December 2008
Jona Frank, Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy... →
A series of photographs, with text, from Jona Frank’s Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League, depicting home schooled kids who attend Patrick Henry, an Evangelical college founded by…
The 12-cent Perpetual Calendar →
You don’t need a new calendar for the new year, if you’ve got 12 cents and an understanding of binary numbers! Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories posted instructions for making your own perpetual…
Cuban-Americans Mark Revolution’s Anniversary... →
Shared by mabisa
How even-handed of you, Gray Lady.
Fifty years after Fidel Castro seized power in Havana, South Florida’s Cuban-Americans are wondering how long the pain must go on.
Mario inspired flowerpots ready to bloom →
These two Super Mario Bros-inspired flower pots bring back the 8 bit graphics found in that game to your private garden or home. Pretty cool idea to integrate the old school…
REGULATION. →
Dean Baker has a very nice piece in the Boston Review trying to bring a bit of clarity to the debate over regulation. As he argues, American politics frames the issue as a contest between two…
Do Romantic Comedies Indoctrinate? →
The LA Times writes up some research (done by some UK researchers in the field of psychology) on the media effects of Hollywood romantic comedies. (Hat tip: Kevin Drum). Arguing that these…
Study: What Are Voter Expectations of How Obama... →
We’ve previously speculated about how President-elect Obama will use his massive social media influence to garner support for his initiatives once in The White House. And during the transition,…
The “Magic Negro” Party →
Back during the Republican presidential primaries, there was a lot of sentiment that sure Rudy Giuliani was a baby-killer and didn’t hate gays, and sure he lacked relevant qualifications for…
Preliminary injunction = granted!! →
Just in from the courthouse:
Judge Fox granted the preliminary injunction halting library closures and reportedly said that we are a strong city, will get through this budget crisis, and that the…
The Ongoing Torture Fight →
The CIA and establishment media push to soften the edges of torture keeps on ticking, in the form of ongoing outrage over the Brennan non-nomination and trying to turn the ire against bloggers….
How to Profit From the Coming Rapture →
At first I thought this was a tongue-in-cheek photoshopped book cover, but How to Profit From the Coming Rapture: Getting Ahead When You’re Left Behind is actually a real book.
Well, actually…
Who are the terrorists? →
For credit, see. (thanks Hadjar)
We will kill you if you go to school →
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From Western (excuse me, ‘Western’) feminism to global feminisms back to Western feminism again.
Among some groups of ‘Western’ feminists, perhaps especially within academia,…
Blaming the 'Burbs →
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I’m adding this to my lengthy ‘To Read 2009’ list.
‘Revolutionary Road,’ considered the original anti-suburban novel, isn’t actually anti-suburbs—but something far more…
Frank Rich - You’re Likable Enough, Gay People -... →
Obama may not only overestimate his ability to bridge some of our fundamental differences but also underestimate how persistent some of those differences are. The exhilaration of his decisive…
Filled pauses and faked audio →
After a period of having her staff send answers in writing to written questions, Caroline Kennedy recently granted an interview to Nicholas Confessore and David M. Halbfinger of the New York Times….
How Can the Stimulus Plan Help the Internet? →
Wired is running an article raising the question of how a US economic stimulus plan could best help broadband adoption and the internet in general. We discussed President-elect Obama’s statements…
ISRAEL, WRONG. →
This is the paragraph that I can’t get out of my head:
Hamas had in recent weeks let it be known that it doubted Israel would engage in a major military undertaking because of its coming…
MONEY MONEY MONEY! MONEY! →
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Perhaps it’s my memory, but I’m pretty sure The Nation already printed one of these Officially Vindicating Howard Dean articles this year. Not that I’m complaining—the man…
Steak Heaven →
Shared by mabisa
1) Indeed. More than any other mainstream newspaper, the New York Times has really embraced creating novel, internet-specific media. 2) NOMNOMNOMSTEAK.
This is very cool. The…
The Flag of Equal Marriage Rights →
Shared by Dominic
The word ‘poetic’ comes to mind.
Created by tashian.com: In 1902, when the Women’s Suffrage movement was just getting warmed up, the American flag had 45 stars. In…
It's not a supermarket, it's a behavioural... →
The Economist has a fascinating article on how new technology is turning supermarkets into behavioural science labs and how you are an unwitting participant in marketing experiments. The…
First Look At Windows 7 Beta 1 →
Shared by mabisa
It’s strange, but I really want Windows 7 to be successful; I hated all the Vista-bashing, and felt horrible for MS during the whole Gates/Seinfeld commericals debacle. I guess…
Maasi Warriors →
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My fake husband is Maasai.
