Ghost Rider pins

Miss Coffee is selling Ghost Rider pins/magnets to raise money for Gary Freidrich.

Cat food for mutant cats?

Cat food advertisements by Hermandad that are highly reminiscent of Casey Weldon's paintings.

Everything is a remix, Raiders of the Lost Ark edition

"Shot-by-shot comparison of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' vs. scenes from 30 different adventure films made between 1919-1973." Via these sites.

Don't copy that floppy

Don't copy that floppy. Via.

Everything's a remix, starring Beyonce's new video

"The new Beyoncé-clip 'Countdown' shows some striking resemblance with movies from Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Judge for yourself." Below is the full video:



Via.

Link roundup

1. I mentioned the other day that Neal Stephenson had written an article lamenting what he saw as stagnation in scientific development. I don't believe that he mentions in the article his own association with Intellectual Ventures (which is now suing Motorola).

2. Corruption and death at a Vatican-connected hospital.

3. Video of Tom Cruise in a dance battle. It's like Zoolander in real life.

Video roundup

Zack Morris's giant phone.



The latest edition of Everything is a Remix, focusing on The Matrix.



1979 commercial for Pabst Blue Ribbon featuring Patrick Swayze and his incredible hair.



Stop-motion ninja battle by Oliver Trudeau.



Robin in action in Arkham City. Via all these fine sites.

*Buy vintage phones at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Remember that David Bowie/2001-inspired book I (and everyone else) mentioned a few weeks ago? The artist has been threatened by the copyright holder.

2. A summary of the NBA owners' bargaining positions.

3. "There's a famous legend that America spent millions on the development of a 'space pen' that writes upside down, while the Russians used a pencil. Here's the truth behind the legend."

Link roundup

Slow news day, so here's a few links I never got around to posting:

1. Hilltop cottage in Nova Scotia.

2. "The Downfall Of Barry Halper, Baseball Collecting's Bernie Madoff."

3. "The Chinese art of elegant bribery."

4. "African Village Uses Tech to Fight Off Rape Cult."

5. "Authorities 'cleaning up' Dafen Village, world capital of cheap oil painting."

Kellogg Suing Nonprofit Over Toucan Logo

Kellogg Co. is suing the nonprofit Maya Archeology Initiative over its toucan logo.

Link roundup

1. "[I]n South Asia, millions remain victims of a wicked form of slavery known as peshgi, or bonded labour. Human Rights Watch estimated as far back as 1999, that India was home to some 40 million bonded labourers. In Pakistan, over one million bonded labourers are currently enslaved in the brick kiln industry alone." Via.

2. Knock-off Ikea store in China. Via.

3. Monastery at dusk. Hell's escalator.

The credits for this advertisement do not include Kris Kuksi?

The listed credits for this advertisement:

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Jakarta, Indonesia
Executive Creative Director: Gary Caulfield
Creative Directors: Eric Yeo, Troy Lim, Yuwono Widodo
Art Director: Anthony Tham
Copywriter: Adrian Yeap
Illustrator: Eric Foenander
Illustrator: Qiu Jing

But it sure looks like Kris Kuksi's work to me:

Link roundup

1. Artnet:

Artist Janine “Jah Jah” Gordon has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against photographer Ryan McGinley for copyright infringement, arguing that 150 of McGinley’s photographs, including several used in an ad campaign for Levi’s, a co-defendant in the suit, are “substantially based” on Gordon’s original work.

Via.

2. Double lightning bolts.

3. Beach turned a revolting green by algae in China (like swimming in Nickelodeon's slime). Via.

Link roundup

1. A few weeks ago Andy Baio mentioned that he'd reluctantly settled for $30,000 a lawsuit in which he was accused of using a photographer's intellectual property. I mentioned at the time, without explaining my reasoning, that I thought he'd indeed stolen the photographer's intellectual property. Well, this post does an excellent job explaining why.

But that's really only half the story. Predictably, internet users angered by the photographer's attempt to protect his intellectual property attacked the photographer both in cyberspace and in the real world. This is a fascinating summary of what occurred. There's a bit of commentary on that post here (make sure to read the "featured comments"). (And from that same site, here's some great photographs). Via.

2. "Hypoallergenic dogs don't actually produce fewer allergy-provoking proteins than other dogs, say researchers who put the claims to the test." Via.

3. Some snails not only survive being eaten and digested by birds, but actually use the experience as a means of travel. Via.

Link roundup

1. Looks like the link is overwhelmed right now, but apparently "when a caterpillar goes into its chrysalis it's body literally melts down into a sac of fluid cells. These cells in turn recreate the entire body from scratch, forming a butterfly."

2. The big internet news today was Andy Baio reporting that he had been sued for profiting off another artist's intellectual property, and had settled because he couldn't afford to fight. I'm inclined to think it was not fair use. But mostly I was surprised that someone already facing a lawsuit he couldn't afford to defend would do something like create an index for The Daily.

3. The BBTS added several new vintage models, including the Mystery Machine, Batcycle, and Batboat.

Link roundup

1. Fascinating site I've never heard of:

At the time of Göbekli Tepe's construction much of the human race lived in small nomadic bands that survived by foraging for plants and hunting wild animals. Construction of the site would have required more people coming together in one place than had likely occurred before. Amazingly, the temple's builders were able to cut, shape, and transport 16-ton stones hundreds of feet despite having no wheels or beasts of burden. The pilgrims who came to Göbekli Tepe lived in a world without writing, metal, or pottery; to those approaching the temple from below, its pillars must have loomed overhead like rigid giants, the animals on the stones shivering in the firelight—emissaries from a spiritual world that the human mind may have only begun to envision.

Archaeologists are still excavating Göbekli Tepe and debating its meaning. What they do know is that the site is the most significant in a volley of unexpected findings that have overturned earlier ideas about our species' deep past. Just 20 years ago most researchers believed they knew the time, place, and rough sequence of the Neolithic Revolution—the critical transition that resulted in the birth of agriculture, taking Homo sapiens from scattered groups of hunter-gatherers to farming villages and from there to technologically sophisticated societies with great temples and towers and kings and priests who directed the labor of their subjects and recorded their feats in written form. But in recent years multiple new discoveries, Göbekli Tepe preeminent among them, have begun forcing archaeologists to reconsider.

Via.

2. So did Urban Outfitters rip off an Etsy seller? Or was her design not remotely original?

3. And did Jack Kirby create all of the major Marvel characters? Or was it Stan Lee? Via.

Link roundup

1. Psychiatry today:

Like many of the nation’s 48,000 psychiatrists, Dr. Levin, in large part because of changes in how much insurance will pay, no longer provides talk therapy, the form of psychiatry popularized by Sigmund Freud that dominated the profession for decades. Instead, he prescribes medication, usually after a brief consultation with each patient.

Via.

2. Stanley Chow was told by Lions Gate not only to stop selling his Mad Men illustrations, but to remove them from the internet. Via.

3. Andy Warhol meets Bob's Big Boy by Dave MacDowell.

That Lucasfilm holiday card

As Jorren pointed out in the comments, James Hance has a painting of the same concept for sale.

That Lucasfilm holiday card

As Jorren pointed out in the comments, James Hance has a painting of the same concept for sale.

Link roundup

1. Yet another ad campaign ripping off an artist.

2. Chef Jamie Oliver's kids are named Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver, Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, and Petal. Via.

3. An Egyptian newspaper was caught photoshopping a picture of Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

*Buy legal guides for artists at Amazon.