Three things recently that caught my attention.
First, Family Guy writer Patrick Meighan’s account of his arrest at Occupy LA on 30 November, outlining the tactics employed by police to break up the peaceful protest. Though he backtracks a little at the end, refusing to fully condemn those responsible (a cop-out, and a shame), his story is powerful stuff:
As we sat there, encircled, a separate team of LAPD officers used knives to slice open every personal tent in the park. They forcibly removed anyone sleeping inside, and then yanked out and destroyed any personal property inside those tents, scattering the contents across the park. They then did the same with the communal property of the Occupy LA movement… Note that these were the objects described in subsequent mainstream press reports as “30 tons of garbage” that was “abandoned” by Occupy LA: personal property forcibly stolen from us, destroyed in front of our eyes and then left for maintenance workers to dispose of while we were sent to prison.
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I've said it before: these are perfect tools for the classroom. I'm the kid who learned more from TV about maths and science (and appreciating them) than I ever did at school. I'm surely not the only one. #link
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A Twitter satire (that's how I'm reading it, anyway) from @paleofuture. Also: must read some Nicholson Baker. #link
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Draw something in the box, and it finds Unicode characters to match it. Not perfect, but pretty nifty. #link
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A collection of vintage LP stereo banners. #link
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In even shorter terms, the tablet is a one-dimensional medium as far as our interaction with them goes. We need more tactile interfaces! #link
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Filing this for future reference. #link
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Good selection of dice for game builders. Filed for future reference. #link
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As the link says, some top picks from the wealth of longform writing on the web this year. See also: Give Me Something To Read’s 2011 Highlights. #link
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Dude is really embracing new technology, and he understands more about the web than he thinks he does. I ponied up for his stand-up special too; looking forward to watching it (can't laugh now, throat's still too sore). #link
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Sorry I didn't post this before the 25th! Save it for next year's festive soundtrack. #link
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I will find this very useful one day. #link
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Some of these are just bullshit pie-in-the-sky futurism, but many others are just pragmatic abstractions of things already happening today (look how much has already happened this year, for instance). #link
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Google showing a good understanding of what people use Street View for, right here. #link
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A searchable database of Irish excavation reports. Surprisingly useful, and very educational. Here's details of work carried out where we used to live in town. #link
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"By 2050, three-quarters of the world’s population will be urban. That means more -- and much bigger -- metropolises." #link
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If it's not obvious what this is from first glance, it would take too long to explain it to you. #link
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I'll fight anyone who says Predator isn't one of the best action films of the 1980s; it's up there with Robocop IMHO. #link
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Filing this for future reference. #link
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How to Make Bubble Tea
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I suppose if anyone could do it, they could. #link
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It's kind of shocking to think about the amount of things (outside of industrial processes) that have been robotised as a matter of course. It's sneaking up on us, in a way. #link
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Build your own unique robot, replicated to order. The prices are a bit steep at the moment, but this kind of thing is going to explode. #link
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Andy Baio's brief history of this web video phenomenon. It's the kind of creativity that bullshit legislation like SOPA would kill stone dead. #link
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A digital media academic takes the extreme approach when he learns he's being watched by the Feds. I understand what he's doing, but he's very much missing the point, and doing a disservice to those who don't have his technical nouse. #link
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s chickpea recipes
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This is kinda what I was talking about last year. Almost, but not quite. #link
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Dan Hill five years ago, being very prescient. Binge watching, timeshifting, whatever you call it -- between the DVR and box sets, it's 90% of our home viewing now. #link
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Mine's 4,446,117,843 (or 79,030,555,906 since history began) #link
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Having now read 1Q84, I can say it's been fiercer. See also: If Haruki Murakami’s New Book Were Sold Like a Video Game. #link
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An interview with the notorious Black Flag roadie who eventually became a partner in SST Records and is now, many years later, a clean-cut family man. Go figure. #link
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Compare with the AV Club's Scariest Movie Scenes. Both are missing an obvious classic in Robocop. Was no one else frightened by that ED-209 scene? Still gives me chills just thinking about it. #link
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I haven't used it in a long time -- I've always been a quotes guy -- but it does have a very specific application that hasn't really been substituted here. When Google starts messing up search, that's not a good sign. #link
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These are mostly things that I believe, too. #link
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Added to the 'Things I didn't know' file: tomatoes can be affected by potato blight [c/o The Morning News]. #link
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I should probably start calling these Monthnotes, shouldn’t I? Anyway, let’s review the last few weeks.
The highlights: Michael D winning the presidency, even though I voted for Norris / Seeing The Silence of the Lambs for the first time (and loving it) / The Dark Crystal at this year’s Horrorthon / Wearing sunglasses on the first day of November / James Gleick talking about The Information at the Science Gallery / CHIKARA‘s High Noon iPPV rekindling my love of wrestling / Digging Bill Orcutt‘s mindbending acoustic blues / Reginald D Hunter at Vicar Street (very different from the panel shows) / Finally dinging three stone (and dropping a trouser size).
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