January 2011
10 posts
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"ballast for the soul" →
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A non-review of Evgeny Morozov's THE NET DELUSION
In the wake of the U.S. government’s spirited defense of social media in Egypt, Evegny Morozov writes
“As the pundits were busy celebrating the contribution of Twitter and Facebook to protests in Tunisia and Egypt,1 most of them ignored the terrifying news from Iran, where on Monday two activists were hanged for distributing video footage on the Internet from the country’s 2009...
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Wen, now that's a man the Chinese love
Hu is weak at home… I don’t think Hu is necessarily unpopular in China. He’s certainly respected more than beloved, which when compared to side by side to Wen Jiabao makes the contrast a bit starker perhaps. He’s definitely a solid technocrat and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him tied to corruption or scandal charges* the way Jiang and other past leaders...
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Musical notes from the underground
Where can you see jazz1 gigs,2 doo-wop performances,3 vaudevillian dance shows,4 found object5 percussion duos,6 opera concerts,7 international and intergalactic folk music acts,8 and a pink gorilla playing the bass9—all for $2.25?
On the New York City subway system, of course. Busking underground in New York’s labyrinthine subway system is completely legal, though there are...
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"as you watch the video you will start to see...
The story of how The Pharcyde hired a linguist to train them to rap backwards for the Spike Jonze-directed Drop video:
“The members of The Pharcyde had to memorize the lyrics to their verses backwards in order to lip sync convincingly. Using the help of a linguist to get this vernacular right, gibberish was written on the cue cards (phrases like “Eight, Kay, Car, Ick, Side,...
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How to become a U.S. citizen (flowchart)
Need a quick and dirty explanation of what the process is like to become a U.S. citizen? Check out this flowchart, courtesy of the Reason Foundation.
The more vanilla version here for folks who don’t mix cutesy graphics with their immigration reform commentary. [via] More information from Wikipedia about green cards and the green card lottery. And an article on green cards in soccer.
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The seal laugh returns - The Big Fat Quiz of the...
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, an annual British trivia show featuring a panel of comedians, humorists, and celebrities, returns with its 2010 edition . Expect puns , rants , inside jokes , teasing , and at least a few UK-specific news stories that’ll leave you scratching your head if you don’t follow the Sun . (NSFW due to language)
This year’s edition includes...