Archive for May 2012
The ‘Beast of Hackney Marshes’ mystery – pictures – Quirky London – London 24
Terrified university student Helen Murray said she took the snaps while out for a stroll near dense woodland close to a path near the Old River Lea on bank holiday Monday earlier this month.She said she was stopped in her tracks by the unknown animal, which was larger than a person and covered in shaggy black fur.“I tried to stay calm as I wasn’t sure what kind of animal it was or if it was even alive,” she said. “I had my phone ready to call 999. Then the creature moved. Somehow I managed to take a couple of pictures before I ran.“I managed to get away but was scared half to death.”Ms Murray says she didn’t contact the police because she thought they wouldn’t believe her.A spokeswoman for Hackney police said there have been no other reports of sightings, while experts at London Zoo said the pictures were not clear enough for them to comment.
via The ‘Beast of Hackney Marshes’ mystery – pictures – Quirky London – London 24.
Fark.com | Obnoxious new anti-piracy warnings make DVD buying worse. For you younger folks: DVDs were hardcopies of digitized films that you couldn’t legally transfer electronically. Strange, I know
The MPAA and the DHS have teamed up to increase the punishment meted out to people who buy their DVDs instead of downloading the same movies for free from the Internet. Now when you buy a DVD, you’ll get twice as many unskippable anti-piracy warnings, including one with a Homeland Security Investigations “special agent” badge next to the FBI badge, as well as a screen telling you that “digital theft harms the economy” and inviting you to visit a taxpayer-funded website that parrots a bunch of unsubstantiated lobbynomics numbers that the MPAA pulled out of its ass.
Only MPAA members are licensed to use these government logos, because other studios are apparently not entitled to a share of whatever imaginary protection the DHS is extending here.
BBC News – Landlords ‘evicting tenants’ to make Olympic profit
Tenants in east London are being evicted from their homes as landlords attempt to cash in on the Olympics, BBC News has learned.The housing charity Shelter says it has seen more evidence of landlords acting unscrupulously and evicting people illegally.One estate agent said properties typically rented for £350 per week were being marketed for £6,000 per week.Shelter fear the problem will get worse as the Games approach.The BBC’s Michael Buchanan says: “The potential profits are leading to some private landlords telling their tenants they have to leave their homes, with little notice.”Continue reading the main story London 2012 – One extraordinary yearLondon 2012 One extraordinary year graphic The BBC’s home of 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, culture, torch relay, video and audioOne woman told the BBC she and her four housemates had been given two weeks to leave; another couple had been given three weeks.
via BBC News – Landlords ‘evicting tenants’ to make Olympic profit.
Photos: If All of Earth’s Water was put into Single Sphere, from the USGS Water Science School
This picture shows the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth’s water in comparison to the size of the Earth. The blue sphere sitting on the United States, reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, has a diameter of about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) , with a volume of about 332,500,000 cubic miles (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers). The sphere includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as groundwater, atmospheric water, and even the water in you, your dog, and your tomato plant.
via Photos: If All of Earth’s Water was put into Single Sphere, from the USGS Water Science School.
R.I.P. Nathanial Hornblower: MCA’s Hilarious Response to a Bad New York Times Review
In 2004, The New York Times’ Stephanie Zacharek negatively reviewed the video for the Beastie Boys’ new single “Ch-Check It Out.” MCA a.k.a. Adam Yauch, who died today at the age of 47, had directed the video under his pseudonym Nathanial Hornblower. He didn’t take kindly to Zacharek’s review, and let her know in a letter to the Times demanding, among other things, that she send him a goat.
His letter:
One Goat, on Account
To the Editor:
I had the great pleasure of reading your unsolicited critique of the “Ch-Check It Out” music video ["Licensed to Stand Still" by Stephanie Zacharek, May 16]. It took some time to get to me, as it had to be curried (sp?) on goatback through the fjords of my homeland, the Oppenzell. And in the process the goat died, and then I had to give the mailman one of my goats, so remember, you owe me a goat.
via R.I.P. Nathanial Hornblower: MCA’s Hilarious Response to a Bad New York Times Review.
Too young, Adam. To fucking young.
Feds Seized Hip-Hop Site for a Year, Waiting for Proof of Infringement | Threat Level | Wired.com
Federal authorities who seized a popular hip-hop music site based on assertions from the Recording Industry Association of America that it was linking to four “pre-release” music tracks gave it back more than a year later without filing civil or criminal charges because of apparent recording industry delays in confirming infringement, according to court records obtained by Wired.
The Los Angeles federal court records, which were unsealed Wednesday at the joint request of Wired, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the First Amendment Coalition, highlight a secret government process in which a judge granted the government repeated time extensions to build a civil or criminal case against Dajaz1.com, one of about 750 domains the government has seized in the last two years in a program known as Operation in Our Sites.
Apparently, however, the RIAA and music labels’ evidence against Dajaz1, a music blog, never came. Or, if it did, it was not enough to build a case and the authorities returned the site nearly 13 months later without explanation or apology.
Cindy Cohn, the EFF’s legal director, said the site’s 13-month seizure by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau highlights the RIAA’s influence over the government. President Barack Obama has tapped at least five former RIAA attorneys for senior positions in the Justice Department.
via Feds Seized Hip-Hop Site for a Year, Waiting for Proof of Infringement | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Manhunt: The Ten Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad by Peter L. Bergen – The Washington Post
In 2005, a CIA analyst named Rebecca (a pseudonym) wrote a memo laying out a new strategy for the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Given the absence of any real leads, she asked, how could you plausibly find him? She sketched out what she saw as four pillars on which the search needed to be built. Her solution turned out to be prophetic.
“The first pillar was locating al-Qaeda’s leader through his courier network,” Peter L. Bergen writes in his new book, “Manhunt.” “The second was locating him through family members, either those who might be with him or anyone in his family who might try to get in touch with them. The third was communications. . . . The final pillar was tracking bin Laden’s occasional outreach to the media.”
We know now, of course, that finding bin Laden’s personal courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, is what led the United States to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and, with that, ended the decade-long battle of wits between the terrorist leader and U.S. intelligence agencies.
Did a Copying Mistake Build Man’s Brain? | LiveScience
A copyediting error appears to be responsible for critical features of the human brain that distinguish us from our closest primate kin, new research finds.
When tested out in mice, researchers found this “error” caused the rodents’ brain cells to move into place faster and enabled more connections between brain cells.
When any cell divides, it first copies its entire genome. During this process, it can make errors. The cell usually fixes errors in the DNA. But when they aren’t fixed, they become permanent changes called mutations, which are sometimes hurtful and sometimes helpful, though usually innocuous.
One type of error is duplication, when the DNA-copying machinery accidentally copies a section of the genome twice. The second copy can be changed in future copies — gaining mutations or losing parts.
Batman Sent This Job Application to a Small-Town Deli
Chef Andrew Stillwell-Current at Current Cuisine in Yellow Springs, Ohio, writes: “This app came through the store recently … reading this made my busy-ass day a lil better.”
It’s not every day you come across a job application so magnificent and pure. But this is no ordinary applicant we’re talking about. This is Batman. And Batman takes no vacations, fears chickens and loves Friday Night Lights. Just like us.
