LinkMachineGo

[funny] 100% of SCIENCE!: How Pikey is The Dorchester? … ‘The experiment comprises the depositing of a small denomination coin in the gentlemen’s urinal of said carefully chosen establishment, and measuring how much time passes before the coin is removed.’

[iraq] Pat Dollard, Hollywood Guy Gone Gonzo … ‘After his fourth wife left him because she got upset about his hobbies, which included cocaine and hookers, Hollywood agent/producer Pat Dollard decided to get his head together by flying to Iraq to hang out with Marines and fight insurgents and film a pro-war documentary that would make him “the Michael Moore of the right.” A few weeks later, he sent his Hollywood pals a photo of himself with a Mohawk haircut, a machine gun and the word DIE shaved into his chest hair. After that, things started to get weird.’ [thanks Phil]

[apple] Create your own Apple Rumor … ‘An Anonymous tipster has advised us to expect a Flash based iMac or Wifi Enabled iPod Nano in the NAB 2007’ [via Blah Blah Flowers]

[comics] Matt Murdock is a Dick … the infamous moment when Matt Murdock drops a kid down a lift shaft in Daredevil #209 …

[comics] The Image-Soaked Future — Bryan Appleyard on comics recent successes in bookstores. ‘…one rather banal reason for such success must be mentioned — Chinese printers. A few years ago, it became radically cheaper to print in China. For graphic novels, this was a turning point, as they are expensive to produce. The Jonathan Cape boss Dan Franklin, the form’s leading British publisher, estimates that Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan, with its fabulously complex and beautiful images, would have had to be sold at between £30 and £40 if printed in the West. Thanks to China, it sells for £18 – a lot, but not vastly out of line with a conventional hardback.’

[comics] Ask Metafilter: What’s the appeal of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller? … ‘The disillusionment portrayed in Catch 22 is symbolic of the disillusionment that was forming in the American conscious throughout the 20th century. Just look at Vietnam, a war that began just a few years after Catch 22’s publication. And I would say that the same ideas are still with us, maybe growing. Our Presidential and congressional leaders seem just as incapable of hearing the truth as any authorities in Catch 22. All one can do is navigate through the bureaucracy, using its illogical rules to our own advantage whenever possible.’

[comics] This Vicious Cabaret — Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s This Vicious Cabaret set to David J’s music … ‘They say that there’s a broken light for every heart on Broadway. They say that life’s a game, then they take the board away. They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story.Then leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret…’

[movies] Long Flicks: to Cut or Not to Cut? … ‘Some critics thought Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” or Robert De Niro’s “The Good Shepherd” – both clocking in at about two hours, 40 minutes – would have been greatly improved at closer to two hours. But who’s going to tell Scorsese or De Niro to chop 30 minutes?’

[comics] The Reversible Man — another classic Alan Moore Time Twister on scans_daily.

[censorship] The Great Firewall of China — test any website to see if it is censored by the China’s firewall. [via Metafilter]

[comics] E-Petition: ‘We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to award knighthoods to John Wagner, Pat Mills and Alan Grant, in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the great British comic, 2000AD.’ [via Barbelith]

[funny] Vita Radium Suppositories (for restoring Sex Power) … ‘Recommended for sexually weak men who, however, should use the NU-MAN Tablets in connection for best results. Also splendid for piles and rectal sores.’

[media] Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Past 40 Years — from the American Society of Magazine Editors …

some of the greatest covers of the last 40 years

[comics] 30 years of the future — 2000AD is thirty years old today! Zarjaz, Earthlets! … ‘Judge Dredd is a complex character for liberals to deal with. Comics historian Paul Gravett, co-author of Great British Comics, notes: “He is a huge bully. But there are readers who quite like the idea. We show in my book a picture of a modern day policeman – they look just like Judge Dredd. In many ways we are living in Mega City One.”‘ [via The Coffee Grounds]

