“I’m a role model for a lot of men,” he says. “I do my best.”
For years, a Tokyo grandfather kept a dirty little secret from his family. Longtime travel agent Shigeo Tokuda, who resembles countless older men who ride the Tokyo subway each day, admitted to his wife and daughter that he sometimes performed cameos in small-budget films.
Since he was “discovered” in 1996, Tokuda has emerged as a major player in Japan’s emerging adult movie genre known as “elder porn.” He says he has appeared in more than 350 films such as “Prohibited Nursing” and “Maniac Training of Lolitas.”
quantum computing with diamonds
Scientists have developed a new way to manipulate atoms inside diamond crystals so that they store information long enough to function as quantum memory, which encodes information not as the 0s and 1s crunched by conventional computers but in states that are both 0 and 1 at the same time. Physicists use such quantum data to send information securely, and hope to eventually build quantum computers capable of solving problems beyond the reach of today’s technology.
quote out of context
Obviously, if this comes to the US, this is only going to be a procedure accessible to the most privileged of privileged, women who can afford to receive a womb transplant (or who has Crazy Dream Insurance that pays for things like post-NCAA tournament depression-related acupuncture), who can afford the ensuing IVF necessary to conceive, who can afford the expensive immunosuppressant drugs needed to prevent organ rejection and the cost of a hospital Cesarean section. They’d also have to be able to afford to have the womb removed after a pregnancy or two, as long term use the rejection-preventing drugs womb recipients must take can lead to harmful complications.
When the human replies “Jesus” it responds: “Honestly? no fracking way. ahahahhaa.”
Three anonymous teams have let loose software that pretends to be human, and used it to manipulate a group of Twitter users.
Over a two-week period, the three “socialbots” were able to integrate themselves into the group, and gained close to 250 followers between them. They received more than 240 responses to the tweets they sent.
This sinister-sounding effort was in fact part of Socialbots 2011, a competition designed to test whether bots can be used to alter the structure of a social network.
(via marginal revolution)
Sendak’s Hobbit
In the late 1960s, Middle-earth enjoyed a renewed interest with the release of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in paperback. As “The Hobbit” neared its 30th anniversary, the American publisher invited Sendak to reimagine Bilbo Baggins and his classic quest.
(thanks, Josh)
Whatever happened to him
Remember the closeted doctor who quit his practice after 9/11 to serve in Afghanistan?
Daryl at breakfast
You’ll be happy to know that I was just trying to calculate how old a person would be when he’d made a mile of poop.
Amy said
As much as I don’t like snakes, I sure wouldn’t mind having one of their jaws.
Melt. Thaw.
And resolve itself into a dew.
The onset of spring: for me, a time of joy often tinged heavily with melancholy.
I don’t remember where I found this
John Moore photographs Egypt, Bahrain, and Libya
Moore told the NewsHour from his hotel room in Cairo that his latest assignment — a six-week trip that took him to the uprisings in Egypt, Bahrain and Libya — might have been his most dangerous.
(thanks, Josh)
tweet of the day
Divine Fiat* 500
The reborn Fiat 500 is coming soon to a theatre near, which only makes sense considering Fiat’s stake in Chrysler. Not quite the original 1936 model, a.k.a. “il Topolino” (not to be confused with Il Topogrigio, which I’ve heard rumors of sightings, but still no head to put on a stick for you, Sheila)). I’ve seen a few of the original ’36 Topolini in the hood, I’ll have to snap some photos for you, Deron. In the meantime here’s one (I’m guessing circa late 50s) I spotted down south in Puglia.
I’ve driven the new 500s a few times, and have to admit they are a bit spineless. The new Fiat Pandas are similar (albeit uglier) but have more zip.
* “Divine fiat” is the creative command of God, from the Latin word fiat, “let there be,” used by God to create the universe in the Latin version of the Book of Genesis.
A Magnet Laboratory (1959)
Directed by the late Richard Leacock for the Educational Development Corporation as part of the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) series of films.
I hope at least one or two people watch this twenty-minute gem of an “educational film,” wherein half a dozen MIT researchers set out to demonstrate the power of electromagnets and inadvertently spark a brief fire.
Also, partway through the film, the phone rings off-screen, interrupting Francis Bitter’s concentration on busbars. “Tell ‘em to call me back later — I’m busy,” he says.
If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you’ll like. There’s actually a lot going on here.
spam name
Brunilda Claudette.
A painted man.
Interesting photo series in which Liu Bolin paints himself to blend into a scene.
Christopher Hitchens on good taste and kindness
‘It’s considered acceptable in our culture to approach perfect strangers, as often or not who may be in extremis, and evangelise. I don’t see why that’s considered a normal thing.’ His voice rises in indignation. ‘They’re allowed to roam the wards. They tried it on me. I know people old and young who’ve been terrified by attentions of this kind.’
He has been thinking of making a short speech along precisely these lines, to the effect that he, Harris and Dawkins may set up a secular equivalent of hospital visitors. ‘We’d go round – “Hope you don’t mind, you said you were Catholic? Only three weeks to live? Well, listen, you don’t have to live them as a mental slave, you know; you could have three weeks of freedom from fear of the priest. Don’t be a mug all your life…” I don’t think it would be considered in very good taste.’
I don’t think it would be a kindness either, I say.
‘I think it would,’ Hitchens says. ‘Absolutely.’
Mick Brown interviews Christopher Hitchens.
Alan Turing Documentary
A trailer for a documentary on the life of Alan Turing:
Turing was the British WW II code breaker and early pioneer of computer science and artificial intelligence who proposed an operational test of intelligence as a replacement for the philosophical question, “Can machines think?”
Be careful, this is heartbreaking.
(thanks, Tim)
Jefferson’s Bible
The second of two Bibles Jefferson took a scalpel to will go on display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
To readers familiar with the New Testament, this Jefferson Bible, as it is popularly called, begins and ends abruptly. Rather than opening, as does the Gospel of John, in the beginning with the Word, Jefferson raises his curtain on a political and economic drama: Caesar’s decree that all the world should be taxed. His story concludes with this hybrid verse: “There laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.” Between these points, there are no angels, no wise men, and not a hint of the resurrection.
(thanks, Josh)
Civil Defense Planning
So I’ve made arrangements to fly to Texas for cfsIII and am thinking that it would be helpful to have a rough layout of the property with special emphasis paid to structures and to their points of entry or exit.
My concerns are: Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, and the Mummy. Also, possibly, the Living Dead.
When I was around eight or so, I worked out plans of action in the event that on my way home from school I was pursued by any of the above. There is really a lot to consider, and I would hate to be caught unprepared.
quote of the day
A woman sunbathing topless, lying face-down at the beach… is wearing the entire earth as a bra.
headline of the day
Archaeologists discover saber-toothed vegetarian
I was in Texas, but, now I’m home.
This was a phone snap taken near Brackettville, TX. The radio told me that we are living in the final days. Is this an assembly point do you think?
Kaki King – Life Being What It Is
false flags
As an aside, I’ve been involved in GOP politics here in Indiana for 18 years, and I think that the situation in WI presents a good opportunity for what’s called a “false flag” operation. If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions’ cause to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the public unions. Currently the media is painting the union protest as a democratic uprising and failing to mention the role of the DNC and umbrella union organizations in the protest. Employing a false flag operation would assist in undercutting any support that the media may be creating in favor of the unions.
