Smoking in Japan

Smoking in Japan

hat tip: Lucy's Drowning

Little Hands

via growabrain

stray bullets

The Rise of the Numerati With the explosion of data from the Internet, cell phones, and credit cards, the people who can make sense of it all are changing our world... Sometimes Morgan's team spots groups of Web surfers who appear to move in sync. The challenge then is to figure out what triggers their movements. Once this is clear, the advertisers can anticipate people's online journeys—and sprinkle their paths with just the right ads. And who actually clicks on those ads? Fewer than you'd think, I'd wager. I always had the feeling that the true power of these people is in their ability to convince advertisers that they really know what the hell they're talking about. (via)

Life of the Party I ran into the Buzzkills at a party last weekend. This is not their real name, of course, and I wouldn’t dare call them that to their face, but Jim and Lori Buzzkill are a white, affluent, middle-aged couple whose mission in life is to suck all the joy out of every single party they attend. They bait every guest into an argument that highlights their moral superiority... The Buzzkills are extremely political and contentious. This is not to say that they just argue about politics - lots of people argue about politics, and I don’t have a problem with that. My annoyance lies in their abrasive stance as environmental anti-globalization vegan warrior activists. They somehow manage to politicize any topic of conversation, whether it be about a recipe for jerk chicken (”people who kill chickens are the real jerks”), or the cute new shoes you bought on sale this week (”too bad there’s no good deals for the starving babies who made those shoes”). (big ups, Radmila)

The Professional Panhandling Plague A big part of the cities’ woes is the professionalization of panhandling. The old type of panhandler—a mentally impaired or disabled homeless person trying to scrape together a few bucks for a meal—is giving way to the full-time spanger who supports himself through a combination of begging, working at odd jobs, and other sources, like government assistance from disability payments. I remember reading a story, back in the late 1970's, about a guy that lost his legs in WW2 and would panhandle the streets of New York. When he died, they found out that he would leave the city in the fall and head down to his home in Florida where he would hang out for the winter and run the bar that he owned. Come springtime, he would go back up to New York and get back to work. Apparently, he left behind a considerable chunk of change, hundreds of thousands.

also:
Future Doctors Could Sniff Out Cancer
Atlas of electromagnetic space (extremely cool visualization) (via)
Eno's Oblique Strategies (via)

Victorian Trade Cards

Victorian Trade Cards Digital Collection:

This digital collection was created using a scrapbook of Victorian-era advertising cards from the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections department. Products being advertised include clocks, jewelry, food, and medicine. The advertisement images are often whimsical and bear little relation to the company or product being advertised. (Note: Viewers should be warned that some of the text and images from this collection are considered racially offensive by today's standards.)

Some, like the one above, are just straight-up weird.

via hanuman

Lee Mawdsley Photography

Lee Mawdsley (dizzying portfolio)

via It's Nice That

stray bullets

Click to translate It happens all the time: you're registering a free e-mail account or making a purchase online, when up pops a wavy, multicolored word. The system asks you to retype the word - and you roll your eyes, squint a little, and transcribe. This little test is one of the most successful techniques for making sure the person trying to log on is really a human, and not a digital "bot" prying into the site. But now, when you type that word, something else may be happening as well: You may be deciphering a word from a decaying old book, helping to transform a historic text into a new digital file.

also:
10 Plundering Politicians
WW I soldier found, still clutching his gun
How to Survive in the Jungle
Unwanted tattoos can be removed by cream injected into skin - without pain or scarring

viddy:
We Need Engineers (cute)
Hubble Operations Control Room (via)
An examination of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange A discussion with movie critic William Everson, writer Anthony Burgess and actor Malcolm McDowell... (via)
Marcel Duchamp and John Cage

Chris Buck

Chris Buck photography

via who killed bambi?

stray bullets

Texters hurt as they walk, ride — even cook ER docs warn of serious injuries, deaths from text-message mishaps. I've seen people walk into phone poles and out in front of moving vehicles while texting. (via)

More Performance and cognitive enhancement “Within the next few years, we’ll see the second generation of these drugs,” says Mark Gordon, an endocrinologist in Los Angeles. “Like all second-generation drugs, they will be stronger, longer-lasting, and have fewer side effects.” (via)

