Wider Angle: Wider Angle Sunday Reader for 01.28.07

Disney has wrangled Annie Leibovitz to shoot celebrities in Disney character roles. At least the images are beautiful.

It's time to start flying AirTran whenever possible. Their flight attendants are smart enough to kick a family off a plane that won't quiet their screaming child.

Iraq has fallen apart so rapidly, most of the residents who supported democracy at one time have moved to other, safer countries. Now Iraq is just a throbbing civil war with no end in sight. "The moderates are mostly gone. My phone includes at least a dozen entries for middle-class families who have given up and moved away. They were supposed to build democracy here. Instead they work odd jobs in Syria and Jordan. Even the moderate political leaders have left. I have three numbers for Adnan Pachachi, the distinguished Iraqi statesman; none have Iraqi country codes."

Aries Spears freestyles as LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and Jay-Z. [thanks Ryan] [YouTube]

Without the Limbic system in the brain, we would have no consciousness.

Wired Magazine's redesign uses four new typefaces created by the indispensable type foundry Hoefler & Frere-Jones. After reading the first new look issue, it seems that many people may have trouble reading some of the articles in small type.

Wider Angle co-conspirator Kaci and her parents took me to see David Copperfield in Cincinnati many years ago and his final trick was "flying." It's pretty impressive, but the system's limitations were pretty obvious. Here's how the rig works.

Scuba diving cat has custom scuba suit. [YouTube]

Still baffled by the Baby Einstein commercial in the middle of the State of the Union.

There's a point at which a parent's encouragement of a child's interest in business might want to be redirected to slightly more healthy hobbies that won't disappoint the kids so severely. "With the news full of 20-somethings who are making millions of dollars with ideas hatched on their laptops and in their dorm rooms (as the founders of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook have done), more and more teenagers are hoping to become the C.E.O.’s of their own companies, without ever leaving their bedrooms."

Public signs in Vienna will now include women as well as men. [via Cut N Paste]

This bride is seriously freaking out about her hair. [thanks Jared] [YouTube]

I prefer Blimpy sub sandwiches to the Blimpy Big Brother all-seeing military airship in space.

A list of the 100 best fonts in the world, as listed German something German. [via kottke]

Help Flavorpill build wells in Africa to help thousands of people get and stay healthy. Buy a $20 bottle of water and they'll match your gift, getting them 1/100th closer to a new $4000 well. The more bottles purchased, the more wells they can build. charity: water

How to make beats. [thanks Kirk] [YouTube]

Genetically modified plants could extract harmful metals from the earth in a process known as phytomining. [via We Make Money Not Art]

The digital music forecast predicts major labels moving to a non-DRM mp3 format as standard in one to two years to reduce consumer frustration that has come bundled with everything restricted.

Designing for the New York of 2106, partially flooded from rising sea levels. [via kottke]

The iRec is a $180 dock for the iPod that records at 640x480 at 2.5Mbps and includes a timer.

An impossibly large floating crane lifts submarines out of the water and puts bridges into place. "Boom length: 132m. Lifting capacity: 3700 tons! It's Yoshida - [Japan's] biggest floating crane, built by Mitsubishi heavy Industries Division."

Leggings for men? No. Absolutely not. Never.

I'll be getting a computer with Vista Ultimate on it soon, but I'm concerned that the DRM concessions Microsoft has made for the OS have crippled it too much.

Helvetica, the documentary, appears to be real. There was a screening of about 10 minutes of clips at Pentagram in New York.

A model walking on a runway slipped and fell twice in roughly ten seconds. Newscasters from NBC4 in D.C. could not contain themselves, and rightfully so. As a Digg commenter noted, it looked as if she was walking on a marshmallow. Video in Windows Media.

Bill O'Reilly floundering on The Colbert Report. [YouTube]

The concern about organic foods being flown to other countries (healthier for the soil, worse for the air) is beginning to become mainstream. "Apparently the Soil Association, the UK’s leading organic certification body, has just launched a year long consultation into whether air freighted food should be banned from carrying the organic label."

"Lord Mackay of Clashfern has protested against UK legislation that would make it illegal to refuse to give gay people equal treatment... He states, "What they are saying is if you are offering services you must be prepared to allow people to practise actions that you believe are wrong." Yes! Yes that's exactly what it means, you bloody idiot. It means precisely that you have to allow people to practice actions that you believe are wrong. Not in general. Not every action, but actions that cause you no damage! Get a job!" - Tom Coates at Plasticbag

Lots and lots of products at the grocery store with fruit in the name or on the packaging have no fruit in them. I almost got some Minute Maid lemonade last week until I saw "0% Juice" in tiny type.

Stephen Colbert destroying Bill O'Reilly on The ~~ORLY~~ O'Reilly Factor. [YouTube]

Labels: Sunday Reader