from Freelancers Union
This is a wonderful idea – a union for freelancers, to give those of us who work for ourselves, by ourselves, some collective power. I read about this when the folks behind the Girl Genius webcomic ran into some trouble with their publisher.
Delicious Links for 2013-05-04
- Going Underground: Ross Ashmore Paints Every Tube Station | Londonist
Fantastic work – I’ve been to many of these stations when I lived in London, but by no means did I get to visit them all.
- Machine with Concrete – Arthur Ganson – YouTube
I love stuff like this – the absurdity, the possibility that it might work, the raw mechanical nature of it.
- Detailed Floor Plan Drawings of Popular TV and Film Homes – My Modern Metropolis
I love seeing the fictional brought to life. Most of these groundplans probably only existed as disparate sketches in the office of the set builder before.
- Angola, NY: Scenes From The Past: The Block Hotel
A bit of a blast from the past. When I was growing up we used to come here all the time to get Friday fish-fry. I remember it was remodeled back in the early 2000’s and seemed to be doing well, but then one day it shut down for renovations and never re-opened. It was replaced by a Walgreens, which I still think was the dumbest bit of construction ever: 1) There was already a Rite Aid across the street, where the Save-Rite used to be. 2) Walgreens refuses to sell beer, which in New York is a death sentence for most businesses.
- R.K. Milholland to be Featured Speaker at UNT Comic Studies Conference | Benchmarks Online
I’ve been a fan of the webcomic Something Positive for a while. When the creator went back to his alma mater to give a talk, his old boss posted some of the cartoon Randy drew when he was a student.
- Pussy willow – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After Easter dinner at my parents’ we brought back a bunch of pussy willow branches and stuck them in a vase on the table. Now that they’ve developed roots I’m going to try and plant them down by the creek.
- Nana nana nana nana Batman!
A great confluence of events, and an awesome visual pun.
- How Animals Eat Their Food – YouTube
I know I’m a bit late on this one, but it is absolutely hilarious. My favorite is the alligator.
- Mercyhurst University presents “Eurydice” – YouTube
If you want to see the director of Eurydice talking about the play, and some of the theatre and set in the background, then enjoy these two videos.
Delicious Links for 2013-04-18
- The miniature coffins found on Arthur’s Seat | A Blast From The Past
Seventeen tiny coffins, hidden amongst the rocks of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. A great article that takes this incident from "Ripley’s Believe It or Not" material to real history with some solid facts.
- MFA vs. NYC: America now has two distinct literary cultures. Which one will last? – Slate Magazine
While this was a fascinating examination of the differences between New York and MFA style "literary" writers, I kept flashing back to a novel I’d read a couple years ago, "The Thieves of Manhattan". Great story.
- Man Finds Out He’s Married to His Sister on Their Anniversary | The Stir
Wow, I just have no words to imagine this situation. And to think of the poor kids…
- The Abandoned Palace At 5 Beekman Street « Scouting NY
An incredible photo-filled article about a beautiful building in downtown Manhattan, boarded up and half-abandoned for decades and now undergoing renovation.
- Fake Yo-Yo Trickster Fools Every TV Station Everywhere
I just love the fact that somebody can pretend to have an unusual talent & a half-decent background story and still get on television in this day and age. It’s like nobody in local TV knows how to do basic research on the internet.
- 17 Secret Doorways To Help You Turn Your House Into Wayne Manor
These are all great, but I especially love the pantry door at #15. I know a guy who could finish his basement with one of these.
- Tiled Penny Floor » Curbly | DIY Design Community
I saw this on Tumblr with the headline of $1.44 a square foot (it’s really closer to $1.96) and I just fell in love with it. Someday I’ll my own house and I will find a room to do his in.
- Crazy ceiling fan – YouTube
Just watch this, it’s awesome. Now, I can’t picture how you could screw up assembling a ceiling fan that badly, and I don’t imagine it’d work forever, but in the short term it’s kind of awesome.
Delicious Links for 2013-03-21
- Suicide Forest in Japan – YouTube
Creepy min-documentary about Japan’s suicide forest, so dense and remote that authorities only look for bodies once a year.
- No Fly Posters | Creature Forum
A wonderful dialogue between some artists and a building owner.
- 37 People Who Are Worse At Cooking Than You
Oh god, the pizzas!
- 15 bizarre green inventions: White Goat | MNN – Mother Nature Network
I love this. Insert ~40 sheets of used office paper and receive a fresh roll of toilet paper in 30 minutes.
- DIY: Changing Headlight Bulbs – Unofficial Honda FIT Forums
So one of the headlights on the car is out, and I thought maybe this is something I can do myself. But when the first two steps are to jack up the car and remove the tire, I think I’ll let a shop take care of it.
- Positronix comments on These fucking scissors
A beautiful thread on Reddit about the lab equipment of unknown provenance and usefulness that cannot be disposed of. It reminds me so much of diving through the theaters sometime, looking for the right part or piece of scenery
- Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Script Has ALL Eleven Doctors | GeekMom | Wired.com
Rumor and speculation about the upcoming 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. If this one is to be believed, it’ll feature all 11 Doctors, though I’ll believe it when I see it.
- Gender-Bending Chickens: Mixed, Not Scrambled | This Scientific Life
Huh. Half-n-half chickens.
- Applied Math – Futility Closet
Oh this is neat: you can use the Fibonacci sequence to quickly convert miles to kilometers.
