There’s a super interesting article at FinancialTimes.com about subway commuting stray dogs in Moscow. Some of these dogs ride the subway around the city center and suburbs to take advantage of different opportunities.
Tag: MWE
‘Meh’st Week Ever – Fall Break Edition
I have grown attached to this weekly tradition, so I think I will continue to do it. Apologies to anybody that has seen all these before.
1. Visual Illusions from Scientific American
There’s a cool slideshow on the Scientific American website that shows some of the fruit of new research into how we process images. I’m sure most people have seen the standard optical illusions, but these all pertain to the way that we analyze faces. I can tell from my stats page that most people don’t actually click on the links, but I promise you that this is a fun way to spend 2.5-4 minutes of your time.
2. Every time you turn on the heat in Sweden, God kills a bunny.
Apparently the feral rabbit population in Sweden is so out of control that private contractors cull the rabbits then turn them into biofuel for home and commercial heating. The idea is so bizarre, not to mention squeamishly gross, that I would believe that it’s a hoax, but the reporting comes from Die Spiegel, an outfit with some credibility.
Thousands of stray rabbits in Sweden are being shot, frozen and then burned for heat. Stockholm even hires rabbit hunters for the task, like Tommy Tuvuynger, a modern day Elmer Fudd.
“We are shooting rabbits in Stockholm center, they are a very big problem,” he said. “Once culled, the rabbits are frozen and when we have enough; a contractor comes and takes them away.”
3. Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking auto-tuned.
I actually heard about this on NPR before I saw the video. I figure if it’s broken into the mainstream, everybody has seen it, but in case you haven’t, here it is:
I think it’s a brilliant example of an art form (or at least an artistic technique) maturing. This is something beyond the novelty of auto-tune applied to an unusual source. I also find it affecting that Stephen Hawking, someone who only speaks through a computer today, has his real voice altered.
4. Organelle Hangeliers
Organelle, a Vancouver design firm, assembles these found-object chandeliers. I am delighted by them. I do wonder if they look as good in real life as they do in these fancy, controlled photographs, but I think they managed to make something genuinely beautiful out of an unexpected material.
(Via Core 77)
5. Talking Piano
It’s basically a physical vocoder. It’s awesome.
6. The American Symphony from Mr. Holland’s Opus
I saw that Mr. Holland’s Opus was available on Netflix, and attempted to watch it. I had forgotten what a sappy, cliché ridden piece of shit it is. It really frustrates me when I watch movies about music education, because they are always so saccharine and terrible. I’m trying to thing about movies that accurately portray the student-teacher relationship, and I’m coming up with precious few examples. Perhaps Shine when Helfgott is studying at the Royal College of Music.
Anyway, the absolute worst part of the movie is the gimmicky, trite ‘symphony’ that Mr. Holland’s students perform for him as he retires. It’s a more painful damnation of him than any funding decision ever could be.
In an example of Youtube commenting genius, user tzebra writes:
An amazing tribute to a unique nation, which for such a young age has accomplished, created, invented, freed, and inspired more than any other in history.
which is like the funniest thing I have ever read. Listen, I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but really. Pretension + absurd hyperbole = LOLZ.
'Meh'st Week Ever – Fall Break Edition
I have grown attached to this weekly tradition, so I think I will continue to do it. Apologies to anybody that has seen all these before.
1. Visual Illusions from Scientific American
There’s a cool slideshow on the Scientific American website that shows some of the fruit of new research into how we process images. I’m sure most people have seen the standard optical illusions, but these all pertain to the way that we analyze faces. I can tell from my stats page that most people don’t actually click on the links, but I promise you that this is a fun way to spend 2.5-4 minutes of your time.
2. Every time you turn on the heat in Sweden, God kills a bunny.
Apparently the feral rabbit population in Sweden is so out of control that private contractors cull the rabbits then turn them into biofuel for home and commercial heating. The idea is so bizarre, not to mention squeamishly gross, that I would believe that it’s a hoax, but the reporting comes from Die Spiegel, an outfit with some credibility.
Thousands of stray rabbits in Sweden are being shot, frozen and then burned for heat. Stockholm even hires rabbit hunters for the task, like Tommy Tuvuynger, a modern day Elmer Fudd.
“We are shooting rabbits in Stockholm center, they are a very big problem,” he said. “Once culled, the rabbits are frozen and when we have enough; a contractor comes and takes them away.”
3. Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking auto-tuned.
I actually heard about this on NPR before I saw the video. I figure if it’s broken into the mainstream, everybody has seen it, but in case you haven’t, here it is:
I think it’s a brilliant example of an art form (or at least an artistic technique) maturing. This is something beyond the novelty of auto-tune applied to an unusual source. I also find it affecting that Stephen Hawking, someone who only speaks through a computer today, has his real voice altered.
4. Organelle Hangeliers
Organelle, a Vancouver design firm, assembles these found-object chandeliers. I am delighted by them. I do wonder if they look as good in real life as they do in these fancy, controlled photographs, but I think they managed to make something genuinely beautiful out of an unexpected material.
(Via Core 77)
5. Talking Piano
It’s basically a physical vocoder. It’s awesome.
6. The American Symphony from Mr. Holland’s Opus
I saw that Mr. Holland’s Opus was available on Netflix, and attempted to watch it. I had forgotten what a sappy, cliché ridden piece of shit it is. It really frustrates me when I watch movies about music education, because they are always so saccharine and terrible. I’m trying to thing about movies that accurately portray the student-teacher relationship, and I’m coming up with precious few examples. Perhaps Shine when Helfgott is studying at the Royal College of Music.
Anyway, the absolute worst part of the movie is the gimmicky, trite ‘symphony’ that Mr. Holland’s students perform for him as he retires. It’s a more painful damnation of him than any funding decision ever could be.
In an example of Youtube commenting genius, user tzebra writes:
An amazing tribute to a unique nation, which for such a young age has accomplished, created, invented, freed, and inspired more than any other in history.
which is like the funniest thing I have ever read. Listen, I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but really. Pretension + absurd hyperbole = LOLZ.
Links
I’ve been way too busy to update this blog. But here are some links that have been cluttering up my bookmarks:
1. “Even a Radiohead fan can appreciate Mozart”
I wish I could like this Boston Globe op-ed by Harvard sophomore Matt Aucoin. I really like the idea that younger people should be more receptive to the idea of attending classical music concerts, and not feel intimidated by the… old.
But I don’t know what it is that rubs me the wrong way. It might be the smarmy, self-congratulary tone. It might be the lame joke about Twitter and NYC Prep. It could be the headline (which I will admit Aucoin almost certainly had nothing to do with): Radiohead is actually fairly sophisticated pop music. A better lede would be “even a Lady GaGa fan can appreciate Mozart.”
2. This arrangement of “How Great Thou Art”
3. The Biggest Baby You’ve Ever Seen
A 19.2 pound baby. Story here.
Random Links
Life is sucking hard (It’s certainly sucking) (You’re welcome, John).
1. Saffron
Did you know that it takes a field of crocuses the size of a football field to grow a pound of saffron? Or that 16th century German merchants could be executed for selling fake saffron? Read all about the world’s most valuable spice here.
2. Building a luxury sports car is actually quite involved.
3. Sage Stossel is quite funny.
This article, making the argument that “making learning cool could reform education,” is one of the stupidest things I have ever read. I’m really disappointed in the quality of Wired‘s offerings of late (I should note that I’m not a subscriber, so I’m getting exactly what I deserve). I don’t know if I’m just remembering it wrong, or if the magazine has actually changed for the worse, but now it seems to be filled with rewritten product press releases, and stupid, conventional wisdom articles with back-patting, self-congratulatory “geek” humor.
First of all, the phrasing of their argument doesn’t make any sense; it ends up saying nothing. You know what would also reform education? If every kid got better grades! or if all teachers were better! or if all schools taught kids more effectively! Why don’t we try those “reforms”?
But taking the argument on face value, it’s still bullshit. I am extremely lucky to have attended an exclusive prep school. That was an environment where everybody went to college. Good colleges, too. And let me tell you, even in Arcadia there was only a cursory correlation between intelligence and popularity. There was an inverse relationship between popularity and grade performance. Nobody was more despised than the brown-nosing fucks that pulled straight A’s*. I will note that those people were generally girls. Hey, that’s an idea! Let’s raise school performance by only requiring education for females.
*I will admit that there was one boy that was extremely popular and also had fantastic grades. But he was inhumanly beautiful and likely a benevolent demigod.
hammer & jack 