Mom Spam
(Youtube Direktmutti, via MeFi)
Toller Webservice zum Muttertag: Mom Spam. Kettenbriefe, lustige GIFs und Katzenbilder statt Blumen.
YOU KNOW THOSE FORWARDS your mom fills your inbox with week after week, year after year? Well, this MOTHER’S DAY, you can return the favor by using Mom Spam. A site that features all the best FORWARDS we thought were just too good NOT to pass along.
Choose from 2011’s Most Inspirational Quotes, The Best Jokes You’ll Ever Hear and The World’s Cutest Animals in the Silliest Predicaments. She loves to send them, she’ll love to receive them. And we’ll make sure she does by filling her inbox all Mother’s Day long.
Alan Turing-Statue passes Dogs Turing-Test
(Youtube Direktturing, via BBSubmitterator)
Ihr habt vielleicht dieses Video bereits gesehen, in dem ein Hund mit einer Statue Stöckchen spielen will. Fand ich nett. Der Knaller: Diese Statue ist das Alan Turing Memorial von Glyn Hughes im Sackville Park, Manchester (rechte Sidebar) und das hier ist quasi ein Turing-Test mit Hund. Grandios. Alan Turing war Code-Knacker der Enigma-Maschine, Erfinder der Turing-Tests und massgeblich an der frühen Entwicklung künstlicher Intelligenz beteiligt.
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Britische Regierung entschuldigt sich bei Alan Turing
Gene Simmons vs Anonymous, Round 2
Das FBI hat das Haus der Familie eines 15jährigen Teenagers durchsucht, der im Oktober an den DDoS-Attacken auf die Website von Gene Simmons während Anons Operation Payback beteiligt war. Popcorn!
Agents seized the high school student’s laptop during the early-morning raid and questioned him extensively about Simmons, 4chan, and the denial of service attack, according to the boy’s mother. Rhoda Lantz, 44, told TSG that agents–who arrived at her door with guns drawn at 6:40 AM–initially said they were involved in a cyber crime investigation.
But it wasn’t until an agent asked her son if he had a problem with the Kiss star that the boy grasped the nature of the federal inquiry. “Oh, this is about the Gene Simmons attack,” he said, according to his mother.
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Kiss vs Anonymous
Dokutrailer: The Life and Times of Paul, the psychic Octopus
Alexandre O. Philippe und Robert Muratore, die Macher der Doku „The People vs George Lucas“ (Trailer hier), haben eine neue Dokumentation angekündigt über jemanden, den Ihr kennt: Paul, the psychic Octopus.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PAUL THE PSYCHIC OCTOPUS tells the official and exclusive story of the world’s most beloved and scorned cephalopod, whose remarkable string of eight correct ‘predictions’ during the 2010 Soccer World Cup made him a worldwide superstar. Whether Paul is an honest-to-goodness 21st century oracle, or a tentacled sham, remains a hotly debated topic. What is certain, though, is that Paul’s unmatched string of correct predictions has affected us, made us dream, and impacted popular culture. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PAUL THE PSYCHIC OCTOPUS is a biopic of tentacular proportions–one that explores celebrity mania at its most outrageous, the science of probabilities, and the possibility of higher powers.
(Youtube Direktpaul, via Twitch)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Paul the Psychic Octopus, R.I.P.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vs Paul the psychic Octopus
Paul the psychic Octopus predicts a Geekwars-Winner
Octopus Interference
Pavel, the psychic Krakauer, predicts Germany victory over Spain!
Paul, the psychic Octopus, predicts… SPAIN!
Paul, the psychic Octopus, predicts Germany victory over Argentinia
Paul, the psychic Octopus, predicts Germany victory over England
Space and Time and Mathematics sez: „Deutschland wird Weltmeister“
Killing Bin Laden – The Video Game
Das ging schnell: Die neuste Episode des Shooters KumaWar ist die Mission der Navy SEALs, die zur Tötung Bin Ladens führte.
Less than a week after America’s elite Navy SEALs assassinated Osama Bin Laden, gamers will be able to virtually experience the raid and pull the trigger to kill the al Qaeda leader. KumaWar Episode 107: Osama 2011 is the final mission of the long-running online video game franchise, which launched in 2004.
The new game mission, which launches on May 7, was developed by New York-based game studio Kuma Games, which makes online games for the History Channel, Animal Planet and Biography Channel. Over 20 million gamers have logged onto one of Kuma’s 150 online game episodes over the years.
The free-to-play KumaWar franchise has been accurately recreating key battles and missions in the War on Terror for the past eight years, working with current and former military personnel to bring the interactive action to life.
Kill Bin Laden Yourself: First Video Game Rushed to Market
Related:
Architectural plans for bin Laden’s Abottabad house
Ahmadinejads Wizards arrested in Iran
Im iranischen Machtpoker zwischen Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad und Religionsführer Ali Chamene’i haben sie ein paar Zauberer festgenommen, die den Präsidenten mit ihrer Magie unterstützen und Geister beschwören sollen. Vom Guardian:
Close allies of Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being “magicians” and invoking djinns (spirits).
Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as “a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds”.
Ahmadinejad allies charged with sorcery (via BoingBoing)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Romanians, Taxes and Witchcraft
Femen: Kievs Topless Protestors
Sehr interessanter Artikel aus spOnline International über Femen, die nackten Bürgerrechtsaktivisten aus der Ukraine: „Facebook used to block their pages and Ukraine’s secret service has threatened them with violence: With a mix of political protest and eye-catching eroticism, the women’s rights group Femen has inspired fear in Ukrainian authorities with its fight against prostitution and sex tourism.“
Inna Shevchenko, 20, a student from Kiev, is a “Topless Fighter,” as activists with the women’s rights group Femen call themselves. For two years, the organization has been fighting against sex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine, a country that even Google automatically associates with “dating agencies” and “women.” The advertisements to the right of a Google search for “Ukraine” are for “Single Ukrainian Ladies,” “Women From Ukraine,” or “Partner Search Ukraine.” Although the group has only a few dozen activists like Inna and around 300 supporters, the topless protests have established a global reputation for Femen. […]
Old school feminists find the topless troops strange. “They dress like prostitutes,” criticizes gender researcher Maria Dmitrieva wrote of Femen in a Russian magazine. “The display of bare breasts, with or without cause, is certainly not conducive to social discourse.”
“Yes,” sighs Anna Hutsol im Café Cupidon. “We’re different from classic feminists. In order to gain a voice, they had to become like men. But we want a real women’s revolution. Our naked protests are part of the fight for women’s liberation. We have the right to use our bodies as weapons. It was men who made breasts into a secret.”
Kiev’s Topless Protestors – ‘The Entire Ukraine Is a Brothel’ (via MeFi)
Hierarchical Structures of Anonymous and the Sony Hack
Zwei „Veterans“ von Anonymous haben bestätigt, dass der Hack von Sonys Playstation Network sehr wahrscheinlich von Mitglieder von Anon durchgeführt wurde, obwohl die Gruppe das bislang bestreitet („Let’s be clear, we are legion, but it wasn’t us. You are incompetent Sony“).
Der Hack selbst interessiert mich nicht weiter, ich bin selbst kein Online-Zocker und nutze die PS3 vor allem als Medienserver, außerdem ist dieser Hack nur (wenn auch ein ziemlich großer) ein weiterer Fettnapf, in den Sony sehenden Auges reingelatscht ist, aber die latschen ja in alles rein, was auch nur annähernd in Reichweite rumsteht, Sony könnte sich auch in „Murphys Law“ umbenennen. Was mich viel eher interessiert, wie sich der Hack – und die Schilderung der „Veterans“ hören sich für mich sehr plausibel an („he saw technical details of a vulnerability in Sony’s network that enabled the break-in discussed on an Anonymous chat room, shortly before the intrusion“) – auf Anonymous’ innere Strukturen auswirken könnte. Denn hier haben wir zum ersten mal den Fall (soweit ich weiß), dass sich Anonymous selbst widerspricht.
Ich habe auf der Republica kurz mit Gabriella Coleman (prev) gesprochen, kurz nach ihrem Vortrag über Anonymous (Video oben) und wir redeten unter anderem darüber, wie die neuen Ziele der Gruppe (Iran, Ägypten, Wikileaks, Bank of America), ihr relativ neues Engagement in Politik und ihr offensichtliches „Erwachsenwerden“ dazu führen könnte, dass sie ihre erklärte völlige Abwesenheit von Hierarchien (abgesehen von einem guten Dutzen „Masterminds“) ablegen muss, um eben diese Ziele zumindest ansatzweise zu erreichen.
“If you say you are Anonymous, and do something as Anonymous, then Anonymous did it,” said the hacker, who uses the online nickname Kayla. “Just because the rest of Anonymous might not agree with it, doesn’t mean Anonymous didn’t do it.”
Die Frage ist nun, wie Anon auf diese Meldung reagiert, wenn überhaupt. Distanziert sie sich von den betroffenen Mitgliedern, verletzen sie damit eins ihrer Grundprinzipien: Anonymous zieht sich auf den Standpunkt zurück, die IRC-Channels seien offen für Jedermann und so hätte sich jeder die Infos abgreifen können, die zum Sony Hack führten. Das wiederum würde Anonymous zu einem geschlossenen Benutzer-Kreis machen, der eben nur noch scheinbar offen für Jedermann wäre, hinsichtlich der AnonOps. Bekennen sie sich andererseits zum Hack, verletzen sie ein anderes „Grundprinzip“: We don’t steal. Ich bin sehr gespannt, wohin sich diese Story nun entwickeln wird.
Nude for Charity
Nudity for Charity: Nackedeis für einen guten Zweck. Because „everybody likes naked pictures“. Jetzt bitte noch „Porn for Charity“ erfinden und ich bin dabei.
