Moneydick

Year-long depravity: Groupon’s Contest — Art, Commerce, and Sacrifice

Daniel — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:02:20 +0000

The new Groupon promotion “Live off Groupon for a full year and win $100,000″ smells exactly like a Japanese “Live off contest winnings” contest previously covered here where a poor Japanese man had to survive for a year off prize winnings.

The Groupon contest description:

Nearly all human survival needs are covered by Groupon. You can get your daily nutritional content with a restaurant Groupon, and then immediately have a Groupon-accepting dentist floss that meal’s remains from your teeth. You can fortify your aortas with a Pilates deal, and protect yourself against rampaging hamburglars with a self-defense class.

In a recent interview in SF Weekly Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon answers some questions:

Why did you start this contest?

Since we started Groupon we joked around about the idea of could someone survive off of nothing but Groupon, and after about 30 seconds of rational thought leads one to the conclusion – No, of course you can’t, but we still think it would be fun to try. It will be an interesting social experiment. It means you are eating a lot of sushi, you’re going to do a lot of yoga, you will have beautiful fingernails and it should be an interesting life for someone. They are going to have freakishly white teeth, their teeth are going to reflect all light by the time this is over.

And now a description of Nasubi’s situation after beginning his contest (it’s bad):

When he arrived at the apartment, he was shown a stand full of magazines, a huge pile of postcards, and told to strip naked. The room was empty except for a cushion, a table, a small radio, a telephone, some notebooks, and a few pens. There was not a crumb of food, a square of toilet paper, or any form of entertainment. Whatever he needed, he was to win by sending thousands of postcards into contests. The producers left and Nasubi was on his own in his unique survival challenge. Imagine what was going through his mind: How am I going to eat? Why are they doing this to me? How long will it take to get out of here? He must have thought he was in a bad episode of The Prisoner. (via)

Poor Nasubi was stuck in a small room with a nothing but a waste paper basket to crap in. Our Groupon hero will be unleashed into the world but also recorded and lifecasted much like Nasubi (who became a celebrity). The CEO of Groupon continues:

…Whoever wins is going to get a cell phone, a computer, and they will be blogging about their experience. Plus we will give them a GPS so people in the community will be able to locate this person and go out and share Groupon experiences. This person will travel around the country. This will be a bottomless Groupon wallet.

… like a PR company on wheels that only costs $100,000 a year. I think we can assume for legal purposes that the Groupon contest will not be such a stickler on the details. Nonetheless, both situations remind me of Tehching Hsieh’s work (Chinese, this time): “Cage Piece” where he remained locked in a cage for an entire year. [nytimes piece + pictured below].

Both Groupon and Hsieh remind us that we choose to participate in a economic system.

Engineered depravity is an interesting concept for both art and promotion, but Hsieh’s does more to help us think than any live-streamed fool grasping a hair salon coupon, twittering during a spa treatment. In the end, Groupon will get the word out and perhaps we’ll pity/envy the new economic structure the poor/lucky winner enters into.

Gina M. Contreras at the Adobe Books Backroom Gallery

Daniel — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:01:50 +0000

More info @ the Adobe Books Backroom Blog and Gina’s Blog (Que Lindo Prints)

SF: Indiefest Begins: 7 Movies to See at the Film Festival

Daniel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:21:40 +0000

Indiefest Begins: 7 Movies to See at the Film Festival: “Indiefest Begins: 7 Movies to See at the Film Festival” (Via 7×7 Feed.) Related posts:Steal This Film Released May Updates + Stuff to read in a phatty linkdump FFFFounding fabulous images Spring Break Headquarters: Poughkeepsie, NY??? Related posts:

now you finish your program hun you know children in other countries don’t get sensory overload

Daniel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:30:14 +0000

Spotted in Clarion Alley, SF … via Street Expression

Daniel — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:38:42 +0000

Street Musicians in Chicago

Global Collapse linkpiece [recommended reading]

Daniel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:03:30 +0000

Unfortunately this is a serious post.

Jan Lundberg on a post-petroleum future:

The trucks will no longer pull into Wal-Mart. Or Safeway or other food stores. The freighters bringing packaged techno-toys and whatnot from China will have no fuel. There will be fuel in many places, but hoarding and uncertainty will trigger outages, violence and chaos. For only a short time will the police and military be able to maintain order, if at all. The damage that several days’ oil shortage and outage will do will soon wreak permanent damage that starts with companies and consumers not paying their bills and not going to work.

