Links for early September 2012

Walking in Shepherds Hill Recreation Park on August 29th, I discovered someone had left a plastic bat hanging on a tree.

It’s actually very near where I once hid an ornamental dragon I didn’t need anymore, because it amused me to imagine someone stumbling upon it amidst the trees and wondering how it got there. Also I was curious to see how long it would take before it disappeared (answer: between one and two weeks). For all I know, the bat might have been put there by the same person who took my dragon (though my preferred hypothesis is that the latter was accepted by the resident fairies).

Now, a short collection of links:

• Games people play semi-subconsciously. For my contribution, please read the comment I posted there.
• This Higgs Boson song adaptation feels simultaneously whimsical and brilliant. Mostly brilliant.
• Video flying over the asteroid Vesta, pointing out various features on the surface.
• Glacier mice strike me as a potential planet metaphor for fiction, and also as a potential theme for a mousepad. Love things in science that inspire artistic reflection.
• I don’t link to many articles about people being horrible; I’d rather focus on nice things. So when I do, you can be sure I think it has something important to contribute. This blend of rape anecdote, researched fact and thoughtful refection certainly qualifies.
• Collection of philosophy lectures from Oxford University. Don’t remember learning much from the two I’ve had time to listen to (they were at a level often covered by TV documentaries and popular books), but if the remaining lectures add more detail while remaining as accessible, then they are well worth bookmarking.
• Spent a while browsing the relaxing video collection at Soothetube.com. Favourites include this tea ceremony video and this binaurial sounds compilation. I wrote in via Twitter to suggest this underwater video that I like (no response, but there’s probably a very long queue). The header categories are an odd mix, so I recommend browsing via the categories on the sidebar instead.

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