Flicker Fusion

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Geoff McGhee has done a fantastic job of documenting the tools and people, and some very valid criticism, of data visualization. “Journalism in the Age of Data” is worth an hour of your time if you dig data or are interested in how we’ll tell stories in the future. (I show up a few times and can honesty, earnestly say I’m easily the dumbest person featured.)

James O’Keefe continues to prove what a sick, showboating dickhead he really is

James O’Keefe continues to prove what a sick, showboating dickhead he really is

You’ll remember O’Keefe from such hits as the ACORN “investigation” that turned out to be a bunch of selectively edited tapes instead of a systematic system of corruption and the cock who was arrested for tampering with the phone line of a sitting senator.

His latest trick was to attempt to lure a CNN reporter onto a boat, alone, surrounded by dildos (presumably other than himself) and then hit on her to somehow expose the “awkwardness”. Not only is that the dumbest “exposé” I can imagine, it’s stupid, disingenuous and dangerous. Seriously, what kind of a dumbass calls a stunt like this a “caper”?

O’Keefe, let’s not forget, was roundly applauded by right wing politicians, given a job by Andrew Breitbart and paraded around FOX News as some kind of hero. I’m certain that his defenders will be backtracking just as quickly as they apologized for wrongly demonizing ACORN.

With a mass three times larger than Earth’s, the newly discovered world has the muscle to hold atmosphere. Plus, it has the gift of time. Not only is its parent star especially long-lived, the planet is tidally locked to its sun – similar to how the moon keeps the same side pointed at Earth – so that half the world is in perpetual light and the other half in permanent darkness. As a result, temperatures are extremely stable and diverse.

With a mass three times larger than Earth’s, the newly discovered world has the muscle to hold atmosphere. Plus, it has the gift of time. Not only is its parent star especially long-lived, the planet is tidally locked to its sun – similar to how the moon keeps the same side pointed at Earth – so that half the world is in perpetual light and the other half in permanent darkness. As a result, temperatures are extremely stable and diverse.

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Astronomers think they may have found an earth-like planet that could sustain life!

While that’s all well and good, I love the idea of a planet that is half daylight, half darkness all the time. I’m having a hard time even getting my brain wrapped around what life might have evolved to look like in such a scenario.

MacArthur Foundation reveals ‘genius grants’: List of 23 winners include David Simon, creator of the HBO series ‘The Wire’

MacArthur Foundation reveals ‘genius grants’: List of 23 winners include David Simon, creator of the HBO series ‘The Wire’

2105:

“It makes it easier to go into the room with the network and argue against doing the usual thing in television,” Simon said. His next pitch? The history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in the New York town of Yonkers are two subjects inspiring him now. “Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook,” [David Simon] said.

MacArthur winners don’t need to tell anyone how they’ll spend the grant money. There are no reporting requirements.

“We could spend it all on cake,” joked theater director David Cromer, one of this year’s recipients. Cromer, known for staging American classics like “Our Town,” said he wasn’t ready to discuss what he may attempt with the grant’s support. But he has some non-cake ideas.

As Omar says, “It ain’t what you takin’, it’s who you takin’ from…. How you expect to run with the wolves come night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?”

Automatic Omar quote reblog