Link roundup

1. First wine, now violins:

In a double-blind test by professional violinists, most couldn't determine — by sound alone — which violin was an original Stradivarius and which was a modern instrument.

2. Topless Robot on Cartoon Network:

Bandai Japan demanded that Bandai Entertainment get the original '70s Mobile Suit Gundam series on Cartoon Network, despite the fact it was 20 years old, looked 20 years old, and was waaaaaaaay too boring for young American audiences. Cartoon Network, not being insane, refused. Bandai Japan then paid CN to run the original Gundam anime, thus *%$#ing up the Toonami block for years -- because once CN got paid to run an anime, the CN executives weren't going to run any anime without getting a check for it first. If you've ever wondered why an anime that would seemingly have been perfect for Toonami never [aired], chances are it's because the licensor couldn't afford CN's asking price.

3. Tyler Cowen on a book about WWI:

My favorite section details how the British responded when it turned out they had a drastic shortage of binoculars, which at that time were very important for fighting the war. They turned to the world’s leading manufacturer of “precision optics,” namely Germany. The German War Office immediately supplied 8,000 to 10,000 binoculars to Britain, directly intended and designed for military use.

Don't worry, the British sold vital supplies to the Germans...

Link roundup

1. Kotaku's review of the dark side choices in Star Wars: The Old Republic:

I cannot remember a single video game experience that has made me feel quite as dirty and evil

2. You might as well make peace with your body type, because absent drugs, dieting doesn't really work.

3. Why WW2-era fighter planes used pink camouflage.

Link roundup

1. Ever wonder why Animal Planet isn't just puppy cams 24-7? Animal Planet President Marjorie Kaplan:

We did a lot of research and we were saying, "Why is this channel that's been around for 10 years--and everybody says they love--not watched?" We found out it wasn't delivering on what viewers wanted from animal content. The reason they watch television isn't because of the animal content; people watch television because they want to see people. Seeing people in the context of animals gives you great storytelling, but it's different than saying, "Come and watch us because you have a pet." So the idea is how do you get out of your air-conditioned life and experience something that's a little more raw and real. That's the understanding that grew out of River Monsters, and that then leads to Hillbilly Handfishin'.

2. Defusing unexploded WW2 bombs in Europe:

The Allies dropped a mountain of bombs on Berlin. About 465,000 tons of explosives hit the ground, and about one in eight bombs did not explode.

Ralf Kirschnick says that the reason for the high proportion of unexploded ordinance is that the British and Americans tested their bombs in a part of Scotland with particularly hard ground.


Three bomb disposal experts died in Gottingen last year
When they tried them out on the softer earth of Berlin, they sank into the ground - until today's property developers came along.

Via.

3. Ben Templesmith is looking for commissions.

Food Will Win This War - - WW2 propaganda from Disney

Five-minute-long animated propaganda film by Disney showing that the Axis is no match for the USA's potatoes, tomatoes . . . bowling balls . . . and fat Americans. Via.

*Buy Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. From an article at Grantland about WWE wrestlers not having union protection:

Jesse Ventura tried to organize a union in the 1980s6 but, according to the New York Times, "found it hard to find wrestlers willing to join him." When he later sued the WWF to reclaim royalties he thought were owed him (Ventura eventually won a more than $800,000 judgment), it was revealed in the proceedings that Hulk Hogan ratted out his union scheme to Vince McMahon. It's hard to imagine a more blatant example of a top star protecting his status by sabotaging collective action.

2. Two interesting articles by Walter Russell Mead: politics in Thailand (which has an Office of Prevention and Suppression of Information Technology Crimes); China's trouble in Burma.

3. NPR:

It's 1940. The Nazis have taken Copenhagen. They are literally marching through the streets, and physicist Niels Bohr has just hours, maybe minutes, to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear.

These medals are made of 23-karat gold. They are heavy to handle, and being shiny and inscribed, they are noticeable. The Nazis have declared no gold shall leave Germany, but two Nobel laureates, one of Jewish descent, the other an opponent of the National Socialists, have quietly sent their medals to Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics, for protection. Their act is probably a capital offense — if the Gestapo can find the evidence.

Read on. Via.

4. And speaking of science, "Daniel Shechtman, who has won the chemistry Nobel for discovering quasicrystals, was initially lambasted for 'bringing disgrace' on his research group." "He recalled how Linus Pauling, a colossus of science and a double Nobel laureate, mounted a frightening 'crusade; against him."

Link roundup

1. How to remove yourself from various background check sites.

2. Good article about the history of DDT. For example:

The German army purposely triggered malaria epidemics, such as in Italy in 1944. Drainage pumps on the Roman marshes ordinarily pumped excess water out to sea, desiccating the land enough to make it malaria-free and thus habitable for thriving cities and towns. By stilling the pumps, the Germans could have flooded the region and effectively impeded the Allies' progress. But German malariologist Erich Martini had studied the habits of the local malaria vector, Anopheles labranchiae, in depth, and he knew that inundating the region with the Mediterranean's salty waters would allow A. labranchiae, which can thrive in brackish water, to flourish. And so rather than simply stopping the pumps, they reversed them, salinating some ninety-eight thousand acres. Then they confiscated local stockpiles of antimalarial drugs. As the German soldiers departed, they left behind "clever sketches," The New York Times reported in 1944, "of the plague of mosquitoes that would follow the flooding of the farmlands." More than 100,000 of the 245,000 locals sickened with malaria.

