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“Humans May Taste Good, But Most Societies Are A Long Way From Cannibalism”

June 27, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

From “One Man’s Meat Is Another’s Person,” Raymond Sokolov’s 1974 Natural History article about cannibalism, a topic much in the news then because of the startling story from two years earlier about plane crash survivors in the Andes making desperately needed nutrients of dead passengers. The opening:

“HUMANS may taste good, but most societies are a long way from cannibalism. Of all the taboos in Western society, the prohibition against the eating of human flesh is the most widely obeyed. Thousands among us kill someone every year. Incest is not common, yet it occurs—and enriches the fantasy life of many an analysand. But cannibalism is an infraction of the social order that very few have risked.

Like all forbidden fruits, nevertheless, cannibalism fascinates us. Ever since Columbus first discovered it among the Caribs (who were called canibales, whence the name), it has inspired an entire literature of speculation and raised a dark question in the minds of people too civilized to feel anything but repulsion at the idea of bolting human steaks but unable to keep from wondering in untrammeled moments what they taste like.

Explorers, probably translating a Fijian phrase, reported that the stuff was known to its fanciers in the Pacific as ‘long pig.’ This never seemed more than a dubious description of the savor of our muscular Christian selves. The enigma basically remained until late 1972. Survivors of a Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes, who were cut off from the outside world for weeks, in desperation ate fellow passengers killed in the accident. After their rescue, the survivors told Piers Paul Read—who set down their story in the current best-seller Alive (Lippincott)—that after cooking the meat briefly (they tried it first raw), ‘the slight browning of the flesh gave it an immeasurably better flavor–softer than beef but with much the same taste.’

That is the kind of testimony one can believe, especially from Uruguayans, who know their beef. It is also good news that humans taste good: alternatives to soyburgers are always welcome, and we can at last exonerate cannibal societies of the charge of unrefined savagery. Instead, they were gastronomes.”

••••••••••

“16 men survived for 72 days by doing the unthinkable”:

Tags: Piers Paul Read, Raymond Sokolov'

A Brief Note From 1892 About A Sleeping Man

June 27, 2012 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

From the January 19, 1892 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Wilksbarre, Pa.–At the Retreat Poor House, near this city, is a Polander named John Mica, who has been sleeping for thirteen months and shows no signs of waking up. He was taken there from Wilkesbarre City Hospital about fourteen months ago. The sleeper opens his eyes occasionally to take a little nourishment, but immediately drops his head under the covers and falls into a comatose condition. The case has not been explained.”

Tags: John Mica

“I Think This Might Become The Most Spectacular Event Ever”

June 26, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Dutch company Mars One plans a reality TV show about humans living on our neighboring planet in 2023, conflating technological prowess and narcissism, two hallmarks of contemporary Western culture. It doesn’t appear to be an elaborate prank as insane as it sounds.

“Where Is The Digital Paper I Dreamed About As A Kid?”

June 26, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Video-game designer Ste Pickford wonders why he still sketches on a pad with pen and pencil in this Digital Age. From his blog post:

“I’m no luddite. I’ve been happily working as a designer on computers for over 25 years, and I’m comfortable making graphics and building finished work on a computer. I can happily draw and paint with the Wacom pad (and even with a mouse if I have to), and I have no problems staring at the screen for hours on end, but I still revert back to pen and paper when I want to work out something new.

Why is this?

Is it because, despite my extensive computer experience, I started drawing before the computer age? I had never seen a computer before the age of 10, and probably not touched a mouse until I was about 17, but I had a pencil in my hand from the age of about 2 or 3. Perhaps the younger generation of designers, who’ve used computers since they were born, will be able to go completely digital and never need paper at all?

Or, more likely, is it that there still isn’t a software / hardware combination that offers the flexibility and ease-of-use of pen and paper, when you have unformed ideas that you need to explore?

Where is the digital paper I dreamed about as a kid?”

