May 9

It's Now Completely Impossible To Sell a Laptop on eBay. See also: A Few Thoughts About eBay's Decline
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:21 AM - 85 comments

Reefer Madness. The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.
posted by three blind mice at 3:40 AM - 65 comments

If you’ve been arrested by the police and the lawyer you choose to call is Jacques Vergès then you’ve probably done something bad. Very bad. There’s a film out about his extraordinary career and his strange 8 year disappearance.
posted by Brian Lux at 3:36 AM - 17 comments

The Scene. Detroit. Channel 62. One of the hottest TV shows in Detroit between 1975 and 1987. "Here for us with The Scene, you got to see people you knew from school or there was a chance you'd run into them at the mall." "It had a lot of impact on me as far as being a deejay and being exposed to music that I wouldn't ordinarily be exposed to." "I got two left feet; I'd just make a fool out of myself. And you'd have some people down there that would do that, but the energy was - you didn't care." [Previously on MeFi.]
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:29 AM - 6 comments

Students for Sensible Drug Policy responds to "Operation Sudden Fall" [more inside]
posted by needsnoprosecutor at 12:43 AM - 41 comments

May 8

Killing by the numbers. "In 2007 elite U.S. snipers executed an unarmed Iraqi prisoner in cold blood. Have the insidious tactics that led to atrocities in Vietnam reemerged in Iraq?"
posted by homunculus at 10:25 PM - 32 comments

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Movies by Armond White. Premiere.com critic and cineaste blogger, Glenn Kenny responds. Movie reviewers across America lose their jobs. Hachette Filipacchi follows suit at Premiere.com. Kenny blogs about The End of an Era - having written reviews for the site and the previously cancelled Premiere magazine for nearly fifteen years.
posted by crossoverman at 9:44 PM - 32 comments

Harmanz ha haz b bargan ahn za MMARBG Ahban Bahb [brahbazazzah ] ar zambahz. Zambahz haz AAGHZ g!bz gab azzar zambahz: a, b, g, h, m, n, r, z. Zambahz maz hab gab, za Zambahz zgrabbarh Zamgrh, a gab grh a gab bag, a grammah, n zhranzazzaz. Habganna barbaga zaarz grh za bra!nz?
posted by xthlc at 9:32 PM - 28 comments

It turns out if it looks like a duck it's partly a duck. A bunch of scientist got together and set about to decode the platypus genome, and guess what!?! "What we found was the genome, just like the animal, is an amazing amalgam of reptilian and mammal characteristics with quite a few unique platypus characteristics as well". “You have got these reptilian repeat patterns and these more recently evolved milk genes and independent evolution of the venom. It all points to how idiosyncratic evolution is.” “We have microRNAs that are shared with chickens and not mammals as well as ones that are shared with mammals, but not chickens.” Also, apparently, male platypi have venomous spikes on their heels that can kill dogs! [more inside]
posted by Large Marge at 9:09 PM - 41 comments

Too much traffic? Can't find parking? Choking on smog? Worried about climate change? Gas prices too high, but you still have to drive? Send your city planner a link to the Online Encyclopedia of Transportation Demand Management strategies. [more inside]
posted by salvia at 9:04 PM - 5 comments

West Nile virus and Avian influenza and Chronic wasting disease, oh, my! (and Monkeypox...) Outbreaks of disease in populations of wild and domestic animals, having such a heavy impact on human health, has led the United States Geological Survey and the University of Wisconson to develop a way to track news of disease outbreaks around the planet: The Global Wildlife Disease News Map.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:11 PM - 5 comments

15 Great Examples of Web Typography. Because 95% of web design is about typography in the first place.
posted by signal at 6:46 PM - 40 comments

The pictures that horrified America - how comic books tipped 50s America into a moral panic. [more inside]
posted by Artw at 4:34 PM - 40 comments

CityTV to apologize for photos stolen from Flickr. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has issued a ruling that CityTV must make a rare on-air apology for broadcasting pictures taken from Flickr without crediting the photographer.
posted by GuyZero at 4:21 PM - 26 comments

Patrick Dangin on the work of a photo retoucher . Make no mistake about it: in this age, even Real Beauty is fake.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:16 PM - 34 comments

Bebe Barron, 82, Pioneer of Electronic Scores, Is Dead. Best known for the soundtrack to the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet -- the first full-length feature to use only electronic music -- she and her husband Louis Barron recorded the film's pre-synthesizer "electronic tonalities" with electronic circuits of their own invention. She never scored another feature film, but remained active in the avant-garde music scene.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:10 PM - 17 comments

With Mother's Day fast approaching, you may want to consider a gift of Orchidaceae. Orchids belong to the most diverse family of plants known to man. There are over 880 genera, 28,000 species and well over 300,000 registered cultivars currently documented. First, choose one you would like to cultivate. Then, learn how to buy your first orchid. Finally get the scoop on growing them yourself. Mom will give you a hug, 'cause everyone needs a hug.
posted by netbros at 2:43 PM - 14 comments

Beyond the McIntosh. The apple whisperer of New England.
posted by veedubya at 1:39 PM - 21 comments

