Did you know that one fast food hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of different cows or that McDonald’s fries are flavored with unspecified “animal products?” Hit the jump for some other facts you might not know about the fast food industry.
Just a quick post to let you guys know that Internet Explorer 9 Beta will be available for download starting September 15th. If you’re interested in testing the browser out, you can sign up for the beta right here (Windows 7 or Vista only.)
Destorm is an artist who has created us several episodes of Soul Toons, giving us awesome acapella versions of Tailspin, Ducktails, Gummy Bears, and other Cartoon theme songs!
Tags: cartoon theme songs
[Via 9gag]
South Milwaukee resident and tinkerer extraordinaire Craig Smith recently sent a picture of his really cool X-Wing mailbox setup to the Make Magasine. Check it out:
I made this so long ago, it is actually in need of weathering repairs and repainting. I never expected it to survive vandalism or theft for half a decade. But at five feet long and a five foot wingspan, theft would be quite difficult. Everybody from letter carriers to pizza delivery go out of their way to say how much they like it. There is a street about 10 miles away where older guys have a mailbox rivalry with custom car, firetruck and airplane mailboxes, I should mail them a photo.
[Via Make]
[Via Reddit]
Recently-discovered bones in Ethiopia suggest that human beings (at least as we know ourselves) did not invent the first tools.
The bones were found by Zeresenay Alemseged, a palaeoanthropologist from the California Academy of Science. He led a previous expedition in the same region that uncovered the remains of Selam, otherwise known as Lucy’s baby, one of the most complete fossils of a human ancestor.
The new bones are from two unknown animals. It’s not the animals themselves that are attracting attention, but rather cut marks which indicate the bodies were cut with tools rather than teeth. Chemical tests confirmed the marks were made before the bones fossilized, meaning they weren’t added later on, for example through trampling.
Nature reports that the bones have been dated as between 3.24 and 3.42 million years old through radioisotope study of the surrounding earth. That’s significant as the earliest previously known tools were 2.5 million years old, coming from around same time the first humans appeared.
Given the location and age of the bones, the tools will likely have been used by the Australopithecus (depicted right). That’s the genus from which one species is thought to have evolved into the homo genus from which human beings derive. To date they’d largely been assumed to be vegetarians.
It appears our ancestors didn’t use the tools for hunting, but rather for removing meat from animals that had been killed by other predators. That’s also an important discovery as species closely related to humans, such as chimpanzees, don’t realize that a carcass of a large animal can be a source of food.
The next mystery to be solved is whether the australopiths intentionally created the tools by modifying rock, or if they simply used naturally sharp rocks. Either way, there certainly appears to have been some planning involved as the nearest source of rocks was around four miles from where the bones were discovered.
Adam Sidwell is a graphic artist who turned to the internet for inspiration. Instead of looking for subjects in the heroes we see so often, he has been doing illustrations of “bad dudes“. From Max Max, to Tyler Durden, Sidwell uses an awesome modernist style. So far though my favorite piece is this set of prints featuring Airman, Metalman and Quickman from Megaman 3 2. He had run these prints previously individually, with additional graphics on the back, but that print ran out. Fortunately, you can still snag a print of the set you see above at his Etsy shop!
Well, duh.
While the rest of the world may find such information, courtesy of CNN, to be rather surprising (or something?) the geeks just nod their heads. Do we get points for being forward-thinking? Probably not.
Either way, apparently—shock of shocks—the iPad has given comics a major boost. While everyone’s been busy talking about the death of publishing, and typically referring to books rather than graphic novels, comics have risen in sales on the digital front rather impressively. According to CNN, ICv2 reports “sales of between $500,000-$1 million of digital comic sales on mobile apps in 2009.”
Of all the things I’ve seen on the iPad, I have to admit comics probably look the most slick. Maybe it has to do with the screen, or the tactile quality—since you can zoom in and flip through with remarkable precision—but I’m almost willing to say the iPad, and other similar digital readers capable of displaying them, actually enhances the comic reading experience. Books just feel too different to me, but in many cases comics feel more intimate, beefier, more immersive. The experience is just far more dynamic. Not to mention it’s a total paper saver.
So selling more comics is good, especially by geek standards. But what does all this mean for the typical comics stores we all know and love? Well, just like the bookstores, there’s going to be a good deal of growing pains if the digital format really takes flight (and as things stand, it’s hard to argue it won’t). Currently there are some conflicting reports on the matter, as CNN reports, from those convinced digitizing comics will end the small store operations to those who find the iPad applications have actually garnered more sales and brought in new customers. And then there’s the contingent that just doesn’t care one way or the other.
But there is something to be said about community. Part of the reason consumers visit comic book stores, record stores, and book stores, has less to do with finding media at a good price and more to do with social interaction. That personal touch is what makes the buying experience so special. As Jeremy Atkins of Dark Horse Comics says, as quoted in the article:
“If you actually look at what happened to the record industry, a lot of the smaller record stores continue to thrive. I’m still more likely to want to talk to the people working in a record store or comics shop. I like having a rapport with people who understand what I like. Ultimately, there’s still no substitute for that.”
What are your opinions on digital comics? Are you reading more comics now that they’re easier to purchase? Are there any drawbacks you’ve noticed? Do you think an online community will ever replace the local rapport of comics shops?
[Image CC-BY-SA-3.0]
