August 31, 2012
Meanwhile, Asus
Best Buy sent me a flying saying I could get my zen with Asus. And by getting my zen, I assume they mean waiting seething medititating for a week before hearing from Asus customer service. After examining the invoice, they weren't convinced the Asus computer I bought from Best Buy is in fact an Asus and asked if I could send them a photograph of the machine. I did. It's an Asus.
Which it turns out is a Greek word meaning "don't buy me." I figure I could wait another week but have decided to go ahead and send them a picture of the box before they ask.
Luke Scott - Loom 4K (2012)
I'd love to see it in 3D.
August 27, 2012
Farewell their fallen comrades
"Haka is used throughout New Zealand by many, not only Maori, to demonstrate their collective thoughts. There is a haka for each of the Services, as well as the Defence Force. Units with the NZ Army have their own haka. This video shows the soldiers of 2/1 RNZIR Battalion performing their Unit haka, powerfully acknowledging the lives and feats of their fallen comrades as they come onto the Unit's parade ground."
Hat tip to Mr. Brooks.
August 25, 2012
The apotheosis of Best Buy
Posting is going to be sporadic until further notice. My valiant, ancient laptop died spectacularly yesterday having stood in the stead of a vareity of malfunctioning machines over the years. My ludicrously fast desktop is still down for the count, its CPU fan still out of order.
The state of play: Best Buy will sell you a three year, in home warranty but they have no intention of helping you repair a malfunctioning machine until it is out from under its manufacturer's warranty. In most cases, this means their 3 year service plan is actually a 2 year service plan and, I would have thought, a class action suit in the waiting. Lawyers of Canada may contact me via the side bar to the main page of this blog.
In the meantime, Asus (rhymes with "Jesus") (if you are Spanish speaking) (who knew?), quite understandably need the model number and serial number of the device Best Buy sold me. These are, along with the warranty card, nowhere to be found on the case or shipping box. The classic Catch 22, we won't tell you your serial number or model number when we sell you this machine. You will need both pieces of inforrmation should you ever attempt to hold us to the warranty we sold you with it.
In fairness to Asus, they are now examining the invoice from Best Buy. Rest assured, Asus and Best Buy will honour their commitments to the letter - if in abeyancve of the spirit - of the contract we agreed even if I have to take them to court to encourage them to do so. But I don't expect them to do so any time soon. In the meantime, I will post here as opportunity presents.
Don't buy anything from Best Buy.
Yours in seething rage.
The Flea
August 24, 2012
Romantic traffic
Peter Andrews documents the beauty of America's interstate system.
Peripheral
The Lapka personal environment monitor allows your iPhone to gather analog measures of humidity/temperature, radiation, electromagnetic frequencies (EMF), and organicity (the nitrate concentration of your food, and hence the kind of fertilizers used to raise it).
A/B testing
I have seen continuous A/B testing done on the fly. The process is now being more optimized and, apparently, offered with an interface allowing "creatives" to make sense of the statistics.
Carice van Houten - Particle of Light
Ode to R'hllor.
Second look at: The Red God.
August 23, 2012
Just the thing for my Dormant Volcano Base
Volcanic basalt furniture by Maffam Freeform.
How I learned to stop worrying and love the Kali Yuga
Richard Duncan, formerly of the World Bank and chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Mgmt., says America's $16 trillion federal debt has escalated into a "death spiral" (hat tip to Fenris).
Dramatis personae
Ciarán Hinds has been cast as King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder. In other Game of Thrones casting, Ed Skrein is Daario Naharis and Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm.
Update: Meet the new faces of Season 3.
Zusammenhang: Making-Of-Trailer in voller Länge.
Bunny dressage
"Invented in Sweden in the early Eighties, Kaninhop involves bunnies bouncing their way around courses consisting of several small jumps of varying height and length."
August 22, 2012
Curiosity descent
What it looks like to land on another planet.
Precarious
Volvograd's Motherland war memorial statue is leaning as its foundations subside and is now in danger of collapse.
It commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad, when the Soviet army eventually managed to defeat the invading German forces in what is widely seen as a turning point in World War II.
Elsewhere: Precariously leaning towers of the world.
Cockneys vs Zombies
Zombie related: "Bruce Campbell has seen the new Evil Dead, still swears it's awesome, is probably making a cameo."
August 21, 2012
Dame of Thrones
Kristen McMenamy in W Magazine (hat tip to Mr. Percifield; nsfw - fashion).