After an almost instant depression seizes the modern industrialized world, and nation-states break down, the frantic attempts of people to feed themselves, stay warm and obtain fresh water (pumped presently via petroleum to a great extent), there will be no rescue. Die-off begins. The least petroleum-dependent communities will survive best. These “backward” nations will be emulated by the scrounging survivors of the U.S. and the rest of the “developed” world, as far as local food production will be tried – in a paved-over, toxic landscape by people who have lost touch with the land…

Serious reading for a petroleum-heated afternoon in San Francisco:

Automatic Earth – ”40 ways to lose your future“

Also from Automatic Earth: “Renewable Power – Not in your life time“

Blog: Baseline Scenario

Blog: Zero Hedge

GlobalCorp (FTW Archives)

And below “United States Healthcare Spending” via National Geographic

North Atlantic Conveyor Belt Collapse [weather hurts]

Daniel — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:33:58 +0000

…apparently the North Atlantic Conveyor belt has collapsed. That’s the only thing that makes living in Europe possible. There was a lot of buzz about this in 2003-2004 (I think) when a DoD report was released warning that such an event was possible, even likely, as a result of global warming. Those stories were clear and vitually unanimous that such a collapse would lead to a near-instant ice age for most of Europe. The fact that Ireland (and the rest of Europe) is having its coldest winter in a hundred years makes this a true emergency to evaluate. (read more at Mike Ruppert)

The collapse of the North Atlantic Conveyor belt was thought to have caused a cold period 1,300 years long known as the Younger Dryas during the Pleistocene period. We may be seeing the beginning of a new cold cycle–a rapid decrease in temperature affecting Europe that could begin as soon as May.

“Freak current takes gulf stream to Greenland“
NASA: “SATELLITES RECORD WEAKENING NORTH ATLANTIC CURRENT“
NASA: “2009: Second Warmest Year on Record; End of Warmest Decade“

photos of late

Daniel — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:14:17 +0000

Youtube Doubling

Daniel — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:03:47 +0000

The rant (set to music)

Something about the late night makes things funnier, but nonetheless, below I present you ‘Youtube doubler‘, the best mashup enabler out there. It lets you start two videos side by side at the same time. Simple, right?

Start with the good ones:

Usher + Goat (also shown below)
CHAINSAW MAID vs Lux Aeterna By Clint Mansell

And go crazy from there….

Please upgrade your browser

Here are the top 49 according to the site:

1 Requiem for Alex Jones

2 Luckiest Man On Earth (Almost Deadly Accident) vs Human Tetris

3 Goat vs Alex Jones

4 Final Fantasy VII vs 2girls1cup best reaction

5 Joe vs Toby

6 YouTube Dramatics

7 Ninja Cat vs Psycho

8 More Alex Jones vs Goat

9 Hurtful Words vs Geico Caveman

10 ARMY OF THE PHARAOHS – BATTLE CRY vs Fatties at the grocery store rant

11 Time Becomes a Loop

12 40 Pizza Rolls vs Journey Separate Ways

13 9/11 vs Laughing Baby

14 Pussy versus Printer vs Office Space

15 40 Pizza Rolls vs Journey Separate Ways (version 2)

