The Miscellaneous Tumbling of Mr Ben Hammersley

brucesterling:

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The Design-Fiction Slider-Bar of Disbelief 
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10. Holy relics, attributes of sainthood and divinity; transubstantiated Hosts, Arks of Covenant, teeth of Buddha

9.5 Supernatural objects and services associated with elves, vampires, fairies; magical charms, garlic, silver bullets etc

9.4 New age crystals, lucky charms, protective pendants, mojo hands, voodoo dolls, magic wands

9.3 Quack devices, medical hoaxes

9.3 Fantasy “objects” in fantasy cinema and computer-games

9.2 Physically impossible sci-fi literary devices: time machines, humanoid robots

9.2 Perpetual motion machines; free-energy gizmos, other physically impossible engineering fantasies

9.0 State libels, black propaganda, military ruses; missile gaps, vengeance weapons, Star Wars SDI

8.9 “Realplay” services, “experiential futurism” encounters, military and emergency training drills, props and immersive set-design, scripted personas

8.8 Online roleplaying scenario games

8.7 Net.art interventions, diegetic performance art, provocative device-art scandals

8.6 Guerrilla street-theater; costumes, puppets, banners, songs, lynchings-in-effigy, mock trials, mass set-designed Nuremberg rallies, propaganda trains

8.5 Fake products, product forgeries, theft-of-services, con-schemes, 419 frauds

8.0. For-profit frauds and false commercial advertising

7.9 Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson devices, chindogu “unuseless objects”, parodies, whimsies and comical contraptions; Albert Robida satirical prognostications

7.0 Vaporware; “Fear Uncertainty and Doubt” campaigns

6.0 “Design Fiction” diegetic prototypes from sci-fi media, “concept cars,” “conversation pieces,” provocative laboratory curiosities

5.9 Blue-skying Internet-based “theory objects” and congealed techie pundit scuttlebutt; socially-generated rumor and tech speculation; crowdsourced speculative objects and services; Kickstarter projects

5.0 “Brand Management” by design

4.9 Design pitches to the board of directors; untested business-models

4.8 The plans and schematics for as-yet-unborn yet genuine objects and services

4.0 Real-life product descriptions and users instruction manuals

3.5 Product reviews and opinions; user feedback, public assessments

3.0 Design criticism; material-culture assessments; scholarly studies

2.0 Legal regulations and government protocols concerning objects and services

1.0 Engineering specifications, software code

0.5 Historical tech assessment of extinct technologies, the “judgement of history’

0.0 The ideal and unobtainable “objective truth” about objects and services

(Source: breadcamesliced, via jonnyathan)

onlymyharry:

This is probably one of the most realest shit I’ll ever post. This is a soldier reading a childrens’ storybook to his child over Skype…

oh my god

(Source: chicagooooo, via jonnyathan)

claytoncubitt:

On getting things done in a disaster:

A few days ago I saw a blog post showing a local Brooklyn startup company named BioLite which recently launched a product that’s basically a small portable camp stove with an ultra-efficient burn rate and an attached thermal-electric USB charging station. In the power outage caused by hurricane Sandy the guys at BioLite had come out of their offices in DUMBO and were offering hot coffee and phone charging using their handy little stoves.

I had been out to the Far Rockaways and seen the devastation out there, very reminiscent of Katrina, and I saw the hard work being done on the ground by Occupy Sandy, and I knew immediately I needed to connect these two amazing, yet disparate groups.

So I did. I tweeted at BioLite and asked if they were interested in donating some units for the effort in the Far Rockaways. And then I got in touch with Occupy Sandy to coordinate getting these delivered to where they’d make a difference.

We all set a time and a place to meet up, and today we loaded up a loaned van full of these stoves and took them out to the Rockaways. Two representatives from BioLite demo’d the safe use of the stoves to ten representatives of Occupy Sandy, who’ll in turn share the 20 or so stoves with whomever needs them, to heat up donated soup, and charge cell phones, or just to keep their hands warm.

FEMA didn’t coordinate this. The Red Cross didn’t organize this. This is just one cool company and a bunch of concerned citizens pooling their resources and skills to take care of neighbors in a disaster zone. 

And that’s how I’d recommend helping, if you’re looking to help. Don’t text Red Cross $10. Instead, check out the Occupy Sandy website. They’ve even hacked Amazon’s Wedding Registry service to facilitate shipments and donations. If you’re local to the disaster area, even though your lights might be back on, know that it might be weeks or longer for areas like the Rockaways, Staten Island, and Jersey Shore, and it’s going to be a brutal winter.

This is not to say that FEMA or the Red Cross don’t do good things. But in a time like this, what’s really needed is smart motivated individuals like you and me to just say, “What’s needed? I’ll make it happen.” 

Special thanks again to BioLite for the innovative stoves, and Occupy Sandy for the sweat and boots on the ground. Amazing people!

emmawelles:

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: First: Anonymous 4Chan trolls posted a fake screenshot of a tweet by verified “Entertainment Tonight” that “confirmed” Justin Bieber had leukemia. Tweets from Kanye, Nicki Minaj, and Chris Brown seemed to support the news.

Then: Beliebers began posting pics and vids of themselves with their heads shaved in a global show of support hashtagged #BaldForBieber.

Miraculously: The rumors were false and the Biebs is just fine, and now a bunch of tweens (and other random fans) have no hair.

[biotv]

HILARIOUS. And kinda sad. But mostly hilarious.

(Source: malformalady, via jonnyathan)

jonnyathan:

tablespoons:

I can see your halo

The Beyjesus

(Source: jesuschristvevo)

cousinsvenslarder:

Ok, now @benhammersley has gone too far

warrenellis:

(via JACKET MECHANICAL: MZD)