2013-05-09
How to Use a Computer
The Bad
The Good
And the Orgasmic
Year: 2013/Archives
2013-04-22
Prisoner of Zion: Released
Scott Carrier’s new book is out: Prisoner of Zion: Muslims, Mormons and Other Misadventures
It’s required reading for anyone interested in interpreting foriegn policy, or in the act of writing itself.
“In a series of remarkable essays, Carrier, raised among Mormons, noted similarities in the beliefs and practices of the Taliban and the Utah church, stressing the fundamentalist pledge of obedience to authority, and revelations and visions from God to a “Chosen people.” Carrier is alternately humorous and serious about the reports from Afghanistan, its people, its culture, and the heavy fighting.”
—Publishers Weekly
The Prisoner of Zion website is flush with supporting audio and visuals, such as:
and:
Scott’s HV hour: Prisoner of Zion.
2013-04-21
Boston, You’re My Home
David Ortiz – This Is OUR F^ckin’City!!!
The Standells – Dirty Water
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 4/16/13 – A Good Little City
Stephen Colbert, 4/16/13 – Intro
“What the Boston Marathon terrorists really don’t get is that they attacked an unshakable group of people who run 26 miles until their nipples are raw on their day off.”
2013-03-26
Safe and Secure
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: Yes, it’s safe, it’s very safe, it’s so safe you wouldn’t believe it.
Christian Szell: Is it safe?
Babe: No. It’s not safe, it’s… very dangerous, be careful.
—Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman in “Marathon Man”
Upfront, you need to know: You’re not safe; you’re not secure. Running a website is an inherently insecure operation. However, you can radically reduce your risk.
Much has been written about web and WordPress security. If you’re responsible for a website and have read none of it, your site is probably insecure. It’ll stay that way until you take your security responsibilities seriously.
Rather than repeat the volumes of excellent advice, we’ll link to some of the best sources, and briefly recap the basics. The following is (as is often the case at Transom) WordPress-centric. More…
2013-03-05
To This Day
Just bought this guy’s entire oeuvre, all starting with…
“To This Day”, a poem by Shane Koyczan, animated by an army of artist submissions via the To This Day Project:
via Stonetip.
2013-02-24
World’s Largest Sci-audio Library
The Macaulay Library “is the world’s largest and oldest scientific archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings.” This sonic stash is located at Cornell University, who just announced this “world’s largest natural sound archive is now fully digital and fully online.” Here’s a few of their picks for “some fascinating Macaulay Library sounds”:
Liveliest wake-up call: A dawn chorus in tropical Queensland, Australia is bursting at the seams with warbles, squeals, whistles, booms and hoots.
Best candidate to appear on a John Coltrane record: The indri, a lemur with a voice that is part moan, part jazz clarinet.
Most spines tingled: The incomparable voice of a Common Loon on an Adirondacks lake in 1992.
Most likely to be mistaken for aliens arriving: Birds-of-paradise make some amazing sounds – here’s the UFO-sound of a Curl-crested Manucode in New Guinea.
2013-02-19
SoundCloud on Sound
SoundCloud interviews sound-experts about sound:
Among the interviewees: Moby, Imogen Heap, Jad Abumrad, Ben Rubin.
via The Four Eyes.