Man avoids jail time for octopus/tiger/pony/etc sex pics

Thank you, Warren Ellis, for making me want to cry myself to sleep. Again.

Watchmen trailer here, if you haven't seen it already.  I can't figure out how they are going to film this - the comic seems pretty solidly un-filmable, and in fact I'm pretty sure it's been passed up for being turned into a movie over that very issue.  That said, that trailer is very very pretty.  I greatly suspect it's going to be at least 60% style and 40% substance, if not worse.

The Spirit trailer also came out last week.  I wasn't at all familiar with the comic, but those who were generally seemed pretty horrified by it.  On Whitechapel, Warren Ellis posted this link to one of the 7 page comics Will Eisner did in the later run as an example.  Go read it - it's quite good, and a great example of the abilities of the comic book to tell stories in a completely unique way.  I also now understand some of the horror people feel at the upcoming movie.


ETA: Firefox 3 and linking in LJ refuse to play nicely together and it's making me want to Hulk smashy things.

Inspired by hujhax's link to the Weezer video with muppets, I present to you REM on Sesame Street!

I challenge you, CHALLENGE YOU to watch it and not smile.  C'mon.  Just try it.


"Come on monsters, you don't have to cry... we can be HAPPY!!!"

The NY Times has an article on community supported agriculture here.  I've been doing it for about a yearish now, and I looove it (as I've stated on numerous occasions).

Got this from Andrew Lee.  It is ridiculously cute.  When the little girl is talking to the camera, watch his reaction...




Heeeeee!

Story here and here.

So wait a minute. We knew this was going to happen, didn't we? Well, let's get in the way-back machine and see.....

9/29/05: Ice-Free Arctic Summer Possibly by 2100

9/11/07: Arctic sea ice cover at record low
Most researchers had anticipated that the complete disappearance of the Arctic ice pack during summer months would happen after the year 2070, he said, but now, "losing summer sea ice cover by 2030 is not unreasonable."

12/12/07: Arctic Summers Ice-Free by 2013
"Our projection of 2013 for the removal of ice in summer is not accounting for the last two minima, in 2005 and 2007," the researcher from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, explained to the BBC. "So given that fact, you can argue that may be our projection of 2013 is already too conservative."


What this sounds like is that the current reality is a lot worse than we used to think. A loss of ice has huge implications for global warming as the light-colored ice bounced lots of the sun's rays back into space, while dark-colored sea water will absorb them. In addition, the freshwater from the melted ice may strongly impact gulf stream, whose warm waters around Britain is primarily responsible for the climate and without which, due to the latitude, Britain would be far more like Siberia.

This is very bad.

Stolen from phylomath , this just might be the most fabulous thing ever:


*This may be a lie

ETA: britbrizat, why the hell wasn't a baker included in the Chippendales show we saw for your birthday?  I mean hell, they had the sexy chat buddy typing suggestively, why not a baker cutting bread suggestively??  This is a travesty!

This frog breaks its own bones to create retractable claws.  Story here.  (Directly stolen from Whitechapel)

"Amphibian horror" isn't a movie genre, but on this evidence perhaps it should be. Harvard biologists have described a bizarre, hairy frog with cat-like extendable claws.

Trichobatrachus robustus actively breaks its own bones to produce claws that puncture their way out of the frog's toe pads, probably when it is threatened.

David Blackburn and colleagues at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, think the gruesome behaviour is a defence mechanism.

The researchers say there are salamanders that force their ribs through their skin to produce protective barbs on demand, but nothing quite like this mechanism has been seen before.

The feature is also found in nine of the 11 frogs belonging to the Astylosternus genus, most of which live in Cameroon.
Instant weapon

"Some other frogs have bony spines that project from their wrist, but in those species it appears that the bones grow through the skin rather than pierce it when needed for defence," says Blackburn.

At rest, the claws of T. robustus, found on the hind feet only, are nestled inside a mass of connective tissue. A chunk of collagen forms a bond between the claw's sharp point and a small piece of bone at the tip of the frog's toe.

The other end of the claw is connected to a muscle. Blackburn and his colleagues believe that when the animal is attacked, it contracts this muscle, which pulls the claw downwards. The sharp point then breaks away from the bony tip and cuts through the toe pad, emerging on the underside.



