LA Times health blog: Only 32% of medication studies compare the drug in question to already available treatments, rather than just placebo. And only 11% compared the drugs to non-pharma based treatments, like surgery or lifestyle changes. For evidence-based medicine (let alone cheaper healthcare) to work, stuff like this has gotta get fixed. (Via Steve Silberman)
The adventurous academic is Danielle Lee of the University of Missouri, St. Louis. The dissertation is entitled: An Investigation of Behavioral Syndromes and Individual Differences in Exploratory Behavior of Prairie Voles, Microtus ochrogaster. There was some talk of live Tweets as well. However, Lee says she won't be Tweeting, herself, during the defense (that would be just a little crazy multi-tasky, wouldn't it?), but she is up for answering your questions once everything has been successfully defended. Just Tweet them with the hashtag #LeeDefense. Good luck, Danielle!
This kleige maidel* appeared on a German TV show where she demonstrated her remarkable talent for identifying Star Wars minifigs by putting them in her mouth. The blindfold is what makes this. And the minifigs. Oh, and the waistcoat.
Jenise sez, "I work for Kiva Systems, a small robotics company in Woburn, MA, and the bots are amazingly fun to watch. A few years ago, one of our interns shot this video of the bots dancing to the Nutcracker Suite, and I thought it would tickle your ample sense of whimsy."
Ample whimsy: tickled.
(Aside: Whenever I hear the Nutcracker Suite, my stupid brain insists on supplying the lyrics from the "Smurfberry Crunch" breakfast cereal ad: "Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat/A Smurfy fruity breakfast treat/Made with crunchy strawberries/They taste so sweet and [garbled]/Very fresh and very true/And very very Smurfy blue!")
Jimmy Guterman (website, blog, twitter) writes, edits, and produces things.
When she's not dropping everything to catch up on Twin Peaks, transatlantic troubadour Amy Rigby sings, writes, and performs some of the funniest and some of the most heartbreaking songs you've ever heard. Sometimes she does both in the same number. "Balls" is an all-out rock'n'roll barnburner that captures the frustration and excitement of desire with anger and several great punch lines. It's nasty, it's welcoming. It's as confusing and wonderful and awful as your life. Did I mention the slide guitar? Did I mention how Amy tosses off the aside "this one's gonna hurt"? Did I mention it's on two great albums: The Sugar Tree (along with "Rode Hard," another greatest song of all time of the week candidate and perhaps the most convincing argument for bad behavior on disc this side of "Dead Flowers") and 18 Again (a terrific greatest hits record, but all her records are greatest hits records)?
WARNING: The YouTube clip below, however worthy, is not the version I've just raved about. It's a live solo acoustic version, the only take available on the Interwebs. Rigby's song is great in any context, but you've got to see and hear her as a bandleader to get the full sense of how brilliant she is. Anyone out there got any full-band footage to share? The rest of you: invest 99 cents and buy the song at your favorite online outlet. It'll be the smartest and longest-lasting buck you spend today (do you really need another cup of coffee)?
A survey of the 1.9 million accounts on AshleyMadison.com, a dating site for people looking to cheat on their spouses, rounds up the most common occupations among the would-be infidelitous:
For Women:
1. Teachers
2. Stay-at-home Moms
3. Nurses
4. Administrative Assistants
5. Real Estate Agents
For Men:
1. Physicians
2. Police Officers
3. Lawyers
4. Real Estate Agents
5. Engineers
Leslie Howle sez, "NW MediaArts is a non-profit organization inviting award-winning speculative fiction writers to Seattle to teach a one-day writers workshop, read at the University Book Store, and speak at schools and libraries. Workshops take place at Richard Hugo House. March 12 - Christopher Barazak, author of 'The Love We Share Without Knowing,' which was shortlisted for the Tiptree Award last year, reads at University Book Store on 3/12 and teaches a workshop on 3/14. Workshop space is still open if you register by 3/10/2010."
Wired claims that this is the tenth anniversary of the dotcom boom, and in honor of that auspicious overheated bubble, they've put together a long, Web 0.96b layout depicting the most hubristicly hubristic predictions and hype of that golden age.
I moved to San Francisco in 1999, and remember the feverish absurdity of it all -- and how hard it was not to feel like all these people must know something if they were pouring all this money and energy into all the odd and improbable ideas (a recurring theme I remember was people explaining how they were going to build shopping malls for the web, which, I guess, is basically what Amazon's Z-shops are).
