Aural Sects

we-are-star-stuff: Who says North is up? Upside Down maps (also...

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:02:43 -0500

Who says North is up?

Upside Down maps (also known as South-Up or Reversed maps) offer a completely different perspective of the world we live in.

Technically speaking, even referring to the earth with words like “up” or “down” or comparing places with words “above” or “below” is flawed, considering that the earth is a spherical body (it’s actually slightly “fatter” at the equator) and flying through 3 dimensional space with no reference of up or down. However, the issue of “up” and “down” does become an issue when viewing the surface of the earth projected onto a flat piece of paper (a map). And the effect of the orientation of a map is more significant than you might realize.

As all maps require orientation for reference, the issue of how to layout the map orientation is as old as maps themselves. As map orientation is completely arbitrary, it is not surprising that they differed throughout time periods and regions.

The convention of North-up is usually attributed to the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD). Justifications for his north-up approach vary. In the middle ages, East was often placed at top. This is the origin of the term “The Orient” to refer to East Asia. During the age of exploration, European cartographers again followed the north-up convention…perhaps because the North Star was their fixed reference point for navigation, or because they wanted (subconsciously or otherwise) to ensure Europe’s claim at the top of the world.

In modern times, reversed maps are made as a learning device or to illustrate Northern Hemisphere bias. Different from simply turning a north-up map upside down, a reversed map has the text oriented to be read with south up.

The famous “Blue Marble” photograph of the Earth taken from on board Apollo 17 was originally oriented with the south pole at the top, with the island of Madagascar visible just left of center, and the continent of Africa at its right. However, the image was turned upside-down to fit the traditional view.

While the orientation of a map might seem harmless, it can have a significant effect on one’s perception of the world, and the relative importance of the different place in it.

In speech, we often refer to places being “above” or “below” others. Think of how you would say you’re about to travel to the state or country to your north or south (to go “down” to Kentucky from Indiana, or “up” to Canada from the US). Without even mentioning geography, ask any grade school student whether Mexico is “above” or “below” the United States. We’re all familiar with the “land down under”. As we often correlate importance to relative height (think how a citizens of a country will fly their flag higher than all other flags), the north-up convention reinforces the idea that northern bodies are more important than their southern neighbors. Suddenly, traveling “down” to the South might have an inference much deeper than geographic location.

After looking at the map more closely, you may realize that the South-Up orientation may change your perception of the relative status of different places. For example, South America suddenly looks to have more prominence, and Africa and the Middle East completely dwarf Europe. Likewise, tucking Northern Europe, Canada, and Russia away at the bottom of the map, subconsciously takes away their status.

To summarize, unconditionally accepting the north-up map convention without at least appreciating the effect stands at odds with viewing all people and places within the world equally. x x

Elementary Non-Petting Zoo Endgame FTW!

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:07:35 -0500

Season 1: Sherlock and Joan have bees and a tortoise.
Season 2: Sherlock and Joan get a honey badger and a vulture to go with the bees and tortoise.
Season 3: Sherlock and Joan get a jellyfish and a cobra to go with the honey badger, vulture, bees, and tortoise.
Season 4: Sherlock and Joan get a komodo dragon and tarantula to go with the jellyfish, cobra, honey badger, vulture, bees and tortoise.
Season 5: Sherlock and Joan finally crack and open a non-petting zoo.

I just unlocked the Nikita: Til Death Do Us Part sticker on...

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:02:29 -0500

I just unlocked the Nikita: Til Death Do Us Part sticker on GetGlue

865 others have also unlocked the Nikita: Til Death Do Us Part sticker on GetGlue.com

Is Nikita going to kill the President? Congratulations and thank you for watching the season finale of Nikita, you just unlocked the ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ sticker! Share this one proudly. It’s from our friends at The CW.

I am watching Nikita “*clings to my...

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:01:26 -0500

I am watching Nikita

“*clings to my show*”

849 others are also watching Nikita on GetGlue.com

"It’s easy to be considered a misandrist when men are socialized to feel entitled to women and our..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:01 -0500

“It’s easy to be considered a misandrist when men are socialized to feel entitled to women and our time. So, if you ignore them, you’re a misandrist. If you insist they leave you alone, you’re a misandrist. If you focus on building healthy female-centered relationships over relationships with men, you’re a misandrist. Misandry is basically, prioritizing your agency, autonomy and fellow women, over men in a society that teaches you that being feminine relies on giving into men’s feelings of entitlement.”