•••••••••

Spiromania, 1973:

Tags: Ste Pickford

“We’d Like To Find A Way To Bypass His Body, Pretty Much Hack His Brain”

June 26, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

As Stephen Hawking’s motor skills further deteriorate, plans are afoot to tap directly into his head with cutting edge technology. From the Telegraph:

“Hawking, 70, has been working with scientists at Standford University who are developing a the iBrain – a tool which picks up brain waves and communicates them via a computer.

The scientist, who has motor neurone disease and lost the power of speech nearly 30 years ago, currently uses a computer to communicate but is losing the ability as the condition worsens.

But he has been working with Philip Low, a professor at Stanford and inventor of the iBrain, a brain scanner that measures electrical activity.

‘We’d like to find a way to bypass his body, pretty much hack his brain,’ said Prof Low.

Researchers will unveil their latest results at a conference in Cambridge next month, and may demonstrate the technology on Hawking.”

Tags: Philip Low, Stephen Hawking

“Now, A Stiff…They’re The Nicest Kind Of Subject’

June 26, 2012 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

I was recently reading an Art in America article by that excellent Luc Sante about the tabloid photographer Weegee, which reminded me of a 1946 Life piece about the shutterbug. From “Weegee Shows How to Photograph a Corpse“:

“As part of a six-week photography seminar at Chicago’s Institute of Design, the stubby, untidy, cigar-chewing Manhattan photographer who calls himself Weegee and who is famous for his pictures of mayhem and murder recently enlivened his course in spot-news photography by showing students how to photograph a corpse. After one of his lectures (‘Now, a stiff…they’re the nicest kind of subject. They don’t try to cover up…I always try to make ’em look nice and comfortable’), Weegee procured a dummy and a plastic $1 revolver, cheerfully set out on a field trip to demonstrate the technique.

In Lincoln Park, Weegee sprawled the pasty-faced tuxedoed dummy on a sidewalk, advised, ‘That’s the way they are, unless it’s a dumbed-up job.’ Yhen he circled the body, disarranged its clothes, hoisted his 8-year-old Speed Graphic and squeezed off a picture.

Up to a year ago, Weegge (real name: Arthur Felig) was New York City’s most remarkable police-beat photographer. From a $17-a-month room littered with a police radio, cigar boxes full of negatives, cardboard cartons containing flash bulbs and shoes, and a dingy double bed in which he usually slept with his clothes on. Weegee roared off nightly in a rickety 1938 Chevrolet to cover fires, accidents and violent deaths. A bachelor, he worked from midnight to 7a.m., detested telephones, kept his savings in the back of his car and managed to get the laundry done once a month. Now all that is changed. His increasing fame has led him to buy a tuxedo, to publish a book (The Naked City, Essential Books, $4), to take up free-lancing for publications like Vogue and to announce that he would never again ‘photograph anybody laying on the ground, waiting for a hearse, with blood all around them.’ Today Weegee photographs society and cover girls (‘The body beautiful…alive, I mean.’), claims he meets a better class of people and even sleeps in pajamas ‘except when I’m very tired.'”

Tags: Arthur Felig, Luc Sante, Weegee

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

June 26, 2012 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

“You can catch fish, hunt wild pig and goat.”

employment (all NJ)

forget working, working is for poor people. be a vagabond, jump on a freight train, and get out of dodge., leave jersey, be a hobo type of individual, think like a child, dream of far away places, get a job on a tramp steamer heading for the south seas, stop at tropical islands, explore: hunt for treasure, you just need enough money for food and shelter. live in the south seas, food is free, weaather beautiful, guys and gals gorgeous, you can catch fish, hunt wild pig and goat, fruit is free plenty of island to roam and settle down. anyone can do this.