3. Today's economic news (aside from the stock market's freefall, and the continuing slow motion collapse of the Euro) was about protests in Israel. This was the most interesting analysis. (Hint, their economic problems don't really look anything like the USA's.)

Image roundup (and one video)

Innocent juice packaging.



Raccoons.



Broomstick.



Vanity plate.



Chinese soldiers form a flood crossing.



Gripping short film about a boy trying to survive in World War II.

Interactive table tells the stories of families killed in the Holocaust

"World That Was" table designed by Potion for the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. Hundreds of photographs swim on the table until chosen by visitors. The table then displays the story of the people in the photos. Via.

Bat Bombs

Here's a ten minute video about America's experiment with bat bombs in World War II. Wikipedia explains:

Bat bombs were bomb-shaped casings with numerous compartments, each containing a Mexican Free-tailed Bat with a small timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats which would then roost in eaves and attics. The incendiaries would start fires in inaccessible places in the largely wood and paper construction of the Japanese cities that were the weapon's intended target.

Developed by the United States during World War II, four biological factors gave promise to this plan. First, bats occur in large numbers (four caves in Texas are each occupied by several million bats). Second, bats can carry more than their own weight in flight (females carry their young—sometimes twins). Third, bats hibernate, and while dormant they do not require food or maintenance. Fourth, bats fly in darkness, then find secluded places (often in buildings) to hide during daylight.

The plan was to release bat bombs over Japanese cities having widely-dispersed industrial targets. The bats would spread far from the point of release due to the relatively high altitude of their release, then at dawn they would hide in buildings across the city. Shortly thereafter built-in timers would ignite the bombs, causing widespread fires and chaos. The bat bomb idea was conceived by dental surgeon Lytle S. Adams, who submitted it to the White House in January, 1942, where it was subsequently approved by President Roosevelt. Adams was recruited to research and obtain a suitable supply of bats.

Much more here.

UPDATE: Coincidentally, I just saw this:



Roger Dean's album art for "Nitro Function" by Billy Cox. Via these sites.

*Buy propaganda posters at eBay.

Disney's World War II mascots

This site features a few dozen of Disney's World War II mascots. I used some of them to create the widescreen wallpaper you see above. Via.

*Buy World War II : The Disney Patches at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. I love when artists sketch their roleplaying characters.

2. Serious Eats gave McDonald's new oatmeal a terrible review.

3. Collection of old Mickey Mouse versus the Nazis comic strips.

*Buy Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. I love when artists sketch their roleplaying characters.

2. Serious Eats gave McDonald's new oatmeal a terrible review.

3. Collection of old Mickey Mouse versus the Nazis comic strips.

*Buy Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel at Amazon.

Anatomy of a goldfish cracker (link roundup)

Anatomy of a Goldfish Cracker by Jason Freeny, who has art on sale here.

And a few more links:

1. "Viva la Resolution."

2. Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter now has a website complete with virtual flying tour. Via.

3. "New evidence supports that dwarf dinosaurs once existed on a Transylvania island."

4. New article by Malcolm Gladwell about spies. Not as sharp as his usual work, but the book about WW2 spies that's the focus of his article sounds great - - it's called Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory. Relatedly, you can buy tickets to hear Gladwell speak on a mystery topic.

*Previously: Harry Potter ends, Sporanos style.

*Buy anatomy models at eBay.

Retro futuristic items (link roundup)

Hi-tech phonograph and armband radio from this Worth 1000 contest.

And a few more links:

1. Dead bees were quarantined in Australia and under examination, began to move. They contained real-life chestbursters.

2. British soldier Denis Avey smuggled himself into Auschwitz so that he could report on what was going on inside. Via.

3. Klingon Bird of Prey cake by Celebration Generation. See also: Wedding cake based on the movie Tremors. Via.

*Previously: Star Trek recruitment poster.

*Buy Alien toys at eBay.

Rocky Balboa was a G.I. Joe character (link roundup)

Rocky Balboa was (very briefly) a G.I. Joe character.

And a few more links:

1. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons costumes circa 1983. Via.

2. World War 2-era Japanese subs found (sunk) near Oahu. Via.

3. Zombie in a bag figurine.

*Previously: Homemade Snake-Eyes mask.

*Buy submarine toys at eBay.

When Mickey Mouse invaded Japan

Circa 1936 or so, a cartoon propaganda film featuring Mickey Mouse invading Japan with an army of machine gun-tongued snakes, only to be defeated by samurai. Felix the Cat also makes a cameo.















New to me, but you can read all about in the comments here. Via these sites.

*Previously: "Crush the Germans with your mind" propaganda poster.

*Buy World War II : The Disney Patches at Amazon.

When Mickey Mouse invaded Japan

Circa 1936 or so, a cartoon propaganda film featuring Mickey Mouse invading Japan with an army of machine gun-tongued snakes, only to be defeated by samurai. Felix the Cat also makes a cameo.















New to me, but you can read all about in the comments here. Via these sites.

*Previously: "Crush the Germans with your mind" propaganda poster.

*Buy World War II : The Disney Patches at Amazon.