Raj Panikkar sez, "We're screening a film called 'At Home By Myself... With You' (directed by Kris Booth, starring Kristin Booth - no relation) at The Royal in Toronto this week. The unique thing about the film is how we raised the financing to shoot. Quite literally, we campaigned for people to contribute their loose pocket change. The strategy took off, partly through an active Facebook and Twitter presence and also frequent video blogs detailing the contributions. By the time we shot the film, we had raised $42,000 (admittedly, one person's pocket change is occasionally another's small fortune - but it did really begin with 15 cents, 43 cents, a dollar 12, etc.) One might be led to assume that with a limited budget, there'd be a matching limitation on production quality. But the film looks gorgeous (Telefilm Canada came on board at the very end to help fund a pro finish), and reviews and comments have been great. We were reviewed by all the major papers in Toronto: The Sun, NOW, The Star, The Post, etc.
The film plays at The Royal for the rest of the week, and then gets its TV debut right away on TMN and Movie Central, plus a DVD release on April 6th."
Paul sez, "We have been putting this together for a week or so and thought you might like it. Looks like I am going back to school to be a systems engineer, haha."
I like that they've color-coded for "low-stress," "benefit to society" and "satisfaction." However, on these three counts, I'm unsurprised to see that "science fiction writer" didn't make the cut. When I was 17, the school guidance counsellor got in some software that would help you figure out what career to set your sights on. I completed its questionnaire and hit return, and an instant later was advised to become a "geriatric nutritionist" (that is, someone who prepares meals in an old folks' home). Even today, I sometimes feel like I missed my calling. ("Science fiction writer" wasn't on that list either).
The city of Detroit is proposing to give over a quarter of its land to be turned into "semi-rural" fields and farms, with the surviving neighborhoods standing in "pockets in expanses of green." The proposal is politically charged (serving a death-sentence on a whole neighborhood is bound to be controversial) but the idea of "downsizing" Detroit seems to have wide acceptance.
And yes, this entire thing was predicted by David Byrne in 1988 in the song "(Nothing But) Flowers" on the final Talking Heads album Naked.
Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.
Near downtown, fruit trees and vegetable farms would replace neighborhoods that are an eerie landscape of empty buildings and vacant lots. Suburban commuters heading into the city center might pass through what looks like the countryside to get there. Surviving neighborhoods in the birthplace of the auto industry would become pockets in expanses of green.
Many images here, all from his 2010 collection and released today. The iconic fashion designer's work incorporated fantasy and futurist themes familiar to Boing Boing readers. He died earlier this year.
If you're an epochal historical figure you are in some sense going to be all things to all people, and it stands to reason that some of those people will be painters, and of those, some quotient will be bad painters. Which is what makes badpaintingsofbarackobama.com not just a hoot but culturally inevitable. It's ultra-minimalist, as online galleries go -- just a bad painting of Obama per page, with a neat little drop shadow added to give the images an extra shot of hilarious self-importance. Some of them actually aren't bad (at least not to my untrained eye -- I don't know a lot about bad painting, but I know it when I see it); some are either goofy (like this one of Obama looking like Mr. Roarke from "Fantasy Island") or disturbing (like this one of Obama looking like The Rock). Some of them are actually sort of moving. Taken individually they're easy to dismiss. But click through the site for a while and something unexpected happens: Your image of Obama begins to lift and separate from the mire and chatter of the 24-hour news cycle, and you begin to see him again as (perhaps) you once did -- the repository of a whole lot of different, and different-looking, hopes.
"How about bathroom scale that takes a picture of you, from the worst and least flattering angle, and uploads it straight to the web through Twitter and twitpic? Yes, I know, it's a horrible idea! Which means it simply HAS to be made. So I did, or at least a working prototype!"
I made my first Blade Runner pistol when I was 18, while living in Hell's Kitchen, NYC. I stared at the VHS version on pause and made sketches. Put it together from toys and model kit parts. It's lovely and terrible:
(Years later the internet would teach me that the six dollar plastic gun I bought on Canal street in NYC and cannibalized for the grip was created by Edison Giacattoli, a legendary toy gun designer)
I made a crazy accurate scratch-built when I was 30, from resin and bondo. I had great picture reference but shitty size reference, it was 20% too small. Fuck!
Sex.com will be sold at auction next week. Current owner Escom LLC reportedly paid $14 million for it a few years ago, but has since defaulted on loans. According to CNN, "The auction is set for March 18 in New York, and bidders are required to appear with a certified check for $1 million to participate."
The Survival Seed Bank is advertising on Glenn Beck's television show. They offer "survival seeds" for growing your own "crisis garden" amid "emerging totalitarianism."
As Media Matters points out, the brand identity meshes well with the host's apocalyptic visions of the future. "More valuable than silver or gold in a real meltdown," the website reads.
They may quote WorldNetDaily as a news source, fine, but I really like the sound of the heirloom varieties they offer: Jacob's Cattle Bean, Yellow Dent Corn, and non-hybrid varieties of tomato and leafy greens. I'd eat that!
"You'll have confidence knowing that you and your family will be able to eat if the Insiders trigger some huge meltdown," reads the promotional copy. Perhaps (and who are these "Insiders?"), but I'm not convinced $149 is such a great deal for a couple dozen packets of seeds and a little plant food, even if it's enough for "a full acre Crisis Garden."
