- Scientists develop ‘golden fleece’ lozenge to fight off all cold and flu bugs [via]:
The pill, which would cost 20 pence a day and would be taken once before breakfast, could be sold over the counter in as little as two years.
- “Most expensive” foods like this often seem like a cheat to me — of course it’s expensive if it’s served in a solid gold dish! — but this one seems like it might actually earn its hefty price tag, if only because the most expensive ingredients are also edible. That said, there’s not a chance I’m paying $750 for a single cupcake. [via]
- Arachne Jericho on embracing the inconsistencies in the Sherlock Holmes universe and why a gay Holmes/Watson relationship really isn’t such a stretch.
- I once tried getting a book endorsement from Desmond Tutu. When his assistant turned me down, I didn’t turn around and fake one. This is one of several reasons why I am not an African dictator. (Nelson Mandela Foundation accuses Congo president over fake foreword) [via]
- And finally, a fascinating story about a Wired writer who tried to disappear. I was particularly amused by the idea that his trackers created real Twitter accounts to look like automated spambots to draw away suspicion. Seems like the inverse of how these things usually work. [via]
internet
Wednesday various
- Mark Evanier on screeners:
If I send a screenplay to most of these studios, they’ll return it unread with a stern letter — probably written by the guy who writes the threats in the screeners — that they don’t accept unsolicited material. And then they send me unsolicited material…including copies of their screenplays.
- Do you really want those two front teeth for Christmas? Something tells me “a knuckle ring fitted with four of your molars” is just waiting to turn up on a C.S.I.-type show.
- A further lesson in how not to respond to a bad review.
- Well that’s surprising: Kirkus Reviews and Editor & Publisher are closing. [via]
- And finally, Warren Ellis is right: Slingers looks like very, very intriguing.
Monday various
- Walk the ancient streets of Pompeii with Google Maps.
- Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers’ Heads by 2020. Well of course they do. [via]
- “People with sharper senses of smell really have a nose for relating to others’ emotions, new research suggests. [via]
- Empty L.A. They’re impressive images, though I’ll admit I’m not familiar enough with Los Angeles to know how crowded these locations are normally. [via]
- And finally, 15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee. [via]
Monday various
- Regender.com is an interesting experiment, although obviously imperfect. In its regendering of this site, for instance, it changed Billy Joel’s “Don’t Ask Me Why” into “‘Donna’t Ask Me Why’ by Billie Joyce.” [via]
- This raises the troubling possibility that some of our authors are in fact cats: Cat registered as hypnotherapist [via]
I posted this earlier today to Twitter, and Nyssa23 replied, “Perhaps that explains the number of manuscripts you’ve been receiving concerning mice and cheeseburgers.” Still, as I told her, say what you will, Cheeseburger-Focused Brief Therapy works!
- “A car crash victim who was believed to have been in a coma for the past 23 years has been conscious the whole time.”
- Matt Taibbi on Sarah Palin [via]:
And Sarah Palin sells copies. She is the country’s first WWE politician — a cartoon combatant who inspires stadiums full of frustrated middle American followers who will cheer for her against whichever villain they trot out, be it Newsweek, Barack Obama, Katie Couric, Steve Schmidt, the Mad Russian, Randy Orton or whoever. Her followers will not know that she is the perfect patsy for our system, designed as it is to channel popular anger in any direction but a useful one, and to keep the public tied up endlessly in pointless media melees over meaningless nonsense (melees of the sort that develop organically around Palin everywhere she goes). Like George W. Bush, even Palin herself doesn’t know this, another reason she’s such a perfect political tool.
- And finally, speaking of, god bless parody. [via]
Monday various
- “TIGA, the computer games industry body, is facilitating links between publishers and computer games developers by inviting its members to create briefs for live publishing-based projects. That’s right. No more video games based on popular movies based on popular books; these folks are going direct to the source. Which naturally begs the question: which books would you like to see made into video games? [via]
- Speaking of games, here’s two: Small Worlds and Quizapedia. [via]
- Let Them Sing it for You: does exactly what it says on the tin. Amusing, though your mileage may vary. [via]
- An interesting exchange between stand-up comedian Paul F. Tompkins and Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd. I’m not really sure which one of them I side with here. [via]
- And finally, SCI FI Wire cancels its columns. I can’t say I’m at all surprised. Its steady race to be a weak clone of io9 (which isn’t always so terrific itself) continues.