Link roundup

1. "Nineteen years ago three men had the idea of a regular lunch club for crime experts that would try to solve some of the United States' most baffling homicides. The Vidocq Society has now been instrumental in solving hundreds of crimes." Via.

2. On set photographs of Bane will dull your enthusiasm for The Dark Knight Rises.

3. "Inspections by New York's Department of Consumer Affairs found that two-thirds of the supermarkets they visited were overcharging customers at the checkout counter."

*Buy Batman Lego minifigs at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Here's a riddle:

“Why would a tiny woman with no criminal record, who worked 10 years on Wall Street, randomly hold up people at gunpoint at night dressed as a policewoman?”

Absolutely bizarre answer.

2. There's a new Humble Indie Bundle.

3. A claim that China is disassembling and burying the crashed bullet trains to hide evidence. Via.

Link roundup

1. Grotesque corruption at Scotland Yard:

Members of Parliament said in interviews that they were troubled by a “revolving door” between the police and News International, which included a former top editor at The News of the World at the time of the hacking who went on to work as a media strategist for Scotland Yard.

On Friday, The New York Times learned that the former editor, Neil Wallis, was reporting back to News International while he was working for the police on the hacking case.

2. The Michelin Guide (which I believe was originally created to encourage people to drive their cars around France) is just another old media property that's losing money and struggling to remain relevant in the internet age. Via.

3. "The small but energy-rich Gulf state of Qatar is the world’s biggest buyer in the art market—by value, at any rate—and is behind most of the major modern and contemporary art deals over the past six years."

Link roundup

1. It's 60% off posters at Zazzle with the code ZBDAYPOSTERS -- I recommend posters by Steve Thomas, Franco Brambilla, and Adam Koford.

2. Apparently there are 60,000 unsolved murders in Rio de Janeiro, and 24,000 victims haven't even been identified. Via.

3. An assertion that China will lose interest in the NBA with Yao Ming retiring. (It's certainly interesting that there's been no other Chinese players to make an impact in the NBA since him.) Via.

4. Portal to another world. And a similar photo from the same street.

5. Remastered children's books of questionable taste.

Link roundup

1. Spider-Man redesign contest announced at Project Rooftop.

2. The Princess Diana fanfic cover got all the attention for the most recent issue of Newsweek, but there's another inspid feature inside about how some mob wives end up poor:

"This is not some glamorous fantasy," says Schiro, known as Big Linda, while her daughter is called Little Linda. She spends most of her days at the kitchen counter of the rented, sparsely furnished Staten Island condo that she shares with Linda and three of Linda’s four children. Instead of gazing at a banquet-length dining table laden with stolen diamonds and gold, as she did many nights during her 30 years with Scarpa, Schiro clears a place amid the box of Cheez-Its and sleeves of Oreos to rest her elbows and put her graying head in her hands. A pair of Yorkshire terriers yap nonstop at her feet. "This is hell, my life."

3. 27 foot tall cardboard box sculpture of a man that was installed in Cordoba, Argentina in 2006.

Link roundup

1. "The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials."

2. Charlie Sheen says he used steroids for filming Major League. Via.

3. The first half of this article by Bill Simmons about how Hollywood tried to trick people into thinking Ryan Reynolds was a movie star is somewhat interesting. But the second half, about how Will Smith engineered his career like a stat expert, is really fascinating.

Link roundup

1. Looks like the next set of Happy Meal toys will be some totally lackluster Clone Wars toys. Via.

2. Night vision contact lenses. Via.

3. "Noir Afloat" - - vintage photos of the gambling boats that used to float just past three miles from the shore of Santa Monica and San Pedro.

*Buy Happy Meal toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. A claim that Adobe is paying for text links. Via.

2. "A third Los Angeles building inspector has been fired in a corruption probe."

3. The Bad Deal is devoted to pointing out dumb deals at Groupon and other daily deal sites. Via.