July 2012
52 posts
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Jonah Lehrer’s Deceptions →
Michael C. Moynihan, writing in Tablet:1
Last month, [Jonah] Lehrer was accused of a curious journalistic offense: the act of “self-plagiarism.” Lehrer, a staff writer at the New Yorker and celebrated author of three books, cannibalized his own work, posting often word-for-word excerpts from Imagine on the New Yorker’s blog without noting that it had been published elsewhere. To some, it was a...
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Cow Floating →
So here’s something that apparently happens in the United States: cow floating. From a 2011 article in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel by Karen Herzog:
When Chloe, the ailing Holstein cow, went down and couldn’t get up on the hottest day of the year Wednesday, her owner did what many modern Dairyland farmers would do:
He called a cow floater.
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Thanks to her own buoyancy,...
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Avila v. Citrus Community College Dist., 131 P. 3d... →
I’ve started reading The Unwritten Rules of Baseball by Paul Dickson, which is pretty neato so far.
In it, he mentions a legal case from 2006 about being hit by pitches. Some background from the opinion by Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar:
During an intercollegiate baseball game at a community college, one of the home team’s batters is hit by a pitch. In the next half-inning, the home...
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Elusive Sneezing Monkeys Photographed →
In February, I posted about a new species of monkey discovered in Asia in 2010 which was denied further study because the only known animal was killed and eaten. I juxtaposed that with an oddly prescient article from The Onion because I think I’m all clever and shit.
Well, since then, more have been found! Jeanna Bryner on LiveScience:
A group of monkeys whose nostrils are so upturned...
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A movie star makes India confront its taboos →
AP report on social issues and TV in India:
Shining light on inequities like the rampant abortion of female fetuses, caste discrimination and the slaying of brides in dowry disputes, actor Aamir Khan has reached an estimated one-third of the country with a new TV talk show that tackles persistent flaws of modern India that many of its citizens would prefer to ignore.
“Satyamev...
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Finder: Voice →
Just recently finished this graphic novel. Very much enjoyed it. Especially recommended to anyone who enjoys lots and lots of world-building. Oh, and plus, female comic author and artist and female protagonist.
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"Cloud Atlas" →
When I heard they were adapting Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell’s 2004 incredible, six-stories-in-one novel, I was really sad. The book seems almost impossible to adapt to the screen. But the more I learned about the project the more excited I’ve gotten. Tom Twyker and the Wachowskis in charge? Maybe it’ll work.
Now we’re finally getting to see our first look and holy crapola...
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Trans man speaks up on gender bias in science... →
From Sharon Begley’s profile in the WSJ of Ben Barres, born Barbara Barrres, a neuroscientist who underwent sex reassignment therapy:
As an MIT undergraduate, Barbara was one of the only women in a large math class, and the only student to solve a particularly tough problem. The professor “told me my boyfriend must have solved it for me,” recalls Prof. Barres, 51 years old,...
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For first time in 60-plus years, neither... →
Interesting tidbit about the upcoming U.S. Presidential election from Tom Raum of the AP:
The race between President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney marks the first time since World War II that neither major-party candidate has had any military experience.
I suspect this will become much more common in the future. The draft ended in the U.S. in 1973, thirty-eight years ago, so...
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App detects potholes, alerts Boston city officials →
Rodrique Ngowi writing about some cool tech for the AP:
Boston officials are testing an app called Street Bump that allows drivers to automatically report the road hazards to the city as soon as they hear that unfortunate “thud,” with their smartphones doing all the work.
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Before they even start their trip, drivers using Street Bump fire up the app, then set their smartphones...
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Judge Rules Nudity Can Be Constitutionally... →
NIgel Duara, AP:
An Oregon man who stripped nude at Portland’s airport security to protest what he saw as invasive measures was found not guilty of indecent exposure.
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge David Rees ruled Wednesday that John Brennan’s act was one of protest and therefore, protected speech.
Try adding some nudity to your next protest to spice things up a bit!
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Why Skin Color of Fictional Characters is... →
A tumblr user known only as “black-ink-on-pink”:
So I’m reading various things on tumblr, related to Legend of Korra, the portrayal and representation of dark-skinned characters in fiction, and the question that comes around is: Why is this even important?
Let me answer that for you.
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Wikipedia: Bambi →
There’s a lot of gold in the “Production” section of the Bambi article on Wikipedia.
Sidney Franklin, a producer and director at MGM films, purchased the film rights to Felix Salten’s novel Bambi, A Life in the Woods in 1933, intending to adapt it as a live-action film. Deciding it would be too difficult to make such a film, he sold the film rights to Walt Disney in April...
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Mistwalker's first iOS game, "Party Wave" →
Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square-Enix in 2004 and formed a new studio named Mistwalker. Their first iOS game is coming out soon and it’s called… Party Wave. It’s about surfing. Okay then!