16 Where there’s a whip, there’s a way! vs Whipping Scene

17 CHAINSAW MAID vs Lux Aeterna By Clint Mansell

18 El Mudo – Chacarron Macarron vs El Mudo – Chacarron Macarron Backwards

19 Bus Near Miss vs Epic Maneuver Song

20 Timotei! (Sparta Remix) vs Martin Luther King Jr – I Have a Dream

21 Tool – Forty-Six & 2 (Bass cover) vs Strange S.T.A.L.K.E.R. car glitch

22 George Bush at 2004 RNC Convention vs Imperial March or Darth Vader’s Theme

23 The greatest video on Earth… EVER vs 2girls1cup worst reaction from Bettie

24 Eclectic Method – Obama’s White House Puppy vs Labrador pups having fun

25 I LOVE LAZER BASS

26 Techno viking del zodiaco! vs Hahaha

27 WW1 Shellshock vs The Trashmen : Surfin’ Bird (1963)

28 Fat dog just wants to keep on rolling vs Re: Atheist Wisdom – A Nod to the World

29 me, crying vs The end of Louis Pan

30 The Search for Spock – Stealing the Enterprise vs chamillionaire – ridin’

31 Full Metal Jacket – “Boot Camp” vs Lux Aeterna By Clint Mansell

32 lost demoniusx vidlog vs Clint Mansell – Lux Aeterna

33 Super Smash Bros intro vs Team Fortress 2 – Super Smash Brothers 64 Intro

34 Deus Ex – A Bomb vs Katrina watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua

35 Jackie Chan vs Benny the Jet! vs Final Fantasy VII Advent Children – One Winged Angel (Music)

36 Goat vs Cat

37 World’s Most Amazing Musical Instrument vs Matthias Loibner: tiny hurdy gurdy concert

38 FAT loli

39 9/11 NEVAR FORGET vs Funny Fat Man Dance

40 Cheerleader Gets A Flu Shot & Now She Can Only Walk Backwards! vs Matthew Wilder – Nobody’s Gunna Break My Stride

41 Miller Park Sausage Race 6.5.06 vs Jimmy Dean Sausage Complaint call

42 COMPARISON vs RBSpro Robotic Book Scanner ( fully automatic bookscanner )

43 No More Heroes: Bloody Massacre vs Star Wars Kid

44 “Curb Your Enthusiasm” theme song, solo acoustic guitar vs Crazy Ass Goose!

45 The Dirty Cowboy vs The Dirty Cowboy

46 Re: The Blasphemy Challenge vs Crunk club Banger Beat making

47 I Walked on the Sidewalk vs Nas – N.Y. State of Mind

48 He-Man vs She-Ra

49 baby pc vs TF2 Pyro

The Eureka Quake

Daniel — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:41:35 +0000

More details…

Bailout Details: How much to Whom…

The Celebrants [photos]

Daniel — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:22:39 +0000

purloined from a miniseries on “If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats”

Tippity tops of 2009

Daniel — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:39:13 +0000

Takashi Murakami

It was a good year for me. I hope it was a good one for you.

Below are the greatest hits of 2009:

A scientific approach to Myspace’s Failure :: Still popular, and still unscientific
The Emo :: A brief on the american hero.
NFL Music Videos :: A musical history beginning in 1988
Nigerian 419 Scammers :: Strangely relevant as of this Christmas.
Takashi Murakami at MOCA Geffen in Los Angeles :: Some photos and videos of the exhibit
Flirty Fishing :: Prostitutes for the lord. A brief.

Odds of being the victim of an airborne terrorist attack: 1 in 10,408,947

Daniel — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:36:51 +0000

Nate Silver, the hero of statistics made famous by the past two elections has the following computation regarding airplane safety in light of recent inept terrorists:

There were a total of 674 passengers, not counting crew or the terrorists themselves, on the flights on which these incidents occurred. By contrast, there have been 7,015,630,000 passenger enplanements over the past decade. Therefore, the odds of being on given departure which is the subject of a terrorist incident have been 1 in 10,408,947 over the past decade. By contrast, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are about 1 in 500,000. This means that you could board 20 flights per year and still be less likely to be the subject of an attempted terrorist attack than to be struck by lightning.

via Fivethirtyeight

New Photos (sans populus)

Daniel — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Perhaps I don’t like photographing people?

Standard Time: Menial timekeeping as public art display

Daniel — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:14:46 +0000

At Rotterdam Central Station (NL) a “digital” clock was shown for 24 hours from 27 November to 28 November, which was meticulously kept by a total of 36 workers. Each minute was carefully adjusted.

The clock, circa 4 meters tall en 12 meters wide, stood on the location where in some years the new station will arise. The clock was part of a scaffolding construction, which made the whole 7 meters tall, 7 meters depth and 14 meters wide.

The performance was recorded on film and will be shown in Rotterdam throughout the city. The film will be precisely on time, which makes it a real clock for the people to check the time.

Standard Time is an artwork by Mark Formanek
Produced by Mothership. Commissioned by Bureau Binnenstad (City of Rotterdam). With thanks to Rotterdam Festivals and Rotterdam Centraal (NS, Prorail and Randstadrail)

The twelve days of minimalism/sustainability…

Daniel — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:56:30 +0000

Check out 12 minimalist ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

I’m taking advantage of the author of mnmlst’s ‘uncopyrighted’ policy and posting the whole durn thing below:

1. Eat less. Wrote about this recently. Less food consumed means less resources used up and pollution used to create the food and get it to you.