Maasai warriors cover a battle field as they clash with bows and arrows with members of the Kalenjin tribe in the Kapune hill overlooking…
CIA Uses Viagra as Bribing Tactic in Afghanistan →
Yesterday, the Washington Post had an article about how the CIA is now bribing warlords and chieftains in Afghanistan with Viagra, as opposed to say, money or guns. My first concern was about the…
Alternative semiotics of footwear flinging →
Today’s Doonesbury:
The backstory:
Among the commentary on the famous Iraqi shoe-chucking incident, this is the first one I’ve seen that points out the generally jocular and…
The rise of hacker spaces... →
Urban Studies - For Geeks, a Frat House and Lab, All in One - NYTimes.com… Great article on NYC Resistor! Diana Eng is one of seven women in the collective. A former contestant on…
Viva La Pop →
(YouTube link)
DJ Earworm has another masterful mashup, this one covering the entire year of 2008. This video features the top 25 songs of the year, according to Billboard Magazine. A…
UK Culture Secretary Wants Website Ratings,... →
kaufmanmoore writes “UK culture secretary Andy Burnham calls for a website rating system similar to the one used for movies in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. He also calls for censorship of…
Readerville Journal | Most Coveted Covers →
Regular feature from The Readerville Journal, judging a book—necessarily—by its cover.
Chaplin lifted weary world's spirits →
From The Washington Times:
The story of Chaplin’s life is well-known, or at least, it is thought to be: The hellish Victorian upbringing and terrifying poverty, the lightning,…
Information Architects » Web Design is 95%... →
Today we are inundated with such an immense flood of printed matter that the value of the individual work has depreciated, for our harassed contemporaries simply cannot take everything that is…
Ghosts in the Machine →
Alan Dunning, Morley Hollenberg and Paul Woodrow are working since 1996 on the Einstein’s Brain, a project that explores how the brain can act as an interface between bodies and worlds in…
Google Trends →
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OMG ESOTERIC METAFILTER REFERENCE ON XKCD!!! It must be Christmas!
Christmas with Hitler →
reddit_url=”
reddit_title=’[TITLE]’ What was Christmas like with Hitler? The answer comes from a Michigan communications professor, who’s created a disturbing web collection showing the Third… …
Bad Typography is Everywhere →
The Other Shirtless Presidents →
Click the picture for more.
2008 Christmas Special →
Shared by mabisa
“I thought it was Richard Stallman with a dyed beard.” Heh.
Arcade Mania by Brian Ashcraft and Jean Snow →
Arcades are dead. And rightfully so: American arcades never bothered to change with the times (despite a brief dalliance with the public spectacle of games like Dance Dance Revolution). Not…
Christmas across The Commons →
From the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands. Spaarnestad Photo, SFA022802499. The Great War (First World War). Christmas in a German hospital for wounded soldiers. Germany, Berlin, 1914.…
Happy Christmas →
For about thirty years, Professor Laurie Taylor (retired from the University of York) has been doing a humor column in Times Higher Education, a U.K. university administration magazine, in the…
Run-DMC's Christmas →
Our own Morgan Meis in The Smart Set:
Christmas music has never ranked highly among music aficionados. It exists, but no one likes to think about it much. Still, to create Christmas music…
Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home →
the_kanzure points out ths AP story on amateur genetic engineering, excerpting: “The Apple computer was invented in a garage. Same with the Google search engine. Now, tinkerers are working at home…
Merry Christmas From John Waters →
by Amanda Marcotte Hat tip to Kathy for reminding me of one of the better scenes in an old John Waters flick.
Happy Holidays! →
Click above. Here are some of our favorite holiday cards…
Obama Rises Out of the Shadows →
Out of all the Obamartists we’ve seen thus far, Michael Murphy gets our endorsement for using the greatest variety of mediums to creatively depict the President-elect. He’s used high tension…
Arcade Mania by Brian Ashcraft and Jean Snow →
Arcades are dead. And rightfully so: American arcades never bothered to change with the times (despite a brief dalliance with the public spectacle of games like Dance Dance Revolution). Not…
Ari Folman on Funding Animated Documentaries →
Although animated documentaries are one of the most exciting areas of filmmaking today, in an interview for Comingsoon.net, Waltz with Bashir director Ari Forman in discussing the problems…
Hodgman fans flesh out his mole-man army →
In a season rich with religious celebration, it’s good to know someone is honoring AdFreak’s patron saint, John Hodgman. While best known for his “I’m a PC” acting work, Hodgman’s talents…
Legal Troubles Continue To Mount For Diebold →
Shared by mabisa
Thank goodness.
dstates writes “The State of Maryland has filed a $8.5M claim against Premier Election Systems (previously known as Diebold), joining Ohio in seeking damages from…