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An interesting editorial today from The Conversation, via Phys.org. It examines, in light detail, the impact Facebook, its policies, and its popularity inadvertently have on body modification sub-cultures, and discusses how it impacts other such groups. It's a rather interesting article, I think and raises a few questions worth discussion: Do you think the authors are correct in their assessment of this impact? Are some sub-cultures more or less susceptible to this sort of 'dismantling'? What sub-cultures might be more resilient to this effect and what characteristics make them so?

What weird or incongruous Amazon.com recommendation lists do you have? Everyone has those oddities show up from time to time, so post some pics! Have another site making strange suggestions? Let's have a peek! This morning I found my Amazon Recommendations for Apparel consists mostly of cutesy fox-related stuff, women's accessories, cosplay, and police gear.

Although near-fully paralyzed patients have been given a means to communicate via eye movements or other small remaining abilities, Ars Technica reports that four patients that are totally paralyzed (unable to even breath or blink) have successfully communicated via a cutting-edge process. This non-invasive technique measures blood-oxygen levels and electrical activity in the brain, fed to a computer to decipher yes or no answers. Through a series of questions and measurements, the computer is trained on what a yes or no looks like in a given patient and for a foundation for communication. 3 of the patients were asked if they were happy and glad to be alive and each responded positively.

The United Arab Emirates, home if the city Dubai, is well known for wealthy citizens keeping wild animals such as cheetahs as pets. This changed this Wednesday as Laws were passed against ownership of these sorts of exotic pets as well as domesticated but dangerous animals. Furthermore, new restrictions on traditional pet ownership, like dogs, were also passed. Ohio, meanwhile, continues to keep alive the possibility of my one day keeping a fox or fennec as a pet. What are your thoughts on exotic pet ownership?

I swear to god, someone on this fucking forum better get the joke and know what I'm referring to in the topic title, or I'll insult @6tails and his cooking (u wan f0ckin wan go m8 just kidding ilu bro). Technically speaking, it's blatant copyright infringement, but a lot of artists do it anyway. Artists, would you accept a commission for a licensed/trademarked character? For me, I will not for three reasons: 1. I don't feel like having to deal with the rights holder breathing legalese down my neck should they decide to pull a Derek Savage (though even more technically speaking my creating work from a licensed/trademarked character is copyright infringement unless it's protected under Fair Use, and arguably something I would make on the request from the commissioner wouldn't fall under Fair Use, whereas Daddeh Derek is an asshurt 12.5yr old deviantTART user masquerading as a washed up male stripper in his mid 50s year old crisis). 2. I wouldn't like it if someone took my shit and made money off of it, so it's morally wrong (and hypocritical) for me to turn around and pump out Rainbow Dash kawaii desu pics. 3. I don't like to piggy back off the success of someone else's work, and want to be recognized for my OWN content, ideas, and work, not those of another artist/franchise/whatever. And arguably, such a small profit on my end wouldn't even put a ding in a LARGE company's profits (indie businesses are a different story, because like independent artists they're too small to NOT issue a cease and desist (and possible court dates to rake in damages from the offender) in an attempt to stop the offending party), which is why commissioned work of licensed/TM'd characters is rampant, because the larger companies generally just don't care (hello hype and free promo's) up until profits made by the artist are up into the thousands. DISCUSS. What's your stance on it all?