The 100,000 dead figure that’s being tossed around for civilian casualties in Iraq is much trumpeted, but seems to be on shaky ground. Make no mistake: whatever the number, it’s grotesque; it’s unacceptable, and shocking, and unfortunate. But 100,000 it’s not. Fred Kaplan takes the 100,000 number to task in Slate. (Quick aside: if you’re […]
Long Article, Long Tail. Big Idea.
Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail” in Wired Magazine makes for a great read; it takes a stab at explaining a whole host of pop-culture phenomena by linking them together under a seemingly counterintuitive proposition: people’s tastes are not reined in by scarcity. Put more simply, in a physical world—the one defined by movie theaters, book […]
Posted by Ben on October 31, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/long-article-long-tail-big-idea/
Really scare the kiddies this Halloween
Carve political pumpkins. Printer-friendly patterns of John Kerry and George Bush at FabulousFoods.com. (via This Modern World)
Posted by Ben on October 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/really-scare-the-kiddies-this-halloween/
Kubrick and Politics
Last night1, Turner Classic Movies kicked off a monthlong series called “Party Politics and the Movies,” in which senators are invited to choose and introduce their favorite films. John Edwards was the inaugural guest, and his selection was almost shockingly bold: Dr. Strangelove. … Edwards was bashful about drawing parallels, but host Ben Mankiewicz finally […]
Posted by Ben on October 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/kubrick-and-politics/
More Barbie
In related (but unrelated) news, [1] Barbie fell off the list of favored Christmas wish toys in Britain, while [2] yet another artist twists Barbie’s image to her own will. All the gory details: “The Barbie doll has for the first time failed to appear on the list of toys expected to top British children’s […]
Posted by Ben on October 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/more-barbie/
Wipe that smile off your face
Police in the battleground state of Pennsylvania are looking for a man who robbed a bank Thursday night wearing a George W. Bush mask. (TSG: “Man Robs Bank Wearing George W. Bush Mask” [October 18, 2004])
Posted by Ben on October 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/wipe-that-smile-off-your-face/
Of course it’s not a bird, you ninny
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a bull moose hanging by its antlers from an electrical power line in the middle of the Alaska wilderness. This is one of those truly bizarre stories that seems absolutely hilarious until you actually think about it, at which point it turns morbid and sad. (Check out […]
Posted by Ben on October 27, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/of-course-its-not-a-bird/
Blind to the world (or not?)
This is very, very curious: “We found neural activity that frankly surprised us,” says Michael Weliky, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. “Adult ferrets had neural patterns in their visual cortex that correlated very well with images they viewed, but that correlation didn’t exist at all in very young […]
Posted by Ben on October 27, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/blind-to-the-world-or-not/
Hitchhiker’s Guide to…
The old Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Infocom game is now jazzed up with graphics (graphics!) in a li’l flash thingamabob, courtesy of the BBC. (For the uninitiated, the original Infocom game [and also the new Flash version] was basically a digital choose-your-own-adventure version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book. I actually remember […]
Posted by Ben on October 25, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/hitchhikers-guide-to-your-bedroom/
Oddiooverplay
“This little website exists to spread some happiness all over the planet by sharing sounds. Most of these sounds are far from the mainstream, so you might just find something your ears have never experienced!”
Posted by Ben on October 25, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/oddiooverplay/