overstated

There’s something unsettling about sad clowns. Then I saw this completely indescribable image. I’m at a loss for words.

Truth or urban legend: During the construction of the Alaskan pipeline, workers consumed alcohol to distract their minds and bodies from the bitter temperatures they were working in. On more than one occasion, a worker would leave a glass of alcohol sitting in their car overnight, return in the morning and take a big swig. [...]

Choice quote of the night: Friend A: “Celibacy is just like veganism. It’s just a phase that people go through.” Friend B: “Oh yeah? I date one of them.”

Techno legend Derrick May has been given the keys to the city in Detroit for this year’s Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Riddled by bad management and shady dealings, the event has almost lost its backing many times over the past three years (we all remember “I support Carl Craig”). Handing over the organization to one [...]

My good friend Soren Kirkegaard once said about irony: Irony is a disciplinarian feared only by those who do not know it, but cherished by those who do. He who does not understand irony and has no ear for its whispering lacks eo ipso what might be called the absolute beginning of the personal life. [...]

Last summer my good friend and former bandmate Dan Paluska was shipped off to a remote island off the coast of Scotland to compete in the latest reality competition, TLC’s Escape from Experiment Island. The second episode airs tonight at 10PM. The plot is simple. It’s Junkyard Wars meets Survivor. Characters within and between teams [...]

Mr. Negroponte wrote a simple and elegant introduction to the Technology Review’s 10 Emerging Technologies issue this month, touting the benefits of interdisciplinary research, youth and creativity. Even though it’s a simple reiteration of the Media Lab party line, the article sent my mind off in a thousand directions. As an academic in an interdisciplinary [...]

This week’s New Yorker carries a fascinating story, one that is unfortunately not online, but would surely spread like crazy if it was. It tells the sad tale of people who are “locked in,” that is having lost complete communication with their muscles, and in turn the outside world. These people are not in comas, [...]

Mardi Gras.. Cancun?! What kind of life is that for a graduate student? I’ll be making my return to the Sunbelt Social Networks Conference at the beginning of February to present more findings on the analysis of Blogdex data. Since the findings last year were such a big hit, I’ll make sure and post them [...]

In response to Rusty’s offensive image of the week: I felt I should let our readers know that the infamous bunny-with-pancake has passed on to bigger better worlds with more ridiculous stunts. Its owner documented the entire event. I cried.