The fifth season of Community isn't breaking new ground, but it's a perfectly satisfying addition to a catalogue of episodes that now breaks down into a number of categories. Right now, I think there's a bit of a gradient along which episodes fall: Conceptually ambitious and serious ("Virtual Systems Analysis," "Critical Film Studies"), the lightly serious ("Mixology Certification"), the lightly comedic ("Introduction To Teaching," basically most of the first season), and the structurally adventurous joke factories ("Epidemiology," "Paradigms Of Human Memory," "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics"). — Read the rest

With Pierce's essence preserved in an energon pod and Troy off circumnavigating the world in a sailboat with LeVar Burton, the cast of Community has thinned out. And instead of another madcap theme episode or a special meta-commentary on death or saying goodbye to friends, Community can now get back to its own special kind of normal. — Read the rest

"Repilot" and "Introduction To Teaching"

I'm at a loss on how to properly describe something like the fifth season of Community. It shouldn't exist. It makes no sense that it exists, especially with original creator Dan Harmon, a singularly gifted showrunner who is at the same time cursed to be a hellish guy to work with despite frighteningly astute comedic instincts. — Read the rest

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has new analysis of the leaked Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty, a secretive trade deal being hammered out without any public oversight, and set to be fast-tracked through the US Congress without substantial debate. EFF's piece focuses on the treaty's provisions that affect "termination rights," an obscure but important part of copyright law that allows creators to take their assigned copyrights back from the companies who bought them after 35 years. — Read the rest

Yeongkeun Jeong and Aareum Jeong created the "Reel," a bike accessory that invites you to create a woven container on your frame, using a clever system of adhesive buttons to keep it secure:

The concept is fairly simple. Reel comes in two parts: a long piece of strong red rope, plus a sheet of clear plastic buttons.

Image via Sandy Austin's Flickr

People always ask me what I like to do in Tokyo. What's fun? What's cool. Well here's my dirty secret. Most nights, I sit in my parents' living room and watch silly game shows while drinking green tea and eating persimmon. — Read the rest

Designers Jung-Hyun Lee, Won-Sik Chae and Rhea Jeong have prototyped this "Abracadabra" bookmark that uses a little air-filled bladder to lift the page at the right spot. I think it'd fall out if placed at the page side, as shown here, but it would work pretty well if placed at the spine, in the crease of the binding. — Read the rest

This concept-camera from designer Hye-Jeong Yang is a clever way of reimagining panoramic photography: set it down on a flat surface and it will roll itself in a perfect circle, capturing and stitching pics as it goes.

Link

(via Gizmodo)