keflex
27/07/2011
I’ve been reading “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam these past few weeks, and I’m almost through it. If you don’t know the book itself, the long and short of it is that since the 1960’s, American communities have been slowly but surely atrophying, and this has serious repercussions for various aspects of our lives (The book was written in 2000).
For those of you who find this concept interesting, I really would recommend sourcing a copy. The level of detail Putnam goes into is astounding (one graph charts agreement with the statement “TV is my primary source of entertainment” against instances where a driver gives another driver the finger in an average year), the citations endless, and the overall message is delivered effectively, even-handedly and optimistically.
Perhaps what makes Bowling Alone interesting in 2011 is that we’ve seen some of the most drastic shifts in how humans communicate with each other take place since the book’s publication (The original concept was first released as an article in 1995, and a full-fledged book in 2000). The rise of social networking services, and the ubiquity of the Internet & mobile phones (not to mention smartphones, which is beginning to occur) took place in the 00’s, and these three factors taken as a whole make a very valuable case for re-assessing the current society we live in against the same metrics.
What do you think these changes have done for generalised feelings of “connectedness” with the generalised other within society? I have my own theories but they remain just that, and certainly I have nothing resembling a body of evidence to back myself up with. But honestly, I would be amazed if we’d taken any steps in the right direction; not only do services such as Facebook allow us to further limit our interactions with people (the very nature of having to have someone as a “Friend” shows this), but by making access to our personal social networks so simple & so effortless, it makes it easier to keep up the appearance of being involved in the lives of others. Put it this way: one of the metrics Putnam uses is the amount of times people informally visit the homes of their friends, and the number has decreased in recent decades. Would social networking help to increase the number of instances of at-home visiting, or decrease it? Does a Wall post serve as an acceptable substitute for hours of shared company?
Text posted at 20:07
18/07/2011
See that urinal in the background? This is an airport bathroom. Mere centimetres away from these fish, a consistent stream of men are shitting violently. They spend their entire lives listening to male grunting and breaking surface tension. It’s hard to imagine a worse fate.
Photo posted at 13:27
12/06/2011
The Pokedex entry says that “Machamp can launch 1000 punches within 2 seconds.”
Machamp’s height is 5’03”, which is 1.6002m. Assuming that’s from head to foot, then, by inspecting pictures of it, its arm is about 1m long.
A punch is a full extension and retraction of the arm, meaning one punch must make Machamp’s fist travel 2m.
Given four arms, a single arm must punch 250 times per second to make a total of 1000 punches. 250*2m = 500m/s, the speed a single arm must average whilst punching to achieve that rate.
As for acceleration, the punch must average 500m/s over a distance of 1m, starting at 0m/s. Assuming a constant acceleration, the final velocity of a punch would have to be 1000m/s.
0 to 1000m/s in 0.008 of a second. That’s an acceleration of 125 000m/s/s.
Now for force. Since F = m*a and we know the fist’s acceleration (a), we’ll find the fist’s mass. m = density*volume, so its density and volume must be found. Idealizing the fist as a cube with sides 1/5 its arm’s length, its volume is 0.008m^3. Machamp’s mass is 130kg and it’s volume - approximated as a cylinder with height 1.6002m and radius 0.6m - is ~1.81kg/m^3. Thus, the fist’s mass is 0.008*1.81 = ~0.015kg.
That gives a force of 0.015*125 000 = 1875N.
Assuming that Machamp’s arm is a uniform material and idealising with a cross section similar to its fist - 0.04m^2 - that would make the compressive strength required to endure the force of acceleration 1875/0.04 = 46875kPa = ~47MPa.
The ultimate compressive strength of structural grade concrete is less than 21 MPa.
„Quote posted at 16:56
06/06/2011
Sandpit - On Second Thought
Smudge - Manilow
Hummingbirds, The - loveBUZZ
Gersey - Hope Springs
The Flaming Hands - The Flaming Hands
Avalanches, The - Since I Left You
Underground Lovers - Leaves Me Blind
Sodastream - Reservations
Tumbleweed - Return to Earth
Go-Betweens, The - 16 Lovers Lane
Text posted at 23:58
here’s my vote for Triple J’s Hottest 100 Australian albums of all time.
of all time?
Beige?
Fuck this list.
Needs more Anthony Callea.
Seriously there’s one fucking album on this list that’s deserving and tbh I think Zonoscope is probably better than IGC overall.
I don’t understand how kids can listen to average music and be happy doing it.
(Source: inourcircles)
Photo posted at 23:58
02/06/2011
Acceptance.
Photo posted at 18:03
19/05/2011
Compulsion.
Photo posted at 20:03
15/05/2011
» Sonar: 26.4.2011 - Pains Of Being Buried Alive
1. Hayvnlar Alemi - Neptune Sunset Casino
2. Moby Grape - Bitter Wind (Wow, 1968)
3. The Phantom Payne - They’re Ugly (Dig The Squares)
4. Robyn Hitchcock - Godnatt Oslo (Troms?, Kaptein)
5. Yo La Tango - Surfin Birg (Live in WFMU 2004)
6….
Turns out Ledge got played on an Israeli radio show, on my birthday. Good feeling.
Link posted at 17:41
14/05/2011
Eluvium - Reciting the Airships.
Seriously, it’s pretty much just a chord progression. Why is it so good?
Video posted at 17:58
25/04/2011
Quote posted at 12:40
18/04/2011
Today’s purchases:
The World Of Joni Mitchell
Hejira - Joni Mitchell
Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
The First 10 Years - Joan Baez
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
The Con - Tegan and Sara
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood MacArgh argh argh I can’t wait to go to Flavia’s house and force her to play some Joan and Joni.
#you are now jealous of flavia’s purchases.
No Tusk, what a retard.
Photo posted at 08:59
I am so fussy about the phones I use it’s ridiculous. Anyone want a Nokia E7?
Photo posted at 00:59
17/04/2011
Photo posted at 17:09
15/04/2011
Photo posted at 23:23
12/04/2011
Britney Spears - Till The World Ends.
Fuck this song, man. It should be good, it really should, but then it just dies off and that’s supposed to be alright. Seriously, a Britney track that’s finally fucking revels in her own roboticism (as opposed to just using it a lot) and we get the biggest anti-climax in any song I’ve heard in ages. I really hope someone remixes this and takes it the extra step.
Video posted at 14:37