July 2008
31 posts
China spying on Olympics hotel guests: U.S.... →
The senator in question is Kansas’ Sam Brownback, who’s been totally awesome on the Darfur issue and a total douchebag about everything else, ever.
“The conservative Republican from Kansas, citing hotel documents he received, added that journalists, athletes’ families and others attending the Olympics next month “will be subjected to invasive...
John McCain: Reform. Prosperity. Naps. →
From a friend of a Las Vegas fellow-traveller. I know this meme is totally played out but this is pretty well executed.
“I would never live in a country/a cult where every woman had to wear possessive...”
– HIPSTER RUNOFF: Kute Girls Have the Right to show Skin/their faces/nips
Hemme Fatale - Animal Lover
Meet Hemme Fatale....
Microfluidic assembly blocks (DOI:... →
“An assembly approach for microdevice construction using prefabricated microfluidic components is presented. Although microfluidic systems are convenient platforms for biological assays, their use in the life sciences is still limited mainly due to the high-level fabrication expertise required for construction. This approach involves prefabrication of individual microfluidic assembly blocks...
Air hose
There is a machine (that I do not use) in the lab I call my home that works on compressed air from a lab tap. Today the lightweight plastic hose connecting the tap to the machine failed with an extremely loud bang. For a second, in the instant after the tube exploded, I wondered if I was about to realize that I had been injured by flying shards of something.
I hadn’t. There were no flying...
Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of... →
“This research ironically intimates that one of the chief values of print library research is poor indexing. Poor indexing—indexing by titles and authors, primarily within core journals—likely had unintended consequences that assisted the integration of science and scholarship.”
I have no sympathy for print journals but enjoy this idea anyway.
Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip » Blog Archive » Bill... →
Ahaha Wonkette makes fun of Bill Kristol did I mention his son is an asshole.
i am other people: Ryan North →
an interview of the Qwantz guy by the A Softer World guy. Kind of reassuring, somehow.
Balamuthia Amebic Encephalitis --- California,... →
Amoebas can crawl into your brain and kill you. Careful, kids!
“Journalists need to stop focusing on geographic locations, and start realizing...”
– HIPSTER RUNOFF: MTV is discovering stuff that’s alt. Does that mean it’s not ‘alt’ n e more? [BEWARE OF THE MAINSTREAMERS]
Carles gives it to us str8, yall
“Asked if he could actually make the computer show him a website, McCain said:...”
– Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip » Blog Archive » John McCain Looked at the Computer!
Jesus Christ this man is even plausibly electable?
You are not reading enough / Has the Internet... →
Mark Morford, I empathize with you completely. Also, you just namechecked Haruki Murakami, which wins you points.
“I barely read books anymore. Not nearly like I used to, anyway. Not for a long, long time. And chances are, if you’re at all addicted to the new media vortex, neither do you.
It’s become a social conundrum, a cultural sore spot, a morose sign of the times. The...
Populations Receiving Optimally Fluoridated Public... →
Hey man, fluoride — it’s important. Water fluoridation has been identified by CDC as one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century! DC weighs in with 100% fluoridation, and both VA and MD have > 90% penetration. Massachusetts, not so much, at 60%. Hawaii fails, at 8%. I bet they have horrible teeth.
Yes. Yes, it is.
(The National - Mr. November)
WatchNew Fleet Foxes Video - “White Winter Hymnal” - Video - Stereogum
Via pitchfork.tv. Totally sweet.
PLoS Genetics: An Evolutionarily Conserved Sexual... →
“We identified 85 genes with common sex-biased expression, in both human and macaque and 2 genes, X inactivation-specific transcript (XIST) and Heat shock factor binding protein 1 (HSBP1), that were consistently sex-biased in the female direction in human, macaque, and marmoset. These observations imply a conserved signature of sexual gene expression dimorphism in cortex of primates....
Arise 'cliodynamics' : Article : Nature →
Psychohistory!
“What caused the collapse of the Roman Empire? More than 200 explanations have been proposed, but there is no consensus about which explanations are plausible and which should be rejected. This situation is as risible as if, in physics, phlogiston theory and thermodynamics coexisted on equal terms.”
“Systems that emerge by selection differ fundamentally from those conceived by...”
– Reduce confusion by using ‘design’ more intelligently : Article : Nature
Individual Differences in Psychotic Effects of... →
Oh this is creepy. Question: Can we find physiological properties that might be linked to susceptibility to schizophrenia or other mental disorders? Answer: Probably.
Inside Mugabe's Violent Crackdown -... →
“
Then Mugabe told the gathering he planned to give up power in a televised speech to the nation the next day. … But Zimbabwe’s military chief, Gen. Constantine Chiwenga, responded that the choice was not Mugabe’s alone to make.”
Astonishing.
Jesse Helms: American Garbage - Political Machine →
“He was a hero to bigots and the cigarette corporations, a menace to the poor and downtrodden, and a mean little troll whose heart was so wrecked by wickedness that doctors had to patch it up with coronary valves from a pig.” - Ken Layne on Jesse Helms.
I was unfavorably astonished by how neutral and incomplete the obit in the Post was.
Disease Maps →
If you ever wanted to know where West Nile Virus has been seen this year…
They could use some help with information aesthetics (pink counties are damn near impossible to see on the national map) but it’s a pretty good implementation otherwise.
When Should You Keep Your Ideas to Yourself? -... →
Or, Tips for Managing Smart People.
“Here are some suggestions to help us, our co-workers, and our direct reports avoid adding “‘too much value.’”