Link roundup

1. Thomas P.M. Barnett applauding the utilization of weaponized drones in Libya:

This sort of response sends a lot more signal than the heavy hardware or brigades. It says America will continue to fight as it always has: by generating more stuff than you can possibly imagine. The old model was big stuff. The new model is small and disposable and unmanned stuff. It comes with willpower attached. It's staying power is its dwell time.

China thinks it has a grip on the future with a carrier killer, but it's protecting itself from the 20th century. The name of the game going forward is what it has been these past two decades: globalization's advance, the remapping of fake states, the liberation of people long oppressed by their conditions and cruel leaders, and the new matrixing of supply chains and labor pools as this magnificent process continues to unfold.

2. Octopus ride. Via.

3. Writer discusses how incredibly easy it was to create a fake photograph of an iPhone 5, and get the photo on the main tech blogs.

*Buy iPads at eBay.

Link roundup

1. "The Cal State Long Beach cheer team was stripped of its national title after it was discovered that one of the competing members was not a student."

2. Funny post about comic strip writers who post idealized version of themselves, with possibly the most cringe-inducing Peanuts strip I've ever seen. (I actually made a similar, albeit more subtle observation about James Kochalka a while back.) Via.

3. OK, file this one away for when the reviews come out. Kotaku says, "Raise Your Expectations For The Captain America Video."

Link roundup

1. Someone uploaded Tron: Legacy to Youtube - - the full movie as one, two-hour video. This has to be by Disney, right? It was mentioned on Reddit hours ago, and yet Disney hasn't taken it down. Or does it take much longer than I think for infringing videos to be removed?

2. Recipe for Horseradish Cream Sauce (so good with prime rib).

3. Noxzema now has two fewer ounces than it used to, but comes in the same size container - - which features a false bottom to disguise the smaller amount of product.

Link roundup

1. The NY Daily News says, a woman won a settlement of $850 a month for life in alimony and "the couple's home by convincing a court three years ago that a 1997 car accident left her too injured to work." But her husband spotted photos she had posted about her daily belly dancing and turned them into the court. "Confronted with the damning evidence, [the woman] told the court she was prescribed belly dancing as treatment for her injuries - a statement her doctor contradicted on the stand."

2. The Awl imagines what the menu would be at Passover at Guy Fieri's House (for example, "Gefilte fish parmigiana jammers"). Via.

3. The Mortal Kombat 9 fatalities and Stage Fatalities stepped past amusingly violent and are more like short snuff films. But the babalities are very cute.

Link roundup

1. 60 minutes has reported that Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greg Mortenson fabricated his bestselling books and misused millions of dollars in donations. Jon Krakauer published an expose, and you can read it free before April 20th. Via.

2. You can also read Jim Rugg's Afrodisiac online for free. Via.

3. Outside magazine has chosen its Spring/Summer 2011 winners of the Gear of the Year awards.

All Portal, all the time (t-shirt and tattoo edition)

Portal-themed t-shirt and temporary tattoo by Ian Leno. You can preorder it here, it'll be tomorrow's Tee Fury t-shirt, and Ian's giving away a few tattoos, as described here.

In other Portal news, Kotaku apparently got scammed into promoting a band when the band sent them an email claiming to be part of the Portal ARG. The post originally linked to the band's website and encouraged downloading the band's song at iTunes, but they scrubbed the post to largely eliminate any mention of the scam.

*Portal 2 is $35 at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Excellent overview of the Undertaker's WWE career, including this:

In 2006 The Undertaker was feuding with Randy Orton and his proxy (and father), '80s fixture "Cowboy" Bob Orton. (The Orton-'Taker match at WrestleMania 21, incidentally, was the first to use The Undertaker's undefeated streak as part of the storyline. After last night, his streak now stands at 19 matches.) In one match, an aggrieved 'Taker took it to Orton père, bloodying him badly. Later, off screen, Calaway found out that Bob had once tested positive for hepatitis and that nobody had thought to mention it to him before the two shared a bloodbath. Calaway was justifiably incensed, and the elder Orton was soon sent packing.

2. Jim Shooter has been posting one great anecdote after another. For example:

The San Diego Comic Con used to do this thing where artists would do drawings on stage, and then auction them off to raise money for the con. I remember Jack Katz had set a minimum bid on his of $200, and somebody actually paid $200 for it. Then the auctioneer gets this wonderful, huge drawing of Captain America that Jack had been drawing live on stage, and the auctioneer looks at it and says, “Am I bid $5?” I was so offended; it just cut me like a knife. He, like a lot of fans, didn’t like Jack’s work at that point, and that was his honest assessment of what somebody might pay for this.

