Joho once again comments, the Net is a place. Not just a medium, or a space, but a place:
It is a weird place in which proximity is determined by interest, rather than a space in which interests are kept apart by distances. It is a place in which nearness defeats distance. It is a place, not just a space, because spaces are empty but places are saturated with meaning: Place is space that has been made to matter to us. The Internet is a place.
More things for you (and then probably just one or two more big posts like this this weekend):
Cool Russian PSA for reading:
I thought I posted about this before, but maybe I didn’t, how awesome are these pools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7mXLqIJXHs
Now you can use a typewriter to make a painting. Pretty awesome, but I think it would take too long and turn out being a bit pixelated (although it would be a cool style)
From Copyranter, we’ve finally found Snooki’s doppleganger:
File this under irony. And asshatery. Music used in an anti-piracy ad was pirated.
Also from Copyranger, this Billboard popped up here in Pa. And I love it:
There are a lot of Nintendo characters. Check out a mural of a ton of them here.
There is some really awesome art around the Occupy Movement. Check it out here. I’m a fan of this one:
Because it has to do with typesetting, I loved this issue of Gutters, go check it out.
That’s it for now, back in a bit!
eBooks are becoming more expensive, which, I hope will reverse itself soon. I think it may take some time, as the author suggests, but I think it will become more of a gap between prices for e-versions and printed version of the same book.
The second point, is about reading more on a tablet. On my hacked tablet (Nook Color running Cyanogen Mod 7), I love reading larger pieces, especially Slate and articles from the Post Gazette. I’m hoping the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich will allow me to install a couple other sources as well.
Either way, check it out here.
Written: 12/30/2011
Did you know that when marriage equality is enacted, it’s better for gay men. Who would have guessed:
Legalising same-sex marriage may create a healthier environment for gay men, say US researchers. The number of visits by gay men to health clinics dropped significantly after same-sex unions were allowed in the state Massachusetts. This was regardless of whether the men were in a stable relationship, reported the American Journal of Public Health…. Research has already suggested that gay men are more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts than heterosexual men, and that social exclusion may be partly responsible…. Dr Mark Hatzenbuehler, who led the study, said: “Our results suggest that removing these barriers improves the health of gay and bisexual men “Marriage equality may produce broad public health benefits by reducing the occurrence of stress-related health conditions.”
If the government really wants to make things better for society, we need marriage equality.
Or if we just want an economic boost, like Iowa has seen:
since Iowa extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in 2009, the resulting spending on wedding arrangements and tourism provided an additional $12 to $13 million to the state and local economy.
And cities more accepting and welcoming tend to be more fun, be better places to live and have wealthier inhabitants (although these are probably correlations, not causations):
But it gets more interesting when we piece together other data about our nation’s gayest cities. District of Columbia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Denver rank in the top 25 for the most educated cities in the country, and District of Columbia, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Minneapolis all landed on the highest earners list as well.
And is it surprising that out of the gayest cities, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis and Denver were voted in the top 20 for most fun in the country? I think not. On the downside, Atlanta and Minneapolis earned spots on the most dangerous cities list for their high crime rates.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Another quick entry for you:
First up, awesome clocks, I hope to own one one day.
Pretty awesome idea for renters with overbearing landlords, a chair that is a satellite dish:
I love this idea, use your wedding reception as a mini TED Conference. Break out the (PowerPoint) slides!
This is probably more of a link for The Great and Secret Show, but I’ll post it here. Skyrim apparently needs a bit of an update. One of the things I think the Myst series did very well was the story told by the world (since there were so few characters, Myst IV being the exception of course, but let’s not talk about Revelations).
Okay, that one was a lot shorter than I thought. I’m updating my computer, and it needs to restart, so I’ll be back in a bit.
Written: 12/30/2011
I’m going to generalize. Sorry for that. However, there are a good many of right-wing Republicans (not conservatives, they aren’t in control of the Republic party anymore), that think that “Big Government” needs to go away…except when it is regulating what people do in their bedrooms.
Rick Perry reminded us all that he disagrees with Lawrence v Texas, the Supreme Court case which struck down sodomy laws across the country.
Here’s the reader’s digest version (which by the way, Reader’s Digest has been embracing that phrase, and I kind of dig the metaness of it): Before 2003, some states (and in this case, Texas), had sodomy laws on the books. These laws were directed at the LGBT community, in some cases, basically making it illegal to be gay.
Many of these laws also technically made all sex aside from missionary sex with the goal of procreation illegal as well.
So yes, until 2003, a mere eight years ago, it was illegal to be gay in many states. Think of how outrageous that is. And there are many politicians that are being given legitimate air time, that think we need to roll back to that time.
Make no mistake, there are hateful, evil people out there that want even worse for me, but it’s pretty bad that there are those that want to make my very existence illegal.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Written: 12/30/2011
The Illinois Catholic Charities have thrown a hissy fit. As is the trend with Catholic charities across the country, because they can’t discriminate, they are deciding to not help anyone.
But now most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in Illinois are closing down rather than comply with a new requirement that says they can no longer receive state money if they turn away same-sex couples as potential foster care and adoptive parents.
Because if you have to treat people fairly, that’s religious discrimination. Here’s the rub though, do a quick “find and replace” and see what happens:
Now let’s pretend that our charity refused to place children in the homes of Jews—or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Lutherans or members of Mars Hill Church—because, according to our sincerely held religious beliefs, Jews and Muslims and Hindus and atheists and Lutherans and members of Mars Hill Church go to hell.
These charities receive close to 3 billion a year in public money. And public money should not be used to pay for bigotry. Use private funds and set up all kinds of regulations that fit your bigoted world-view. But not with tax money that comes from everyone: Jews, Muslims, atheists, and even gays.
Sorry, but if you’re going to suck at the federal teat to the tune of nearly $3 billion a year, there are going to be some strings attached, especially civil rights strings. You simply are not permitted to take taxpayer money and say “I’m a Klansman, and my view of religion is that blacks are inferior.” That isn’t going to fly. Nor can you take taxpayer money and deny services to Jews or Muslims because you think they’re going to hell. Sure, that’s your religious view all right, but if you want to express it, don’t use taxpayer funds to do it.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Written: 12/30/2011
From a piece on Slog:
The exact same bigots who predicted that the sky would fall if DADT was repealed make the exact same claims about marriage equality. The media shouldn’t just repeat their lies. Anti-gay bigots have earned a credibility problem. Reporters should challenge the bigots: They were 100% wrong about the “danger” of repealing DADT—why should anyone believe them when they warn about the “danger” of repealing DOMA? Their doom-and-gloom warnings on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military were completely unfounded. Why should anyone take their doom-and-gloom warnings about ending the ban on same-sex marriage seriously?
More to come,
All my best,
The King of Spades
Couple quick things, and I’ll be back real soon with more (I think Google Reader is eating some of my saved items, so I need to get through them real quick!):
This comes from the Maddow Blog, not sure if it’s is real or not (I’m guessing not), but fun nonetheless:
It looks like we finally have the official Zelda timeline. Gamers knew it existed, but I honestly never thought we’d see it. I’m hoping the book this comes from gets translated and released in America. Check it out here.
So, it turns out that Santorum may or may not have acted illegally to get a sought-after endorsement. I don’t know enough about campaign finance law. But the other story is that he had a million dollars in his war chest. Who knew?
It always amazes me how different sockets are around the world, here’s a handy guide:
I’ll be back with more in a bit!
An art installation “sees” you walking down the street, scans your face, and pulls up what may be your Facebook and Twitter feeds, photos and even talks to you in what it thinks your voice will sound like. All of this from information we freely put online.