What?
Nudity for Charity lets volunteers raise money for their favorite charities by posing in the buff. Volunteers submit pics, and choose a charity. Other visitors to the site can donate to the volunteers’ charities. When a volunteer’s donation goal is reached, their nude pics will be unlocked. Basically, Nudity for Charity volunteers say “You can see me naked, if you help a good cause.”Why?
A lot of people want to help charities, but don’t have a lot of money to spend. Other people have a some money to spend, but might not be motivated to donate. And everybody likes naked pictures. Nudity for Charity is an experiment in raising funds for worthy causes by putting these elements together.
Nude for Charity (NSFW) (via Dangerous Minds)
Pop-Sequentialism: Comic Art of the Modern Age
Schicke Ausstellung in der La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles: Pop-Sequentialism: Comic Art of the Modern Age. Oben ein Punisher-Artwork von Garth Ennis und wo wir grade beim Thema Comics sind: Heute ist Free Comic Book Day und ich mache mich gleich auf den Weg zu meinem Dealer um mir meinen kostenlosen Fix zu holen (nur um dann doch noch viel zu viel Geld dazulassen). Außerdem wurde eine einzelne Zeichnung aus Frank Millers „Dark Knight Returns“ für grob 450.000 Dollar verkauft. Nicht schlecht für ein Comic aus den 80ern.
Heritage Auctions announced that it just sold original art from the third issue of Frank Miller’s modern classic The Dark Knight Returns for $448,125. That’s different from the other mega-purchases in two important ways: It was a single page of original art rather than a published comic, and rather than being published in the Golden Age era of the late 1930s, this was from a comic that came out in 1986.
The image is the single most memorable image from the entire comic book series and the greatest image from the decade of the 1980s ever to come to market, as well as now standing as one of, if not the most desirable pieces of original comic art from any era to come to market. It is a perfect stand-alone image of Batman and Robin (Carrie Kelley, the first female, full-time Robin) soaring high above Gotham City, emblematic of the entire storyline.
“I’ve always loved that drawing,” commented Miller, when asked before the auction what his thoughts on its imminent sale were. “Danced around my studio like a fool when I drew it. I hope it finds a good home.”
The previous record price for a piece of original American comic book art was set last year when the cover of EC comics Weird Fantasy #29, by legendary artist Frank Frazetta, sold at Heritage via a private treaty sale for $380,000.
“Heritage auctioned Frank Miller’s original art work for the cover of Daredevil #188 for $101,575 last year,” said [Ed] Jaster [VP of Heritage Auctions], “so we knew there were serious buyer’s out there, especially for Miller’s top work. Now we know for sure what collectors are willing to pay. This piece is far away the current king. Nothing else has even come close.”
Frank Miller ‘Dark Knight Returns’ Page Now Most Valuable Piece of US Comics Art Ever Sold
Schizophrenic Computer-Networks
Superinteressantes Experiment an den Unis in Austin, Texas und Yale. Dort haben Forscher Netzwerke, die normalerweise Gehirnfunktionen abbilden und Sprachen lernen, mit Informationen und Storys bombardiert, woraufhin diese als Ergebnis Symptome von Schizophrenie zeigten. Von PopSci: „Researchers testing mental illness figured out how to induce schizophrenic symptoms in a computer, causing it to place itself at the center of crazy delusions, such as claiming responsibility for a terrorist bombing. The results bolster a hypothesis that claims faulty information processing can lead to schizophrenic symptoms.“
Computer networks that can’t forget fast enough can show symptoms of a kind of virtual schizophrenia, giving researchers further clues to the inner workings of schizophrenic brains, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Yale University have found. The researchers used a virtual computer model, or “neural network,” to simulate the excessive release of dopamine in the brain. They found that the network recalled memories in a distinctly schizophrenic-like fashion. […]
“The hypothesis is that dopamine encodes the importance — the salience — of experience,” says Uli Grasemann, a graduate student in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin. “When there’s too much dopamine, it leads to exaggerated salience, and the brain ends up learning from things that it shouldn’t be learning from.” The results bolster a hypothesis known in schizophrenia circles as the hyperlearning hypothesis, which posits that people suffering from schizophrenia have brains that lose the ability to forget or ignore as much as they normally would. […]
“It’s an important mechanism to be able to ignore things,” says Grasemann. “What we found is that if you crank up the learning rate in DISCERN high enough, it produces language abnormalities that suggest schizophrenia.” After being re-trained with the elevated learning rate, DISCERN began putting itself at the center of fantastical, delusional stories that incorporated elements from other stories it had been told to recall. In one answer, for instance, DISCERN claimed responsibility for a terrorist bombing.
Scientists afflict computers with schizophrenia to better understand the human brain (via /.)
Flash in the Can 2011-Titleanimation
(Vimeo Direktflash, via Motionographer)
Sehr schicke, sicke Animation von MK12 für das kanadische Flash In The Can-Festival 2011.