Floatation tank horror A 30-year-old became the first person ever to drown in a floatation tank, an inquest heard yesterday. James Richardson, of Woodley, died in Floatnation in Oxford Road after taking the drug ketamine – used to tranquillise horses. Well, I can scratch that off my list of things to do before I die. (via)

also:
How to build a free computer from spare parts
76-year-old experimental music legend Pauline Oliveros on WFMU
Are figs really full of baby wasps?
19 Portrait Photography Tutorials (via)
The 7 Biggest Asshole Computers in Science Fiction (via)
Montana Meth Project does not pull any punches. (via)

viddy:
Intriguing Bigfoot video (real or hoax, it's pretty good)
Social engineering: How to Get Into Any Club (this method probably won't work forever, but it is worth a look) (via)
419 - the Nigerian Scam trailer (via)
Iran Missile Test (yeah, that one)
Darth Vader Meets Wolfman Jack!

ICI Fibers

This actually happened.

OurManinHavana
via Funky Junk Trunk

Goodbye Innocence

from I Believe in Adv
via Sweet Sweet Gwendoline

stray bullets

The Forthcoming War with Iran Bruce Sterling: (((I've been reading Frank Gaffney's outpourings for years now. They're always of keen interest to me. He's a Pentagon Beltway bandit and infallibly pro-war with pretty much any potential "adversary" except Israel. The most interesting thing about the grand Gaffney strategy for war with Iran is the glaring likelihood that Iran would *win* this kind of war.))) Sterling's triple parentheses always create an echo effect in my head. But to the matter at hand-- We heard this sort of talk before both Gulf Wars and the U.S. military shocked the world by decidedly and brutally smoking the supposedly formidable Iraqi army, twice. I still think that war with Iran would be an unthinkably stupid move, but the U.S. military with its exhaustive tonnage of precision guided munitions and lead spraying capability and with its superior technology and mobility, would also smoke the Iranian army, with one hand tied behind its back. The consequences and aftermath would be the disastrous part, just like in Iraq. The military-industrial complex likes to talk this talk to keep themselves from getting to cocky. This essay is pure psy-ops.

Warning: Habits May Be Good for You A few years ago, a self-described “militant liberal” named Val Curtis decided that it was time to save millions of children from death and disease. So Dr. Curtis, an anthropologist then living in the African nation of Burkina Faso, contacted some of the largest multinational corporations and asked them, in effect, to teach her how to manipulate consumer habits worldwide. (via)

Did da Vinci really sketch a primitive version of the car? Yeah, I guess he did. (Oops, spoiler!) I was also attracted to a video on the page concerning Da Vinci's mirrored handwriting, which had almost nothing to do with his handwriting, but brought to mind the real reason why he wrote backward, from right to left. Da Vinci was left handed. So am I. I know from experience, and you lefties out there will almost certainly know this, that when you write, your hand follows the work. The result is often an ink stain on the side of your hand and often smeared work, if you're not careful. This result will vary depending on how one holds their pen, for me it's a big stain and lots of smears, if I'm not careful. This can be a pain in the ass and in the days when ink and paper were very expensive, it was probably a big problem. To put it plainly, he wrote backwards to save money and time. No mystical code or conspiracy, just pure utility. I stand by this to be true.

Lose Your Wikipedia Crutch: 100 Places to Go for Good Answers Online Let's not be too rash or knee-jerk in bashing Wikipedia. It may not always be accurate, but it is generally the most comprehensive and easy to use information source for the beginner or the casual browser. I always look for more sources to link on various topics for my posts, but I often find that Wikipedia is the best way to get the general idea across without too much fuss. If I find something better, I always post it. It's not necessarily a crutch when it's really useful. Still, it's always good to be armed with as many information sources as possible. (via)

PBR is now America's beer...sort of I don't drink that much beer anymore, but I maintain that, as far as crap American McBeer goes, PBR has the best taste and the most character. Kicks Budweiser's ass, anyways.