2. Eat less meat. Worldwide, beef production contributes more to climate change than the entire transportation sector. Pork and chicken are also big contributors to pollution and carbon emissions, compared to plants.

3. Eat locally. Transporting food from where it’s grown or raised to where it’s processed and packaged, to your supermarket, has a high environmental cost. Eating locally not only greatly reduces that transportation cost but it supports local farmers instead of corporations. Look for local foods, in season, at farmer’s markets near you, or at your supermarket or local health food store, or get involved with a CSA.

4. Drive less. Work from home or telecommute as much as possible. Combine errands to make fewer trips. Move to a place near work and all the things you need. Walk or bike more, or use public transit. It takes time to reduce your driving, but if you’re conscious about it, you can make changes a little at a time. Also, you’ll get healthier by walking or biking instead of driving.

5. Travel less. Airplane flights are a huge contributor to climate change. Travel less by doing teleconferences, taking vacations close to home, and rethinking your travel needs. I’ve traveled a couple times in the last couple of years, but before that it had been about 7 years without a flight.

6. Buy less. Buying a lot of things is wasteful. Each item requires a lot of resources and contributes hugely to climate change (see the True Cost of Stuff). So cut back on how much you buy. See if you can borrow an item, check out a book from a library, make what you have last longer, find innovative ways to repurpose what you already have or make an item yourself, or just do without. Many times you’ll realize an item wasn’t a necessary purchase and you don’t miss it in your life.

7. Buy used. This avoids buying a new item and all the resources that go into creating and transporting it. It extends the life of something already bought. Look in thrift shops, consignment shops, used bookstores, eBay and Freecycle. Often you’ll find some really cool used stuff.

8. Have a smaller home. Obviously not a change you’re going to make this week, but something you can think about for the long term. A smaller home takes fewer resources to create, and requires less power, water, heat, and thus fewer emissions. If you get rid of a lot of your stuff, and rethink your needs, you’ll realize you need less space.

9. Use less power. Even without a smaller home, there are tons of ways to reduce power. Cool and heat your home less. Turn off lights, unplug appliances, hang dry clothes more often.

10. Use less water. Don’t take long showers – get wet, turn off water, soap up, turn on water and rinse. Don’t water your lawn, and wash your car less (or get rid of the car). Wash clothes less (wear them longer). Conserve water when you wash your hands or dishes.

11. Go paperless. Many offices and even homes use tons of paper, but most of it is unnecessary. Don’t print stuff out if you can read it on the computer. File things digitally rather than in folders. Get bills and other documents sent electronically or online rather than via mail. Stop catalogs from being mailed to you. Read newspapers and magazines online rather than buying them. Stop sending faxes for goodness sake.

12. Go vegan. Not a completely necessary step, but one I recommend. Vegan food, contrary to what most people think, can be delicious and satisfying, and it’s often healthier (less saturated fats, fewer calories, for example). Most especially, eating no meat or dairy or eggs means withdrawal from industries that are horrible for the environment, and horribly cruel to animals.

Muppets: Bohemians.

Daniel — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:48:02 +0000

Somewhere in the world, someone is watching the muppets. I grew up with them. I hope everyone can hang out with them a little each day:

Dancing in the dark is next:

Kinks and Christmas

Daniel — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:33:41 +0000

If you’re a fan of the Kinks like I am, you should check out their holiday-themed performance with the New York City-based Dessoff Chamber Choir. MASH HERE.

(via Katie, my big sis)

Headphones to dream on (jbuds j3)

Daniel — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:28:54 +0000

I’ve had a lotta earbuddies, but these Jbud J3s are my favorite ear buddies: crispy AND bouncy. I love a tiny hifi speaker shoved directly in my brain, blocking all other possible sounds out. This song ‘I like Christmas‘ sounds especially cheery in my Xmas dome. (thanks Rubin)

Will Ferrell, photobomber

Daniel — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:00:04 +0000

Besides being the most overpaid actor ever, Will Ferrell is the best photo bomber. Here’s Will behind a coworker’s wedding announcement photo in the NYtimes:

Brain damage and the NFL: Inseparable.