What a fascinating and bizarre world in which we live.

Story here.

He estimates they'll eat a whole bag in about 3 months.  That's pretty awesome.

This photography is amazing - and some of them are damn creepy (also, there are a couple that feature lots of bugs/spiders, in case that bothers you).



See the rest here.

ETA: Woah!  I just noticed on the 5th one down - the one with the wolf - the outstretched paw is turning into a hand!  Nice touch!!

Neat!
Brazilian Beetles Hold Key to Faster Computers

...Brilliant.
Buy a Car, Get a Free Gun
I wonder what kind of background checks these guys are doing (assuming they are doing them).  Ugh.  No wonder Hilary is doing so well in those areas.

Also:
Genetic Rights Now Reserved for US Citizens

Nanoskin Buildings Covered in Self-Powering Tiny Turbines
(Ok, that's just damn cool.)

Pictures from an H. R. Giger-designed bar:

(more here)


ETA: Giant 'telescope' connects London and New York
That is really fucking cool.

(gathered from grinding.be and google)

Haute Couture:
The Lady's Murder - "A sexy web comic unraveling the untimely death and infamous character of Miss Marie Madeleine. New page posted every weekday." The art is gorgeous.

Simpsons Couture:
The Simpsons get a spread in Harper's Bazaar when they visit Paris.  Really fun.  :)

If you haven't heard of them, TED - or technology, entertainment, and design - is an annual conference in California in which experts on a huge range of topics are invited to give the talk of their lives - within an 18 minute format.  These talks are available here.

There is a ridiculous amount of badassery involved in these talks, like this one on how fungi might save the Earth.  Also, I have a crush on this particle physicist.

Highly recommended.

Specifically, a little kick-ass hella awesome Sesame Street style funk in your life.  How about some Stevie Wonder playing Superstition?  Be sure to watch for the kid on the fire escape ROCKING OUT.




(britbrizat posted this originally a little while ago.  I'm reposting it because I rediscovered it this morning.  And really, it's so great that it deserves to be reposted anyway.)

Stolen directly from grinding.be:

You know, it’s times like these that I think Cory Doctorow might have had a point in his short-story I, Robot; that we need a world-wide fascist Government, with a single Corporation producing our future robo-servants and play pals in order to implement Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.

It might be a small sacrifice, compared to dying in the Robot Apocalypse that the foolish fleshpots at the University of Pennsylvania are helping to enable. See for yourself:



The Terminator series is looking more like a factional movie from the future every day.

Ok, this is for cat people.  My dad's wife sent this to me.  This cracked me up, mainly because the cat just looks like he's enjoying it so much...!  From here.


Jennifer and Jim kept getting huge water bills. They knew beyond a doubt that the bills weren't representative of actual usage, and no matter how they tried to conserve, the high bills continued. Although they could see nothing wrong, they had everything checked for leaks or problems: first the water meter, then outdoor pipes, indoor pipes, underground pipes, faucets, toilets, washer, ice maker machine, etc. One day, Jim was sick and stayed home in bed, but kept hearing water running downstairs. He finally tore himself from his sick bed to investigate, and stumbled onto the cause of such high water bills. Apparently this had been happening all day long when they were not at home. Knowing that few would believe him, he taped a segment of the 'problem' for posterity [2:46].

This is an excellent essay on being proactive about global warming by Michael Pollan that my mom forwarded to me.  I already eat mostly locally grown veggies thanks to the CSA, but I'm feeling inspired to look into gardening...

I just joined the bone marrow donor registry.  If my DNA matches a child with leukemia - admittedly a small chance, but possible - they'll call me up to do a donation, which might be a pelvic bone extraction or just a stem cell blood donation.  Either way, it's a small amount of discomfort for me compared to all the procedures the kids have to go through.

And Memory Myers, I'm doing it in your honor.  I wish I could have helped you then.

If you are interested, you can go to marrow.org.

aciel, a graduate from Virginia Tech, gave a speech today on gun violence in school, on the anniversary of the VT shooting.  I recommend reading it.  Also, you can read a bit about the victims here on VT's memorial page.