Christopher Lantz

unfortunatesneeze:

Self-Positive Sailor Moon part 2

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Distractify has created a third compilation of very weird Japanese commercials. It features a well-dressed woman tossing off her jewelry and then smashing her head through 15 cement tiles, Bruce Willis punching himself in the head during a car commercial, and more. We previously wrote about Distractify’s first and second compilation videos of extremely strange Japanese commercials.

via Tastefully Offensive

“Hip-Hop Was To Blame After All” is the latest music video by British “chap hop” artist Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer. The song is from his newly released album Can’t Stop, Shan’t Stop.

image via Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer

Milk of the Poppy

Los Angeles graphic artist and web designer Fernando Reza (aka “Fro Reza“) has created a beautiful series of cabaret-style posters featuring “popular items” from Game of Thrones lore. Signed and numbered prints are available to purchase from Fernando’s online shop.

Wildfire

Valyrian Steel

images via Fro Design Co

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

This television drama series has been gaining a substantial following online, with fans creating several Tumblr blogs, a subreddit and spreading the hashtag “#TrueDetectiveSeason2.”

via http://hellovagina.tumblr.com/page/4

via http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard

via http://on-display.tumblr.com/

via http://beautifullymarlane.tumblr.com/post/10338341473

On CNN, Bruce Schneier lays out the current organizational structure of the NSA, dividing its activities in to three categories: spying on specific people; spying on everyone; and breaking the Internet to make spying easier. He then proposes a new structure for the American intelligence apparat: move spying on specific people to a totally separate US Cyber Command under the DoD ("attacking enemy networks is an offensive military operation, and should be part of an offensive military unit"); move spying on Americans to the FBI and create safeguards to be sure this is done in accord with the law and the Constitution; and terminate the NSA's program of undermining security.

Instead, put the NSA in charge of improving the security of Internet users -- including American residents, businesses and government agencies -- so that the nation is resilient. As Schneier writes: "We need the NSA's expertise to secure our social networks, business systems, computers, phones and critical infrastructure. Just recall the recent incidents of hacked accounts -- from Target to Kickstarter. What once seemed occasional now seems routine. Any NSA work to secure our networks and infrastructure can be done openly -- no secrecy required."

First, TAO and its targeted surveillance mission should be moved under the control of U.S. Cyber Command, and Cyber Command should be completely separated from the NSA. Actively attacking enemy networks is an offensive military operation, and should be part of an offensive military unit.

Whatever rules of engagement Cyber Command operates under should apply equally to active operations such as sabotaging the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in Iran and hacking a Belgian telephone company. If we're going to attack the infrastructure of a foreign nation, let it be a clear military operation.

Second, all surveillance of Americans should be moved to the FBI.

The FBI is charged with counterterrorism in the United States, and it needs to play that role. Any operations focused against U.S. citizens need to be subject to U.S. law, and the FBI is the best place to apply that law. That the NSA can, in the view of many, do an end-run around congressional oversight, legal due process and domestic laws is an affront to our Constitution and a danger to our society. The NSA's mission should be focused outside the United States -- for real, not just for show.

And third, the remainder of the NSA needs to be rebalanced so COMSEC (communications security) has priority over SIGINT (signals intelligence). Instead of working to deliberately weaken security for everyone, the NSA should work to improve security for everyone.

It's time to break up the NSA [Bruce Schneier/CNN]

Internet puppets Fafa the Groundhog, Mario, and Johnny T of Glove and Boots share their wisdom while explaining how we can fix some of the most common grammar errors seen on the internet.

You learned this in the third grade. Unless you’re in the second grade.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

For most kids in high school, the future promises better days. But for a certain group, there’s no time like the past.

Remember those super popular kids in high school who had the world at their feet with their charm, good looks, athletic ability and general confidence? Well they have a message for you, “It Doesn’t Get Better“. While this short film by storyteller Jason Headley is an irreverently funny parody of the wonderful anti-bullying project “It Gets Better, there’s probably a little bit of sad truth in the film as well.

via Digg

“Desert Breath” is a monumental piece of land art in the Eastern Sahara Desert in Egypt that takes the form of 2 spirals emanating from a circular depression 100 feet in diameter. The installation occupies over a million square feet of desert and can be viewed from the air. Artist Danae Stratou, designer and architect Alexandra Stratou, and architect Stella Constantinides created the project between 1995 and 1997. It has since been left to slowly disintegrate.

Located between the sea and a body of mountains at the point where the immensity of the sea meets the immensity of the desert, the work functions on two different levels in terms of viewpoint: from above as a visual image, and from the ground, walking the spiral pathway, a physical experience.

images via Synaptic Stimuli

via Synaptic Stimuli, Visual News

It seems that Internet trolls are giving a very bad name to the mythical trolls of lore. According to a new study conducted by the University of Manitoba Psychology Department, Internet trolls generally manifest signs of sadism, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, a group of personality disorders known as the “Dark Tetrad”. Laci Green from Discovery News explains the findings in more detail.

If you’ve spent any time on the Internet, you’ll know that there are some people who take pleasure in derailing meaningful conversation with hurtful or meaningless comments. What do these trolls do offline? Laci is here to discuss the psychology of trolls and some disturbing links to the Dark Tetrad.

Vocalist Miche Braden joined Scott Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox to perform an amazing rendition of the 1988 Guns N’Roses hit song “Sweet Child O’ Mine“, 1920s New Orleans style.

Our friend Miche Braden returned to help us show what Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” would have sounded like if New Orleans blues legend Bessie Smith had recorded it back in the ’20s. That note at 3:58 was so powerful that the room literally shook…

Previously we wrote about Puddles the Sad Clown and Postmodern Jukebox performing a 1970s piano ballad cover of ‘Royals’ by Lorde and Postmodern Jukebox Band performing an old time-y jazz cover of “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

via reddit

Last night on the debut episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the host Jimmy Fallon decided to call in a $100 bet made with a friend of his that said he’d never be the host of The Tonight Show. As it turns out, Fallon had a similar bet with a number of different friends, including but not limited to Robert De Niro, Kim Kardashian, Joan Rivers, and even Lady Gaga, and they all paid a visit to the set to cough up the dough.

“Everything Is Awesome” is a catchy new hit song from The LEGO Movie created by the indie rock duo Tegan & Sara and The Lonely Island comedy group. The LEGO Movie soundtrack is currently available to purchase online from iTunes and Amazon.

Star Wars

Istanbul-based artist Murat Palta has created a wonderful series of illustrations that reimagine classic movies like Star Wars and A Clockwork Orange as Ottoman miniatures, a traditional form of book illustration that traces back to the 16th century.

A Clockwork Orange

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Scarface

Alien

via Beautiful Decay

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