- Could a 3-D printer be used to build moon bases? I don’t know, but it’s pretty cool in action. [via]
- They really love football in Texas: one of the state’s high schools is getting a $60M stadium. [via]
- The science of Pokemon [via]
- I can’t believe I haven’t shared the Most Badass Alphabet Ever yet. [via]
- And finally, you know how last week I was saying it was only a matter of time before the DMCA takedowns of those Downfall meme videos got the Downfall meme treatment? Well, here you go.
school
Wednesday various
- Mike Birbiglia on New York:
Living in New York requires a certain resilience and a willingness to compromise in your lifestyle. An understanding that sometimes apartments are the size of a Starbucks bathroom and sometimes your kitchen sink and your bathtub share the same drain, and that’s okay.
- Does this mark the downfall of the Downfall meme? And how soon, do you think, before this gets the Downfall meme treatment? [via]
- Jane Espenson: “Find your characters’ vulnerable spots and poke them and you’ll find a story.”
- How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature [via]
- And finally, that is some teacher:
Although he was correct, Alex’s actions show a blatant disregard for authority, and a complete lack of respect for his school. In the future, Alex would be better off simply accepting my teachings without resistance.
That and other Most Ridiculous Detention Slips Of All Time. [via]
Wednesday various
- The very real problem of digital decay:
Electronically produced drafts, correspondence and editorial comments, sweated over by contemporary poets, novelists and nonfiction authors, are ultimately just a series of digits — 0’s and 1’s — written on floppy disks, CDs and hard drives, all of which degrade much faster than old-fashioned acid-free paper. Even if those storage media do survive, the relentless march of technology can mean that the older equipment and software that can make sense of all those 0’s and 1’s simply don’t exist anymore.
Imagine having a record but no record player.
Does this mean the people in my office who print out a copy of everything are on to something?
There’s also the fact that, on a purely aesthetic level, digital archives tend to be pretty boring things. A novelist’s handwritten notes, for instance, are a lot more interesting to future readers than his half-finished draft in Microsoft Word. I think Emory University’s archive of Salman Rushdie’s work — this “access through emulation to a born-digital archive” — is a neat way to address this fact. [via]
- The writer and editor in me liked this: Sentenced.
- Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project — a teacher eats her school’s cafeteria food every day for lunch, with pictures! [via]
- I don’t know that being able to identify Star Wars figurines with your mouth really makes you much of a fan so much as just a really weird kid. [via]
- And finally, FutureStates : Play [via]:
Tuesday various
- Apparently Texas history has a liberal bias and needs to be fixed. This would be funny if these people weren’t responsible for teaching America’s children. As Mary Helen Berlanga (D-Corpus Christi) reportedly said, “Until we are ready to tell the truth about history, we don’t have a good history or social studies textbook.” [via]
- I’m not so sure about this Doctor Who alignment chart — is David Tennant’s Doctor really Chaotic Evil? — but it is interesting. [via]
- Peter Sagal on “How Many Writers Did it Take to Make The Fugitive?” Sometimes, too many cooks doesn’t spoil the broth.
- According to the Vatican’s Chief Exorcist, “the Devil is lurking at the heart of the Catholic Church.” [via]
- And finally, the street performers I see in the NY subway are never this interesting. (Though I did once see Chewbacca at Grand Central!)
Thursday various
- Instead of cutting Oscar winners’ speeches (and thereby any hope for spontaneity the whole ceremony might have), maybe they should start with some of the endless montages and interpretive dance numbers. Why not, instead of cutting the part that’s ostensibly what they whole evening is about, stop doubling the number of films being nominated?
- How to Succeed as an Ayn Rand Character
- Please Rob Me. As Waxy.org noted, this is “only dangerous if someone knows where you live” (or if they can extrapolate from other online information about you). But I know I’m a little hesitant to post that I’m away when the house is unattended.
- School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home. Yikes! [via]
- And finally, A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything. [via]