Delicious Links for 2013-02-26
- Reset TCP/IP networking stack in Windows 7 and Vista | L.A.M.N.K
I don’t know how my TCP/IP stack got corrupted, but it ended up being one of the most annoying Windows problems I’ve had to deal with.
- On Pins and Needles: Stylist Turns Ancient Hairdo Debate on Its Head – WSJ.com
Fantastic article on how a hairstylist from Baltimore performed some practical archaeology in her spare time, and introduced a new theory on ancient dress.
- ‘The Kidnappers Foil,’ a Local-Talent National Treasure – NYTimes.com
As scams go, this one was pretty bizarre. This director spent over 40 years, remaking the same movie year after year in location after location, as a way of scamming money out of parents who wanted to see their kids in the movies.
- Goats Yelling Like Humans – Super Cut Compilation – YouTube
Disturbing and hilarious at the same time
- Vokas Provision Co Chagrin Falls, OH, 44023 – YP.com
This nice lady called me Friday before last, explaining about how her company was offering a home-delivery organic food service, and that they were going to be doing demonstrations and samples in the area. She tried to get me to sign up to have someone drop by but something didn’t seem right. I managed to get the company’s number and looked them up, and what I found is a classic oversell con.
- Meteorite explosion over Russia injures hundreds | Science | guardian.co.uk
To wake up to a headline like this makes me realize that we’re actually living in the future.
- SoundCloud – Hear the world’s sounds
The Gollum & Smeagol double act of Baby It’s Cold Outside
- hms bounty hearings | gCaptain – Maritime & Offshore News
After the HMS Bounty sank last year during Hurricane Sandy, I wondered what had happened. I’d been aboard the Bounty a couple of years ago when it was here as part of the Tall Ships festival. I still have pictures on my cell phone of it docked behind the library – it was the guest of honor, displacing the Niagara away from it’s usual berth. This is a phenomenal series of reports about the hearings into the Bounty sinking, with enough detail to help even a non-sailor understand what was going on.
- Infographic: An Amazing, Invisible Truth About Wikipedia | Co.Design: business + innovation + design
Wow. This really is like a map of everything. With geo-tagging of articles you can see where we know what we know.
- Geocities-izer – Make Any Webpage Look Like It Was Made By A 13 Year-Old In 1996
I haven’t played with this enough to see if the backgrounds and GIFs are randomized, but it’s pretty fun nevertheless.
Delicious Links for 2013-01-06
- The Web We Lost – Anil Dash
A brief reminiscence of the way the web used to be, when it truly was a realm of infinite possibilities.
- Grandmother faces up to her hair loss by getting her entire HEAD covered in a £700 tattoo | Mail Online
This is pretty awesome. If I ever lose my hair, I’m going to go with a horseshoe mohawk, like some kind of bird of prey.
- Daily Illuminator: The Incredible Plush Discworld
It looks like the elephants and turtle were pre-made, but I think the Disc itself was homemade. I so have to make one of these when we have kids.
- UChicago College Admissions, Mischief Managed For those of you who have…
How the university of Chicago ended up with a package addressed to Indiana Jones. The most interesting bit, from what I read, is that if you can put a package with what looks like canceled postage into the delivery stream, the post office will accept it and continue it on its way.
- 1982 volvo shihitbox left tire still has air – Ottawa Cars For Sale – Kijiji Ottawa Canada.
I don’t know if this is real, or an elaborate practical joke, but it’s absolutely hilarious.
- “I cant help it if some of the light goes across the road. Put something up in your window.”
A small spat between neighbors, with diagrams, over a security light.
- US Mint Testing New Metals To Make Coins Cheaper
Interesting, the way the various demands on and of coins determines how they’re made. My main thought, as I read the article, was the lengths some collectors would go to to get their hands on these test coins.
- 26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year | Belle of Ravenclaw
I’ve been looking at this for a few days whenever I start to feel down on humanity.
- ‘Arrest us all’ | World news | The Guardian
Wow. A gang of over 200 women beat up and killed the rapist that had been terrorizing their community.
- Blink To The Future – A Doctor Who / BTTF Mashup – YouTube
Brilliant animated concept, not sure if it would work full time.
- Exclusive: Warm Bodies – The First 4 Minutes – YouTube
Looks like a promising movie, very dry humor.
- The real Bruce Wayne (morph between West / Keaton / Kilmer / Clooney / Bale) : batman
The idea is great, but the actual execution was wonderful. This same person has also done Jame Bond, the Doctor, and others.
- Skylab 4 Rang in the New Year with Mutiny in Orbit | Motherboard
I just love the sheer audacity of this. “Yeah boss, we’re not going to work today. What are you going to do about it?”
- Allow the import and sale of Kinder Surprise Eggs in the United States. | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government
The ban on Kinder Eggs in the U.S. is stupid. The reasoning is that you’re not supposed to have a food item with a non-edible object inside it, but that works on the idea that you might accidentally swallow the non-edible object. Have you ever seen a Kinder Egg? The egg with the toy is between one and two inches across. You’d have to shove the whole thing in your mouth, like some kind of stupid college-party stunt, to accidentally swallow the toy. Cracker-Jack toys are far more dangerous in that respect.
- 53 Terrible Jokes! – YouTube
Some of these are groaners, but by the end I kept having to go back because I was laughing over the next joke.
- House Naming guide – How to name your home.
Neat. I kind of wondered how some houses would get a name, and now I know.