Daniel — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:25:57 +0000

This is by no means a follow up or related post to my collection of NFL Music Videos. It’s but an excerpt from the recent coverage in GQ of research of brain injuries. The article is “Game Brain” and it will rattle the (American) football industry:

What the NFL couldn’t have known then, of course, is that by the time Omalu’s article was published, he had already gotten a second brain, that of former Steelers guard Terry Long, who died at 45 after drinking antifreeze. Same morgue. Same slab. Same story. Terry Long had a clinical history similar to Webster’s. Depression. Memory loss. Crazy behavior. In and out of psych wards. He was bankrupt, living destitute and alone. He tried rat poison. He tried other cocktails. Nothing worked until finally he got it right.

Omalu took Terry Long’s brain home, sliced it, sent it in for stains, ran the same tests, found the same splotches, the same tau proteins. “This stuff should not be in the brain of a 45-year-old man,” he said. “This looks more like a 90-year-old brain with advanced Alzheimer’s.”

So Omalu wrote another paper. He called it “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player: Part II” and put it in an envelope and sent it to Neurosurgery, the prestigious peer-reviewed journal that did not, in the end, accept the NFL’s request to retract the first one and went ahead and published the second.

The news of CTE, of retired athletes possibly suffering debilitating brain damage, was now hitting the mainstream press. The NFL responded with denial and attack against the young pathologist in Pittsburgh, who surely had no idea what he was talking about.

“Preposterous,” they said to reporters.

“It’s not appropriate science.”

“Purely speculative.”

….

It was enough to tempt a man to become wicked, to lead him to thoughts of lawsuits and vengeance.

But Omalu did not become wicked. He reminded himself of who he was. “I perform autopsies on dead people every day, so every day I’m reminded of my mortality. It has made me become very religious. I know I’m going to die someday, I know I’m going to be judged by God, and I have work to do while I am here on the earth.”

The Copenhagen Wheel

Daniel — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:03:56 +0000

Check out the Copenhagen wheel, by the Senseable City Lab team at MIT:

Additional reading:

Press release by MIT
“Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An International Review,” prepared for the Active Living Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Preventive Medicine, Vol. 48, No. 2, February 2010, in press (with Jennifer Dill and Susan Handy). Click here for PDF.

Happy Monday, kids: Cameo [music]

Daniel — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:42:40 +0000

Cameo – Candy

It’s like candy
I can feel it when you walk
Even when you talk it takes over me
You’re so dandy
I wanna know
Can you feel it too just like I do

(hoo!)

This stuff is starting now
It’s the same feeling
I always seem to get around you
There’s no mistaking; I’m clearly taken
By the simple mere thought of you

(oh!)

This stuff is starting now
This stuff is starting now
This stuff is starting now

(hoo!)

My eyes roll in my head
I toss and turn in my bed
In the morning when I think about you

(yes I do)

Simply put, you’re the reason why
Even though I’m real shy

(real shy)

I attempt to look my best for you

(indeed I do – just for you)

Cause you affect me, fascinate me
I thank heaven for the things that you do (for the things that you do)
It’s like candy
You sure are sweet – Sweet!
You’re so dandy
You’re taking my appetite – but it’s all right

It’s like candy

(ooh, vanilla! oh, chocolate!)

You look real nice, wrapped up tight
You’re so dandy
(in the night, if I have a little bit more like that)
You’re giving me a heart attack
It’s the kind I like

It’s like candy, you’re so dandy…

(Why you do – why you do – baby)

You’re like a brand new feeling (feeling)
In a special way
A surprise package
On a bright clear sunny day (you’re so dandy)
And wrapped up tight

(so good – so good)

Strawberry! raspberry!
All those good flavors!
Violets and gumdrops
That’s what you’re saying to me

(ow!)

(sweet candy – candy)
It’s like candy
Sure seems like good candy oh baby!

