Cool Shit 1/14

Choose Your Own Adventure. On Twitter. Probably the best example of what Twitter can offer us.

Love the Dakar Rally. I feel like, while there's no way I would be able to compete against professional drivers, I would be within the top 2% of drivers racing the Dakar Rally for the first time. Maybe even 1%. Anyway, here are some pictures from this year's race.

I get that Serial was a huge phenomena and a lot of people got caught up in it. I even sorta understand the mild backlash post airing (thought the Intercept's coverage, including Jay's and the prosecutor's interviews was bizarre. I'm guessing it had little more to do with "let's attack something popular to build controversy and therefore more web hits). What I don't understand is the fact that all Serial was was basically an episode of Dateline or Unsolved Mysteries, stretched over ten hours or so. When you get right down to it, there are probably thousands of similar cases, and to think that this one is special enough to deep dive on the investigation. The attacks against Sarah Koenig, reporting the story really don't make any sense. Here's an interview Rabia Chaudry, Adnan's current champion, who had issues with Koenig's reporting, since, apparently it wasn't pro Adnan enough.

What it's like during a prison riot at Guantanamo Bay.

How teens use social media.

Genius: A new site that apparently wants to annotate the web. I'm sure I'm not thinking of all the implications, but it sounds like it has potential.

What it took to make the classic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A winter hike through California's Lost Coast.

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A snowy Grand Canyon is an awesome Grand Canyon...

You realize when you go into a museum you're seeing a small fraction of what it actually holds, right? Museums are trying to change that...

I want to hang out with Captain Risky!



Interview with the prosecutor from the Adnan case from Serial. I'm not sure why the Intercept, the website conducting these interviews is creating a narrative against the podcast and Sara Koenig. It's seems a little strange to attack the medium.

Be careful who you sign up to room with. What happens if it's a prostitute?

 Trailer for The Lazarus Effect...

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I thought this list of "things you wouldn't believe exist" was mildly interesting, but not earth shattering. Until I got to the dog poop calendar. Then it goes to another level.

New Go! Team album! With a new song released!



What is the Cicada, and what's it doing in the deep web?

Serial made podcasts cool (even though they've been around forever), so take a look at these recommendations.

Amazon has a new slate of pilots for 2015. And honestly, none of them sound that great.

On paper, the idea of Bradley Cooper playing air guitar sounds stupid and something that should be mocked relentlessly. But then you watch it, and dang it if it doesn't work. It doesn't hurt that the solo is from Neil Young's Down By the River, which suggests Cooper is then a big fan...



Nothing to see here, just a Columbian fireworks factory exploding! (Also - if "Columbian fireworks factory" isn't already a sex term, it should be):



A "lost" David O. Russell screwball comedy starring Jessica Biel that hasn't seen the light of day, until possibly now. I see why it was buried...



Coachella 2015 was announced. Need some incentive to go? Here's a playlist of (just about) every band scheduled to perform:

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In case you want to keep an eye on the progress of artificial intelligence, this chart is a great place to start. Also, maybe practice unplugging stuff to get ready for the human/machines war.

Photography is hard, but once you get that shot you could sell it for millions.

The concept of the top 10 most secret US American military bases seems slightly oxymoronic.

With news of Serial wrapping up next week, there's going to be an outcry for more murder mysteries to follow. While I can't offer up any podcasts that are similar just yet, I can offer up some stories and bizarre mysteries that might sate your appetite. Start here with these 3 stories. Once you're finished with those, find out what it means to murder someone out in what's basically international waters (it happened). Once finished with those, head over to this Slate post that tackles the issue directly and crowdsourced some other mysteries you can dig into after next Thursday comes and goes.

Tomorrow is the last day for a sequential date this century; I guess we'll always have 12:34 to satiate our number OCDs. But what other dates should we be on the lookout for?

Any excitement for the Golden Globes other than the fact that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are coming back to host?

Leo DiCaprio is living the life he should be. I have no problem with that.