Notes from Alice

"The drones are all over my brain, I can’t sleep. When I hear the drones making that drone..."

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:21:07 -0400

“The drones are all over my brain, I can’t sleep. When I hear the drones making that drone sound, I just turn on the light and sit there looking at the light.”

- Powerful account of how the constant presence of drones affects civilians in Pakistan.

By Conor Friedersdorf in the Atlantic.

motherjones: This was our Chartbeat web-traffic measure...

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:43:47 -0400

motherjones:

This was our Chartbeat web-traffic measure yesterday. Thanks for being interested, internets!

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The power of a truly kickass scoop…

"Ontologically speaking, just what the hell are cupcakes anyway?"

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:21:20 -0400

"Ontologically speaking, just what the hell are cupcakes anyway?":

theatlantic:

This is excellent.

“Cupcakes are indie desserts. And like hipsters, cupcakes are pretty much all the same.”

Brilliant.

theatlantic: Is London Really Going to Erase Banksy’s New...

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:17:47 -0400

theatlantic:

Is London Really Going to Erase Banksy’s New Olympics Art?

In cleaning up London’s graffiti for the Olympics city authorities threaten to squelch the work one of its biggest celebrities, the street artist Banksy, but on Monday the secretive graffiti artist showed he wouldn’t be deterred from creating Olympics-related art while the whole world is watching. The new pieces that appeared on Banksy’s website put police, who’ve threatened to remove any graffiti they find, in the position of having to power-wash valuable artwork.

Read more. [Images: Banksy]

"If a British newspaper report is correct (and, oh, how we hope it is), Mary Poppins and Lord Voldemort will clash in a tense battle scene during Friday's Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics."

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:10:12 -0400

"If a British newspaper report is correct (and, oh, how we hope it is), Mary Poppins and Lord Voldemort will clash in a tense battle scene during Friday's Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics.":

motherjones:

ZOMG

ZOMG indeed. There should be a word for when you’d be equally delighted if a news report is genuine or a genius feint.

motherjones: “Guess What Percentage Of American Children Are...

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:43:21 -0400

motherjones:

“Guess What Percentage Of American Children Are Living In Poverty. Seriously, Guess.”

(via)

Remember when Google's motto was 'Don't be evil'? Now it's being fined $22.5m for illegally tracking Safari users after they'd disabled tracking

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:51:53 -0400

Remember when Google's motto was 'Don't be evil'? Now it's being fined $22.5m for illegally tracking Safari users after they'd disabled tracking:

Make of that what you will.

When I have five deadlines looming

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:15:15 -0400

theatlantic:

newscatgif:

Perfect.

fastcompany: The man-made mechanical forest, five years in the...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:44:09 -0400

fastcompany:

The man-made mechanical forest, five years in the making, consists of 18 supertrees that act as vertical gardens, generating solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater. To generate electricity, 11 of the trees are fitted with solar photovoltaic systems that provide lighting and assist with water flow in the conservatories below.

Singapore’s Supertrees Light Up The Night

Pure loveliness

theatlantic: Do Publishers or Movie Studios Tell a Better Story...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:40:11 -0400

theatlantic:

Do Publishers or Movie Studios Tell a Better Story in One Picture?

(via Flavorpill)

motherjones: thesmilingfish: “Out of Balance” (from Mother...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:52:57 -0400

motherjones:

thesmilingfish:

“Out of Balance” (from Mother Jones)

As seen on Maddow! (Also there’s like a zillion* more charts where that came from.)

*We rounded up.

Jimmy Carr is being pilloried by everyone from the PM down....

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 13:23:45 -0400

Jimmy Carr is being pilloried by everyone from the PM down. It’s good that tax avoidance is suddenly a stigma, but surely the problem is the massive shadow banking system that makes it all possible?

(None of this is a criticism of the Times. It is a great investigation)

Bureau Bites: For the (financial) record....

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 06:28:05 -0400

Bureau Bites: For the (financial) record....:

bureaubites:

Countries deny contagion:

“Spain is not Greece” - Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, February 2010.

“Portugal is not Greece” - The Economist, April 2010.

“Greece is not Ireland” - George Papaconstantinou, Greek Finance minister, November 2010.

“Spain is neither Ireland nor Portugal” -…

shortformblog: Here’s a video, shown in infrared, of that weird...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 07:22:30 -0400

shortformblog:

Here’s a video, shown in infrared, of that weird spacecraft that landed today after a secret mission. The conspiracy theories start … now.

Drones in space.

motherjones: (via)

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 07:20:54 -0400

motherjones:

(via)

Selected highlights from the much-cherished week when the most brilliantly out-there tweeter...

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 13:49:29 -0400

Selected highlights from the much-cherished week when the most brilliantly out-there tweeter I’ve ever seen took over a nation’s official Twitter account. I was going to sort through the full week, but in just three days she said so much gold I’m going to leave it there.

I hope what’s making Kate laugh here is the fact that...

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 13:11:00 -0400

I hope what’s making Kate laugh here is the fact that Wills has just made a really crude joke about that rocket thingy.

"Country supper"

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 10:54:52 -0400

“Country supper”

- A euphemism in search of a term, if ever I saw one.

Origins are here.

timesopinion: Spanish coal miners in Leon, northern Spain, take...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:21:25 -0400

timesopinion:

Spanish coal miners in Leon, northern Spain, take to the streets to protest against Government cuts to coal subsidies.

(AFP Photo/Cesar Mansocesar Manso)

theeconomist: KAL’s cartoon: this week, some history.

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:13:13 -0400

theeconomist:

KAL’s cartoon: this week, some history.