[quote] Arthur Miller Quote on Suffering and Psychoanalysis: ‘My argument with so much of psychoanalysis, is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness. When in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know, have come out of people’s suffering. The problem is not to undo suffering, or to wipe it off the face of the earth, but to make it inform our lives, instead of trying to “cure” ourselves of it constantly, and avoid it, and avoid anything but that lobotomized sense of what they call “happiness”. There’s too much of an attempt, it seems to me, to think in terms of controlling man, rather than freeing him – of defining him, rather than letting him go! It’s part of the whole ideology of this age, which is power-mad!’ (Spotted on Adam Curtis’ documentary Century of the Self)

[motions] Correct Position for Opening your Bowels — It looks really complicated – Is the footrest really neccessary? :) [via Kottke]

[tv] Charlie Brooker on The Half Hour News Hour: ‘A lot of people think right-wingers aren’t capable of being amusing at all. Not true. Mussolini looked hilarious swinging from that lamppost.’

[comics] When even Dave Sim Finds You Weird — Metafilter discuss Dave Sim recieving a book proposal from a Furry … ‘The more I think about it, the more Dave Sim reminds me of Bobby Fischer. Brilliant guy, but good for one thing and one thing only. The fact that Fischer is an ugly little Nazi sympathizer doesn’t make him less of a great chess player…’

[comics] Whatever Happened to Miracleman? — a look at the tortured publishing history behind Marvelman / Miracleman … ‘Alan Moore recently announced on Internet podcast Fanboy Radio that 90-year-old Marvelman creator Mick Anglo is still interested in claiming rights from all Miracleman material.’

[email] Email Addicts Offered 12-step Detox … ‘Marsha Egan, who claims email “abuse” can cost US business millions in lost productivity, cites the chilling cases of “a golfer who checked his BlackBerry after every shot” and a client who “cannot walk by a computer – her own or anyone else’s – without checking for messages”.’

[comics] Ask Metafilter: How would one become Batman? … ‘Then it dawned on me… Batman is a savant. He is a highly functioning savant to be slightly more accurate. He reads a book and knows it, he hears something ans remembers it. He sees patterns everywhere, and understands them. This idea, is humanly possible (maybe) and makes him knowing so much pretty easy. The rest is in the training… and with enough time and money and drive to do it, he could be lethal. Especially if we go the savant route because learning where and when to strike would wouldn’t take as much training. Batman has a very rare form of autism.’

[tv] 50 funniest Homer Simpson Quotes … ‘I’m normally not a praying man, but if you’re up there, please save me Superman.’ [via Limbicnutrition Weblog]

[comics] The Time Machine — early Alan Moore comic from 2000AD with art from Jesus Redondo (this remains one of my favourite comics) …

panels from alan moore's the time machine future shock

[mail] You’ve got Mail! — Jon Ronson on Junk Mail … ‘It is slightly chilling to realise there are rational, functional people up there employed to spot, nurture and exploit those down here among us who are irrational and can barely cope. If you want to know how stupid you’re perceived to be by the people up there, count the unsolicited junk mail you receive. If you get a lot, you’re perceived to be alluringly stupid.’

[religion] Amusing Science vs. Faith Flowchart. [via bojo.org]

[web] Geek to Live: Create your master feed with Yahoo! Pipes — interesting idea for Yahoo! Pipes from Lifehacker … ‘As a prolific netizen, you generate lots of web-based feeds: your Flickr photos, your del.icio.us bookmarks, your weblog posts and your Lifehacker comments, to name a few. Instead of going here there and everywhere to see all the content you create on the web, combine it all into one master feed using with the newly-launched Yahoo! Pipes…’

[movies] Crichton’s Closet of Tech Horrors — Wired looks at the films Michael Crichton directed in the 70’s and 80’s… ‘The movies are filled with high-concept ideas, purple dialogue, supremely creepy moments and nifty gadgetry. They are both implausible, sometimes to the point of being ridiculous, and a few degrees too earnest. And the primary weapon for the bad guys — doctors, computer programmers, robotics experts — is technological know-how. Now Crichton positions himself as an authority on global warming and enters the policy-making slipstream, advising President Bush and testifying at a congressional hearing on the nuances of climate change.’