The Dude Abides Blog Several years ago Roshi Bernie Glassman met Jeff Bridges and thus began a long-term friendship. Bernie said to Jeff, "You know, a lot of folks consider the Dude a Zen Master." Jeff replied, "What are you talking about … Zen?" Bernie said that quite a few people had approached him wanting to chat about the Dude's Zen wisdom. Jeff said that he had never heard of that. Here is a blog to let that conversation go on with those interested in the Dude. Bernie has started a koan study using the Big Lebowski as source material and featuring Koans by the Coens. These koans will be posted on this blog with comments by Bernie and the Dude Himself. Before I left New Orleans, there were some kids that hung out at the same coffee shop that I did and they used to call me The Dude. They meant it with maximum respect and I secretly considered it to be an honor. (via)

The Prisoner Remake Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen are to star in a reinterpretation of the 1960s cult classic, The Prisoner. AMC is co-producing the six-part mini-series with ITV Productions and Granada International, slated to be premiered in 2009. Caviezel will play Number Two, McKellen, Number Six. I'm surprised it took this long. Let's hope it doesn't suck. (via)

How rich are you? Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world. Wondering what it would be like to have that sort of cash. But where would you sit on one of those lists? Here's your chance to find out. (via)

You a bad puddy tat!

ryan schude:

visit keithmusil.com to see the edited commercial this set was intended for. original concept by youfail.com

via In the final analysis... EVEN BLOGS MUST DIE!

Get Some Nuts!

This was too good to pass up.

getsomenuts.tv
via Sand & Cotton

The Elephant Tower

I have mixed feelings about advertising, but I love good advertisements. A good ad won't provoke me to buy a product I wouldn't normally, but a bad ad will cause me to avoid one. I have noticed that when I need something outside of my usual habits, I tend to initially gravitate toward the brand that I've seen or heard an ad for. I try to do my homework, but on the fly, sometimes you have to make a quick decision and that jingle or catchphrase will ring in my head and will influence my choice. It might not be the choice to buy, but the influence is there.

This Pepsi commercial is cute and has a nice narrative flow. Give me a good story in a minute and you'll win my heart. I don't drink that much soda and I won't be buying Pepsi anytime soon, but I'll enjoy their ads.

from Lunatica Desnuda
via NOTCOT

Kinder Surprise

LongLiveGorfUK:

This abomination was broadcast somewhere around 1983/84 - Legend/urban myth has it that it was banned because it gave some old bloke a [fatal!] heart attack ;)

via Nerdcore

Messin' With Sasquatch - Cold One

Dumb guy with dumb stick of metal tries to be mean to Sasquatch.

I apologize if this is all over TV. I gave up television (again) about four years ago. I get a lot more done. I seem to be able to satisfy my visual needs on the computer and when I'm out visiting.

Messin' With Sasquatch
found on VideoSift

Pain Without Borders

To put an end to endless pain. Make a donation.
www.douleurs-sans-frontiers.org

from Ads of the World
via FFFFOUND!

Jell-O #1

Emergence of Advertising in America, 1850-1920
via this isn't happiness

"You will change course..."

masterplansweden:

This low budget commercial was shot on 16mm during one day on location in the control tower of the old Swedish destroyer "Småland", nowadays a museum. The exterior shots are archive material. Result: lots of fun and a bronze lion in Cannes Lions advertising festival 2004.

thanks John and Elizabeth

Coca Cola Unhuggable

I got a good laugh out of this.

For those of you not into sports, this series of ads plays on the spontaneous camaraderie amongst strangers that can emerge around particularly meaningful or emotional moments during a sporting event. From my experience, you can find yourself dancing in the arms of a complete stranger, sometimes one that might normally require a wide berth.

As an interesting aside, there is a seeming release of endorphins when one raises their arms up in cheer. Try it sometime, I'm not kidding. You'll feel a surge of joy move from your arms throughout your body. A good yell helps. Do it with 50,000+ screaming drunks and the euphoria is tangible. There is a mass consciousness component to sporting events that any aficionado of the mind would find instructive to examine and experience. It's similar to, but distinctly different from the arena concert experience. (Anecdotally, many athletes and musicians have reported that they can feel this wave of ecstasy when they are on the field or onstage. I think many most of them are addicted to it.)

via Gems Sty