Friday, November 30, 2012

Happy Friday! Come to Krampus Nacht (aka Carnival Noir) tonight if you’re in town.




The links from others this week have a definite conspiracy theme. Full moon? Preparing for the Mayan Doomsday? Who knows?



From Julie: The mysteries of the Voynich Manuscript continue. With carbon-dating information, no less!



Also from Julie: As Arafat is exhumed to check for poison, here’s a list of other exhumed individuals.



Also from Julie, part 2: An island on maps does not exist. Maybe that’s where Lost was filmed?



From Chuck via Cassandra: Members of a CIA man’s family say he didn’t jump out a window, he was pushed.



Moving on from conspiracy theories and on to other issues:



From Cassandra: A disturbing number of young people are HIV+ and don’t know it.



Also from Cassandra: Writers, technology, and the future – what will happen?



Yerdle is a new site focusing on the exchange of goods – a little like Freecycle, but more personal.



Gizoogle is just for fun. Translate any page into a trainwreck of wacky speech.



Have a spiffy and safe weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Did you know Hamlet is being rewritten as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel? And you can choose to not only play as Ophelia, but as Ophelia with an actual spine? And that many great cartoonists are involved in the project? And that you can help support it? Well, now you do!

(More later, hopefully. Today is a very scattered sort of day.)

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

It may be winter, but that doesn’t stop the wackiness over the pond. The Annual Pudding Races are going on this weekend!




Also going on this weekend: The Santa Claus World Championships and the Sphinx Festival.



We’re trying to go with a less material holiday this year, getting together with people rather than giving each other stuff. If you’re trying to do the same, trying the Phone Stack game might be entertaining. If you’re not, stay tuned, because John Scalzi’s doing a holiday shopping guide all next week.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Hello there. Book giveaway video is coming soon, I promise! (Oh, the tech issues we've had this year...)




Cherie Priest is curating a Tor board on Pinterest. Lots of steampunky goodness!



On the game front: Steampunk Odyssey is a free game (help an Abraham Lincoln type through a city). If you’d like to support future games, there’s a Kickstarter campaign for The Ship: Full Steam Ahead. In the more distant future, Clockwork Empires is in progress, and billed as “steampunk meets Lovecraft,” which sounds awesome, of course.



On the maker front: here’s a lovely tutorial on making interesting, steampunky boxes.



On the cinematic front: io9 looks at some gorgeous Victorian-era gadgetry.

Monday, November 26, 2012

In the midst of the holidays and taking some time off and whatnot, I totally missed that Valerie Eliot (widow of T.S. Eliot) died earlier this month.




Acoustical engineers have been at work since…well, since before recorded history, most likely.



In China, the town Cicheng is coming back to life, with help from its craftsmanship history.



Meanwhile, in Moscow, a new skyscraper is the tallest in Europe. (You don’t see this Moscow skyline very often. Futurist Russia!)



As media goes increasingly digital, the world of the projectionist is disappearing.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Greetings! This is a short holiday week. Happle Tea has a great post on craftsmanship which translates equally well into being thankful for the world in which we live; happy Thanksgiving to all.




From Susan: Lana Wachowski’s great speech.



From Cassandra: Do chimpanzees go through midlife crises?



From Bunny: Will the tiniest dog in the world have an inferiority complex?



From around the web: Want to escape for a while? Hit “Go!” on MapCrunch and be instantly teleported to a street location anywhere in the world!



Back on Monday! Thanks for reading, everyone.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Hello! We’ll be sending out books to the lucky winners soon, and putting up a video of the drawing, too. More books soon!




In the meantime, consider supporting Bradley Schenck’s campaign to put these incredible posters in public libraries. You know your local library would love a reading robot. Wouldn’t we all?

Monday, November 19, 2012

We’re back, more or less! While we get caught up on this shortened week, here are some links from others.




From Cassandra: A Cincinnati library hosts an exhibition on the work of the Grimm Brothers. Also, in something which sounds like a nightmare from a Grimm Brothers tale, a journalist loses control of her mind and body due to an obscure disease. And lastly, social factors are becoming a consideration when treating mental illness.



From Julie: Milan’s gargoyles are up for adoption, a mummy in the British Museum may be a murder victim, and the word of 2012 is “omnishambles,” which I hadn’t heard before but will use in the future!

Thursday, November 08, 2012

Hi, all! Updates will be spotty for the next week or so, and here’s a roundup of links from others before things get sketchy.




From Chuck via Cassandra: The story of one very determined voter. Hooray!



From Cassandra herself: The psychological effects of social media; the conundrum of human enhancements in the workplace. and the additional conundrum of work and dignity.



Swiped from Gonz: Electricity Fight! Zap! Pow!



Today’s Google Doodle is amazing and wonderful. Happy birthday, Bram Stoker!



Have a spiffy few days, everyone. Erratic updates to follow!

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Hooray! Particular hoorays for Nate Silver, who is possibly a witch. Hee.




With Halloween and elections now behind us, we return to the wacky Wednesday festivals routine. Not wacky, but definitely festive and educational, is the celebration of American Indian Heritage Month by the National Museum of the American Indian.



Slightly wackier: it’s Pirates Week! Arrrr!



In ten days, Woofstock will conquer Canada. (Warning: music starts up when you go to this site. It’s pretty awesome, though.)



In Phoenix, a parade which bills itself as “The World's Only Parading Arts Fair” will illuminate the streets this weekend.



And finally, if you’re in none of those places, consider registering for NASA’s “Spot the Station” alerts, which will tell you when the International Space Station is passing directly over your head!

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

1. Vote today, if you’re in the United States!




2. Book giveaways over at the Steampunk Librarian! These are more sci-fi than steampunk, and are really great books, so give it a look.

Monday, November 05, 2012

TMBG fans, rejoice – there really can be a birdhouse in your soul!




Going farther back in music, it’s the 40th anniversary of Free to Be…You and Me. Slate has several articles on the album and its creation, plus a playlist that will bring back lots of memories if you are like me and remember this as a formative film.



Forget Gangnam style; someone wants to bring waltzing back to the mainstream. (“Party like it’s 1799,” they say. Er.)



Halloween may be over, but Krampus season is just beginning. An enterprising photographer has created art focusing on the demons of the Alps!

Friday, November 02, 2012

New York's MTA has a Flickr account and has been posting photos of the damage and recovery efforts.




From Julie: If the remains found in Leicester are really Richard III, the powers that currently be will have an official burial for him.



From Cassandra: Judgment and empathy, and how they’re related.



From Bunny: How MST3K picked which movies to show (short answer: TV’s Frank!) and ghost photography from the 19th century. Neat stuff.



Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

In case the superstorm and/or Halloween has created zombies beyond your control, fear not – here’s how to turn regular office supplies into weapons. (Ask Bunny about this; he is an expert.)




Internet Librarian happened last week, and the Librarian in Black has written up several summaries for those of us who missed it. The 50 apps for librarians look especially relevant.



Tired of lame campaign slogans? Bill Lucey looks at some of history’s better offerings.