You’re so dandy
Just keep doing what you do

you know what i mean
baby
it’s like candy ohhhhhh
your so tender sweet candy
your like your like ohhhhhh

its like candy
fades

Jonathan Michael Foerster [art]

Daniel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:18:38 +0000

‘Vena‘

‘Bellus‘

‘Nostra Amor‘

…via Jonathan Michael Foerster @ his portfolio atleastwedream.com

I used to live in New York City [music]

Daniel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:16:11 +0000

Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)

TWELVE-THIRTY (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) – The Mamas and the Papas

(John Phillips)

I used to live in New York City
Everything there was dark and dirty
Outside my window was a steeple
With a clock that always said twelve-thirty

Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin’
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can’t keep myself from talkin’

At first so strange to feel so friendly
To say “Good mornin’” and really mean it
To feel these changes happenin’ in me
But not to notice till I feel it

Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin’
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can’t keep myself from talkin’

Cloudy waters cast no reflection
Images of beauty lie there stagnant
Vibrations bounce in no direction
But lie there shattered into fragments

Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin’
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can’t keep myself from talkin’

The Grinch – [photo]

Daniel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:43:52 +0000

If I had a nickle for every time I stopped on Mission street in SF to snap a picture with my phone of some weird thing in a shop window, I’d have a fat bucket of nickels:

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Judy Garland – Christmas Appearance (1968)

Daniel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:59:07 +0000

Classic Television Showbiz: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Judy Garland – Christmas Appearance (1968).

Collapse Volume IV: Concept Horror

Daniel — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:51:22 +0000

Collapse IV features a series of investigations by philosophers, writers and artists into ‘Concept Horror’. Contributors address the existential, aesthetic, theological and political dimensions of horror, interrogate its peculiar affinity with philosophical thought, and uncover the horrors that may lie in wait for those who pursue rational thought beyond the bounds of the reasonable.

It includes poems, images, excellent writing, etc… Below are some samples from ‘Czech Forest’ by Rafani:

… and a mock childrens book:

Download here

David Enos’ San Francisco

Daniel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:53:52 +0000

Via David Enos

Wojtek Siudmak

Daniel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:17:48 +0000

More at http://www.siudmak.com/.

No related posts.

Black Friday began as the day of bedlam in Philadelphia

Daniel — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:13:46 +0000

“According to researchers, the name “Black Friday” dates back to Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. The Friday in question is nestled snugly between Thanksgiving and the traditional Army-Navy football game that’s played in Philadelphia on the following Saturday, so the City of Brotherly Love was always bustling with activity on that day. All of the people were great for retailers, but they were a huge pain for police officers, cab drivers, and anyone who had to negotiate the city’s streets. They started referring to the annual day of commercial bedlam as “Black Friday” to reflect how irritating it was.

Apparently storeowners didn’t love having their biggest shopping day saddled with such a negative moniker, so in the early 1980s someone began floating the accounting angle to put a more positive spin on the big day.”

via Mental Floss, “A Brief History of Black Friday“

I’m Mental for Sarah Palin!

Daniel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:49:25 +0000

So….

it turns out that Palin’s supporters are borderline mentally retarded. I feel sorry for the person who did these interviews:

Death Masks

Daniel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:28:39 +0000

Gustav Mahler

via Time Life

Actuarial Escape Velocity, a definition

Daniel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:19:04 +0000

Actuarial escape velocity: Actuarial escape velocity occurs when … life expectancy increases faster than one year per one year of research. (via)

In other words, this is the moment when science has reached the point where one can be kept alive indefinitely. The ‘Maximum Life Foundation‘ says that the 30 and under crowd will see that day. Scared yet?

Possible? Consider ‘The Methuselah Flies,’ who lived about 3x longer than they would normally had they not been genetically altered.

See: Rose, M. R., H. B. Passananti, and M. Matos, eds. 2004. Methuselah flies: A case study in the evolution of aging. World Scientific Publishing, Singapore.

Charlotte Gainsburgh [music video]

Daniel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:01:15 +0000

It’s a Dada brainfuck directed by Keith Schofield that features a dinosaur in a wig (in a bathtub), a giant rat getting held up at knife point, a dude in a SpongeBob costume getting tackled by the fuzz, an astronaut with pancakes for a head, a guy racing a flying axe, a dude chilling on the street with a giant walnut, and one more guy with half a beard. (via Pitchfork)

…loads of well-planned scenes with variously masked characters:

View the movie here.

Or here.

Obama on Internet Freedom

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:37:14 +0000

Recent remarks by President Obama on Internet freedom at a Townhall in China:

AMBASSADOR HUNTSMAN: That’s right. And not surprisingly, “in a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall?” And second, “should we be able to use Twitter freely” — is the question.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. I noticed that young people — they’re very busy with all these electronics. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone. But I am a big believer in technology and I’m a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity.

And so I’ve always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I’m a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.

