Worms and insects, science, music, technology
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Looks like I forgot to publish a post for a few weeks again. Oh well. It’s not like I haven’t been wasting time reading random crap online since my last post. Below are some things I’ve enjoyed.
Worms, insects and gardening
Here are three cool articles on worms and insects:
- “Journalist hunts for acid-spitting Mongolian death worm“
- “Zombie Ants Controlled by Fungus“
- “Pesticide potency can depend on bug’s clock” or “Biological Clocks Of Insects Could Lead To More Effective Pest Control“
In related gardening news, vegetable gardeners can plant in August and September for a tasty payoff this fall and winter: “Salad days of fall and winter.”
Science!
Cool: “Mysterious Origins: 8 Phenomena That Defy Explanation.”
Really? “Science ponders ‘zombie attack’.” I hope they were using federal grant money for this zombies study. In other news, “still no cure for cancer” (as people used to always post at Fark.com for seemingly frivolous or obvious research).
Music
I’ve heard of a lot of good stuff via Stereogum lately. Below are a few notable bits.
- Was recently made aware of this tasty remix: “MGMT – Electric Feel (Justice Remix).”
- Nice: “New Tiësto (Feat. Tegan & Sara) – “Feel It In My Bones” (Stereogum Premiere).”
- New Massive Attack song and EP: “Splitting The Atom.”
- Enjoyed this: “Old Folks Review Radiohead.”
I’ve been doing much listening to an mp3 playlist I made of artists I plan to see at Bumbershoot in a little less than two weeks. In Bumbershoot-related news, this video by Oren Lavie is really cool. I sent some new Metric stuff to a friend of mine and he recommended the Submarines (Apple haters beware) back to me.
Here are some other random bands I’ve been listening to lately: Rasputina (see “1816, TheYear Without a Summer“), Get Shakes (see “Sister Self Doubt“), Shy Child, The Boggs (see “Arm In Arm (Shy Child Remix)“) and so on.
There’s also this comedic greatness: “The 7 Best Literal Music Videos Of All Time.”
Movies and randomness
This is an awesome short film: Moments by Will Hoffman. Four minutes of life.
Are you interested in the modern history of cinematic nudity? IMDb posted the results of the poll. The full top-100 list is at Mr. Skin (NSFW).
Check out this cool time-lapse of LEGOS: 8-bit trip.
Watch this video: Little Kid Teaches You To Park. Kind of awesome. Wait for it.
The following is for my future reference when I need car repairs. How to keep mechanics honest: “Pricing Car Repairs, Before the Repairs.” See RepairPal for an estimate of how much a specific car repair should cost where you live. Nice.
What is greasy, downscale, industrialized and aggressively unhealthy? This article holds the answer: “Who Won the Recession? McDonald’s.” I just liked the “aggressively unhealthy” part. Aggressively anything, really.
Web technology
This was good for a chuckle: 56K Modem Emulator.
Interesting ideas to browse through: “50 Chrome Experiments and counting!”
Here’s a useful URL-unshortener tool: Long URL Please extension for Firefox.
Lastly, I am planning to install hacked firmware for my Canon camera at some point. This is one: CHDK for PowerShot A650 IS. Also, I may experiment with this fanciness someday: High-Speed Shutter & Flash-Sync. All in the pursuit of better quality photography and more interestingness, hopefully.