Megan Purdy
Awesome Kickstarter of the Week
Earthward, by Bryan Q. Miller. Earthward is “an all-ages graphic novel that celebrates adventure, exploration and family — in space, no less (Robot 6).” Sounds good to me. It launches this Friday.
News
- Marvel’s teaser revealed to be relaunched X-Men title with female cast, Jill Pantozzi (Mary-Sue): So this is a thing.
- This Picture Shows Everything Wrong With ‘Booth Babes’ at CES, Chris Taylor (Mashable): What would it take, friends, to ban booth babes completely?
- The Brave One, Dorothy Snarker (Dorothy Surrenders): On Jodie Foster’s sort of coming out at the Golden Globes, and our treatment of celebrity sexuality and truth telling. See also The Complexities of Coming Out, Jodie Foster Edition, Up Popped A Fox.
- Zack Snyder isn’t developing the next Star Wars film. Thank god.
- In other Star Wars news, there’s now a gay planet for all those family-unfriendly trans and homosexual characters that Star Wars has never liked talking about.
- You heard about the NRA’s target practice app, right? Well here’s some background on how they got to this point (Salon).
Aaron Swartz
Aaron Swartz killed himself on Janurary 11th. He was 26.
Swartz was a famous defendant, programmer, and internet activist. He co-founded Reddit, was a member of the RSS-Dev Working Group (ie. he helped to develop RSS), and started the activist group Demand Progress. Outside of geek circles, he was best known for getting ‘caught’ downloading thousands of articles from JSTOR. If convicted, he would have faced up to 35 years in prison.
I’ve collected some links about his legacy, and about his case:
- A Data Crusader, a Defendent, and Now a Cause, Noam Cohen (New York Times).
- The Truth About Aaron Swartz’ ‘Crime’, Alex Stamos (Unhandeled Exception.
- The Inspiring Heroism of Aaron Swartz, Glenn Greenwald (Guardian).
- Prosecuter As Bully, Lawrence Lessig (Lessig Blog v.2).
- Jay Rosen reflects on Swartz’ death and the conversation happening around it.
- Remembering Aaron Swartz, Rick Perlstein (The Nation).
- MIT president calls for “thorough analysis” of school’s involvement with Swartz, Nathan Matisse (Ars Technica).
- Academics pay #PDFtribute to activist Aaron Swartz, CBC News Community (Storify): I recommend @BiellaColeman‘s ‘Coding Freedom – The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking’, which I’m just starting on.
Editorials and Interviews
- Bisley Reflects on 35 Years of 2000 AD, Karl Kelley (CBR).
- What Makes Superman Unique, Michael May (Robot 6): “Because in every way that counts, Superman is human. Pa Kent taught him that.”
- For Books Sake talks to Naomi Alderman, Cariad Martin (For Books Sake): Alderman made a stir in the litfic community with her novels Disobedience and The Liars’ Gospel AND she developed a zombie jogging app.
- Django Unchained: “I can’t pay no doctor’s bills, but whitey’s on the moon”, David Brothers (4th Letter).
- The Science of Why Comment Trolls Suck, Chris Mooney (Mother Jones).
- Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203, Sam Weller (The Paris Review).
- Why Storytelling is the Ultimate Weapon, Jonathan Gottschall (Fast Company).
And finally, Kurt Vonnegut’s lecture on the shape of stories is now an infographic: