Adam Victor Brandizzi

Winter makes people desperate. Being surrounded by snow for months saps the fun out of the world. Walking on a frozen ice lake is not comforting. But screw it all. Because people need to be, well, people, crazy folks that were sick of winter this year decided to chainsaw up a frozen lake and make a moving carousel on ice. It looks like so much fun!

Read more...

shubbabang:

I FORCED LIFE BACK INTO A FIVE YEAR OLD LAPTOP AFTER IT WOULDN’T TURN ON FOR LIKE 2 WEEKS AND I’VE NEVER FELT SO POWERFUL

theycantalk:

Cone Problems

by Mr. Lovenstein (bonus rollover panel)

Os leitores que hoje se regozijam com o erro da revista Veja sobre as falsas contas bancárias atribuídas pela publicação da editora Abril ao senador Romário (PSB-RJ), na Suíça, onde haveria R$ 7,5 milhões não declarados pelo ex-atleta à Receita Federal, são em boa parte os mesmos que há 6 meses dedicavam o melhor do seu tempo a atacar a apuração cautelosa que o jornalista Fernando Rodrigues (UOL) fazia de um caso semelhante, o Swissleaks, que reunia mais de 8 mil contas bancárias brasileiras suspeitas no HSBC de Genebra – entre as quais, movimentações atribuídas a Cláudia Raia, Jô Soares, Márcio Fortes e outras figuras tão diversas, famosas e influentes quanto o baixinho. Os dois casos ocupam extremos opostos de um mesmo assunto: critérios de apuração jornalística e de publicação de dados de contas não declaradas por figuras públicas brasileiras em bancos estrangeiros.

Na matéria da revista Veja, os jornalistas Thiago Prado e Leslie Leitão, de posse de um documento falso, disseram que “a conta não declarada na Suíça passa a ocupar o topo da lista de enroscos financeiros de Romário em tempos recentes”. A publicação chamou o senador de “mau pagador” e construiu um texto adjetivado para descascar o ex-jogador. Em defesa da revista se pode dizer que constava na matéria uma frase do baixinho negando tudo: “Até agradeço por me informarem. Se for dinheiro meu, vou buscar”, ironizou a fonte que, com o dito, figurou de fanfarrão num texto construído para lhe vexar. De acordo com Leslie e Prado, o documento que provaria a fraude estava “nas mãos do Ministério Público Federal”. A fonte oficial (ou alguém dentro dela) conferiam o esteio necessário, sob o ponto de vista dos jornalistas, para cravar o título: “Romário tem conta milionária na Suíça”. Não tinha.

O documento era falso, a fonte que vazou o papel era fraca e agora tanto o senador quanto o banco suíço BSI, com sede em Lugano, tocam em frente um processo milionário contra a revista, os jornalistas e quem mais pintar pela frente.

O caso encarna o pesadelo jornalístico perfeito. É o equivalente a um erro médico. Pessoalmente, o horror desses fracassos me fascina tanto que há dois anos coordeno por iniciativa própria uma mesa sobre erros jornalísticos no congresso anual da Abraji (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo), da qual, este ano, participaram os colegas William Waack (Globo), Roberto Lameirinhas (Estadão) e Bruno Manso (Ponte).

Swissleaks

Se a apuração da história de uma única conta bancária na Suíça provocou esse enrosco, o que dizer da apuração da existência de mais de 8 mil contas brasileiras, num total que supera os R$ 20 bilhões? Essa era a trolha nas mãos do jornalista Fernando Rodrigues no caso Swissleaks.

Não cabe recuperar aqui o caso todo, mas é curioso ver a diferença nos métodos de apuração. A relutância de Rodrigues em publicar a lista completa dos nomes, sem antes fazer a correta apuração, valeu-lhe uma onda de ataques violentos. Diziam, no mínimo, que Rodrigues protegia o (agora ex-) patrão, já que os donos da Folha apareciam entre os nomes.

A torcida dos leitores influencia o jornalismo. Lidar com isso é parte da profissão. Meu ex-chefe de Estadão, Lameirinhas, bem lembrou em post pessoal no Facebook essa semana, sobre o caso Romário: “com o tempo, uma imprensa cínica, mercenária, demagógica e corrupta formará um público tão vil como ela mesma”. A profecia é de Joseph Pulitzer.

A história toda ainda não acabou. Tudo é possível. Mas com o processo movido por Romário já se pode medir o valor da precaução em reais. E da credibilidade também.

Spanish illustrator Juan Carlos aka Jotaka created this fantastic series of paper family portraits by rendering his bendy illustrated characters in cut paper. Titled La siesta, he describes the images as “a personal project about hugs, the importance and the ideal time to receive them.” Some of these are available as prints in his shop, and he regularly updates a blog here. (via Behance)

(Fact Source)

Follow Ultrafacts for more facts

Kowloon Walled City was a crazy social experiment, except there were no scientists in charge; the test subjects were.