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warm & punchy: it has been seven years since... →
warmandpunchy:
silkworm is my favourite band, ever.
i first heard silkworm in 2006. what i heard, specifically, were their first two records as a three-piece, after the departure of excellent guitar dude & songwriter joel rl phelps.
firewater and developer both perfectly set the mood for their…
Jesus.
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'Easy' parking spots for women introduced by... →
Matthew Day for the Telegraph:
Spaces in a new car park in the Black Forest town of Triberg now come with male and female symbols. The spaces for women are wider and well lit, while those for men are close to concrete pillars and can only be reversed into.
Explaining the policy, Mayor Gallus Strobel said it was a natural decision because men are better at parking than women.
… Mr Strobel, who...
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Anomalisa →
All you need to know is:
Charlie Kaufman wrote the script
Dan Harmon and Dino Stamatopoulos are among the executive producers
Kickstarter
Oh, and it’s stop motion
Go right now.
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"Contrarianism by Proxy" →
In case you missed it earlier this week, there’s a new episode of Postmodem. Which, if you don’t remember, is the podcast I do with Patrick Thomson and Phillip Bowden. It also showed your sister a nice time with dinner and a movie, no funny stuff.
On this latest episode we talk about programming a little but also comics, hipsters, music and probably some other stuff that I’m forgetting. If you...
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Little change in Dutch euthanasia post-legality →
AP report:
The frequency of doctor-assisted euthanasia in the Netherlands has changed little since the longstanding practice was legalized in 2002, according to a new study.
A summary published Wednesday on The Lancet magazine’s website said that “in 2010, of all deaths in the Netherlands, 2.8 percent were the result of euthanasia. This is higher than the 1.7 percent in 2005, but...
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Residents in bid to stop Olympic missiles on roof →
Jill Lawless writing for the Associated Press:
Residents of a London apartment tower went to court Monday in a bid to stop their rooftop from being used as a missile base during the Olympic Games, saying the deployment in a densely-populated area could make the building a terrorist target.
The British military plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles at six sites around London as part of a vast...
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WatchThe only way I can describe Grouplove’s cover of “Party Hard” is by saying it sounds like Syd Barrett and Guided By Voices teamed up to cover an Andrew W.K. song. Good God.
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New papers deal huge blow to NASA-backed finding... →
John Timmer, Ars Technica:
NASA scientists had found evidence that life on Earth could rely on alternate chemistry, one that replaced the phosphorus used in many biomolecules for a chemical relative that is usually toxic: arsenic.
… Researchers quickly identified a number of holes in the initial analysis, both logical and experimental. Less than six months later, Science published a series of...
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How to be a fan of problematic things →
Rachael, Social Justice League:
I like things, and some of those things are problematic. I like Lord of the Rings even though it’s pretty fucked up with regard to women and race (any narrative that says “this whole race is evil” is fucked up, okay). I like A Song of Ice and Fire even though its portrayal of people of colour is problematic, and often I find that its in-text condemnation of...
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Insurance companies send crews to protect homes →
The AP:
Insurance companies began sending crews to wildfires around 2006, said Paul Broyles, former head of fire operations at the National Interagency Fire Center, which coordinates federal firefighting efforts from Boise, Idaho. Land use changes in the past two decades have allowed more homes to be built in or near wildfire-prone areas, prompting the insurance companies to offer such a...
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Military chaplains: End of ‘don’t ask’ ban on gays... →
David Crary writing for the Associated Press:
Prior to repeal, various conservative groups and individuals — including many conservative retired chaplains — warned that repeal would trigger an exodus of chaplains whose faiths consider homosexual activity to be sinful. In fact, there’s been no significant exodus — perhaps two or three departures of active-duty chaplains linked to the...
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China lifts ban on lesbians giving blood →
Molly Gray, CNN:
The Chinese Ministry of Health has lifted a 14-year-old ban on lesbians donating blood in effect as of July 1.
The ban still applies to men who are sexually active with other men, but celibate homosexuals are permitted to give blood, according to the Ministry of Health’s website.
The original ban, enacted in 1998, barred homosexuals of both genders from donating blood...
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Probe: data in 172 papers by Toho University... →
Report from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun:
The Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA) on June 29 announced the results of an investigation finding that at least 172 research papers by Yoshitaka Fujii, a former associate professor of anesthesiology at Toho University, contained fabricated data.
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The investigation covered 212 papers listing Fujii as an author in 41 journals between 1991...
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Ex-Argentine dictators jailed for baby thefts →
MSNBC & news services:
Three key figures from Argentina’s “Dirty War” got hefty jail terms for the systematic theft of babies from political prisoners during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, an Argentine court ruled on Thursday.
The missing children — stolen from their parents and illegally adopted, often by military families — are one of the most painful legacies...
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The world’s smallest fly probably decapitates... →
Ed Yong on Discover’s Not Exactly Rocket Science blog:
Some flies, known as phorids, specialise in decapitating ants in a gruesome way. They lay their eggs inside their victims. When the maggots hatch, they move towards the ant’s head, where they gorge upon the brain and other tissues. The ant stumbles about in a literally mindless stupor until the connection between its head and body is...
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