And another:

The road that led to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars actually began when Kenner Toys licensed the DC Universe for a boys’ action figure line. Their competitor, Mattel, already had their He-Man action figure line, which was doing very well, but wanted to hedge the bet in case comic book character action figures became the rage. So, they came to Marvel to talk about licensing our characters. One thing they demanded of us was an “event,” a special publication or series to help launch the toy line. I offered an idea that was suggested by a dozen or so correspondents -- usually younger ones -- in the fan mail every day: one big, epic story with all (or many) of the heroes and villains in it. Everyone agreed.

We went through a number of ideas for names for the toy line and series. Mattel’s focus group tests indicated that kids reacted positively to the words “wars” and “secret.” Okay.

Mattel had a number of other requirements. Doctor Doom, they said, looked too medieval. His armor would have to be made more high-tech. So would Iron Man’s, because their focus groups indicated that kids reacted positively...etc. Okay.

3. In 2010, 186 restaurants in Florida were cited for mislabeling their fish. Via.

*Buy Secret Wars toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Newsweek has an awfully disturbing article about rape (against men and women) in the armed forces. (I've made a lot of jokes about The Daily Beast, but Newsweek has actually been a really solid magazine since Tina Brown took over.)

2. So is it bad taste if I follow that link with this one on how to win a fight against a much bigger man?

3. And finally, an article about what it's like to work at Games Radar. Key quote: " I realized that only one thing differentiated me from the author [of the press materials], who was obviously far better suited to write the preview. I was unaffiliated with THQ." Via Reddit.

Link roundup

1. My son's reaction to last night's interminable season finale to season three of The Clone Wars: "What's taking so long?"

2. How to make Minecraft-esque building blocks for the real world. Via.

3. "A USA Today investigation found what appears to be compelling evidence of teacher cheating in Washington, D.C., schools that were heralded as major successes due to test score increases." Via.

Link roundup

1. The Big Lebowski Monopoly board.

2. Sarah Lane, the ballerina who served as a dancing double for Natalie Portman in Black Swan (and who apparently never wants to get another job in Hollywood), told Entertainment Weekly that she performed 95% of the dancing in the movie and that Portman's face was digitally grafted onto her body. Via.

3. Kristin Tercek is auctioning off a new painting at eBay to benefit Japan.

Worst basketball flop of all time?

Watch Chris Bosh writhe in pain after suffering a phantom elbow. (Bosh also shot 1-18 in the game.)

*Buy NBA bobbleheads at eBay.

Link roundup

1. I like the look of the art for the upcoming all-ages Wonder Woman picture book Wonder Woman: The Story of the Amazon Princess

2. Great article about an SR-71 Blackbird flying over Libya in the 80's. Here's a strange detail about the plane at rest:

Ironically, the plane was dripping, much like the misshapen model had assembled in my youth. Fuel was seeping through the joints, raining down on the hangar floor. At Mach 3, the plane would expand several inches because of the severe temperature, which could heat the leading edge of the wing to 1,100 degrees. To prevent cracking, expansion joints had been built into the plane. Sealant resembling rubber glue covered the seams, but when the plane was subsonic, fuel would leak through the joints.

3. Disturbing article about the increasing number and increasing sophistication of fake commenters.

Link roundup

1. Good article about Anonymous and the Westboro Baptist Church. Via.

2. Destructoid loved Bulletstorm. So did Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

3. A newspaper was caught photoshopping an image to make it look like its home team got robbed on an offsides call.

*Buy Bulletstorm at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Gawker caught Men's Health reusing articles from prior issues and just changing the byline.

2. SunChips bags apparently don't actually break down. Via.

3. Great photo of icicles in a NY City subway station.

Link roundup

1. Bizarre story of an art forger who donates his work to museums, apparently just for the thrill of tricking them into believing he's donated a work by a master. Via.

2. "Bill Sienkiewicz's Robinson Crusoe on Mars art prints are currently on sale at the Criterion store, through the end of this month. Use promo code 'MONA50' to get fifty bucks off the regular price." Via.

3. Tenacious Toys has the Visell Bad Badtz Maru figure in stock.

*Previously: $1000 Peter Pan toy by Visell.

Link roundup

1. The Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for its 2011 Edgar Awards. It's interesting how instantly forgettable the book covers for the top five novels are. Mystery lovers don't care about book covers?

2. CFLs are proving to be significantly shorter lived than promised. (That's certainly been my experience.)

3. I've once again been offered money to post infographics.

Link roundup

1. Penelope Trunk on Tim Ferris.

2. Win an expertly painted miniature (link probably NSFW).

3. Cool airplanes desktop wallpaper.

Link roundup

1. Kotaku says NBA 2K11's latest roster update dramatically reduced Tony Parker's "loyalty" ranking, and increased his "steal" ranking.

2. "Most Disney Drawings on eBay are forgeries."

3. "The radiation you get from body scanners is the same as what you get in two minutes in an airplane at 30,000 feet."

*Buy Tony Parker toys at eBay.