I know you can’t get enough of her, well check out this arty, sexy shot!
July 31, 2006
Harvey Matusow
A piece on the extensive resume and deranged music of Harvey Matusow. Incredible stuff from WFMU, as always.
Photorealism and Illustrator
A gallery of the photorealistic compositions using Adobe Illustrator’s gradient mesh feature. While it certainly is fantastic that such effects can be accomplished with this software, it’s downright astounding to consider the compulsion that drives these individuals to recreate what has already been photographed.
Azureus
TorrentFreak is reporting that Azureus (the best torrent client, IMHO) will be accepting is getting capital funding and will soon be adding a commercial content layer to the application. The question is, will they be able to pull this off without massive tissue rejection?
July 30, 2006
Best Hosting Company
Just want to give a quick shout-out to Bluehost.com, the best hosting company in the world. (yes they host Zeroization.com as well.)
The Drugs Do Work
I came across the article In Defense of Happy Pills recently on the subject of SSRIs i.e. antidepressants such as Zoloft and Prozac. It’s a subject close to my heart as for many years I struggled over the choice of talk therapy versus drugs (or both.) My own inherited attitudes about the nature of depression and suffering prevented me from getting the help I needed for too long.
The crux of the article is very insightful about the nature of these drugs and people’s ambivalence towards them. I think this quote sums the matter up well (and in favor of the drug therapy):
But why should someone who suffered trauma have to suffer more to overcome it, if there’s a less difficult, equally safe, and effective alternative? Why shouldn’t the shy be on a level playing field with the naturally outgoing if that is what they want? Why is it easier for us to let go of the idea that physical suffering is a message from God that we should bear in order to temper our souls than it is to shake the idea that emotional pain must be endured for our own good?
This is the point, those enduring the pain and suffering of depression want it to stop right now, today. We will do anything to stop it, including suicide. Talk therapy simply takes too damned long. If you find yourself taking these drugs (and indeed having your life restored to you in the process) understand that while your friends, family, or society may not understand, but some fellow depressives out there certainly do.
Marketing and Mental Health
The One Real Reason You Are Stressed Out, Overweight, Depressed or Angry. Ok, you might think this is a tad overblown, but the author’s hypothesis is that the reason we are all suceptible to marketing is because we all believe that we aren’t suceptible to marketing. Hence the endless cycle of buying more things you do not need and depression that ensues when thing purchased does not satisfy you.
How Infocom Failed
Via Metafilter – the story of how Infocom failed. Infocom produced Zork and a whole host of text adventure games. They’re still pretty much some of the most imaginitive and challenging games to play.
Bourdain on Beirut
The sense of loss and remorse is palpable throughout Anthony Bourdain’s report on the the state of things in Beirut, Watching Beirut Die.