Facekini
Orange is the most effective in protecting people from sea creatures.
Nope
"The pools have been designed to jut out from the building, giving the impression to swimmers that they are practising front crawl suspended in mid-air."
Mozart - Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - 1. Introitus Requiem Aeternam
Tamás Gol - Budapest Concert Orchestra (2006).
August 20, 2012
Type 26 Frigate Global Combat Ship
The latest design of the Royal Navy’s next generation of warships has been unveiled today by the Ministry of Defence.
DARPA chameleon
"The robot, made of soft silicone, has been designed to infiltrate areas through small gaps, before adapting its 'skin-tone' to that of its surroundings."
Chemistry-and-Camera
Mars rover Curiosity zaps a rock, engages spectrometers.
August 18, 2012
Tale of Jack Frost (1964)
Jack Frost (Russian: Морозко, Morozko) is a traditional Russian Fairy tale which served as the basis for a Soviet production (Gorky Film Studio) that was originally released in 1964. A version with a new soundtrack was released in 1966 in the U.S. It was directed by Aleksandr Rou, and starred Eduard Izotov as Ivan, Natalya Sedykh as Nastenka, and Oleksandr Khvylia as Father Frost. The script was written by Nikolai Erdman. The soundtrack was composed by Nikolai Budashkin, who was inspired by the works of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Neverwas Haul
"Equal parts locomotive engine, steamship, and Victorian house, the Neverwas Haul is home to the Travelling Academy of UnNatural Science."
August 17, 2012
Mr. Digit and the Battle of Bubbling Brook (1961)
Hat tip to Alex.
The apotheosis of Best Buy
Several thoughts:
I - When Best Buy sells you a three year Performance Service Plan, what they mean is a two year service plan. The first year is between you and your manufacturer for everything except whatever your manufacturer does not cover and, of course, whatever Best Buy forgot to opt out of in the small print. This may sound like a rip off but, trust me, you'd feel more ripped off if it took you six emails, three phone calls (two dropped, one unreturned) to find someone at Best Buy to tell you they won't fix the problem. The thieving fucks.
II - Don't buy anything at Best Buy unless it is essentially disposable, you are better off in Chinatown where at least the overheads are lower. Also, don't buy anything at Best Buy.
III - Next time, I'm buying a Mac.
August 15, 2012
Kelly Clarkson joins Metal Skool
With her friend jack Daniels (nsfw, obviously).
Top Comment: "Definition of third wheel = Singer from yellow card."
Art competitions at the Olympic Games
From 1912 to 1952, you could win gold medals in architecture, literature or music. I would enjoy being a town planning Olympian.
August 14, 2012
David Blackwood - Lone Mummer Inside (1979)
Mummering began to die out after Confederation in 1949, but was revived in the mid-1970s following the release of a National Film Board documentary, Blackwood.
The Campaign for Wool
Live naturally & choose wool.
Wool Week 2012: Wool Week 2012 will begin in the United Kingdom on October 15th.
August 13, 2012
The Gary Barlow tragedy and internet idiots
Gary Barlow isn't that well known on this side of the Atlantic but, ten years after his boy band career, he is still a serious star in the UK. Having done so much work toward the Jubilee and the Olympics, and with the birth - and death - of his daughter a week ago, he went on to perform at yesterday's closing ceremonies.
A number of people commented at Jason Manford's Facebook page decided to somehow find fault with the man for doing so. Manford's response is worth reading in full.
But the Dad is bonding too all this while. He is scared, he is worried, both for his baby and his wife. From the moment his wife comes in with the ClearBlue, he is on it. He is thinking about the extra mouth that needs feeding, he is wondering where he is going to get the energy from to go through it all again, he is wondering how long he can afford to take off work, he is worried for his wife, he wants to keep her happy, but she’s crying and throwing up and keeps leaving the key in the door, and he comes home from work and she’s up some step ladders, 7 months pregnant putting up some curtains and he shouts, scared that he could lose them both at any moment. He goes to the hospital with her, he hears the heartbeat and his eyes fill with tears, partly with relief but also with ultimate pride, that this woman has done this for him, has given her body, and mind and maybe even her career so that they can, together, bring a child into the world.
Nemean Games
"Professional athletes, branded sports gear, mobile phones and advertising logos are banned from this pine-clad sanctuary in the northern Peloponnese, the site of a 2,300-year-old athletics stadium which every four years hosts an authentic ancient games."