But hey, when the jackbooted Obama-thugs destroy all the grocery stores with their black helicopters, it does look like we may be going extreme vegan locavore for a while.
Researchers say the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that hit Chile was so strong, it moved the city of Concepcion 10 feet (or more!) to the west. The Chilean capital, Santiago, was bumped about 11 inches to the west-southwest. (via kristielustout)... more
An upsetting stat tucked away in a NYT piece today: Doctors in American hospitals wash their hands only 30-40% of the time, according to national estimates. (via consumersunion)... more
Image (large size): One of many vintage ads from old issues of Wired Magazine at wiredreread.com, a site created by Theis Søndergaard. This one for an AT&T "strap-on telephone" appeared in 1995. Be sure to use your fancy new 28.8 modem when you call up that website on the internet.... more
Santa Monica sushi restaurant The Hump is reported to have been caught selling illegal whale meat to its customers. Who went after them with hidden cameras? The guys behind the dolphin slaughter documentary The Cove.
Image above: Ric O'Barry, right after The Cove won an oscar, during the Academy Awards. BB pal Ehrich Blackhound emailed in the image and says, "I love it when winners hijack the broadcast, and for a txting campaign!"
His speech, after the jump.... more
Lawrence Downes of The New York Times says: "I was just in Haiti reporting on things there and found amazing makers: boys who make kites. Even in refugee camps, where there’s only tiniest scraps of stuff: plastic, sticks, thread."
The kites are beautiful: some have layers of black and clear plastic forming diamonds and stars. Some have decorative edges, the plastic razor-sliced into piñata fringe. But they work, catching the breeze and jack-rabbiting into the smoky air. Small kites are notoriously hard t... more
Lindsay Lohan would like you to know that she is not a milkaholic. To that end, she is reported to be suing e*trade for $100 million over a baby that appears in one of its TV ads. (via @tokyomango)... more
Richard Metzger writes: "It was the blog post heard 'round the world. When Charles Johnson wrote "Why I Parted Ways With The Right" in the space of a few minutes and posted it on his popular Little Green Footballs blog, he had no idea the firestorm it would set off. Nasty denunciations, death threats and a New York Times magazine feature article later, Charles Johnson joined me for a lively discussion about what happened to him, the Darwin-hating, know-nothing Creationists and the frenzied insanity (and rac... more
Rob B and I were discussing the inherent oddness of those faux stereos, TVs, and computers used in furniture store displays. Cut to a good half-hour of browsing the site of Props By IDM (International Dummy Machines?). Not only does Props by IDM offer the latest in fake component stereos, laptops, and flatscreens, but they also sell huge plastic washer and dryer sets, simulated iPod with speaker dock, and fake windows with mountain views. Also available are accessories for the props, such as DVD and... more
Zhang Ruifang, 101, of Henan province in China, appears to have a horn growing on the left side of her forehead. Another is reportedly sprouting on the right side, according to the Daily Mail. I know, I know, the Daily Mail... but look at that horn. Just look at it. From the Daily Mail:
Although, it is unknown what the protrusion is on Mrs Zhang's head, it resembles a cutaneous horn.
This is a funnel-shaped growth and although most are only a few millimetres in length, some can extend a number of inc... more
"Further research has turned up a correction to the last 2 lines:
"It's berry shaped and crispy too,
In berry red and Smurfy blue."
It saddens me to thing of what I could have done with time instead of looking up lyrics for a cereal commercial that ran in the 80s. Time management fail...."
"Interesting that so many of you would be okay with barbecuing my cat, Fluffy.
Granted that people love meat, but it seems like there are so many better options these days that don't put such a strain on the world's resources. The amount of grain used to feed one steer could feed many more people than the resulting beef from that steer. ..."
"Whales and dolphins are endangered, some species are critically endangered. Deer are extrememly over-populated in many parts of the US. Can you see a difference yet? I certainly don't think sharks are cute, but I can easily understand why wholesale slaughter of an entire order of fauna is a bad thing for the planet...."
"Technical nitpicking issues such as the ones mentioned above put aside, I absolutely LOVE this idea. We should be doing more of this, nationwide. I've always fantasized about, if I was rich, being a "reverse developer." I would buy up land that was being used for strip malls and McMansions, tear it all down, and plant a bunch of trees on it, or lease it out to farmers or gardeners...."
"The only mistake they made was putting the dress on the women silhouettes at the bottom. Otherwise, using the same profile for everything makes sense, and wearing pants does not make a silhouette male...."
"I'm not quite sure how to put this. Where I come from the future is bleak and Skynet must be taken down.
If you have a Roomba®, Please destroy it NOW!..."
"Best = more money eh? I know quite a few physicians who earn a lot less than $100k--many can hardly stay in business after malpractice insurance costs.
I call shenanigans...."
For Women:
Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.
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