FRESH AIR Last week, The New York Times reported that Stuxnet, the computer worm that infected computers around the world in 2010, was developed by the United States in conjunction with Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges. “It appears to be the first time the United States has repeatedly used cyberweapons to cripple another country’s infrastructure, achieving, with computer code, what until then could be accomplished only by bombing a country or sending in agents to plant explosives,” wrote David Sanger, the paper’s chief Washington correspondent. Sanger describes how President Obama decided to speed up clandestine cyberattacks against Iran’s nuclear […]

  PHILLY POST: I’ve seen many photographs and pictures depicting the white man’s mistreatment, dehumanization and outright murder of black people, from that iconic photo of a former slave with whipping scars all over his back to the picture of the 1930s Indiana lynching of two suspected rapists to, closer to home, the 1970s image of the Philadelphia Police vs. Delbert Africa, and many more, but none made me quite as uneasy as this photograph shared several days ago by Philadelphia attorney and Philly Post contributor Michael Coardon his Facebook page, a photo that Facebook has since removed.“It stopped me in my tracks,” says Coard of […]

DAILY NEWS: Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement Sunday in Milan during the 2012 World Meeting of Families there. The meeting, according to a statement sent out by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, began in 1992 as an attempt to “strengthen and defend the sacred bonds of marriage and family across the globe.” This is the first time that the conference will be in the U.S., and the first time that it will be held in a non-Catholic majority country. The conference has been held four times outside Europe, and the Pope has never before traveled to the ones held off […]

Photo by PETE TROSHAK The Dandy Warhols, arguably the most under-appreciated band in America, are currently on the road supporting their new effort This Machine – a dark, powerful, lean, guitar-driven album. The Portland band’s impressive guitar firepower was in full effect on Friday night at the Troc, as guitarists Courtney Taylor-Taylor (rocking a vintage 60’s Fender Coronado guitar) and bowler hat wearing Peter Holmström brought their swirling psychedelic drone-pop to life for the energetic crowd. Drummer Brent DeBoer (referred to as “Fathead” by his bandmates) stepped on the gas peddle and Zia McCabe played whatever else was needed to […]

This is on of Phawker in-house illustrator Alex Fine’s bands. Not sure if this is the garage one or the punk or the surf one or the garage-punk-surf one. Either way, the cradle will rock.

Vestmann Islands, Iceland, 1973, by unknown, re-photographed by JONATHAN VALANIA

BY MEREDITH KLEIBER It’s hard to pigeonhole the style of Philly trio Hop Along. Their latest release, Get Disowned, brandishes singer-guitarist Frances Quinlan’s emotionally charged lyrics with an acid-laced concoction of gritty punk and folk. Mark Quinlan’s drumbeats, simultaneously frenetic and controlled, drive each song, while Tyler Long’s adroit bass licks tie everything together. Hop Along plays their record-release show at the First Unitarian Church with Band Name, Mary Lattimore, and Little Big League tomorrow night  at the First Unitarian Church. Phawker recently sat down with the band in their Olde Kensington studio, where we talked about death, detachment, and […]

Jón Þór Birgisson, Reykjavik, Iceland, 6;23 PM BY JONATHAN VALANIA RELATED: Let’s start with an understatement: things tend to move quite slowly in the world of Sigur Rós. This is true whether we’re talking about the glacial pace of their songs, the glacial pace at which they release them, or their artistic progression. In the 13 years since Ágætis Byrjunbecame the first and possibly only post-rock crossover record, Sigur Rós have edged closer to actual pop while still maintaining their singular place amongst many consumers’ record collections: The band’s stamp of approval is pretty much the only way a lot of people are […]

The Lantern Theater Company’s production of The Island may be entertaining, but its primary value is educational which is a direct result of the gravity of its subject matter and the authenticity of its script. I left the performance with a visceral impression of the horrors of race-based oppression and man’s cruel inhumanity to his fellow man. The Island depicts the relationship between two cell-mates who are prisoners of the South African state during the apartheid era. It is a grim reminder that less than 20 years ago, not too far away in a smallish country just across the Atlantic, […]

Star Trek Costume Contest contestant Lauren Toki Gabbard as Yeoman Janice Rand BY RICHARD SUPLEE GEEK SPACE CORRESPONDENT If you are sensing a disturbance in The Force, it’s most likely because the Philadelphia Convention Center will be home to the annual Wizard World Philadelphia from Thursday to Sunday. While Wizard World Philly is not as big as other conventions like the comic-cons in San Diego and New York, it is a fun experience for both die hard comic nerds and so-called “normal” people. Most of you reading this probably have a vague idea of what a comic book convention is. That […]