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strangely alluring... maps

Fullinterstatemap-web

Eisenhower highway system, simplified. A great graphic from this week's favorite blog: strange maps.

QotD: Repeat After Me...

How have people mispronounced your name?  How is it supposed to sound? 
Submitted by Lorie.   

My name is sort of like it looks: jess - uh - min. People who don't know me and haven't seen or heard the name before seem to have a hard time with it. Either they say Jasmine, which makes sense, or they say Jezz-uh-min or Jess-uh-mine. The thing I always find weird is that when I say it out loud to them, like over the phone, often they'll pronounce it back wrong. So I'll say jess-uh-min and they'll say "Jasmine?" like maybe I'm pronouncing my own name wrong.

People called me Jess until college, but I never liked "Jess West" much. Then I had a college boyfriend who called me Jessamyn in that college-y way and it sort of stuck. I answer to both. The only name I really dislike is Jesse because I had an evil English teacher who would call me that to get my goat, I have no idea why.

Jessamyn Charity West, it's not a bad name really.

freefall algorithm pythagoras &c.

Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy

Ninja Dance!

Algorithm March with Prisoners

I got back from San Francisco and while I was doing a bunch of email and online catch-up, I was pointed in the direction -- via MetaFilter -- of some things I'd never seen before. The first video contains freefall footage of Captain Joseph Kittinger jumping out of a weather balloon at 102,800 feet, the highest freefall ever. It's set to music. The second and third videos are this odd dance features on a children's television show called Phythagoras Switch. The middle video shows how its done, the last video shows how its done with 900+ Phillipine prisoners.