The Tyler Cowen

1. Sad infographic about the state of the rhino. Although, it must be said, also not very clear. The static version (found here) is no better. Why they're overlaying dark gray on light is beyond me. But still...stupid urban legend-driven prices for rhino horn are nothing short of tragic.
   
2. Great summary of China's foreign policy and prospects. Via The Browser.
3. Oy. Via Marginal Revolution.
4. Daily Show making fun of itself. 
5. An extremely compelling argument to send a man to Mars. I mean extremely compelling. Seriously.
6. Beautiful ad for Nokia from all over the interwebs today.
   Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Good history of coffee and its effects. Via Gizmodo.
   
2. Where HAVE all the girls gone?
3. Interesting read from one of the fathers of a Gizmodo editor of all people. Goes to show that any life is interesting. (Or maybe...that our fathers had way more interesting lives than us.)

The Tyler Cowen

1. Two wildly different but interesting articles on North Korea, both from 38 North. The first is written like a travelogue and features an impossibly articulate Bangladeshi interlocutor. The second is a drier academic tract on NGO collaboration between the US and the DPRK.
2. More on BitCoin.

The Tyler Cowen

1. One woman's explanation for why she's joining another flotilla aimed at the Gaza blockade. A clear reminder that, for all the obfuscating politics of our world, right and wrong can be, and often are, simple choices. Via The Browser. Her full account can be found on her blog.
2. Another summary of North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
3. According to one think-tank's algorithm, China is the most pregnant for revolution in 2011.
4. Amazing tribute to Terminator 2 on its 20th anniversary.  Via Gizmodo.
   

The Tyler Cowen

1. Fantastic, terrifying article about the state of American psychiatry. Perverse incentives abound from the pharmaceutical bed-fellows to the Supplemental Security Income on an individual basis. Via The Browser.
2. Neat infographic charting the rise of Foursquare.
3. Beautiful, sad travelogue of a former military advisor returning to Iraq.
4. North Korean meth production and addiction. Via NKEconWatch.
5. The Daily Show takes Fox to task...again.
6. Incredible levels of customization in Halo: Reach. Via The Awesomer.
   

The Tyler Cowen

1. Beautiful photos of our subterranean lives. Via Marginal Revolution.
2. Shifting economies viewed through the lens of per capita GDP.
3. Brutal article about the people who work at US military bases around the world. Via The Browser.
4. Infographic of what happens in 60 seconds on the internet. Via Gizmodo.
5. I really do love the internet. Ask and ye shall receive in spades. Literally the exact video I originally commented on gets the stationary-sky treatment.
   
6. The FUTURE!

X-Men: First Class Review

To call X-Men: First Class a disappointment is not being fair. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the last two X-Men movies: The Last Stand and Wolverine. It is tightly directed, reasonably well-acted, and decently exciting. By any normal metric, a 'disappointment' is not the correct term for this movie.

However, I have insider information. I know some backstory to the various permutations of the X-Men intellectual property. And this background makes First Class almost unbearable to watch. It is a Frankenstein of a movie with stitches so indelicately sewing it together that I am shocked there aren't more reviewers crying foul.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Comparing North Korea with the Soviet Union. Via North Korean Economy Watch.
2. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. On the ground accounts from the people who were there, retrospectives digging into the intangibles that sparked the revolution, and what the fall initially meant for dictators the world over compared to China's template today.
3. Visualizing our fuel reserves. Made for GE by Information is Beautiful.
4. Fukashima is worse than our short-attention spans would like to believe. 

The Tyler Cowen

1. Analysis of Washington's North Korean policies.
2. YouTube Doubler. The link is to my following the advice found in the comments to the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood trailer. Make sure to mute the left video.

Straggler Videos From Gizmodo

1. More night sky time lapses. These never get old.
   
2. Incredible animated violence on live action children.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Excellent, haunting photography. Via Gawker.
2. Terrifying news about antibiotics. Via Marginal Revolution.
3. Funny application of the 'two cows' economic joke to the Middle East.
4. More funny stuff from Jon Stewart.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Two different views of the Republican primaries in New Hampshire. One takes them somewhat seriously, questioning whether the Republican Party is putting its George Bush years of Foreign Policy behind it. The other...well...the other's a clip from The Daily Show so you take a wild guess.
2. An amazing series of photos of Russia's disparity, framed through the lens of their car culture.
3. Terrifying portents of the future. Via, where else, Gizmodo.
   
