This Week in Science - The Kickass Science Podcast

These people are really dropping science, and it's a joy to listen to.

Visuwords: online graphical dictionary

djdamico pointed out this very cool word tool. It's more like a thesaurus actually, because it shows the relationships between words and ideas. MCs and slammers will love this.

Give it a try with epitaph and epithet

The New york graffiti war (wtf?)

"...as the works of popular public artists rise in value, so do the neighbourhoods around them. The work of popular street artists, inadvertently or not, spurs processes of gentrification and urban renewal. In New York, the majority of chosen works have been in the Lower East Side, a neighbourhood akin to Montreal?s Plateau, where trendy bars, vintage clothing shops, and small boutiques reign. The street art is used as a selling point, helping to reconstruct the image of the neighbourhood into one of bohemian charm, art, and culture."

Who would have thought that people would drop the broken windows litany and start kvetching that unauthorized painting causes property values to rise? Or maybe it's only stickers and stencils that are good? So ... a balance of graffiti with the street art would maintain equilibrium? I'm having trouble following the logic, if any. Except, of course, someone with little going for them but no-style splashing and a manifesto has somehow gotten fame (again). Now that I do get.

It makes you wonder, though, whether graffiti and property value are actually related at all.

If so, I guess the vigilante has the situation well in hand. Buy the local art and your neighborhood value goes up. Destroy the local art and your neighborhood remains ugly but cheap for the art-destroyers.

Maybe we should just aim for one nice, even coating of outdoor art in all our neighborhoods and stop this game now.

Heroes, Guards, and Prisoners

Ordinary people become great, evil, and passive, depending on how they react to what's going on around them. This article explains how easy it is to fall into the prison mindset and how anyone can be a hero. This essential info will help you throughout life, so don't skip it.

Bystander's Dilemma - The Banality of Heroism, by Zeno Franco and Philip Zimbardo, Berkeley.edu

Maher: What Americans have Sacrificed

"You've given up faith in your government's honesty, the good will of people overseas, and 6/10 of the Bill of Rights. Here's what you've sacrificed: search and seizure, warrants, self incrimination, trial by jury, cruel and unusual punishment."

We need to elect a new government, badly. One that will restore not only the Bill of Rights but our commitment to human rights. A leader with a conscience and principles. (Hint: as opposed to Hillary the poll-chaser).

Today, as people here protest the war AGAIN, the bigger problem is ignored: GWB and his administration can do anything they want, no matter how immoral or illegal it is. And the Democrats sigh and look the other way, mouthing soft placating phrases.

Type for You - typography blog

Letters and lettering design

Malaysia

" It was a proud moment for KDU College Penang when its team won second place at the Hip-Hop Graffiti Competition held at Gurney Plaza in Penang recently"

Pierre Matter

Steampunk sculptures, amazing.
More at Boing Boing.

More vocal percussionism

on Boingboing.net

Dakaka

Slayer. The last one in particular is fascinating.

Beatboxing

Shlomo and Roni Size?

Traffic Go Round

Hilarious guerilla sculpture by Mark Jenkins.

Stardust blows up, Las Vegas Style

Check out the link above while it lasts, because it's the high-res version and it's a beautiful building implosion performance. The youtube version below shows the view from the back of the hotel, but the pixelation makes it look like the impressionist version.

Extreme Vandals

Advertising: NYC's true graffiti problem

It's a little annoying to have graffiti equated with advertising, but GRL makes their point again. It's true that advertising is worse, more pervasive, and a bigger problem. But of course, it's not about how obnoxious ads are, it's about how much money is paid. And graffiti wants to be free.

Brave and Reakt paint in prison: UK

Hex Color finder

This is so helpful when you're making web pages.

It would be nice if the colors were clickable to change the background, but they aren't, so do this:
Find a hex color number (left column) that you like and hack the page address to end with that number instead of 000000. That way you can pick a background color for your page and see which other colors work well on it.

Paint picker anyone?

Pilobolus

My favorite dance troupe.

Palestinian Mural at San Francisco University in danger

Sign the online petition to help save it.