We often wonder, incredulously, when the internet will reach a limit on talking about superhero porn parody movies. Not that we think the production of such things should stop or that they’re not worth reporting on, we simply went through a period where we felt awash in a vast and unruly sea of Batman XXX: A Porn Parody information.

When does the idea of superhero porn parodies reach a point where we feel the need to report on them? What other facet of our news mandate does it have to intersect with for us to want to tell you about it?

File sharing and copyright issues, as it turns out.

The animators of The Simpsons would like everyone to know that despite the Banksy directed “couch gag” containing a depiction of their workplace being full of rats, lacking in light, and enslaving children and unicorns and murdering kittens; their working conditions are actually pretty normal.

Nelson Shin, who has worked on The Simpsons since it’s first airing in 1989, told Time that

The satire… gave the impression that Asian artists slave away in subpar sweatshops when, in fact, they animate much of The Simpsons every week in high-tech workshops in downtown Seoul. “Most of the content was about degrading people from Korea, China, Mexico and Vietnam,” Shin fumed. “If Banksy wants to criticize these things … I suggest that he learn more about it first.”

Banksy has declined to comment on the intended meaning of the sequence (understandable, since ideally a work of art should speak for itself), though Time argues that the conditions were likely aimed to represent workers in South Korea’s northern neighbor.

Seemingly in a prime display of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” the European Commission has approved a French plan that will have the Carte Musique program give €25 (about $35) to people aged 12 to 25 to spend on music downloads. No, really.

Read on...

What’s grey and white and brownish-red all over?

This recently discovered extinct Peruvian penguin. Inkayacu paracasensis (a name that means ‘water king,’ how cool is that) lived during the late Eocene period, and was probably a very deep diver.

Says Dr. Julia Clarke, leader of the University of Texas’ study on the animal:

One thing that’s interesting in living penguins is that how deep they dive correlates with body size… The heavier the penguin, the deeper it dives. If that holds true for any penguins, then the dive depths achieved by these giant forms would’ve been very different.

Paleontologists were able to figure out the color of the enormous bird because its feathers were fossilized along with its bones.

Weren’t we just talking about robots uniquely equipped for murder? Well here’s another one.

Panasonic just debuted a hair-washing robot. Simply recline in a chair, place your head in the receptacle of this washing machine-sized contraption, and hope it doesn’t use its eight fingered hands to pop your skull like a grape.

The US Military might not be looking to make veteran Marines glow with an eldritch green light, but they are looking into making other things glow by borrowing tricks from fireflies and plankton.

And by “looking into” we mean funding university studies with grants. The big deal about bioluminescence is that it creates light without creating heat, making it invisible to infrared and other heat-seeking tech. Possible applications include “creating biodegradable landing zone markers that helicopters can spot even as wind from their rotors kicks up dirt,” making “‘friend vs. foe’ identification markers and security systems, and methods to track weapons and supplies on the battlefield.”

And also being totally cool.

It’s hard to say what, if any, effect Neal Stephenson‘s new start up will have on the future of communication, nanotechnology, or Nazi war gold, seeing as how it doesn’t really have anything to do with those things and its first project is more about the future of publishing and copyright.

From The New York Times:

The company [called Subutai], based in Seattle and San Francisco, has developed what it calls the PULP platform for creating digital novels. The core of the experience is still a text novel, but authors can add additional material like background articles, images, music, and video. There are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with other readers.

Their aforementioned first project launches today, a serialized novel called The Mongoliad, co-written by Stephenson, Greg Bear, and other people.

Remember that Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war that happened what feels like ages ago? Well Sony’s Blu-ray won, but even if the war were still raging, Sony’s upcoming developments would blow them both drastically out of the water. Like, so far out they’d be in a landlocked country. On another planet.

Sony’s new technology would allow for readable discs containing 20 times the information held on a current Blu-ray disc. For reference, the new disc can reportedly hold as many as 50 full movies, more if they’re short. Or, where we really could see practicality regarding DVD sales is television shows. Instead of a meager 3-6 episodes per disc, full seasons would now fit on a single disc. No more giant boxes and discs getting lost in the sofa.

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The Japanese space agency JAXA announced yesterday that their IKAROS drone is successfully propelling itself through space in the wind of its massive solar sail, giving hope to all those who dream of spaceflight without carrying all that heavy fuel around with you.

The IKAROS was launched about two months ago, and its sail was unfurled in early June.

YouTube’s HTML Injection Vulnerability (/.)

Best Transformers Toy Ever? (Kotaku)

What ‘Yankee Doddle Dandy’ Actually Means (Neatorama)

Two More Mad Max Movies? (Coventry Telegraph)

Kinect Only Supports Two Players At A Time (That Videogame Blog)

Coma: The Flash Game (Played Online)

8 Historic Symbols That Mean The Opposite of What You Think (Cracked)

(image via BoingBoing.)