This 1932 promo for the Petaluma Chicken industry must be seen to be believed. A jolly chef presides over a bevy of "farm girls" who crack hundreds of eggs, then climb into a giant skillet for an egg-cellent dance number. Link (Thanks, Jonathan!)
Petaluma Chicken promo film, 1932
This 1932 promo for the Petaluma Chicken industry must be seen to be believed. A jolly chef presides over a bevy of "farm girls" who crack hundreds of eggs, then climb into a giant skillet for an egg-cellent dance number. Link (Thanks, Jonathan!)
Vladimir Zimakov's linoleum cut illustrations and printmaking
Vladimir Zimakov is an illustrator, book artist, designer, and printmaker who lives in the Los Angeles area. Many of his pieces are meant to illustrate books, but they really contain their own stories. His work oozes with mood and emotion. These two linoleum cut illustrations ("The Card Play" and "Danse Macabre") are for a classic novel titled Walpurgisnacht, by Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932).
From the project page:
From the project page:
This early 20'th century novel uses the city of Prague as the setting for a clash between German officialdom immured in the ancient castle, and a Czech revolution seething in the city below. History, myth, romance and political reality merge in this truly apocalyptic epic. Gustav Meyrink is an Austrian writer who is mostly known to the english-speaking world for his 1915 classic "The Golem".Link (via Juxtapoz)
Wolfram: Tomorrow's bridges will be evolved and random
Stephen Wolfram, the creator of Mathematica and king-hell booster for cellular automata as a way of solving problems (and even creating space-time), has posted a fascinating rumination on what a bridge might look like if it were designed through evolutionary computing.
So what should the bridges of the future look like? Probably a lot less regular than today. Because I suspect the most robust structures will end up being ones with quite a lot of apparent randomness...Link (Thanks, Kathryn!)So we're going to end up being exposed to something really quite new. Something that exists in the abstract computational universe, but that we're "mining" for the very first time to create structures we want.
See also: Minneapolis bridge collapse: blog roundup
Wolfram blows Kurzweil's mind
Wolfram's giant book free online
Rucker's students do Wolfram simulations
Dateline NBC's DefCon mole has been outed
Threat Level reports that Dateline NBC has sent an undercover mole with a hidden camera to the DefCon hacker conference. Dateline is hoping to get videos of hackers talking about crimes they committed.
LinkDefCon says it was tipped off by their own mole at Dateline who sent them a pic of the undercover journalist who DefCon employees identified as producer Michelle Madigan.
DefCon, an annual underground hacking convention in Las Vegas, has a strict policy against filming conference attendees -- TV media outlets are barred from sweeping a room with their cameras and also have to get permission from any individuals before capturing them on film. All journalists covering DefCon sign an agreement upon registering for the conference that outlines the rules, but the DefCon organizers say the mole apparently registered as a regular attendee, thereby bypassing the legal agreement.
Before opening the show for business Friday, the DefCon goons announced to the crowd that there was a media mole among them. DefCon has been broadcasting her picture on the screens in conference rooms before each talk.
Smithsonian images gets open copyright religion
Carl Malamud sez, "I'm delighted to report that the Smithsonian has approved a purchase of four-more hi-res scans of photos with a stated intended use of "upload to the Internet." The embedded copyright tags have been changed as well.
In a related development, I got email from the Acting Secretary and another one from the Chief Information Officer. The Smithsonian has formed a pan-Institutional task force to re-examine their copyright policies and they'll be taking comment from members of the public this fall.
Both great developments. A new broom does indeed sweep clean!"
Link
(Thanks, Carl!)
Kadrey, Herbert and Anderson at free SFinSF event, 8/15
The excellent SFinSF reading series continues on August 15th at 7PM with Brian Herbert, Kevin Anderson, Richard Kadrey. These are free readings and panels by prominent science fiction authors, and this isn't one to miss. I'm halfway through Richard Kadrey's Butcher Bird, and it's incredible -- a seamless and savage blend of underground losers and dark mythology.
Please join us for authors BRIAN HERBERT (DUNE), KEVIN J. ANDERSON, AND RICHARD KADREYLinkWednesday, August 15th, 7PM
reading. bar. discussing. signing. free admission.