4. We've been Sean Bean fans since GoldenEye but getting stabbed and then ordering another pint raises our admiration to a whole new level.
5. The true purpose of our higher faculties. 

The Tyler Cowen

1. Compelling re-review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Via Marginal Revolution.
2. Also from Marginal Revolution, Bitcoin's first dip and an ominous potent for where we assume currency is heading in the future.
3. Conan gives a great commencement address for Dartmouth.
   

Assassins

Foreign Policy has an article discussing the legality of targeting Qaddafi, begging the question: why aren't leaders targeted more frequently?

The article shrewdly points out that no leader is particularly interested in crossing that line, leading, as it would, to reprisals and increasing the threat felt by all leaders. But pop culture and entertainment (and, depending on how far into conspiracy theories one ventures, history) is full of stories of shadowy organizations and figures who play the game of diplomacy using rather direct measures. The term 'assassin' itself is derived from the Arabic term hashishi, roughly translated to 'rabble'. It was adopted to describe the first group of assassins, famously lead by Hasan-i Sabbah, or The Old Man of the Mountain.

A few funny things

1. This is funny. 
2. This is interesting.

Good night.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Adjacencies and the 9/11 memorial. I wish I had this program back two years ago when I needed to create a matrix to satisfy just two requirements. Via Infosthetics.
2. Haunting footage of Japan's wreckage, albeit with an epically poetic news anchor narrating. Via Gizmodo.
3. Though this is a few days old, it's a great video. Humor makes political statements so much more effective.
   

The Tyler Cowen

1. Last.fm getting us to do their work them. Thankfully, their work is really cool. Via Infosthetics.
2. The future, via Gizmodo. I'm saving up for this bad boy if he can get some decent gyroscopes to keep me from flipping over.
3. Depressing but unavoidable realities of humanitarian aid and the numbers they use to ask for support.
4. Two amazing videos from Gizmodo. One of base-jumping (it's a watch ad yes, but still breathtaking), the other of a funny, scary TED Talk. (Second is after the break.)

Covers

Are covers cool? Some people think yes, some think no, some think only if the band puts their unique stamp on the song, others think only if the band does a faithful recreation. I think covers are cool in any regard, particularly this one:

Wye Oak covers Danzig

The Tyler Cowen

1. A photo essay on North Korea and an accompanying article about the unlikelihood of its imminent collapse.
2. Music video. Via Infosthetics.
   

Motion Control

We're pretty tired right now so this might not be the most focused post, but after watching the entirety of Microsoft's event at E3, the cringe-inducing awkward ants are crawling all over my skin. Some of the worst offenders:

The Tyler Cowen

1. Jesus. That was fast. One day after requesting it here, up crops this video giving me exactly what I want. Thank you internet.
   
2. Some fun infographics today. Crime maps, bike accident maps, and expat quality of life maps to name a few.
3. Obscure but hilarious attack on one comic artist's abilities. 
4. Slow motion car commercials featuring things getting destroyed. 

A good idea

We love us some time-lapse video here at Bag of Hammers. Our swiftly tilting planet surely is a thing of beauty. However, particularly as with night time-elapse videos like the one below, the effect is Earth-centric. The frame makes the mountain ranges and telescopes stationary while the stars dance and wheel above us. I would love to see someone figure out how to make the stars stationary while the Earth in the foreground circles around. While everything is relative, it would be an interesting perspective that would highlight our movement through the cosmos. Imagine the scene at 4:06 with the mountains twisting around in the foreground.


Via The Awesomer.

The Tyler Cowen

1. China's next generation.
2. Poverty in context.
3. Doomsaying to the contrary, this guy thinks weather-related deaths are declining. Via Marginal Revolution.
4. Ah the bizarre ways in which our need for a human connection manifests itself. Via The Browser.
5. Creepy proof that Facebook is creepy. Via Gizmodo. (I dare you to try it.)