- (via angrywomanistcritic)

annnnnnd BOOM

(via stfuhypocrisy)

peaceloveandafropuffs: Sophie Okonedo and Zoe Kravitz in After...

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:13:53 -0500

peaceloveandafropuffs:

Sophie Okonedo and Zoe Kravitz in After Earth.

Sophie Okonedo will be playing Will Smith’s wife and Zoe will be playing their oldest daughter.

Pictures found here x

I AM SO SO EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE!

I am watching Elementary ...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:01:51 -0500

I am watching Elementary

531 others are also watching Elementary on GetGlue.com

"In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:10:19 -0500

“In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple … The Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party. Our kids and grandkids would study how this used to be a national political party. ‘They had Conventions, they nominated Presidential candidates. They don’t exist anymore.”

- Ted Cruz [R-TX]

Guys like Ted are oblivious to how they themselves are destroying the GOP.
(via liberalsarecool)

Exercise doesn't help depression, study concludes

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:05:29 -0500

Exercise doesn't help depression, study concludes:

missvoltairine:

tooyoungforthelivingdead:

A study into whether physical activity alleviates the symptoms of depression has found there is no benefit.

Research published in the British Medical Journal suggests that adding a physical activity intervention to usual care did not reduce symptoms of depression more than usual care alone.

This contrasts with current clinical guidance which recommends exercise to help those suffering from the mental illness, which affects one in six adults in Britain at any one time.

I thought this was true and all - fuck yeah, randomised controlled trials!

i’m waiting for the study that proves that yoga at sunrise actually makes depression worse

It’s just another vector for failure. I have enough of those.

husbandsfans: Media unveiling for new programming via The...

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:20 -0500

husbandsfans:

Media unveiling for new programming via The CW!!!

Thrilled that “Husbands” by Brad Bell and Jane Espenson is being represented! The series is joining the CW family via their digital platform.

Just think! Soon you’ll be able to watch “Husbands” on the same site as Arrow, Nikita, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, The Carrie Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, Hart of Dixie. Also including the CW’s newest shows: The Originals, The Tomorrow People and Reign.

- - -

http://husbandstheseries.com/

Why isn't New Orleans Mother's Day parade shooting a 'national tragedy'?

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:51:56 -0500

Why isn't New Orleans Mother's Day parade shooting a 'national tragedy'?:

stfuconservatives:

“So I shouldn’t be surprised that the Mother’s Day Parade shooting has largely been forgotten. On Sunday, shots were fired into a crowd during a parade in the New Orleans 7th ward. Police said they saw three suspects running from the scene.

This is the largest mass shooting in the United States where the shooters were still at large after the crime was committed. Think about that for a minute. From Columbine to Virginia Tech to Fort Hill to Aurora, all the shooters were either killed or apprehended on site. But the person or people responsible for shooting 19 Americans are still free.”

One of the people who got shot was an antiviolence blogger. Somehow we aren’t seeing massive solidarity for New Orleans or the entire city going on police lockdown to find the perpetrators. Two reasons: 1) This mostly affected Black people, and we all know how much the media and the police give any fucks about Black people in New Orleans; 2) This was a gun crime, so we can’t criticize it because GUNS ARE FREEDOM!

I just unlocked the Psych: Dead Air sticker on GetGlue ...

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:00:24 -0500

I just unlocked the Psych: Dead Air sticker on GetGlue

2086 others have also unlocked the Psych: Dead Air sticker on GetGlue.com

What do Shawn and Gus discover when they go undercover at a radio station? Thanks for tuning in to Psych tonight! Keep watching on Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA. Share this one proudly. It’s from our friends at USA Network.

I just unlocked the MythBusters: Down and Dirty; Earthquake...

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:07:23 -0500

I just unlocked the MythBusters: Down and Dirty; Earthquake Survival sticker on GetGlue

1491 others have also unlocked the MythBusters: Down and Dirty; Earthquake Survival sticker on GetGlue.com

A hand-dryer test is conducted and a myth about earthquakes is examined. Share this one proudly. It’s from our friends at Discovery.

I just unlocked the Arrow: Sacrifice sticker on GetGlue ...