Moderated by Terry Bisson
Variety Children’s Charity
The Variety Preview Room
1st floor of The Hobart Bldg.- entrance btwn. Quiznos & Citibank
582 Market St. @ Montgomery, San Francisco
BART/MUNI Montgomery Station is right outside the front door.
www.varietync.orgCash bar opens at 6:00PM - soda, beer, wine & whiskey, with proceeds going to the authors and the Variety Childrens Charity. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-seated basis, so get there early! We attempt to seat everyone who arrives, but please be there by 7PM. When the house is full, it's full.
CBC bans employee blogging without permission - no politics or causes allowed
Jesse sez, "The official Canadian Broadcasting Corporation blog ('Inside The CBC') has a story about a new CBC document that suggest CBC employees must seek permission from their superiors to create AND maintain blogs in which they are identifiable as CBC employees." This is a jaw-dropping policy for a public service news agency to develop -- requiring its employees to get permission to express their personal views is absolutely beyond the pale, especially for an institution nominally about freedom of expression. The policy applies to all CBC employees -- including janitors, and prohibits them from advocating for any group or cause, or expressing partisan opinions. I think you have to really squint at the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- and Canadian labor law -- to make this legal. For starters, it can't possibly be legal to prohibit unionized CBC employees from advocating for their union.
To be clear, this policy applies only to personal blogs where the author identifies themselves as a CBC employee. But if you’re writing a truly transparent, personal blog, sometimes you want to talk about what your job is. It’s part of who we are. But now, if you do that, you apparently fall within the scope of this document.Link (Thanks, Jesse!)
Webb Alert day 2
Order a live burro by mail
PCL Linkdump presents this wonderful magazine advertisement from the late '50s. Spencer gifts was selling REAL LIVE MEXICAN BURROS by mail.
REAL LIVE MEXICAN BURROSAlso in the ad, "MESS LESS PET" -- a fake mouse; "the answer to anyone that wants a pet, but doesn't want the bother of a live one." 59 cents ppd. LinkThe Gift of a Lifetime for Any Youngster
From South of the Border comes this soft-eyed gentle little pet of all Mexican children, and the hard-working friend of their parents... to make Christmas this year unforgettable for your youngster! You'll be the talk of the town! Everyone will want to pet your burro.
What years of pleasure this real, live Mexican burro will bring you and your children, Lovable, huggable, long-earred, extra tame, extremely intelligent. Friendly to other animals. Easily hitched to small cart. Economical to raise. Eats anything -- straw, hay, alfalfa, corn, oats, grass, bread, etc. Hardy, select specimens -- sound, well-fed, clean.
When fully grown at about 2 years, they stand about 43" high (size of a large dog) and weigh about 200 lbs. Live up to 25 years. Thrive in any climate.
Send check or money order for amount of Burro now. Burro will arrive about 5 weeks from time we recive your order, unless otherwise specified. Comes uncrated, with food and water for the journey, by Railway Express, collet, F.O.B. Laredo, Texas. You pay express charge of $20 to $40 on arrival. Mexican and U.S. duties already paid. Sorry, no exchanges or refunds. Dipped and U.S. Gov't inspected before shipping. Guaranteed live delivery in their natural born colors.
Baby -- For children up to 5 years (3 mos. old -- 38" high -- 50lbs) Female: $95 Male $85
Youngster -- For children up to 10 years (7 mos. to 1 yr. -- 40" high -- 100lbs) Female: $95 Male $85
Mother and Baby (Total weight about 200 lbs) Pair $175
Male and Female (For breeding) Pair $180
Female in Foal $155
Saddle -- Handmade in Mexico, genuine leather $75
Bridle -- $15
Previously on Mad Professor:
• Another fine Mexican Import: Tio Nacho Soap
Free call indicator for iPhone users
David Pogue passes along a good tip for iPhone users on his blog:
You know, of course, that in general, cellphone calls to other people who have the same carrier as you (like Verizon or AT&T) are free, right?LinkBut how do you KNOW when somebody with the same carrier calls you? How do you know it’s safe to yak all day without using up any minutes?
“In the iPhone address book, change the ‘mobile’ label for the caller’s contact info to ‘AT&T mobile,’ and that’s what will show up on your phone when she or he calls. Once you make this change for one contact, ‘AT&T mobile’ will show up as a custom label option for any contact.”
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