[24] Whatever It Takes — interesting look at the politics behind 24 and of it’s creator Joel Surnow … ‘The “24” producers told the military and law-enforcement experts that they were careful not to glamorize torture; they noted that Bauer never enjoys inflicting pain, and that it had clearly exacted a psychological toll on the character. (As Gordon put it to me, “Jack is basically damned.”) Finnegan and the others disagreed, pointing out that Bauer remains coolly rational after committing barbarous acts, including the decapitation of a state’s witness with a hacksaw. Joe Navarro, one of the F.B.I.’s top experts in questioning techniques, attended the meeting; he told me, “Only a psychopath can torture and be unaffected. You don’t want people like that in your organization. They are untrustworthy, and tend to have grotesque other problems.” [via Blah Blah Flowers]

[comics] The Death of a Role Model – Conclusion (some spoilers) — some interesting points on Dave Sim and the conclusion of Cerebus … ‘I find it amazing that the prelude to the end of Form and Void was echoed with my own impressions of the story as it ended. Can you imagine how Cerebus felt when he saw Ham (a man he greatly admired) had blown his own head off with a shotgun? That’s how I felt at the end of Form and Void. Dave’s brains, his effort, splattered on a steamy pile of clotting blood in the snow. I don’t know if that was the intended effect, but I find it really likely it was.’ [via Meowwcat]

[blogs] Billie Piper to play Belle de Jour? … ‘Friends say she is “desperate” to play the part of Belle de Jour, with Channel 4 expected to green-light the project in the coming weeks.’

[funny] Ze Frank on Procrastination … ‘You might experience a whole career to put off building meaningful relationships and finding an inner sense of self worth.’

[nude] Top 10 Naked People on Google Earth … ‘This person thinks they have privacy on this rooftop (haven’t they seen Enemy of the State?), and they’re definitely topless! (Sex unknown of course, but topless nevertheless.)’ [via linkbunnies.org]

[ebay] Guide for UK eBay traders on Income Tax … ‘If you qualify as a non-trader, this means you are not buying and selling goods online with the intention of making a profit. Are you selling unwanted presents? Do you occasionally sell personal items, such as old vinyl records or a sofa? As long as you are not buying goods with the intention of selling them at a profit, you are not regarded as a trader. This means you do not have to notify us and declare the income on your tax return.’

[comics] Dyspeptic Planet — Interview with Evan Dorkin. ‘…you know what? Football players are idiots, but nerds can be bastards too. Eltingville is about the tyranny of fandom, and fans who believe that everything that they buy and are into is just for them and no one else. And they hug it so close to themselves that they suffocate it. And they are not just these loveable little losers – well, a lot of them are [laughs].’

[wikipedia] Anna Nicole Smith’s death sends Wikipedia into overdrive … ‘I get all my news from a large online forum… Whenever they say someone’s dead, I rush to Wikipedia to edit their article… But I’ve always been too late. Why is it that scientific news takes so long to be made public, but when somebody dies everyone flocks to it? We’re all just a bunch of necrophiles, aren’t we?’ [via linkbunnies.org]

[comics] Stupid Comics on British Girls Annuals … ‘These comics aren’t all fun and games. Real-world problems and issues were sometimes dealt with in a frank and open fashion, uncompromising and stark, facing society’s problems head on. For instance… Sometimes, sometimes Daddy buys you a pony, and that pony is SO mischevious and fun-loving that it becomes embarrassing at equestrian events! A real-world problem that many British teenage girls wished they faced.’ [via qwghlm]

[apple] Are you a Mark or a Jez? — some photoshopping of Apple’s Peep Show Adverts … ‘Let’s be honest – I’m a bit of a twat. Guess which computer I am?’ [via linkbunnies.org]

[comics] Harvey Pekar on Letterman — the infamous episode where Harvey seriously manages to wind-up Letterman … ‘You’re a dork, Harvey – Relax!’ [via Journalista]

[comics] Interview with Grant Morrison from 2004 … ‘This last year after my dad died and my cats died, I felt so bad and so hopeless but I had to acknowledge that I still felt. These feelings are not actually the negative kinds of states that they try to convince you they are. They’re feelings, and they’re all quite sharp and they’re all quite bright and alive. The meaning is that life HURTS in many instances, generally because it implicates us in something desperately precious and fragile and temporary.’ [via Pete’s Linklog]