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:00:37 -0500

I just unlocked the Arrow: Sacrifice sticker on GetGlue

2171 others have also unlocked the Arrow: Sacrifice sticker on GetGlue.com

Will Oliver be enough to save The Glades? Thanks for watching the season finale of Arrow! You’ve just unlocked the ‘Sacrifice’ sticker. Share this one proudly. It’s from our friends at The CW.

Stopy saying derp

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:40:29 -0500

liquidiousfleshbag:

Internet

stop saying derp

stop saying derpy

stop saying herp derp

It’s not cute, it’s fucked up and shitty.

don’t do it

It’s a twee version of retarded. So think about it that way, every time you are saying herp derp, you are actually saying that.

Is it still fun and cute to say?

I lost count of how many times I have seen some variation of it on my dashboard this morning alone. Like, literally, seriously lost count because it happened so much.

Stop it.

Person of Interest - Season 3 - Sarah Shahi promoted as Series Regular

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:35:46 -0500

Person of Interest - Season 3 - Sarah Shahi promoted as Series Regular:

astolat:

Whooo, can I just say, I am expecting some awesome Carter & Shaw fun times this coming season DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME SHOW.

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dances around*

"What's heroic about getting a double mastectomy if you're rich enough to pay for it?"

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:54:06 -0500

shickalenia:

Douchebag, sit your ass DOWN.

Cancer does not give a shit what is in your bank account. No disease does. Sometimes you can throw all the money in the world at a disease and it’ll still fucking kill you. Are you seriously going to argue that Steve Jobs’s slow death from pancreatic cancer wasn’t heroic just because his bank account was bigger than pretty much everyone’s?

The woman just had TWO FUCKING BODY PARTS amputated.

The fact that getting everything done for breast cancer, gene testing, and a double mastectomy is so fucking expensive is not Angelina Jolie’s fault. Blame the health care industry. Blame the capitalistic bullshit where a company which identifies that particular gene has the stone balls to try and file a copyright so only they can make and provide the test for it and therefore make it really fucking expensive. Angelina Jolie did not make it that much more difficult for poor women to have this sort of testing. Everyone should have access to the same care she had, and I’m sure given her history that she agrees.

Speaking of, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt give more of their time and money to poor and vulnerable people throughout the world than, like, 99.999% of Hollywood. They have two of the biggest hearts and two of the most open pocketbooks around. They’ve probably already donated to causes to benefit poor people with breast and ovarian cancer who need testing and treatment, but if they haven’t — which I doubt — I wouldn’t be surprised if they established a foundation specifically for that any minute now.

The first person who shouts ”She’s got nannies!” gets a punch in the boob. A nanny is a babysitter who is always on call. That is IT. They are not a parent you hire because you’re stuck with a kid and you don’t want to parent them. If you are using them that way, you are being a bad parent and a bad boss. Unless you are someone who has never had a spouse, a relative, a friend, a paid babysitter, or day care watch your kids, you have no right to dump on someone because they can afford to have a babysitter on call. It doesn’t make them any less of a parent to have a freaking babysitter. Oh, and having a nanny (or more, what with six kids) does not mean you’re fucking okay with having cancer.

Angelina Jolie is in a position as an actress when her sexuality and attraction are important to her moneymaking appeal per our societal standards. It’s hard enough to go through something like this if you’re an average woman whose breasts aren’t part of a package which Hollywood has displayed as sexually attractive for something like twenty years straight. By getting a double mastectomy, she’s basically saying that her husband and kids are more important to her than being your fucking spank material.

this explains everything about me and my bffs

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:21:25 -0500

grodus:

true friendship is being comfortable enough to openly discuss pornography with each other

I just unlocked the Grimm: The Waking Dead sticker on...

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:02:57 -0500

I just unlocked the Grimm: The Waking Dead sticker on GetGlue

3497 others have also unlocked the Grimm: The Waking Dead sticker on GetGlue.com

Are there zombies in Portland? Thanks for tuning in to the return of Grimm tonight! Keep watching Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC! Share this one proudly. It’s from our friends at NBC.

spinstercatlady: More photos here: Spinster Cat Lady » Et...

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:24:18 -0500

spinstercatlady:

More photos here: Spinster Cat Lady » Et un autre chat!

haha five…please let this be the last of them