The Empty Chair

"The Empty Chair" by Maarten Baas for Amnesty International in honor of imprisoned artist Liu Xiaobo. Via these sites.

Link roundup

1. Comment and win a copy of the 3D Art Book.

2. "China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work. Labour camp detainees endure hard labour by day, online 'gold farming' by night" Via.

3. I actually didn't like Baldur's Gate very much, but this makes me wish I had. (The 4 in 1 box set mentioned is $18 at Amazon.) Via.

Link roundup

1. "Infographic: Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus."

2. "In China, where a growing demand for organ transplants coupled with a dramatic shortage of donors has fuelled a rampant black market trade, selling your organs for cash is a mouse click away." Via.

3. Guidance (but not instructions) on how to knit the Companion Cube sweater that was featured on various sites last week.

Link roundup

1. China is such a large market that its tastes will become more dominant in consumer items:

When Mercedes-Benz set out to design a new S-Class luxury saloon, to hit showrooms in 2014, Daimler flew 100 Chinese consumers to customer clinics in Germany and the US to ensure they had input in the car’s design.

But the Chinese car boom is shaping the look of some mass-market cars too.

When General Motors designed its LaCrosse saloon, the brand, which is popular in China, devised a roomy and plush rear seat of the kind that Chinese owners – many of whom have chauffeurs – prefer.

2. From a post about the upcoming tv show about Pan Am:

My mother often shared stories with my sisters and me about her training at an “Air Career School,” where students (all women) lived together in dormitories and learned how to become Stewardesses. It was when she exclaimed “And I always was able to eat the pecan pie!” that I understood how times have changed. Each Stewardess-In-Training was weighed every week, and if they gained any weight over the last week, they weren’t allowed to have any of the desserts that they prominently displayed at every meal.

3. Top mp3s are now only 69 cents (and come with free cloud storage) in Amazon's store.