“Today We Have, Relatively Speaking, A Classy Afternoon”

June 25, 2012 in Politics, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

What does it mean that Al Goldstein and Larry Flynt were once, not too long ago, considered the filthiest, most disgraceful people in the nation and now even the most obscene thing they were selling can easily be viewed on a computer screen in any home (and on most phones) at every single moment? Were they ahead of their time? Were they the McLuhans of filth? I’m not even talking about a battle over civil rights but one about human nature. It seems now like they were merely announcing the future, and one that has been overwhelmingly accepted and approved by the country that was so outraged by them.

A relatively modest moment for Goldstein was this interview he did with mental minstrel Tiny Tim roughly 30 years ago. The language is very NSFW unless your work involves a gloryhole.

Tags: Al Goldstein, Larry Flynt, Tiny Tim

“I Have My Husband, My Children And My Lover”

June 25, 2012 in Excerpts, Sports, Urban Studies | Permalink

Claudine Longet had it all, for a while.

That ended when the chanteuse murdered skier and free spirit “Spider’ Sabich with a gunshot blast. An excerpt from an April 5, 1976 People article about the infamous incident:

‘What more could a woman want?’ singer-actress Claudine Longet once boasted to a friend. ‘I have my husband, my children and my lover.’ The husband was singer Andy Williams; the lover, ruggedly handsome Vladimir (‘Spider’) Sabich, 31, one of the most daring racers on the international pro ski circuit. In 1975, after a separation of nearly five years, Longet, 35, was granted a divorce from Williams. Then last week, in the rustically elegant stone-and-log house near Aspen, Colo. that Claudine and her three children shared with Sabich, the skier was shot and killed with a .22-caliber pistol.

Claudine, who had been seen with friends earlier in the day at a local pub known as the Center, told police Sabich had been showing her how to handle the gun when it accidentally discharged. She is scheduled to appear in court April 8 to learn if she will be formally accused. Although friends accept Longet’s account of the tragedy, they describe her four-year liaison with Sabich as turbulent. “They have had violent fights in public, screaming at each other,” said one. And it was widely reported in Starwood, an exclusive residential enclave where many of Aspen’s beautiful people dwell, that Sabich had told Claudine to move out of his $250,000 house by April 1. He still loved her, friends say, but felt confined by the constant presence of Longet and the children.•

Tags: Claudine Longet, Spider Sabich, Vladimir Sabich

Old Print Article: “Buckskin Joe–A Border Sketch,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1871)

June 25, 2012 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

“Sheriff Burns returned to this city, bringing with him Buckskin’s left foot, on which one of the toes was known to be malformed.”

A story of frontier justice was published in the July 28, 1871 Brooklyn Daily Eagle. An excerpt:

“The Los Angeles Star gives this subjoined account of the killing of noted desperado and murderer, Buckskin Joe:

‘Yesterday morning Sheriff Burns returned to this city, bringing with him Buckskin’s left foot, on which one of the toes was known to be malformed, and twisted above the others in such a manner as to enable the foot to be readily identified; his rifle, an old-fashioned muzzle-loader, with which he was wont to do deadly execution on bear, deer, and sometimes men; his buckskin cap and purse, and an old almanac, found on his body, and used by him as a memorandum book.

During the first part of the month the Sheriff received a letter from the San Rafael mines, Lower California, arriving at San Rafael on the 14th. Upon receipt of the warrants, the Governor, Don Manuel C. Roja, dispatched Justo Chavis, his chief executive officer, with a party of five men to make the arrest. After eight days of searching, during which no trace of any party, except Buckskin could be found, the camp of the gentleman was discovered by Indians at a spring situated about a mile from the tops of the Sierra Madre range, on the side of the mountain nearest Colorado desert. When first seen by Mexican officers, Buckskin, alone, was leaving his camp. Making a cut-off, the party soon overtook him on the mountain ridge, and surrounded him, Justo Chavis in front, who summoned him to surrender. At the same time Quirrino Endelacio, who was in the rear, rode his horse against him. Buckskin dropped his own rifle, and seizing Quirrino’s Spencer, attempted to wrest it from him. In the struggle, the gun went off accidentally while Buckskin had hold of the muzzle, the ball passing through his hand, entering his left side below the heart, and breaking his backbone. He fell immediately, and died about two hours after making a lengthy confessions of the murder with which he was charged.”

