Friday, January 09, 2009

Friday Links!

Appearing this week in 3D, although obviously, you need the glasses.

Leading off this week, a link from Ben Younkins to a wonderful article about Detroit titled The City Where the Sirens Never Sleep. It's beautifully written and extremely poignant.

From Vahur Teller, a link to a TED lecture about the amazing abilities of--bonobos. This is a truly remarkable video and well worth your time.

From Jon Simmons, a totally fascinating interview with Daniel Tammett, who is both mildly autistic and has synaesthesia as well. He's known for reciting pi to 22,514 digits from memory, but he's done many other astounding things as well, and unlike other savants, he can explain how he does it.

Via Neatorama, a link to fond memories: a cereal box archive.

Discover Magazine included a link in their last issue to the Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards, and the galleries of nature photographs will keep you busy for hours.

From Glen Haag, and I meant to include this in the gaming links yesterday, it's Patentmania: The Golden Age of Electronic Games. Here's the lead:
The first three decades of digital gaming saw a flurry of concepts, technologies, and products that were groundbreaking in their era and still matter today. And the drawings their inventors used to document them in patent filings are a nostalgic, charming blast. Here are thirty-two of those sketches–including ones for some the most successful games ever and a few which I’m not sure ever made it to market at all.

DQ Fitness Advisor Doug Walsh, after reading my "maybe too hardcore" post earlier this week, sent in a link to a story about the ultimate hardcore: one-legged mountain biker Brett Wolfe, who competes in ultra-endurance events.

From Sirius, a slew of links this week, beginning with 12 Elegant Examples of Evolution. Next, a story about Dinosaur City, the world's largest dinosaur fossil site (in China, near Zhucheng city). Next, the story of the scallywags, and here's an excerpt:
By day they were ordinary civilians — from dentists and clergymen to gamekeepers and roadmenders – in a Britain gripped by fear of imminent invasion by Hitler’s blitzkreig troops.

The only clue to their alter egos might have been the pieces of paper in their pockets – informing any police officer suspicious of their behaviour “to ask no questions of the bearer but phone this number”.

But new details have now emerged of the highly secretive role played by a “resistance” army of fit young men and women chosen as would-be saboteurs and spies in the event of a German landing.

Frank Regan sent in a link to an outstanding Onion spoof: MacBook Wheel Revealed.

There are so many articles about 3D at CES this week that it's impossible to cover them all, but Sean sent me a link to an LA Times story about 3D television. Seriously, 3D seems to be the major theme of CES this year.

Jesse Leimkuehler sent in two interesting space links. The first is a story about Venus and what happened to Venus' water. The second is a story about stars forming near black holes (too near, seemingly).

From the Edwin Garcia Links Machine, a link to how the yellow first-down line is created for football broadcasts. Next, it's an entirely whimsical robotic snout.

From John D'Angelo, a link to a video of the expansion of a supernova.

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