Day: February 5, 2011

Rather abruptly, the Open Left blog announced yesterday it wouldn't be posting new content. Not terribly surprising--Matt Stoller left a while back to work with Alan Grayson and Chris Bowers hadn't posted in ages (he went to DailyKos, supposedly). Nevertheless the site will be missed, sort of, by loyal RSS readers the last four years.

From the farewell posts it sounds as if many of the OL bloggers are moving on to fabulous careers further up the food chain. After ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, stopping the bailouts, and keeping Dems in both houses of congress, their successful lives are truly deserved.

STRATFOR compares the uprising to the 1979 Iranian revolution and wants to know who's really behind the protests. (The comments to the linked post are rather, er, skeptical of this analysis.)

Two essays consider the split over Egypt among US neocons, who are usually better with message discipline. Interesting excerpt from one of them (Jack Ross, writing in Right Web):

...the Anti-Islamist Scare that has gained full steam since the election of Obama appears to be a completely distinct phenomenon from historic neoconservatism, notwithstanding how opportunistically it has been embraced by figures like Bill Kristol and the Liz Cheney-led Keep America Safe. It is a phenomenon straight from the pages of Richard Hofstadter’s The Paranoid Style In American Politics. Whereas Hofstadter famously pointed to projection in the anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan who “donned priestly vestments and constructed an elaborate hierarchy and ritual,” the backlash against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque—with its frank talk of “sacred ground”—reflected the desire to construct an American holy of holies.

"America isn't like Egypt, the govt. couldn't just shut down the whole internet."
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Lauren Weinstein explains how it could be done in a few hours (note: thought experiment) and is working on a re-release of his vintage dial-up software, which could restart networks after the switch is flipped.

see also: Dr Strangelove Explains the Internet Kill Switch

http://antlerswifi.com/ has returned.

Here's a post about the site from a couple of years ago, not all of which is germane (e.g., no sound as of yet and the page is now more bloggy):

recommended: blog of semi-abstract sound and video by Rick Silva.

Video, still and sound objects arranged four or so to a page.

Self referential designs (e.g. mountainous ripples made with characteristic marching ants and faceted chains of photoshop outlining), moving 3D graphics (mountainscapes, again, are prevalent), complex polygonal shapes (some moving or vibrating, some not), and eerie, Alpine UFO sample-tones marred by pops and clicks (think Eno through a fried sound card) appear on full-frame pages, no text. What does it all mean? No wall labels, you're on your own. These are net art gems--enjoy while you can since this artist is constantly erasing his trail across the net.

This GIF suggests JG Ballard's Crystal World by way of the geometric energy field in David Lynch's Dune. Shields on, plants.