Tags: Buckskin Joe, Don Manuel C. Roja, Justo Chavis, Quirrino Endelacio, Sheriff Burns

“The Issues Of Freedom And Control Are Among The Most Misunderstood Of Your Work”

June 25, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Long-form interview with B.F. Skinner about the nature of education.

Tags: B.F. Skinner

“The Underground Is The Next Great Frontier”

June 25, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Subterreanan suburbs fit for a post-apocalyptic prince aren’t the only new plans for the space beneath our streets. From “Our Underground Future,” Leon Neyfakh’s new Boston Globe think-piece:

“A cadre of engineers who specialize in tunneling and excavation say that we have barely begun to take advantage of the underground’s versatility. The underground is the next great frontier, they say, and figuring out how best to use it should be a priority as we look ahead to the shape our civilization will take.

‘We have so much room underground,’ said Sam Ariaratnam, a professor at Arizona State University and the chairman of the International Society for Trenchless Technology. ‘That underground real estate—people need to start looking at it. And they are starting to look at it.’

The federal government has taken an interest, convening a panel of specialists under the banner of the National Academy of Engineering to produce a report, due out later this year, on the potential uses for America’s underground space, and in particular its importance in building sustainable cities. The long-term vision is one in which the surface of the earth is reserved for the things we want to see and be around—houses, schools, yards, parks—while all the other facilities that are needed to make a city run, from water treatment plants to data banks to freight systems, hum away underground.

Though the basic idea has existed for decades, new engineering techniques and an increasing interest in sustainable urban growth have created fresh momentum for what once seemed like a notion out of Jules Verne.” (Thanks Browser.)

Tags: Leon Neyfakh

“What Have You Written Besides Notes To The Milkman?”

June 25, 2012 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Groucho, seemingly oblivious, sasses Ray Bradbury on You Bet Your Life, 1955.

Tags: Groucho Marx, Ray Bradbury

A Brief Message From The Afflictor Editor

June 25, 2012 in Misc. | Permalink

Afflictor is going to be down for a couple hours one early morning this week while the server is upgraded. During that time, you’ll have to go elsewhere for articles about robots, neuroscientists and revolting people from the 1880s.

“Forget About The Shoes. You’ve Just Got To Save The Child.”

June 25, 2012 in Politics, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

From Astra Taylor’s Examined Life, a section in which moral philosopher Peter Singer questions how we spend our money in a world of unevenly distributed plenty. Though I wonder if the free market isn’t part of the solution.

Tags: Peter Singer

“We May Even Have Phones That Constantly Listen In On Our Conversations”

June 25, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

At MIT’s Technology Review, Patti Maes, who researches human-computer interaction, answers questions about the future of smartphones. I think she’s a little aggressive in the timeline of her prediction, but she could be right and I could be wrong. An excerpt:

“What will smart phones be like five years from now?

Phones may know not just where you are but that you are in a conversation, and who you are talking to, and they may make certain information and documents available based on what conversation you’re having. Or they may silence themselves, knowing that you’re in an interview.

They may get some information from sensors and some from databases about your calendar, your habits, your preferences, and which people are important to you.

Once the phone is more aware of the user’s current situation, and the user’s context and preferences and all that, then it can do a lot more. It can change the way it operates based on the current context.

Ultimately, we may even have phones that constantly listen in on our conversations and are just always ready with information and data that might be relevant to whatever conversation we’re having.”

Tags: Patti Maes

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

June 25, 2012 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

u$ed rubbers (5 boros)

must be from str8 contact

cash paid

“Near The Airport In Los Angeles, A Strange Ritual Takes Place Every Morning”

June 24, 2012 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

As the Information Age began to supplant the Industrial Age in America, a market developed to provide physical fitness for a new generation of desk-bound commuters. From 1975.

