Friday, December 05, 2008

Friday Links!

Ignore the boss behind the curtain. He is not important. These links, on the other hand, are an important part of your Friday.

Leading off, a link to an auction that will benefit Child's Play. You can bid on any of five diffferent systems (Atari 2600, Turbografix-16, Atari 5200, Sega Genesis 2, or Odyssey 2). All of these systems come from the dusty past of Wired's Chris Kohler, and you can find all the information here.

From Dan Quock, a link to an utterly amazing social experiment called Domestic Tension. Here's an excerpt from the article:
Last spring, Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal moved into a cordoned area set up in the back of a Chicago art gallery, where he would remain for one month. The makeshift cell contained a computer, desk, bed, lamp, coffee table, and stationary bike (which, like most stationary bikes, went untouched). Facing him was a paintball gun with an attached webcam. With the help of friends, an interactive system was designed in which users could log on to the Internet, aim the gun, and fire. For the month, Bilal was an around-the-clock target, offering himself up to anyone wanting to "shoot an Iraqi."

What happened then makes for completely absorbing reading.

From Sirius, a link to a nanotech clothing fabric that never gets wet. Also from Sirius, a link to a fascinating article about a mysterious dearth of acorns in certain parts of the country this fall. Then there's a link to an intriguing idea: using comic books to teach hard science. Wait, there's one more: a "super ant" is taking over Europe. Please remember that this is "super" by European standards, not Australian ones.

From Mike Cascio, a link to a musical documentary called Playing For Change, and here's a description (courtesy of Metafilter):
Playing for Change - Peace Through Music is a documentary film by Mark Johnson. He traveled the world and recorded various musicians playing the song Stand By Me . Each musician was charged with layering a single song over the previous artist thus building upon it. Over thirty musicians globally participated in this project and not one artist knew the other or came in contact initially.

From the Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a link to a totally fantastic tilt-shift video of a demolition derby. Also, a link to the discovery of a prehistoric canoe, found at the bottom of the Black Sea. And following his link to the world's worst cookbook last week, he sends in a link to the testicle cookbook. Insert your joke about marriage [here].

From Max Weinstein, a link to a well-written article over at Giant Japanese Robot titled Parents Guide to Video Games.
From Dan Holmes, a link to discovery of a giant squid that has to be seen to be believed.

From DQ Fitness Advisor Doug Walsh, a link to a video of the Da Vinci of motorcyle riding--Toni Bou. It is simply not possible to do what he does on a motorcycle.

From John Catania, a link to the most amazing papercraft art I've ever seen.

From Jeremy Fischer, a link to a video of a dog that really likes the snow, even when it's over four feet deep.

From Kim Klotz, the woman who makes the best birthday dessert in history, a link to the story of a man who tried to pay an overdue account by sending in a picture of a spider.

From Sean, a link to some outstanding pictures of the recent flooding in Venice.

From Marty Devine, a link to an article about why our pushbutton phones wound up with buttons in the now-standard grid.

Finally, from Cliff Eyler, a link to an article about how difficult it is to design and install a window--in space.

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