“We hope you enjoyed watching the construction of the butter cow live. If you missed last year[‘]s construction, watch the high-speed, time-lapsed Real Player video from start to finish.” —LIVE Shot of the Butter CowIllinois State Fair) Similar:45m into a game against a player ranked 400pts higher than him. In a frilly shirt for the…
“Wisconsin-born professional cheese sculptor Sarah Baumann (now of Cincinnati) admits her cheese-head heritage is to blame and has been fashioning cheese figures for advertising and publicity for the food industry, retail and foodservice clients for five years…” —Cheese ScupltureWOXY) Similar:White House photo access controls public imageRather than permit photojournalists to s…CultureCarolyn at about 7yo drew…
“But while the day [9-11] will surely be difficult to endure, it remains unclear which television network will rise to the occasion, with its sensitive, cathartic anniversary coverage helping us decide what to feel while bringing a sense of closure to our national period of mourning.” —Who Will Bring Closure to a Grieving Nation?Satire from…
“How did technologists, government officials and a host of other early players turn something with no obvious business model into a system that has become so intrinsic to the new century?” Dan Gilmor —10 Choices that were Critical to the Net’s SuccessMercury News) Similar:Viral App FaceApp Now Owns Access To More Than 150 Million People's…
“The interest in poetry in the wake of the calamitous attacks of last fall surprised some observers. But the art of poetry makes the breath of any one reader its medium: a commanding appeal, heightened at a time when many of us felt overdosed or overwhelmed by mass media.” Robert Pinsky —Poetry and Sept. 11:…
What did September 11 have to do with Nostradamus? Oliver North? Snapple? All feature in assorted urban legends about the attacks. —Osama Bin Ladin is Alive and Well and Living in UtahSalon) Similar:And to think… I had just decided to retire this meme because the last time I used in cla…AcademiaModern Masterpieces of Comedic Genius:…
“With the eyes of the world focused on a small number of related events, many stepped into the role of amateur journalist, seeking out sources and sometimes assembling these ideas for others. Most striking, perhaps, were the wide number of accounts from those who had seen the World Trade Center collapse, or had in some…
“From the comfort of their desktop or laptop, co-eds can add soap and fabric softener that is dispensed by the washing machine. Finally when the wash is done, kids can get an e-mail telling them to come and get it.” —IBM Hooks up Dorm Washers, Dryers to WebForbes) Similar:Teachers finding games give a leg up…
“The US State Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have granted TransOrbital, Inc. of La Jolla, California, permission to send its TrailBlazer probe to map the surface of the Moon and photograph Earth.” —First Commercial Moon Landing Gets Go-aheadNature) “He was a junkman with an extraordinary dream…to salvage the junk left on the…
“While IKEA’s instruction sheets lead to a safely constructed unit, Antifakos thinks that the order in which parts should be assembled often seems arbitrary to the buyer. ‘People find this annoying so they don’t follow them,’ he says. ” —Foolproof Flat-pack Warns of Assembly ErrorsNew Scientist) Do people hate reading instructions so much that furniture…
“If all you have is a hammer then everything is a nail. How else can you explain why web sites are so incredibly painful to use? If I were paranoid I’d assume there was a conspiracy to assure that the Internet is kept lame. But perhaps it is a combination of ignorance and laziness.” Bob…
“A blog works if it addresses its audience, whether that audience is five or 500 or 5,000. In fact, many blogs, by their precise nature, are never going to get that big. So, why worry about the bigger fish? Enjoy yourselves.” Andrew Sullivan —Are Weblogs Changing Our Culture?Slate) “What the relentless focus of bloggers like…
“Science is often hard to read. Most people assume that its difficulties are born out of necessity, out of the extreme complexity of scientific concepts, data and analysis. We argue here that complexity of thought need not lead to impenetrability of expression; we demonstrate a number of rhetorical principles that can produce clarity in communication…
“The diamond invention… is a mechanism for converting tiny crystals of carbon into universally recognized tokens of wealth, power, and romance…. To stabilize the market, De Beers had to endow these stones with a sentiment that would inhibit the public from ever reselling them.” The illusion had to be created that diamonds were forever —…
“…Dan would learn there was a time when anyone could go to the library and read journal articles, and even books, without having to pay. There were independent scholars who read thousands of pages without government library grants. But in the 1990s, both commercial and nonprofit journal publishers had begun charging fees for access. By…
“On these pages are five astronomy misconceptions that are so common they’re almost canonical. Is one of these lurking in your brain? ” Phil Plait —Top 5 Cosmic MythsSpace.com) Similar:Students tend to zone out during my lectures on proofreading. I time it so I can say “clas…AcademiaPennsylvania is one of three states recognized by the…
“Thousands of tourists in Greece are unknowingly facing heavy fines or long terms in prison for owning mobile phones or portable video games…Internet cafes will be allowed to continue to operate, providing no games-playing takes place. If a customer is found to be running any sort of game, including online chess, the cafe owner will…
Another use for 24/7 text messaging services: bullying children in the British school system. —When Text Messaging Gets UglyWired) Similar:Journalists write to inform, not to impress.Sometimes when I find myself putting mor…JournalismReally enjoyed Prime Stage Theater’s video presentation of Mockingbird.Obviously I would have preferred to see …AestheticsURL Hacking (new graphic for an older page that’s…
“When a game is done well, the motion picture industry can’t compete. Last year, people spent $14 billion worldwide on films, but Americans alone spent $8 billion on games for their homes and another $7 billion in arcade playing.” Brad King —They Weren’t Meant to be Games (Wired) Similar:After you finish your brass-polishing shift, join…
“Raaaah! Gronk hate H.R. 3712, the Income And Property Tax Reassessment Act! Senator Gronk crush middle-class tax hike!” Sen. Gronk —Me Crush Middle-Class Tax Hike!The Onion) Similar:The Portable Writing desk — the Victorian laptopFocusing on the materiality of writing, …AestheticsCNN sues President Trump and top White House aides for barring Jim Acosta CNN has filed…