“We Were Given A Vision Of Cathartic Future”

June 24, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

A Japanese design engineering firm was tasked with creating a water bottle that would be effective in a post-apoclyptic landscape. Realizing that such environs would presuppose water scarcity, Takram took things several steps further, creating an alternative human organ system that would allow us to survive on a drastically reduced water intake. It may the future. You go first. An excerpt from the proposal:

“We were given a vision of cathartic future. A world in which humanity experiences a cataclysmic sequence of events that will bring us to the brink of annihilation. Afflicted by manmade causes, the rising sea level, radioactive emissions and release of hazardous materials into the environment, art and culture cease to exist. This provides an opportunity, not lament, to re-evaluate what constitutes art, design, culture and the quality of life itself when all prejudices and preconceptions vanish.

With this premise, Takram was tasked to design a water bottle. After a period of thorough research and analysis, Takram reached an uncanny solution. Our conclusion was that it would make more sense, in fact, to regulate how much water the human body can retain and recycle in this dire environment. This revelation resulted in the Hydrolemic system, a set of artificial organs.”

“The Moore’s Law Of Drone Technology Is Currently Accelerating”

June 24, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

What technology has exploded (in a couple of senses) more in the last decade than drones? In the new Wired article, “How I Accidentally Kickstarted the Domestic Drone Boom,” Chris Anderson looks at what this brave new world of autonomous aircraft means. An excerpt:

“Look up into America’s skies today and you might just see one of these drones: small, fully autonomous, and dirt-cheap. On any given weekend, someone’s probably flying a real-life drone not far from your own personal airspace. (They’re the ones looking at their laptops instead of their planes.) These personal drones can do everything that military drones can, aside from blow up stuff. Although they technically aren’t supposed to be used commercially in the US (they also must stay below 400 feet, within visual line of sight, and away from populated areas and airports), the FAA is planning to officially allow commercial use starting in 2015.

What are all these amateurs doing with their drones? Like the early personal computers, the main use at this point is experimentation—simple, geeky fun. But as personal drones become more sophisticated and reliable, practical applications are emerging. The film industry is already full of remotely piloted copters serving as camera platforms, with a longer reach than booms as well as cheaper and safer operations than manned helicopters. Some farmers now use drones for crop management, creating aerial maps to optimize water and fertilizer distribution. And there are countless scientific uses for drones, from watching algal blooms in the ocean to low-altitude measurement of the solar reflectivity of the Amazon rain forest. Others are using the craft for wildlife management, tracking endangered species and quietly mapping out nesting areas that are in need of protection.

To give a sense of the scale of the personal drone movement, DIY Drones—an online community that I founded in 2007 (more on that later)—has 26,000 members, who fly drones that they either assemble themselves or buy premade from dozens of companies that serve the amateur market. All told, there are probably around 1,000 new personal drones that take to the sky every month (3D Robotics, a company I cofounded, is shipping more than 100 ArduPilot Megas a week); that figure rivals the drone sales of the world’s top aerospace companies (in units, of course, not dollars). And the personal drone industry is growing much faster.

Why? The reason is the same as with every other digital technology: a Moore’s-law-style pace where performance regularly doubles while size and price plummet. In fact, the Moore’s law of drone technology is currently accelerating, thanks to the smartphone industry, which relies on the same components—sensors, optics, batteries, and embedded processors—all of them growing smaller and faster each year. Just as the 1970s saw the birth and rise of the personal computer, this decade will see the ascendance of the personal drone. We’re entering the Drone Age.”

Tags: Chris Anderson

A Brief Note From 1890 About Horse Bologna

June 24, 2012 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

From the January 10, 1890 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Bossi’s bologna factory, at Newtown, is doing a rushing business. Now steam sausage cutters and appliances for drying the beef have been added to the establishment. This week twelve horses have been converted into dried beef and bologna.”