cowbite.org

links for 2009-12-15

• Francis Davey: Government wants new powers to block wikileaks and squeeze web TV
  "What is the problem with clause 11 that I am getting so alarmed about it? It amends the Communications Act 2003 to insert a new section 124H which would, if passed, give sweeping powers to the Secretary of State. It begins:

  (1) The Secretary of State may at any time by order impose a technical obligation on internet service providers if the Secretary of State considers it appropriate in view of—

  Pausing there. Note that this says nothing at all about copyright infringement. For example the power could be used to:

  * order ISP's to block any web page found on the Internet Watch Foundation's list
  * block specific undesireable sites (such as wikileaks)
  * block specific kinds of traffic or protocols, such as any form of peer-to-peer
  * throttle the bandwidth for particular kinds of serivce or to or from particular websites.

  In short, pretty much anything. "

  via @tomskitomski and @junkoid

  
  
  (tags: internet government legal rights censorship digitalbritain freedom humanrights law)
  
  

links for 2009-11-28

• Beautiful Arctic photos
  by Paul Nicklen
  (tags: photography arctic)

links for 2009-11-27

• Spotibot
  A playlist generator for Spotify. Good name.
  (tags: music spotify)

links for 2009-11-26

• 23 brilliant things told to Ruby Pseudo as part of her research
  Too hard to pick favourites, but here's a starter for 10: "On being asked if he thought he'd answered all the question: 'I don't know if I answered the question, I just wanted to tell you some bare shit I thought you might not know' 15 year old male, South London". Awesome. (via @matlock)
  (tags: teens youth research)
• Lego Matrix
  "After around 440 hours of work, and just in time for the 10th anniversary of the original movie release, we are pleased to present to you our Lego version of the famous Bullet Time dodge scene from The Matrix." Not only awesome, but has it really been 10 years already?! Blimey. (via @currentUK)
  (tags: matrix lego film)
• Big Daves Gusset
  I go past this bit of graffiti everyday, and have often wondered... and now I know. The legend of the gusset from Dave himself via pinewood design and @paul_clarke.
  (tags: graffiti commuting london)

links for 2009-11-25

• Examined Life : a film of philosophers talking for 10mins each
  "The result is often exuberant. Slavoj Zizek – the world's first known cross between a Lacanian theorist and a grizzly bear – patrols a giant south London refuse centre and barks, "This is where we should start feeling at home," before blasting ecologists for their "conservative" notions of the environment."
  (tags: philosophy film)
• Snake spits out new species of chameleon at scientist's feet
  "Had Marshall hoped it might be named after him? "Oh crumbs, no. The thing is, if you work in an area of conservation importance and you can give a species the name of that area it can really highlight that area. By giving it the name Magombera it raises the importance of the forest." The tiny area of jungle is currently unprotected, he said, and he hopes the find will persuade the Tanzanian authorities to extend protection."

  I hadn't thought of it like that, but it makes a lot of sense. And also: innit a cutie!

  
  
  (tags: biology conservation tanzania chameleon)
  
  
• 
  
  Fiona Shaw undergoes a brain scan while reciting TS Eliot
  
  
  'The experiment is the latest in which Scott has explored the different ways our brains control our voices. "In the past, I've worked with impressionists to see what happens in their brains when they impersonate people's voices. The literature in psychology on faces is huge, but there's a lot less work on voices – partly because when we talk about speech, we go straight to focusing on language itself."'
  
  
  (tags: neuroscience acting brain poetry theatre fionashaw)