Memeticians

Y-Not Radio

2010-07-29T11:52:07Z

There is a new market for alternative radio in Philadelphia. Except that it's not really new. Josh T Landow from Yrock on XPN (worked for Y100, and started Y100rocks.com along with WDRE alum Jim McGuinn before WXPN picked it up) was laid off due to budget cuts from WXPN along with a bunch of either people. YRock is losing its airtime on WXPN but will stay online and WXPN, of course, gets to keep YRockonxpn.org (which is pretty shitty that you'll lay off the guy who started YRock yet keep it going if you ask me, but I guess that's business - I'm cancelling my monthly donation to WXPN for this one). You can't hold down Josh T Landow, however. He's already started a new station, Y-Not Radio, that keeps the spirit of Y100 and WDRE, with a major focus on the Philly music scene. I listened all morning yesterday and it's pretty awesome. Requests can me made on Y-Not Radio's Twitter page.

All Our Ideas

2010-07-20T10:13:37Z

Princeton University assistant professor of Sociology Matthew Salginak, along with a team of computer science graduate students, have developed a web application that collects and ranks the ideas from large numbers of people in the form of a survey. Combining sociological and computer science concepts, All Our Ideas allows an organization to quickly set up a free website where large numbers of people can contribute and rank ideas. [via twitter]

Education innovation in the slums

2010-07-18T12:44:02Z

Charles Leadbeater, a researcher at the London-based think tank Demos, went looking for innovative forms of education, and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world's poorest kids are finding radical new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become.

Interestingly enough, Leadbetter touches on a key concept regarding education and population growth in poor and low socioeconomic countries discussed by Hans Rosling last month.

"Mr. Murdoch is inquiring again as to why you are wearing short pants in the office."

2010-07-15T17:48:47Z

Someone, anyone out there in the ubiquitous "cyberspace": I want to know what Rupert Murdoch thinks about this rip-roaring tale. Can you email him? Please, someone find out? (via kottke):

There was even the occasional positive reinforcement thrown in, recapped in this dispatch from Neel, "At cafeteria. Dressed mad preppy today-- khakis, boat shoes, sweater. Murdoch calls Sal and I start walking away when I hear him answer 'Hello Mr. Murdoch.' Sal goes, 'Neel! Hold up!' I turn around. 'Mr. Murdoch says you're dressed perfectly today, and to keep it up.'" One time, Sal even put "Murdoch himself" on the phone, and a (presumably Australian) man asked Neel "Are you Indian or Pakistani?" When Neel replied that he was Indian, "Murdoch" said "OK" and hung up.

[Also kottke-related, notice the use of the jumper colon above.] tjc

The God particle: No unpopping the cork

2010-07-15T02:00:00Z

Physicists in Illinois have not found "the God particle", contrary to rumor. In other news, no black holes were reported in the Midwest this week. The scientists called shenanigans on a Italian blogger/particle physicist who claimed the American lab's Tevatron accelerator would soon uncover the theoretical base-particle of the universe, the Higgs boson or God particle. In doing so, the Illinois-based Fermilab would beat the much-ballyhooed, but long-delayed Switzerland-based Large Hadron Collider to the punch. But alas, they have not found the Higgs boson. CONTINUE READING... ]]> champagne bottle boson," as scientists prefer it to be called. Yeah, that's catchy. Some scientists believe the search to discover the God particle -- they smash together very small pieces of matter at extremely high speeds -- could likely result in small black hole being created that may or may not dissipate. Basically, the universe is largely filled with dark matter (80%), which provides gravity. The search for the Higgs boson may produce dark matter and dark energy on Earth. And that may be bad. Headline: "Black hole in Batavia, Ill. trapped in Earth's atmosphere"? Uh oh. This will be interesting.
View Larger Map If I were to put money on Long Bet 382: "Large Hadron Collider will destroy Earth", I guess I would stake $35 with the Challenger, Nick Damiano, a biomedical engineer and expert on existential risks:

Even if a micro black hole is created AND it does not instantly evaporate AND it becomes trapped by the earth's gravity, it is likely that it will aggregate mass so slowly that something else out there will destroy the earth before the black hole is able to do so.

So there. Some other Armageddon scenario will just swoop in an steal the black hole's thunder. We have that going for us. On the bet, Damiano adds:

However, in the unlikely event that: a) The LHC does in fact destroy the earth, b) Humanity somehow survives this event and relocates to somewhere else in the universe, c) I am still alive, d) Your beneficiary still exists, and e) Money as we know it still has value, then I will gladly pay up.