[comics] The Four Types of Bat-Conflict … [via BeaucoupKevin]

[movies] RoboCop, PhD — According to Wired Peter Weller is getting a PhD in Italian Renaissance Art History … ‘This is no vanity degree; Weller teaches courses, writes papers, and is doggedly climbing the academic ladder. Buckaroo Banzai, the polymath who was arguably Weller’s most famous character – acclaimed neurosurgeon, race car driver, particle physicist, and, of course, rock star – would be proud.’ [via Ghost in the Machine]

[apple] Charlie Brooker: I Hate Macs … ‘So when you see the ads, you think, “PCs are a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers.” In other words, it is a devastatingly accurate campaign. I hate Macs. I have always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even hate people who don’t use Macs but sometimes wish they did. Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work; computers for people who earnestly believe in feng shui.’

charlie brooker on hating macs surrounded by mitchell & webb

[books] The Naked Truth: Authors Who Write in the Buff. … ‘When Victor Hugo, the famous author of great tomes such as Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, ran into a writer’s block, he concocted a unique scheme to force himself to write: he had his servant take all of his clothes away for the day and leave his own nude self with only pen and paper, so he’d have nothing to do but sit down and write.’ [via Quiddity]

[web] Senduit — another one of those useful websites that allow you share large files for short periods of time. [via Lifehacker]

[movies] When Harry met Sally Recut — the romance film with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as a thriller … ‘Don’t Fuck with Mister Zero.’ [via Metafilter]

[ebay] What was the first thing ever sold on eBay? … ‘In late ’95, Pierre made history when he sold eBay’s first item — a broken laser pointer he had originally bought as a cat toy. Amazingly, the buyer paid $14.00 for the kaput pointer. We imagine it was about this time Pierre realized he was on the cusp of creating something great.’ [via Kottke]

[toys] Speak & Spell Emulator — Flash version of the popular 70’s learning toy … ‘Spell Anything’ [via qwghlm]

[ebay] Find Misspelled Listings on eBay … ‘Imagine being able to find listings on eBay which attract very few bids by the end of the auction… Why so few bids? Quite simply because the listing contains misspellings and therefore couldn’t be found by using any search tool.’ [via meish.org]

[TV] Grace Dent’s Final Word on Celebrity Big Brother 2007: ‘It’s only a game show: only a few careers and livelihoods ruined. Only a few relationships shattered, a few contestants’ families heartbroken, only a few safehouses booked and kids living without mum while she’s in hiding, and only a few psychologists on standby and contestants said to be near-suicidal. This is totally normal on game shows, isn’t it? You should see the drama on Countdown when they run low on pens. Carnage, emotional fall-out, safehouses being booked everywhere.’ [via Feeling Listless]

[comics] Warren Ellis, Novelist — Ellis on his new book Crooked Little Vein … ‘I sat down and wrote the first ten thousand words of an utterly unsaleable novel. I figured I could recycle the material into comics later. So I handed her this horror of a thing, complete with Godzilla Bukkake scene, and said, take this and leave me alone. Thinking, obviously, that she’d decide I was insane and never bug me again. Two weeks later, she phoned to tell me she’d sold it to Harper Collins in New York…’

[comics] Belle de Jour and Judge Dredd: ‘…he only gives her six months imprisonment? You call that sympathy?’

[blogs] Forced Switch to the New Blogger Begins — I think the latest upgrade to Blogger has been a disaster and it’s what drove me to upgrade to WordPress (along with the realisation that WordPress was pretty easy to install and manage) … ‘Starting today, a small percentage of users who log in to an old Blogger account will be required to move to the new version. This involves moving your current Blogger account to a new or existing Google Account. After the move, you will need to log in to Blogger with your Google Account username, which is always the email address associated with your account. If you’re one of the lucky folks who is prompted to move your account over to the new version of Blogger, you’ll be able to postpone this process once (and only once) if you *really* need to get a post out of your head or want to say goodbye to the old Blogger. After that, it’s time to befriend the new Blogger!’ [via Google Operating System]

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