July 13, 2011
Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one’s skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of confidence trick. It is most commonly associated with pool, but also can be performed with regard to other sports and gambling activities. Hustlers may also engage in ‘sharking’ – distracting, disheartening, enraging or even threatening their opponents, to throw them off. Hustlers are thus often called ‘pool sharks.’
Professional and semi-pro hustlers sometimes work with a ‘stakehorse’ — a person who provides the money for the hustler to bet with (and who may assist in the hustling) — in exchange for a substantial portion of all winnings. Another form of hustling (often engaged in by the same hustlers who use the skill-disguising technique) is challenging ‘marks’ (swindle targets) to bet on trick shots that seem near-impossible but at which the hustler is exceptionally skilled.
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July 13, 2011
Hunter S. Thompson (1937 – 2005) was an American journalist and author. He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories.
He is known also for his unrepentant lifelong use of alcohol, LSD, mescaline, and cocaine (among other substances); his love of firearms; his inveterate hatred of Richard Nixon; and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism. While suffering a bout of health problems, he committed suicide in 2005, at the age of 67.
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July 13, 2011
Raoul Duke is the fictional character and antihero based on Hunter S. Thompson in his autobiographical novel ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’ The book was originally written under the name Raoul Duke. He is the main character and narrator of many of Thompson’s stories, novels, and articles, often taking part of events in Thompson’s life in Thompson’s place.
He is portrayed as a cynical, eccentric hedonist. He is in a near-perpetual state of intoxication on whatever drugs happen to be available, ranging from marijuana to amyl nitrite to adrenochrome. He usually obtains and consumes these substances in the company of his attorney, Gonzo, a half-crazed 300 pound Samoan, whose drug-induced frenzies give even Duke pause. Thompson based Gonzo on his friend the civil rights lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta.
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July 12, 2011
Purple drank is a slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States, originating in Houston, Texas. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine. Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as Sprite soft drink or Mountain Dew and pieces of Jolly Rancher candy. The purplish hue of purple drank comes from dyes in the cough syrup. Producer DJ Screw popularized the concoction in the 1990s, which is widely attributed as a source of inspiration for the ‘chopped and screwed’ style of hip hop music. However, musician Big Hawk claims it was consumed as early as the 1960s and 1970s.
DJ Screw died of a codeine-promethazine-alcohol overdose in 2000. Purple drank is confirmed or suspected to have caused the deaths of several prominent users. Respiratory depression is a potentially serious or fatal adverse drug reaction associated with the use of codeine, but mainly the danger lies in the much more potent and CNS-depressing phenothiazine-related antihistamine promethazine.
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July 12, 2011
Rumspringa [room-spring-uh] (German: ‘jumping around’) generally refers to a period of adolescence for some members of the Amish, a subsect of the Anabaptist Christian movement, that begins around the age of sixteen and ends when a youth chooses baptism within the Amish church or instead leaves the community. The vast majority choose baptism and remain in the church.
Not all Amish use this term, but in sects that do, Amish elders generally view this as a time for courtship and finding a spouse. Wenger Mennonites youth go through a period of rumspringa between ages 16 and 18. It is sometimes referred to as a period to ‘sow wild oats.’ As is the case in many societies, Amish adolescents may engage in rebellious behavior, resisting or defying parental norms. In many cultures, enforcement may be relaxed, and misbehavior tolerated or overlooked to a degree.
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July 12, 2011
A hug machine, or squeeze box, is a deep-pressure device designed to calm hypersensitive persons, usually individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The therapeutic, stress-relieving device was invented by professor of animal science Temple Grandin in 1965.
Autism and autism-spectrum disorders have profound effects upon both social interactions and sensitivity to sensory stimulation in persons with such conditions, often making it uncomfortable or impractical for them to turn to other human beings for comfort. Grandin solved this by designing the hug machine so both she and others could turn to it for sensory relief, whenever needed or simply desired.
