Infocult: Uncanny Informatics

Britain and Russia consider internet controls

Two major European nations are working on internet restrictions.

• The British government is considering an anti-porn protocol which is nearly comical:

anyone buying a new computer or signing up with a new internet service provider (ISP) will be asked, when they log on for the first time, whether they have children. If the answer is "yes", the parent will be taken through the process of installing anti-pornography filters, as well as a series of questions on how stringent they wish the restrictions to be...

• Russia is thinking about restricting videogames with violent content.  This is in response to one man's violent rampage.  Perhaps Moscow will crack down on vKontakte as well.

Either of these could be political ploys for short-term political gain.

(thanks to Todd Bryant)

From flesh to bone

Time-lapse photography can reveal many Gothic delights. Case in point: beetles gnawing birds bodies into skeletons.

(thanks to Charles Cameron)

Another Canadian body part

A human leg tumbled along a Vancouver waterway. We're a month behind on this story, but needed to chronicle it in our endless quest for cryptic dismemberment.

Two fishermen returning from the Strait of Georgia called 911 after they found the section of leg and foot connected to a running shoe at about 3:30 p.m.

Again with the sneakers!

On a historical note:

At least 11 shoes containing bones have been found on beaches in southern B.C. since 2007. Several of the remains have been identified through DNA analysis, and many of the findings have been related to suicides.

If we put all of these Canadian pieces together, what monster results?

(thanks to Tim Winkelmans; photo by ajari)

Zombie economy, continued

We're still seeing a zombie economy, according to the BBC. Specifically, zombie businesses.

The rise of so-called zombie companies is, to some extent, a consequence of the UK's current record low interest rates.

Struggling companies can just about afford the interest payments on their loans, but not much more...

A zombie company is one which is generating just about enough cash to service its debt, so the bank is not obliged to pull the plug on the loan”. "A zombie company is one which is generating just about enough cash to service its debt, so the bank is not obliged to pull the plug on the loan," explains Mark Thomas, business strategy expert at PA Consulting and author of The Zombie Economy.

"The company can limp along, it can survive, but it hasn't got enough money to invest."

Interesting zombifies others, too:

There are zombie households, too - those on interest-only mortgages, yet unable to pay off the loan itself.

Perhaps we'll refer to this era's crisis as The Zombie Recession.

(thanks to Ed Webb)

Wellcome death

A London museum considers the art and artifacts of death. 

No embed allowed, so you must click on that link.  Or enjoy this screen grab:

(thanks to Todd Bryant)

3d printing one's own skull

One artist is using 3d printing for self-portraiture.  Caspar Berger starts with his own skull.

(thanks to Todd Bryant)

The media is a bit like Dracula

One legal source makes an interestingly Gothic analogy:

He likened the media frenzy that often surrounds scandals like this to Count Dracula. "He needs blood every day," Bennett said.

That Bennett is "Robert Bennett, the Hogan Lovells partner who represented President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal".

(thanks to Annette)

The voice of the doll

Here's a short clip of Thomas Edison's phonograph doll speaking.  The images are nice:

(thanks to Jesse Walker)

Dark planet discovered in depths between stars

Astronomers discovered a sunless planet wandering in interstellar space.  CFBDSIR2149 appeared about 130 light years from Earth.

Gorgeous image, although the poor thing would probably be red:

I have seen the dark universe yawning

Where the black planets roll without aim,

Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name.

The ruins of churches

Abandoned and decayed churches are a staple of Gothic literature.  Here's a good gallery of examples.

(thanks to Peter Naegele)