Monday Links from the Barnyard vol. CCXIV

[NickFitz]

possibly she is a poor target, even if she were able to see the point she is unlikely to be the kind of person that could drive a coherent charity effort. Now converting her father may well be a good move.

Firstly, I don't thing she's being treated as a target, just as an example.

Secondly, as the whole point of the project is to take the same starting points as the Daily Mail but show how they can be used for a fruitful consideration of the world rather than vacant gawping, it doesn't really matter if she ever even reads it. It's intended to make you think, not her

[vetran]

There seems to be a faintly left wing whiff of disapproval of her wealth, and how she isn't using it constructively enough to change the World. But is it so bad to redistribute it here there and everywhere, even on frivolities?

Also, if socialists had their own way and wealth was equally distributed, then there would be a lot fewer opportunities for other, maybe smarter, people to use their wealth more constructively, as there wouldn't be any of them. (In fairness, the article does allude to that, saying that if her wealth was distributed equally then everyone in the country would have an extra £10 or something, barely enough to buy a couple of sandwiches.)

possibly she is a poor target, even if she were able to see the point she is unlikely to be the kind of person that could drive a coherent charity effort. Now converting her father may well be a good move.

[OwlHoot]

This is genius. One of the most insightful articles on capitalism I've read in ages.

The Philosophers' Mail

There seems to be a faintly left wing whiff of disapproval of her wealth, and how she isn't using it constructively enough to change the World. But is it so bad to redistribute it here there and everywhere, even on frivolities?

Also, if socialists had their own way and wealth was equally distributed, then there would be a lot fewer opportunities for other, maybe smarter, people to use their wealth more constructively, as there wouldn't be any of them. (In fairness, the article does allude to that, saying that if her wealth was distributed equally then everyone in the country would have an extra £10 or something, barely enough to buy a couple of sandwiches.)

[NickFitz]

Bookmarked for later

Don't know what I'm going to use it for but I'm sure I'll think of something.

This chap's got some examples up and running: Examples of the Marvel API

[doodab]

The Philosophers' Mail - What the Daily Mail could have been: "The Philosopher's Mail is a new news organisation, with bureaux in London, Amsterdam and Melbourne, run and staffed entirely by philosophers. It is committed to bringing you the latest, biggest stories, as interpreted by philosophers rather than journalists. Why did this organisation start? Because today, the most attractive, charming, sexy and compelling news outlets enjoy unparalleled influence over the minds of tens of millions of people. But unfortunately, they rarely put out content that might make the world a better place."

This is genius. One of the most insightful articles on capitalism I've read in ages.

http://www.philosophersmail.com/0102...ecclestone.php

[Bunk]

[*]Marvel Developer Portal - "The Marvel Comics API allows developers everywhere to access information about Marvel's vast library of comics—from what's coming up, to 70 years ago." Yep, an HTTP API for Marvel Comics

Bookmarked for later

Don't know what I'm going to use it for but I'm sure I'll think of something.

[NickFitz]

Wot?

No "Ipcress File" in the spies thing?

Shocking, quite quite shocking.

The CIA don't really come out looking very good in that one, though

[NickFitz]

God, February already? Remember when it was Christmas, and January seemed ages away?

• Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry on an upsurge in ghosts and cases of possession in Northern Japan after the 2011 tsunami, and the monks who try to help the spirits find rest: "There are rituals for placating unhappy spirits, but in the aftermath of the disaster few families were in a position to perform them. And then there were those ancestors whose descendants were entirely wiped out by the wave... Thousands of spirits had passed from life to death; countless others were cut loose from their moorings in the afterlife. How could they all be cared for? Who was to honour the compact between the living and the dead? In such circumstances, how could there fail to be a swarm of ghosts?"
  
  
• 9 Fun Facts That Are Total Lies, 7 (More) Fun Facts That Are Total Lies, 12 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake - "Everybody loves fun facts. But sometimes these little nuggets of trivia can be more fun than they are fact. And sometimes, they're outright lies. Like these!" Nice trilogy of articles from Matt Novak, debunking those viral photos that clutter everybody's Facebook feeds and Twitter timelines.
  
  
• The Ghost Files - "US historians have long complained about gaps in the National Archives. Can big-data analysis show what kinds of information the government is keeping classified?" David J. Craig on new approaches to establishing what, and how much, information the powers-that-be "accidentally" fail to release to national archives.
  
  
• On the Road - "Based on the novel “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac and Google Maps Direction Service. The exact and approximate spots Kerouac traveled and described are taken from the book and parsed by Google Direction Service API. The result is a huge direction instruction of 45 pages. The chapters match the ones of the original book... Read book here: ISSUU - On the Road by Gregor Weichbrodt"
  
  
• Set Yourself Free - When the Learn for Life Foundation of Western Australia wanted to encourage young people to stay in school rather than playing truant, the resulting ad approached the topic in a rather unusual way:
  
  
  

  
  Set Yourself Free - YouTube
  
  
  
• The Philosophers' Mail - What the Daily Mail could have been: "The Philosopher's Mail is a new news organisation, with bureaux in London, Amsterdam and Melbourne, run and staffed entirely by philosophers. It is committed to bringing you the latest, biggest stories, as interpreted by philosophers rather than journalists. Why did this organisation start? Because today, the most attractive, charming, sexy and compelling news outlets enjoy unparalleled influence over the minds of tens of millions of people. But unfortunately, they rarely put out content that might make the world a better place."
  
  
• Marvel Developer Portal - "The Marvel Comics API allows developers everywhere to access information about Marvel's vast library of comics—from what's coming up, to 70 years ago." Yep, an HTTP API for Marvel Comics
  
  
• Secrets From Belfast - Boston College's project to create an Oral History Archive about the Troubles in Northern Ireland was always going to get a rough ride, from both sides: "The first subpoena arrived on May 5, 2011. Its contents were under seal. Boston College was told only that the U.S. Department of Justice, acting under a mutual-legal-assistance treaty with Britain, was seeking the interviews of Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price, for help in a criminal investigation in Northern Ireland involving kidnapping and murder... just two months earlier, the British government had given the college highly sensitive papers related to the disarmament process, to be kept locked away for 30 years. Yet that same government now wanted access to other sensitive documents about the same era."
  
  
• The Greatest Spy Movies (As Chosen By Ex-Spies) - "After years of dodging bullets, drinking martinis and indulging in espionage former operatives tell us, covertly of course, which spy films cut the mustard..." No surprise that number one is the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy starring Alec Guinness
  
  
• Animals Sitting on Capybaras - While lacking the breadth of scope of Things Riding on Things, this does have a lot more capybaras. And a turtle or two:
  
  
  

Happy invoicing!