Favorite Links for Week 50 2019

‘Clerks’ added to National Film Registry, bringing N.J. stoners to Library of Congress

The film “Clerks” has a bit about “the perfect dozen” that still cracks me up after 25 years. It reminds me of David Graeber’s STRIKE! Magazine – On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.

Electric Vehicle Powered by Homemade Rechargeable Iron/Carbon Battery – YouTube

Cool! Here’s an all iron rechargeable battery that is simpler than mine and can run a small toy car. I love to see this kind of thing.

Introducing the Despecialized Edition and Its Sources – YouTube

De-special-ized edition of Star Wars was a lot of work, but I’m grateful. The original theatrical version of Starwars should be archived in the Library of Congress, but I gather that has not happened. Lucasfilm keeps re-updating the movies. The 1990s laserdisc versions are the best I have seen, but I would love for there to be a definitive HD theatrical version. This is pretty close: The Ultimate Introductory Guide to Harmy’s Star Wars Trilogy Despecialized Editions

How to Make High-Performance Sound Absorption Panels for $5 – YouTube

I love DIY stuff, especially with good measurements. This guy made acoustic panels that cut sound a lot using cheap towels from the thrift store. Plus, he actually measured the effects with a DIY volume measurement rig.

Why Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea – YouTube

We need to vote on paper. It’s that simple. Request a paper ballot, vote by mail, etc. Vote.org has a great list of resources including absentee ballot request procedures for every state. In my state, I have to request an absentee ballot every year. I much prefer absentee voting because I use a paper ballot and because I can take the time to look read up on the candidates for local elections.

Can Biology Class Reduce Racism? – The New York Times

This is a tricky subject. Skin color is due to genetics. Some other traits (like fast twitch muscle fiber content) are partially due to genetics. Things like analytical ability are MAYBE due in part to genetics. But “race” is really a crude social concept. We could cluster human genomes by similarity, but we would end up with a lot of clusters and none of them would map well to social ideas like “black” or “white.” And none of them would have a monopoly on good traits. And even if some group was especially rich in Kindness or Intelligence (how would you measure that?) it would say nothing about specific individuals from that group (for an authoritative example, see Drizzt Do’Urden). How do you teach all that in high school biology class?

It’s hard to do sweaters when you’re a stag.