December 2011
Whatever: 8 Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know... →
By John Scalzi
Each year we hear them, we sing them, we love them: The holiday songs of our lives. But how much do we really know about the great music of the holidays? Probably not as much as we think. And thus, to celebrate the holiday season, I am delighted to present to you 8 Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know About Your Favorite Holiday Music. I assure you each of these nuggets of...
“Here’s the thing: If you’re using the holiday season to go out of your way to be...”
– John Scalzi on The War on Christmas(tm)
WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR: Here’s the official list... →
allshare:
I was reading a thread earlier on Reddit where some users had a great idea. Why not boycott the supporters of SOPA? Right now, whether SOPA gets passed or not is out of our hands and in the hands of lawmakers in Congress. You can make a difference, if you have not yet — you can…
Internet Governance Project: Technology as symbol:... →
Activists and investigative journalists are highlighting the linkage between modern surveillance technologies and repressive governments. There are now two excellent investigative reporting series, one by the Wall Street Journal (Censorship, Inc.) and another by Bloomberg, (Wired for Repression) Thanks to the overthrow of dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, grisly but fascinating tales...
The Economist: The faith (and doubts) of our... →
What did the makers of America believe about God and religion? The subject is stirring the very rancour they wanted to avoid
I thought this a very good article, well worth spending a few minutes to read.
Girl on Saturday (blog): The Penis Mom →
The Penis Mom When I was little I wanted to be a lot of things: Johnny Carson’s replacement; A Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader so good I was the only one on the team; an artist with my own wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Art - you know, normal stuff. I wanted to be a lot of things, but I never- I PROMISE you - ever wanted to grow up to be someone known a The Penis Mom. But here I am. It all...
"It's just terrific" - Jan Harlan tells Stanley... →
keithcalder:
Stanley Kubrick discovered the Steadicam from a letter sent by his producer. Makes me think I should be writing better letters.
February, 1976. Producer Jan Harlan writes to Stanley Kubrick and speaks passionately about a new piece of technology so impressive that it could lead to “shots which would not enter your mind otherwise.” That invention was the now-ubiquitous Steadicam,...
SOPA Markup Day 1: We Don't Understand This Bill,... →
from the how-congress-works dept So, if you weren’t paying attention, yesterday was a marathon session of SOPA amendments… It ran for 11.5 hours, with just one tiny break, and it looks like they didn’t even get through half of the amendments. I’ll get into some more details in a bit, but honestly the single best description of the insanity of these hearings came from The...
Electronic Frontier Foundation: An Open Letter... →
Today, a group of 83 prominent Internet inventors and engineers sent an open letter to members of the United States Congress, stating their opposition to the SOPA and PIPA Internet blacklist bills that are under consideration in the House and Senate respectively.
(The letter begins:)
We, the undersigned, have played various parts in building a network called the Internet. We wrote and debugged...
An Open Letter To Newt Gingrich From A Black Kid... →
Dear Newt Gingrich, I recently saw you stand up in front of a group of people and allow some of the most idiotic, unfounded, racist, and ignorant words pass your lips that I’ve ever heard from a member of a group of the most unqualified presidential candidates America has ever seen. To have the audacity to say that poor kids, and let’s be clear that’s republican speak for black and brown...
“Life has no remote! Get up and change it yourself!”
– @twowitwowoo via Twitter (via revdkathy)
“The TLC reality show All-American Muslim, which follows five families in...”
– All-American Muslim Meets an Un-American Advertising Pullout | Entertainment | TIME.com
The Florida Family Association criticizes the show because it “hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” The organization’s mission statement is to...
“Basically we’re still stuck in the situation we were three years ago and we...”
– Reagan Economic adviser Bruce Bartlett explains why Republicans have doomed the economy (via wilwheaton)
Storm Thorgerson interview - November 2011 →
From brain-damage.co.uk :
Written by Matt Monday, 05 December 2011 As many of you know, just published is The Raging Storm - The Album Graphics of StormStudios, the latest, absorbing book from legendary graphic designer, Storm Thorgerson, and his team. Associated with Pink Floyd since 1968, Storm, along with his colleagues Hipgnosis and more recently StormStudios, has provided...
Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination... →
The EPA finding is likely to shape how the U.S. regulates and develops natural gas resources across the Eastern Appalachians
Spaceflight Now | Falcon 9 | SpaceX demo flights... →
The diagnosis →
[Reposting from BoingBoing]
By Xeni Jardin
I have breast cancer. A week ago, I had breast cancer, and the week before that, and the week before that. Maybe five, eight, even ten years ago, the first bad cell split inside me, secretly. But I didn’t know. This is how I arrived at knowing.
(click on the link to continue)
Film Crit Hulk Smash: Hulk And The Cinema Of Edgar... →
Long, but worth taking a few minutes.
Science shirt →
WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR: Cumberland County,North... →
wilwheaton:
This is reblogged from Neil Gaiman. I can’t do a native reblog because it was a question post, so I’m reformatting it here to make it easier for all of us to spread this around and effect a change:
www[.]change[.]org/petitions/dr-jeannette-m-council-drop-the-72-hour-kill-proposal north…
No more virginity in Saudi if women drive, says... →
If women were allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, the result would be catastrophic and lead to “no more virgins,” said clerics from the Majlis al-Ifta al-Aala, the country’s highest religious council. Women in the country have been pushing to drive, and a number of women have driven in protest to the ultra-conservative country’s ban on female drivers in recent months. They face public lashings,...
Infographic: Get More out of Google →
Stephen Hawking on Time Travel →
