Friday Ephemera
What satellites see. // Airport body scans leaked online. A new fetish begins. // London gigapixelled. // Underwater filming. // How Google works. // Webbed gloves. // Flame scallop’s glowing lips. // A gallery of gorging chipmunks. (h/t, MeFi) // The periodic table of irrational nonsense. (h/t, Dr Westerhaus) // Joy Division colouring book. (h/t, Chastity Darling) // Baby sea dragons. // “There’s a horse in that car.” // Fondle your interface. // Ice-retardant nanotechnology. // It’s a helmet, it’s a sound system. // Atomic toys. // Secret kitten. // Who owns Antarctica? // One to watch in full: Martin Durkin on the weight of the state.
Secret kitten…. 🙂
Secret kitten made my morning. Also tempted by the Joy Division colouring book. “eight whole pages of colouring in fun.”
Thanks for the Martin Durkin link, David. Loved the ‘what’s my line’ quiz about community diversity co-ordinators.
As Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.
The scallop looks very pretty. Also, delicious if pan-fried…
rjmadden,
I think the highlight of the programme was the TUC’s intellectual colossus Brendan Barber. The Guardian didn’t like it at all, which is no great surprise; though reviewer Lucy Mangan managed to disapprove without addressing any of the points the programme made. Whatever the film’s merits and shortcomings, it’s interesting to note Ms Mangan’s approach to reviewing a programme about economics. She admits, “Obviously I have not the time, space or qualifications to consider the validity of this here.” Yet despite this handicap she insinuates that the arguments (which, remember, she doesn’t address) should be dismissed as misleading. How does she know?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/nov/12/britains-trillion-pound-horror-story-tv-review
And she confuses John James Cowperthwaite with Adam Smith.
I finally got to see this… don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Or demand my right to bear arms.
“And she confuses John James Cowperthwaite with Adam Smith.”
I forgive her, she’s kinda pretty. But
“No alternative views were allowed, apart from a few minutes of Brendan Barber, head of the TUC, and Alistair Darling offering frankly dismal performances in the face of hostile questioning from Durkin.”
The frankly dismal performances were such because they failed, but notice the use of the word “hostile”.
Secret kitten made me smile.
Firefox users- if the London panorama doesn’t work the first time, do try again. Second time it worked perfectly. And it’s a lovely piece of work.
If I ever do anything as smug-arsed and condescending as that periodic table, I grant permission for someone to print out the Encyclopedia Dramatica and beat me with it. Gad.
Yeah, noticeably missing from that periodic table was Psychology. Unless, of course, Psychology is some sort of chain-growth polymer composed of those underlying elements.
Could someone point us non-Brits (or at least non-approved) youtube-users to an open proxy where we can get the Durkin piece from? From Norway it just says ‘Channel 4 sucks’.
-S
Simen,
Do these work any better?
http://theuklibertarian.com/2010/11/15/britains-trillion-pound-horror-story/
rj,
“Loved the ‘what’s my line’ quiz about community diversity co-ordinators.”
He isn’t a community diversity co-ordinator. He’s a consultation and communities engagement manager. Or a community space challenge co-ordinator. Or was it a person-centred planning facilitator…?
Karen,
Thank you, they work. I’m looking forward to watching them 🙂
-S
Heres a far more ammusing page on how google works:
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
“No alternative views were allowed, apart from […] frankly dismal performances in the face of hostile questioning”
Sounds like the BBC to me.
Another section of the orau.org site: Radioactive consumer products.
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/consumer.htm
My hands-down favorite is Fiestaware, widely-sold dinnerware with a glaze containing up to 14% uranium by weight. I’ve pointed it out in the past to individuals spewing “depleted uranium projectile” talking points, along with the fact that the Earth’s crust is 2 parts per million uranium on average (i.e., 2 milligrams per kilogram).