Stay tuned: Lawyers are also preparing to intercede on behalf of mankind if science goes astray. There's a joke there, but I'll leave it on the table; I know some good lawyers. For the technical, but succinct explanation of the God particle, the wiki on "The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What is the Question?", a pop-sci book by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman and Dick Teresi:

The mystery surrounding the Higgs field is the question of why is the photon without mass, but the force carrier particles of the weak force so heavy? The photon is the massless force carrier for electromagnetism, and without mass symmetry is broken between this and the other force carriers, according to the Standard Model. According to Dr. Lederman, the Standard Model shows that before the condensation of the Higgs boson, all particles were without mass. It is the interaction with the Higgs field that gives the weak force carriers their huge mass.

Harnessing the power to give weak force carriers huge mass? Imagine what this could do for the NFL. tjc

13 year-old climbs Mount Everest

2010-05-24T17:33:05Z

13 year-old Jordan Romero of Big Bear, California became the youngest person to scale the world's tallest peak this past weekend when he reached the top of Mount Everest. His is now just one peak short of his goal to climb the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents, with only Mt. Vinson in Antarctica remaining. Jordan plans on scaling Mt. Vinson this winter, which will make him the youngest person to climb the tallest peaks on all seven continents. The current record is 17 years-old. Jordan's quest began when he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro at the age of 9. That's awesome.

Field of Dreams for sale

2010-05-14T13:25:20Z

How much are you willing to pay to have your dreams come true? $5.4 million sound about right? The Field of Dreams, a 193 acre propery just outside of Dyersville, IN, complete with the farmhouse, barn, 2-car garage, machine shed, corn crib, 2 souvenior stands/stores and the mystical baseball diamond officially for sale. Are you game? Black Sox not included. [via big league stew...thx jim]

The National: High Violet

2010-05-13T03:32:19Z

Here is a very well written review of High Violet, the new album from The National, that I thought really captured the essence of not only the album but of the band itself.

For years now the National have been singing about the city and wine and girls and maybe growing up a little, and if Boxer saw them embracing the bittersweet sting of maturity and nostalgia, High Violet follows hard on its heels with a set of songs about New York and Ohio, about the terrible, undertow pull of a (gasp) settled, normal life, about being a little in love with melancholy but also being self-aware enough to realize that love is a little ridiculous and self-destructive. Becoming an adult is a slow processes that involves thinking that you're not a certain kind of person, and then waking up one day and realizing that yeah, you are; recently, National songs have been about coming to terms with that as much as anything else.

Philly Beer Week meets Brad Hosbach meets Alex's Lemonade Stand

2010-05-01T19:32:19Z

Philly Beer Week is quickly approaching and this year while you are out and about celebrating in America's best beer drinking city you can rep the City of Brotherly Love while also supporting Alex's Lemonade Stand with a sweet new T-shirt design from one of my favorite local Philly artists, Brad Hosbach. If you are interested in ordering you can shoot Brad an email at bradhosbach@hotmail.com. 3$ from each shirt will be donated to Alex's Lemonade Foundation to fight childhood cancer. Shirts come in 3 styles (add $2 for xxl, xxxl, $3 for xxxxl) Hanes beefy tee $10 (sizes are pretty true) American Apparrel soft tee $15 (run a bit tight, but not hipster tight) Alt apparel girl fitted tee $15 (a bit snug, order a size up if needed) So what are you waiting for? Get yo-self a T!

Flight of the Bumblebee...on an iPad

2010-04-24T14:35:57Z

Concert pianist Lang Lang performs Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" on an iPad using the Magic Piano app during his first encore at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco earlier this week. Completely insane! [via technically incorrect]

Volcanic Ash Plume Satellite Image

2010-04-16T17:26:11Z

NASA'S Terra Satellite captured ash plume images of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland this morning at 7:35 am EST. The volcano erupted Wednesday for the second time this month and is wreaking havoc by grounding flights all through Europe.

For 'i's

2010-04-14T05:54:23Z

Yes, that is an iPhone. But wait, there's more. From Clusterflock: iGlasses. Get it?

Confessions of Sportswriter

2010-04-13T11:23:50Z

I've always enjoyed the work of Frank Deford. Whether it be on NPR, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel or in Sports Illustrated, he has always been equally compelling and entertaining. His piece in the March 29th issue of Sports Illustrated, Confessions of a Sportswriter, however, takes the cake. It is an absolute masterpiece.

Best concert film ever?

2010-04-12T14:48:39Z

Woodstock? The Last Waltz? "Mere aperitifs," according to Colin Fleming at Salon. He said check out recently-released T.A.M.I. Show featuring Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, James Brown, and The Rolling Stones. I'm still partial to The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

Are you a SUPERTASKER?

2010-04-12T14:30:00Z

1 in 40 may be a supertasker but I would venture to guess that more then 1 in 40 think they are one.