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July 12, 2011
Bionic contact lenses are being developed to provide a virtual display that could have a variety of uses from assisting the visually impaired to the video game industry. The lenses require organic materials that are biologically safe and also use inorganic material for the electronic circuits. The electronic circuits are built from a layer of metal a few nanometres thick. The light-emitting diodes are one third of a millimetre across. A grey powder is sprinkled onto the lens. Then a technique called microfabrication or ‘self-assembly’ is used to shape each tiny component. Capillary forces pull the pieces into their final position.
Wireless communication, radio frequency power transmission and solar cells are expected in future developments. The prototype does not light up or display information; however, it is proof that it is possible to create a biologically safe electronic lens that does not obstruct a person’s view. Engineers have tested the finished lenses on rabbits.
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July 12, 2011
Artist’s Shit (Italian: ‘Merda d’artista’) is a 1961 artwork by the Italian artist Piero Manzoni. The work consists of 90 tin cans, each 30 grams, with a label in Italian, English, French, and German stating: ‘Artist’s Shit; Freshly preserved; Produced and tinned in May 1961.’ At the time the piece was created Manzoni was producing works that explored the relationship between art production and human production, Artist’s Breath (‘Fiato d’artista’), a series of balloons filled with Manzoni’s breath, being an example.
A tin was sold for €124,000 at Sotheby’s in 2007. The cans were originally to be valued according to their equivalent weight in gold — $37 each in 1961 — with the price fluctuating according to the market. One of Manzoni’s collaborators, Agostino Bonalumi, claimed that the tins are full not of faeces but plaster; but some cans have leaked and confirmed they are indeed faeces — though whether human or animal has not been verified.
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July 12, 2011
Garry Kasparov (b. 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time. Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. He continued to hold the ‘Classical’ World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. He is also widely known for being the first world chess champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997.
After his retirement from chess in 2005, Kasparov turned to politics and created the United Civil Front, a social movement whose main goal is to ‘work to preserve electoral democracy in Russia.’ He has vowed to ‘restore democracy’ to Russia by ousting Vladimir Putin, of whom he is an outspoken critic.
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July 12, 2011
Façade is a 2005 artificial-intelligence-based interactive story created by Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern, and exhibited at several international art shows. Façade puts the player in the role of a close friend of Grace and Trip, a couple who invited you over for cocktails.
This pleasant gathering, however, is somewhat damaged by the clear domestic confrontation between your hosts. Making full use of the incorporated language processing software, the game allows the player to type sentences to ‘speak’ with the couple, either supporting them through their troubles, driving them farther apart, or being thrown out of the apartment.
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July 12, 2011
A phosphene [fos-feen] is an entoptic (visual) phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye. The word phosphene comes from the Greek words ‘phos’ (‘light’) and ‘phainein’ (‘to show’). Phosphenes are flashes of light, often associated with optic neuritis, induced by movement or sound.
They can be directly induced by mechanical, electrical, or magnetic stimulation of the retina or visual cortex as well as by random firing of cells in the visual system. Phosphenes have also been reported by meditators (commonly called nimitta); people who go for long periods without visual stimulation (also known as the prisoner’s cinema); or those who are using psychedelic drugs.
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July 12, 2011
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller written and directed by Richard Kelly, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The film depicts the reality-bending adventures of the title character as he seeks the meaning and significance behind his troubling Doomsday-related visions. In October 1988, teenager Donnie Darko has been seeing a psychiatrist because of his troubled history. Donnie sleepwalks, and he has visions of Frank, a menacing, demonic-looking rabbit. On October 2, Frank draws Donnie out of his room to tell him, in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the world will end. While Donnie is outside, a jet engine crashes through his bedroom. The next morning, Donnie wakes up on a golf course. He returns home to find police and firemen inspecting the wreckage. No one knows where the jet engine has come from, since there were no planes flying in the vicinity, and no airline reported losing an engine.
Music is used heavily in the film. One continuous sequence involving an introduction of Donnie’s high school prominently features the song ‘Head over Heels’ by Tears for Fears, Donnie’s sister’s dance group, ‘Sparkle Motion,’ performs with the song ‘Notorious’ by Duran Duran, and ‘Under the Milky Way’ by The Church is played after Donnie and Gretchen emerge from his room during the party. ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division also appears in the film. The opening sequence is set to ‘The Killing Moon’ by Echo & the Bunnymen.
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