I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Linkee-poo, it ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

"The Authors Guild has been trying to get a court to shut down Google's book-scanning/book-search program for more than a decade… Today, the Supreme Court settled the question forever, by declining to hear the Authors Guild's appeal." Google Books is here to stay.

"In keeping with its ambition to become the world’s most open institution of its kind, the British Library has released over a million public domain illustrations and other images to the public through Flickr for anyone to reuse, remix or repurpose." I'll be in my bunk. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)

There are two ways to respond when you're internet/crowd-sourcing naming event goes awry. The first is to graciously accept you were an idiot for even opening it up to the internet and accept your fate, and then there is the wrong way. So, no HMS Boaty McBoatface, eh? Well people will still call her that. Well I guess you could always call it the HMS Stephen Colbert.

It's easy, once you know how. "Human skin may be the ultimate multitasker… It’s no wonder, then, that it’s been tricky and expensive for scientists to create a direct analog for the stuff… But those scientists weren’t Muhammad Mustafa Hussain (who's) team just developed a dirt-cheap 'smart skin' that can multitask like the real thing, and they did it with household goods, such as Post-It notes, aluminum foil and tape." Note, while the "skin" is inexpensive there's no cost of what it would be to hook it up to the neural system or provide a processor for robotics. (Grokked from John)

Ohio man shoots up own home, jumps out second story window to run to neighbors to call 911. All because he thought there were burglars in his home. I'm sure the pot and other drug paraphernalia had nothing to do with it. Wow, Warren is just down the road. And, yeah, this doesn't surprise me at all. (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)

Why did the FAA take so long to come up with rules for commercial drones and why are they so restrictive? "British police are investigating what could be the first known case of a drone colliding with a passenger aircraft, after a pilot told authorities that he believed his jet hit a drone as it flew into Heathrow Airport from Geneva Sunday." Yeah, that's why.

Solar roadways get a little more closer to real. (Grokked from John)

In case you doubted that McDonald's wants to kill you, but take your money first, a new store in Missouri is about to offer "endless fries" (as well as major customization on the sandwiches). (Grokked from John)

Tennessee lawmaker realizes that her "bathroom bill" would be disastrous, but can't come to tell her constituents that they're wrong. So they punt and say they'll introduce the legislation later. You know, like after the elections. Because they think the uproar will go away then.

"Rep. Steve King (R-IA) scolded pro-immigration activists on Monday for yelling over him as he spoke outside of the Supreme Court Building, asking them if they were 'an example of the America we can expect' if the high court accepts President Obama's executive actions immigration." Or in other words, "Gee, why won't these people I've railed against using my megaphone be quiet so I can continue to rail against them?" Fuck you, Rep. Steve King.

Donald Trump supporters take their little-red ball and go home. Or in this case, storm out of a party meeting in Georgia where most of the delegates up for grabs went to Cruz (even though the Trumpster won most of the delegates available in the primary election) and on the way out they grabbed the American Flag. Oh, it's going to be a fun summer in Cleveland.

"Live-streaming of alleged rape shows challenges of flagging video in real time." One, he was 29, she was 17 and can be heard saying "no, stop", I think we can dispense with the "alleged" part here. Two, no, that's not the real lesson we should take from this. Instead we should look at just how broken our society really is in that rape is so accepted that it's become part of our lives and that the disfunctionality on display here is normal, when it shouldn't be.

"Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Thursday blasted what he called the 'Yes Means Yes movement,' because it meant that men could be accused of assault if they touched women without permission." In other news, misogynistic old men are misogynistic. And yes, men, even to hold a woman's hand you should probably get some buy-in from the woman first. (Grokked from Emma Audsley)

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