Now, I should tell you, I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn’t flow so freely because then I wouldn’t have to listen to people criticizing me all the time. I think people naturally are — when they’re in positions of power sometimes thinks, oh, how could that person say that about me, or that’s irresponsible, or — but the truth is that because in the United States information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear. It forces me to examine what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis to see, am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States.

And I think the Internet has become an even more powerful tool for that kind of citizen participation. In fact, one of the reasons that I won the presidency was because we were able to mobilize young people like yourself to get involved through the Internet. Initially, nobody thought we could win because we didn’t have necessarily the most wealthy supporters; we didn’t have the most powerful political brokers. But through the Internet, people became excited about our campaign and they started to organize and meet and set up campaign activities and events and rallies. And it really ended up creating the kind of bottom-up movement that allowed us to do very well.

Now, that’s not just true in — for government and politics. It’s also true for business. You think about a company like Google that only 20 years ago was — less than 20 years ago was the idea of a couple of people not much older than you. It was a science project. And suddenly because of the Internet, they were able to create an industry that has revolutionized commerce all around the world. So if it had not been for the freedom and the openness that the Internet allows, Google wouldn’t exist.

So I’m a big supporter of not restricting Internet use, Internet access, other information technologies like Twitter. The more open we are, the more we can communicate. And it also helps to draw the world together.

Think about — when I think about my daughters, Malia and Sasha — one is 11, one is 8 — from their room, they can get on the Internet and they can travel to Shanghai. They can go anyplace in the world and they can learn about anything they want to learn about. And that’s just an enormous power that they have. And that helps, I think, promote the kind of understanding that we talked about.

Now, as I said before, there’s always a downside to technology. It also means that terrorists are able to organize on the Internet in ways that they might not have been able to do before. Extremists can mobilize. And so there’s some price that you pay for openness, there’s no denying that. But I think that the good outweighs the bad so much that it’s better to maintain that openness. And that’s part of why I’m so glad that the Internet was part of this forum. Okay?

via Whitehouse.gov

States in Fiscal Peril

Daniel — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:21:25 +0000

via Global Economic Analysis. For more upbeat news, check out today’s FTW.

Dean Foods / Brands [graphic]

Daniel — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:12:54 +0000

via dean foods

Also don’t Miss the Elephant Journal’s thought piece on Dean Foods

Whitney.org !

Daniel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:39:05 +0000

Only EVERY NOW AND AGAIN does a site designed with white text on black really work. Check out the new Whitney.org to see one of the few well-executed examples of this dangerous practice.

Donate to the Creative Commons

Daniel — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:15:19 +0000

If you have a few dimes to spare, Creative Commons.org is running a campaign to raise some bread. Gaze into this specially remixed logo by Shepard Fairey, and consider. Then donate.

Adobe Books Backroom Gallery – Tara Foley

Daniel — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:02:23 +0000

Tara Foley, at the Adobe Books Backroom Gallery. Slideshow here.
Details at the Adobe Books Blog

The baby moment [health care]

Daniel — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:48:51 +0000

Haven’t seen it?

via Daily Kos

“I Love Lunch”

Daniel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:49:05 +0000

Check out the new performance by Improv Everywhere, “I Love Lunch”

See more at Improv Everywhere…

And my rant on Flash Mobs (and why Improv Everywhere does it right because they’re not selling anything except fun)

For more visual fun, check out ‘Robot High School‘

Strange Maps, and the Literary City

Daniel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:40:14 +0000

Just discovered Strange Maps. It’s taken me far too long. Below is #411:

It begins “Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word “Frisco,” which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars. – Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, 1872″ …

READ ON. thanks

I’m a joiner

Daniel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:52:57 +0000

While removing a WIFI network from my computer I noticed my list of recent networks. I have for some reason recorded them below:

Freedom
DT_FRONT
rumblstrip
Student
tastidlite
Crafted Kup
AlumnaeHouseGuest
MJ
zoom
ramsgator
ethostream
Guest
NETGEAR
NYARTS_1
Bartleby
oak hill
linksys
JetBlue Hotspot
Sad Larry’s Macbook Pro
FAMILY REUNIFICAITON
bananasinpajamas2
PANERA
ColorBroadband_South
loganwifi
Red Horse Cafe
attwifi
wellfleet
NYPL
homesweethome
LLG House
Root Hill
Time out NY Lounge
CafeSutra
BTVWIFI
stayonline
Philz Coffee
Dynex
HausCoffee
Haney
zrnetwifihotspot
OneTaste
OTLC
sugarlump
Cafe La Boheme
PEETS
WholeFoodsMarket
2Wire206
patron
Sagebush BBQ & Grill
CHEDSEY MOTEL
Miscanthus network
DIAFREEWIFI
RitualRoasters
inThe
flymanchester
SFHA wifi
St. Roch

It would appear that I’m always somewhere else, but I’m actually right here.
If I were to pick a favorite, it would be the bold one, though I’ve come to enjoy this one.

Stereoviews of Old Japan [recommended viewing]

Daniel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:11:38 +0000

See more Stereoviews @ Pink Tentacle

Pumpkins (can get big)

Daniel — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:27:01 +0000

via boston.com , “Autumn Scenes”

“Bullets and Blogs” — new media and warfare [recommended reading]

Daniel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:05:32 +0000

“Bullets and Blogs: New Media and the Warfighter” (2.7mb PDF) is a very new agey text. The report emerged from the finding of a workshop tasked with the question: How must battlefield communication change to adapt to this twitterin’ bloggin media-rich battlespace? The report is fascinating, and focuses on the Iraq/Afghanistan-relevant idea that rapidly broadcasting a media-rich ‘version of the truth’ to enemies and allies alike must be synchronized with conventional military strategy. At its root however is the rapid production of history across all mediums, and faster than the enemy:

“This report is rich with soundbites and recommendations supported by examples, including operations where the insurgents were the first to write the first draft of history, the draft that usually sticks especially when a factual challenge is not made within days or weeks.” (via Mountainrunner)

A comment by Cliff W. Gilmore, a US public military affairs officer speaks to speed vs. timeliness:

…the need to push information out quickly (speed) is a primary learning point highlighted in Bullets & Blogs. This is a media-focused learning point that differs significantly from the concept of timeliness, which has to do with who needs what information when. It’s easy to get distracted by the “wiz-bang!” of the communication environment and forget that a message doesn’t have to get there FAST — it just needs to arrive on time.

This is not to suggest that speed is not a factor in the new battlespace, just that it should not be a primary focus. There are several things we should be better at than speed. Credibility, trust, accuracy, timeliness, unified voice, privacy, intentional communication, delegation, security — and balancing them against one another — come to mind.

Findings in the Executive Summary

In summary, to achieve strategic agility in the information age, DOD should consider the following priority issues:
• Recognize that the winning strategy is “information engagement,” not “information control;”
• Embrace new media as a significant enabler of “that element of combat power called information;”
• Prioritize research and development, and organizational change, to exploit new media as a warfighting capability;
• Educate digital immigrants to begin the process of cultural change;
• Exploit digital natives – encourage, educate, empower, and equip;
• Enhance DOD’s capacity for commanding the attention and trust of key audiences through improved capacities for appropriate messaging, achieving a distributed global presence on relevant media, and finding and leveraging suitable messengers (third- party validators);
• Prioritize agility in the information environment, by:

» Enhancing speed of communication through: proactive information engagement; more refined classification efforts; in-field declassification authorities and capabilities; and, the removal of barriers to inter-agency and inter-service declassification;
» Moving towards decentralized authority and decentralized execution by setting the information rules of engagement;
» Identifying and mitigating risk, through a more sophisticated risk assessment process; » Ensuring commanders have non-lethal options commensurate with traditional lethal
options;
» Requiring commanders to define the desired information endstate; » Exploiting new media for better measures of effectiveness; Streamline DOD policies and guidance; Synchronize, synchronize, synchronize — across all-of-government; Pursue a holistic approach; Engage the legal debate.

Now if only the DOD could control what information gets back to the US from Iraq…

German EPA warns against Nanoparticles

Daniel — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:28:37 +0000

The following story will likely remain unreported in the US media:

Germany’s Umweltbundesamt (UBA) [Federal Environmental Agency] will release a new study today advising consumers to avoid products using nanoparticles, as long as their effects on the environment and human health are largely unknown. The federal agency is also calling for regulations on labeling and reporting products containing nanomaterials. This would affect the more than 800 German companies that use the new technology in their products. (via Nanopublic)

This is huge, like if the FDA were to warn against the use of cellphones because it has “been linked with cancer.”