Link Archive 12/17/14 - 2/3/15
Haven't done this in too long. So much to archive.
Image - well shit, I can't argue with that. From Spiderman And The X-Men #2 (unverified), on sale now.
When a character receives gets a "First Edition" of The Iliad - The moment you know that everyone involved in this movie had run out of fucks.
Here's a way I never thought of gender - "I think that some people don’t have that subjective internal sense of themselves as being a particular gender. There’s no part of their brain that says “I’m a guy!”, they just look around and people are calling them “he” and they go with the flow. They’re cis by default, not out of a match between their gender identity and their assigned gender."
Google abandons basically all their archiving projects. :( "organizing the world’s information isn’t always profitable. Projects that preserve the past for the public good aren’t really a big profit center."
FCC prohibits Wi-Fi blocking. Fuck yeah!
This story is *amazing*. I feel bad quoting any part of it, because to take a tiny piece out of context doesn't do either the piece or the whole justice. But just a tiny snippet... "when it comes to beauty, we are insatiable. Art does not make us feel better. Love songs and Virtual Kenneths and Rembrandts only feed the fire that consumes us."
The $3500 Shirt - A History Lesson in Economics. We've come a long way.
Quiet Hands, an article for the neurotypical. 1. When I was a little girl, they held my hands down in tacky glue while I cried. 2. I’m a lot bigger than them now. Walking down a hall to a meeting, my hand flies out to feel the texture on the wall as I pass by. “Quiet hands,” I whisper. My hand falls to my side.
An acquaintance recommended Rat Queens and it is awesome! Hilarious, tons of personality, and just a downright pleasure to read. Try to read the first five pages and not fall right in love.
A Career in Science Will Cost You Your Firstborn. Is there any career actually *doing something of value* that still pays decent money in the US? Or is it all just banking, admin, and finance gaming the system?
Backing up our intuitions with actual data - The first randomized controlled trial of police body cameras shows that cameras sharply reduce the use of force by police and the number of citizen complaints.
Eric Holder Orders End to DOJ Program that Shares Seized Assets with Police. I'm actually surprised that things can still become un-fucked. Does that mean I'm too jaded? I know it's just one step, but it's a very good first step!
France disappoints everyone by jailing people for speech days after the big freedom of speech rally in response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks. :(
The Expanse trailer looks awesome, hope the series lives up to it.
NASCAR's Kurt Busch Testifies That Ex-Girlfriend Is An Assassin. "She returned later to the hotel at which he was staying wearing a trench coat. Under it she was wearing an evening gown splattered with blood and other matter, Busch testified." Busch and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, are holding up Driscoll's status as a mercenary to refute her claims that she was abused. "I know that she could take me down at any moment," Busch told his attorney Monday, "because she's a bad-ass."
United Replaces Unionized Baggage Handlers With Minimum Wage Contractors, Things Instantly Fall Apart. United! Stop screwing up my town! We're doing really well, and we don't need you destroying the super-important ski season.
The environment women were subjected to in the 40s-50s. Couldn't even relax in their own home. (verified)
The Case Against Early Cancer Detection - "very few people die of thyroid cancer ... And finding and treating more early cases of the disease did not change the death rate in any way"
Trolling level: Epic. "the European Union, not wanting to honor any country above any other, used for the background of the Euro banknotes pictures of abstract bridges that did not match any real bridge in any European country. So the Dutch went and built those exact bridges in the Netherlands."
I am Samwise "I suspect that the rationality community, with its “hero” focus, drives away many people who are like me in this sense. I’ve thought about walking away from it, for basically that reason. [...] Samwise was important. So was Frodo, of course. But Frodo needed Samwise. Heroes need sidekicks. They can function without them, but function a lot better with them. Maybe it’s true that there aren’t enough heroes trying to save the world. But there sure as hell aren’t enough sidekicks trying to help them. And there especially aren’t enough talented, competent, awesome sidekicks. If you’re reading this post, and it resonates with you… Especially if you’re someone who has felt unappreciated and alienated for being different… I have something to tell you. You count. You. Fucking. Count. You’re needed, even if the heroes don’t realize it yet."
The NYPD work stoppage - "the protesting police have decided to make arrests "only when they have to." (Let that sink in for a moment. Seriously, take 10 or 15 seconds)."
Looks like trolls were a problem for the first telephone networks as well.
Speaking of - The hiss on your phone line is artificial. It's inserted there by the phone for your benefit
Diagnosing the Home Alone burglars' injuries: A professional weighs in. "Kevin has moved from 'defending his house' into sheer malice, in my opinion."
The Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank - the one thing I wanted for xmas... ;)
Finnish Heavy Metal for kids in cute Dino costumes. Why the hell didn't I think of this??
If Economists Wrote Christmas Cards. It's perfect. /tear
The Oatmeal's report on riding in the Google Self-Driving Car. I'm still holding out hope that they'll have a highway-capable one available for the average consumer before I have to replace my current car.
The Toxoplasma of Rage. "From the human point of view, jihad and the War on Terror are opposing forces. From the memetic point of view, they’re as complementary as caterpillars and butterflies. Instead of judging, we just note that somehow we accidentally created a replicator, and replicators are going to replicate until something makes them stop."
Disney Princesses sorted into Hogwarts houses. I think Lilo and Jasmine should be switched, but aside from that - rock on.
When You Burn Off That Fat, Where Does It Go? "Oxidizing 10 kilos of human fat requires inhaling 29 kilos of oxygen to produce 28 kilos of carbon dioxide and 11 kilos of water."