NYC Subway Performers Form the First ‘Wi-Fi Orchestra’
Director Chris Shimojima arranged a live music experiment with 11 subway performers at nine subway stations at NYC. Russian composer lev Zhurbin, who also goes by the name ljova, wrote a piece called Signal Strength for the musicians to perform simultaneously thanks to the wonderful, free Wi-Fi at the selected stops. As seen in a YouTube video, the two-hour setup itself was impressive, as various musicians set up their instruments along with a computer and headphones provided by the director.
Then ljova conducted the 11 different musicians remotely from New York City’s Bryant Park using multiple laptops and Skype. Folks on YouTube are blown away by the underground symphony, and one person dubbed it “NYC’s first Wi-Fi orchestra.”
(Yahoo)
2 million rats make New York City home, statistician says
There may be 8 million stories in the Big Apple, but one of them — that New York City is home to 8 million rats, or one for every human resident — is probably a tall tale, according to research by a Columbia University statistician. In truth, the city’s rat population is probably closer to 2 million, said Jonathan Auerbach, a Columbia doctoral student who wrote an essay on the subject published in Significance magazine.
The urban lore that there are as many rats as citizens dates back at least a century, Auerbach says. It may have endured in part because reliably estimating the city’s rat population is difficult even though the creatures are hardly invisible, as most New Yorkers who see them skittering about the subway tracks or hear them rustling through trash piles will attest.
Auerbach’s initial plan was to use a method that involves capturing a random sample of rats, marking them, releasing them, and then capturing another random sample of rats. But the city’s health department, which is responsible for dealing with rats, was not enthralled with the idea, Auerbach wrote.
Instead, he used complaints from the public about rat sightings, which the city tracks and publishes online. Combining the data with a number of assumptions, he was able to extrapolate the number of rat-occupied lots to about 40,500 across the city, or less than 5 percent of the total.
(Reuters)
Seahawks mascot flies into stands, lands on fan’s head
A few Seattle Seahawks fans were unnerved when the team’s mascot took off from its perch and flew into the stands landing on a man’s head and perching on another’s shoulder. Taima the Augur hawk went rogue during Sunday’s game. Since 2005, Taima has flown out of the tunnel ahead of the team and flies to his handler. The fans weren’t too upset by the offsides fowl and even pet the bird until he was recovered. Taima returned to his handlers safely after his flight of fancy.
(UPI)
Dead american legislator headed for re-election
An incumbent Democratic state representative in Washington was headed for a decisive re-election victory. Roger Freeman, a first-term representative from Federal Way, a city between Seattle and Tacoma, had 53 percent of the vote, compared to 46.9 percent for his Republican challenger, Jack Dovey. However, Freeman, 48, died last week after a battle with cancer. His death came after ballots were mailed to Washington voters, where all voting is done by mail. “This is extremely rare,” said Brian Zylstra, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office. “But there are protocols in place.”
Once all ballots are finalised in coming weeks, if Freeman wins the vote, Democrats still will hold on to his seat in the state House of Representatives, Zylstra said. Democrats in Freeman’s district, which spans two counties, will select three names for a temporary replacement and the King and Pierce County councils will vote to appoint one of those candidates to the seat for one year, according to state election rules.
(Reuters)
Get Ready for This Movie About Washing Machines
Get ready for the cleanest rom-com of the season! A love story that goes through many cycles, Ben Roper Films’ newest project, Final Spin, is a tale of the love shared by oft-ignored household appliances.
The production team is crowdfunding a live-action short film about a washing machine that wanders into the woods, meets another washer, falls in love… and fights a microwave. The producers describe the film as a “story of a little machine with a big heart and a dream to experience the world, after a long life of clothes-washing service!” About 50 percent of the movie still needs to be shot, and the team is hoping to raise an additional $13,000 to complete the film.
(Yahoo)