Background: With the Isthmian Games, the Nemean Games were held both the year before and the year after the Ancient Olympic Games and the Pythian Games in the third year of the Olympiad cycle. Like the Olympic Games, they were held in honour of Zeus.
Foreground: The Society for the Revival of the Nemean Games.
August 12, 2012
August 11, 2012
August 10, 2012
Trey Ratcliff - 30 Days and 30 Nights in Queenstown, New Zealand
This one is worth clicking through to watch in full screen HD.
The music is from my friend... one of the few people on earth that makes my heart beat a little faster than normal... Hans Zimmer. It's called "Budget Meeting" from the movie King Arthur.
August 09, 2012
Automated construction
Behrokh Khoshnevis describes a 3D printer designed to build a house in 20 hours.
Carl Sagan
"Maybe we're on Mars because we have to be, because there's a deep nomadic impulse built into us by the evolutionary process, we come after all, from hunter gatherers, and for 99.9% of our tenure on Earth we've been wanderers. And, the next place to wander to, is Mars. But whatever the reason you're on Mars is, I'm glad you're there. And I wish I was with you."
August 08, 2012
Robert Hughes - The Shock of the New (1980)
Episode 1 - The Mechanical Paradise (via Five Feet of Fury, with sad news).
Robert Hughes: The art critic with a dash of the streetfighter.
Counterfactual landmarks
The Thames Tunnel and the Great Tower of London.
Security questions
Are a joke.
Gmail users: Turn on two-step verification.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted
An Alpha Teaser for Big Robot's open-world tweedpunk action title.
August 07, 2012
August 06, 2012
Fall/Winter is coming
“Inspired by the HBO series Game of Thrones, Helmut Lang designers Nicole and Michael Colovos looked to the rangers of the Night’s Watch, a rugged band of soldiers sworn to guard the northern border between the kingdoms of men and the haunted forest.”
Ice and Fire round up
Amateur: Team Westeros.
Professional: Game of Thrones inspired merchandise on Etsy. The dragonglass arrowheads could come in handy.
Commentator: A Game of Thrones interpreted chapter by chapter through haiku.
Tyrion wakes on the edge of the sky
Will he fly
not if Bronn decides
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Trailer 2012 #2
I will sing a song of my people.
August 05, 2012
August 04, 2012
Forsaken Beauty
"Fervent fans craving a taste of True Blood can stay fashion-forward by sinking their fangs into the fragrance and beauty collection Forsaken."
He hath indeed better bettered expectation
"While shooting The Avengers director Joss Whedon took a two week vacation in which he secretly shot a micro-budget feature film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing."
Habeus corpora
In China, the rich and powerful can hire body doubles to do their prison time for them.
August 03, 2012
Hour 25 - Philip K. Dick
Mike Hodel interviews Philip K. Dick for science fiction themed radio show Hour 25. Recorded in 1977 before the release of A Scanner Darkly.
Philip K. Dick - The Android and The Human (1972)
"A native of Africa is said to view his surroundings as pulsing with a purpose, a life, which is actually within himself; once these childish projections are withdrawn, he sees that the world is dead, and that life resides solely within himself. When he reaches this sophisticated point he is said to be either mature or sane. Or scientific. But one wonders: has he not also, in this process, reifed -- that is, made into a thing -- other people? Stones and rocks and trees may now be inanimate for him, but what about his friends? Has he not now made them into stones, too?"
Globaïa - Welcome to the Anthropocene
'Welcome to the Anthropocene' Earth Animation from Globaïa on Vimeo.
Hat tip to Justin!
Die Antwoord - I Fink U Freeky
(nsfw - language, Die Antwoord)
Live on Letterman, which is still on the air, apparently.
August 02, 2012
Thomas Jane - #DIRTYLAUNDRY (2012)
"In a run-down neighborhood, Frank Castle wakes up and exits his van to get his laundry done."
(nsfw, gore/punishment)
August 01, 2012
Six important sci-fi ideas
Garrett Putnam Serviss (March 24, 1851–May 25, 1929) was an astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. In the same year H.G. Wells published The War of the Worlds, Serviss published an unauthorized sequel, Edison's Conquest of Mars.
Also, it was one of the most revolutionary sci-fi novels ever written.
Robbaz - Rollercoaster Tycoon 3
Welcome to Valhalla "Viking Commentary".