July 2009
Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter' →
People are freaking awesome, is what.
First Apple, Microsoft retail stores to face off... →
“The reference store would have a Guru Bar — labeled as an Answer Bar or Windows Bar — that would directly copy the Genius Bars at Apple stores and let customers make appointments either for help or just to ask questions. The number of products would be kept to a minimum to avoid the confusion present in stores where most Windows PCs are sold today.”
Let’s just call...
Digital Nomads | washingtonpost.com →
Toki Pona - A language for the good things in life →
“Toki Pona was created by Sonja Elen Kisa. As a language enthusiast, world traveller, intercultural communicator, explorer of spirituality and consciousness, queer woman, and survivor of depression and anxiety, Sonja was naturally inclined to unify her unique life experiences and perspective into a creative project she could share. The idea of a simple pidgin-like language based on universal...
Whale Saves Drowning Diver →
Belugas are awesome. That is all.
WatchMy theory is that Sarah Palin is actually pulling a gigantic trick on us.
“What one person sees as degrading and disgusting and bad for women might make...”
– Sasha Grey
The Philadelphia Story
Tracy Lord: I don't know anything anymore!
C.K.D.H.: Well, that sounds very hopeful, Red. That sounds just fine.
“Formerly vaguely liberal-moderate, more recently moderate-to-neoconservative...”
– the Politics section of the Jargon File’s Portrait of J. Random Hacker
A friend recently asked me how I was ever a democrat, given my ever-increasing dislike of big government. My answer was simple: “Social issues.”
With that said, the idea of a progressive minarchist...
Some kind of omens, anyway
The angel of the Eastern Gate put his wings over his head to shield himself from the first drops. “I’m sorry,” he said politely. “What was it you were saying?” “I said, that one went down like a lead balloon,” said the serpent. “Oh. Yes,” said the angel, whose name was Aziraphale.
-from Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Making of Mozilla →
This is an intense story.
“If you look at the big activities online, games right now is number three....”
– Jonathan Miller, “Digital Head” of MySpace
Uh, dude. You are aware that you’re talking about ditching the biggest online activity for the third biggest, right?
“Canada acceding to this confederation, and adjoining in the measures of the...”
– The Articles of Confederation, Article XI
“The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the...”
– The Articles of Confederation, Article IV
“There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the...”
– Aeschylus (via amplequotes)
We are Oberlin. We lack anything at our hearts’ controls.
Google Paints Target on Its Back: Promises No... →
Aha. Ahahaha. Ahahahahahahahahaha.
Crackers, start your engines!
Oshakashama, from the Radwimps’ newest album...
Tea House Down
sleepanddream:
dearoldlove:
Remember that rainy afternoon where we escaped the downpour by crawling into the bamboo grove at the Japanese garden? It was beautiful. I regret everything, even that.
I hate regretting beautiful, perfect things.
Rainy afternoon. Escaped. Downpour. Crawling. Bamboo grove. Japanese garden.
This post has so many beautiful words. It’s unfortunate that it ends...
the very limited options available to ladies in...
iomoth:
sexismandthecity:
Say Nothing. Hope the conversation does not continue extolling the virtues of rape, making saying nothing harder. Hate yourself for saying nothing. Notice girl sitting on the porch of the house next to you who has heard what was said. Notice her similar reactions. Hate yourself more for saying nothing, because she has probably been raped, too, because you don’t know...
“I’m not saying I don’t love the little blighter. I love her...”
– Tuppy Glossop, on his sometime fiancée Angela Travers.
Epitaph One
I’m not really sure how I managed to miss the thematic similarities between Serenity and Dollhouse until now. The thirteenth episode, Epitaph One, really brought them home: both are about loss of innocence in a universe where power’s in the wrong hands and—more importantly—the idea that a person, even one who has no memory of herself, is still a person. Still the same person she always...
“I’ve staked my crew’s life on the theory that you’re a person,...”
– Captain Malcolm Reynolds in Serenity