On the site of a dismantled Chinese fortress in Hong Kong, refugee squatters began building makeshift homes in the 1940s. What started out as 2,000 refugees in huts gradually grew into 50,000 people crammed into ramshackle, unregulated skyscrapers leaning on each other for support. (It's reported that no architects or engineers were involved in building the structures, which went up to 14 stories, but were somehow erected by the community that lived there.) And amazingly, it all formed a cohesive—and largely contiguous—structure, resembling a castle or fortress.

KWC had water and electricity siphoned from wells and the rest of the city, but was an unregulated mess of ad-hoc infrastructure largely unsupported by government. Police were afraid to venture inside (though unbelievably, postman were reportedly forced to deliver mail there!). It was filled with criminals, drug dealers and prostitutes, as well as honest families, schoolchildren and one-man manufacturing shops. The following illustration shows what a slice of it might look like:

Larger version of this image is viewable here

Tiny, cramped spaces did double duty, with units that were classrooms during the day transformed into strip clubs at night. There were restaurants and gambling dens, hair salons and convenience stores, unlicensed doctors and dentists. So close were the buildings that sunlight was hard to come by on street level; thus fluorescents were hung outdoors at ground level for illumination. Rooftops, meanwhile, became social spaces.

The government finally shut it down in the 1990s and razed it. But in the years during and since, Kowloon Walled City has captured the imaginations of everyone from architects to sci-fi authors to set designers to artists.

Image by Greg Girard

Image by Greg Girard

Speaking of artists, photographer Greg Girard, who documented KWC in the 1980s, probably has the best photo essay on it (shot both inside and outside) right here. We also wanted to show you the fantastic KWC-inspired work done by a handful of illustrators:

Image by Keith Perelli

Image by Stefan Morrell

Image by Stefan Morrell

Image by Stefan Morrell

Image by Andrew Suryadi

Image by Nivanh Chanthara

Image by Nivanh Chanthara

Image by Nivanh Chanthara

Image by Nivanh Chanthara

Nice whittling.

image | twitter | facebook

tbt

Japanese fast food chain Mos Burger has built a reputation over the years for its healthy burger options. For those with an aversion to traditional wheat-based buns, Mos Burger offers versions made with grilled rice patties. And if you’re counting calories, they’ll simply wrap your filling in lettuce.

Now there’s an even more impressive option for health-conscious customers: a burger stuffed between two halves of a giant tomato. Available after 2:00pm from only one outlet in Japan, we stopped by to check out the rare red burger, taking lots of delicious photos for you along the way!

Limited sales of the tomato-bun burger can only be found at the Think Park Plaza store in Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo.

We’ve come for the Toma-mi Burger, which combines the word ‘tomato’ with the character 実 (mi, meaning fruit, seed or nut). Although it’s technically a fruit, the humble tomato was classified as a vegetable for culinary purposes after a U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in 1893. The more you know!

Mos Burger has always made a point of using thick slices of locally-grown tomatoes in their products. Now it’s the star of the show, as the piece that holds it all together – literally.

The unusual burger is only available as part of a set, which includes a glass filled with more tomatoes instead of a serving of fries, for 880 yen (US$7.12). Seeing as the meal is designed to help customers get over the summer heat, we decide to really put it to the test by sitting outside under the hot Japanese sun.

The Caprese salad contains classic ingredients: fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese and an olive oil and balsamic dressing. The flavours were fantastic and the cool tomato pieces refreshing. We loved the fact that it was served in a glass with a small silver fork!

The red roundness of the tomato ‘bun’ had been enticing us from the minute we set eyes on it.

Looking inside, we found a massive tomato, at least the size of a regular Mos bun, cut in half and filled with a classic patty, onion, lettuce combination. The patty wasn’t piping hot, which meant it went well with the cold tomato casing, and the whole thing was surprisingly easy to bite into as the skin on the vegetable was nice and firm. This was one good-quality tomato!

The initial bite was an odd experience because we were waiting for the usual chewiness of the bread bun. Instead, we really noticed the crunch of the lettuce, but the flavour of the tomato really sang as the hero of the dish. When we looked closely, we could see the hole where the core had been carefully removed.

This is definitely an impressive summer burger. It left a clean feeling in the mouth and we actually felt healthy after eating it! There was no strong meat flavour and despite the huge amount of sauce, which meant we couldn’t remove the beast from its package for fear of major spillage, it didn’t overpower the other ingredients or make them soggy.

So, do we recommend the Toma-mi Burger? A resounding yes. We’d order another one in a heartbeat!

But would we eat it outside again in the humidity of a Japanese summer?

Now that’s the question that’s hard to answer!

Source and Featured Image: Mos Burger
Photos © RocketNews24

Origin: Japanese burger chain Mos Burger replaces its buns with two halves of a giant tomato
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Related Stories

• We try the new Tokyo Tower Burger from Mos Burger
• New MOS Burgers are 100% Beef, Still 0% Moss
• Japan’s Mos burger releases inaugural tower burger to celebrate new Tokyo Tower outlet opening
• McDonald’s to get fresh at breakfast time, the little scoundrel
• We try the $10 Quarter Pounder that’s only available in Japan on July 6