Meatwater: A high-efficiency survival beverage. Don't worry; there is bacon water for your dog or cat, too.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 1:32 PM - 40 comments

The full length of Tom Davenport's "Born for Hard Luck" featuring Peg Leg Sam, the last of the great medicine show singers/dancers/musicians. [more inside]
posted by 1f2frfbf at 12:37 PM - 4 comments

"It was relatively quiet along the shores of the Big Island in Hawaii for quite some time. But since early March of this year, lava from the Kilauea Volcano flows down again to the coastal plains - which produces new land for the island - and makes the Big Island even bigger. Now when the red lava meets the Pacific Ocean, giant steam plumes rise high in the sky - this makes it so magnificent and absolutely unique to Hawaii. I photographed the phenomenon from land, water and air. A white plume currently issues from the vent - and I was lucky enough to get some shots." -Josef Hoflehner [more inside]
posted by notsnot at 10:45 AM - 15 comments

UFC 75. Boucher V. Mathis. (SLYT) [more inside]
posted by tkchrist at 10:02 AM - 45 comments

"The Daily Show is no doubt entertainment, but it is entertainment, measurably, with a substantive point. It is, in its own way, another kind of No Spin Zone." The Project for Excellence in Journalism discusses what is and is not journalistic (PDF) about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:51 AM - 119 comments

Eddy Arnold, one of Country Music's all time greats died early this morning just days short of his 90th birthday. [more inside]
posted by dawson at 8:56 AM - 19 comments

Nothing signals the death of a trend like an article in the NY Times Style section. Steampunk: "The subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world..." [more inside]
posted by dersins at 7:47 AM - 209 comments

Medici.tv is an online "television" dedicated to performing arts and music documentaries. Its current catalogue includes many classical concerts, documentaries by Johan van der Keuken and on the Kinshasa musical underground (previously), portraits (lots of Glenn Gould, Shostakovich by Sokurov, Maya Plisetskaya...), and plenty more. Launched April 30th, it's streaming its full contents in lovely quality for free until May 15th. [more inside]
posted by progosk at 7:21 AM - 8 comments

"'If voters fail to return Mr. Mugabe to office...Prepare to be a war correspondent.' Mugabe's party in Zimbabwe spasms into mass repression and political violence to prevent Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change from winning power. The African Union dithers, as does the UN (as it gives Zimbabwe leadership positions). Many Chinese rationalize their government's weapon shipment. According to the government-published Herald, everything's just fine. What are the options?
posted by shivohum at 6:59 AM - 28 comments

Six days ago, the Chaitén volcano in Chile began a surprise eruption. So far, more than 8000 people have been evacuated, and NASA has tracked the results from space. Even more stunning however, are the images that occurred when a thunderstorm collided with the volcanic plume.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:53 AM - 55 comments

The Heritage of the Great War
posted by anastasiav at 6:27 AM - 8 comments

Here's a small representation of some of the culture that many Tibetan protesters hope to save from eradication in Tibet: Heart Sutra, by Geshe Kunkhen. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:18 AM - 16 comments

Several websites have been trying to out do one another in the melt your oystercard using nail polish remover stakes. I like Skeptobot's idea of using an Oystercards RFID chip in a magic wand. But, so far, for me Chris Woebken is winning, not least because he ties it all in with an interesting discussion of e-money. Add a video of a magnetic glove being used to give Darth Vader like powers. And only one word remains - genius.
posted by munchbunch at 5:41 AM - 20 comments

The year was 1978. The US Dollar was collapsing, inflation was beginning to surge, the American economy was on the brink of recession and many warned of the perils of easy money. Needless to say, Arthur Burns, 10th Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, had a tough job. [more inside]
posted by Mutant at 4:27 AM - 80 comments

Tank on empty -- how far can your car go on an empty tank? Basically a collection of statistics and stories from users on just how far they pushed their car on reserve fuel. (via) [more inside]
posted by spiderskull at 1:20 AM - 44 comments

Every issue of Simplicissimus from 1896 -1944 as PDFs.
Click 'Abruf der Hefte'.
posted by Taksi Putra at 12:16 AM - 16 comments

May 7

1968: Lessons Learned. Dissent Magazine examines the transcontinental legacy of one of the most tumultuous years in world history. Essays from Marshall Berman, Robin Blackburn, Mitchell Cohen, Ralf Fuecks, Vivian Gornick, Michael Kazin, Enrique Krauze, Lillian B. Rubin, Christine Stansell and Michael Walzer.
posted by amyms at 11:33 PM - 42 comments

Some people like to make things difficult for Mario, but others like to make it easy (and musical!).
posted by mullingitover at 10:28 PM - 20 comments

A letter from the whole world: "Dear sir, you won the internet!" And more from Patrick Alexander and his Hilarity Comics. "I want the... the Sonic. The Facebook. I'm sorry."
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 10:19 PM - 20 comments

"With most animals, males duke it out and the winner gets the girls," says Holekamp. "But with hyenas, females have 100 percent say." They decide when and under what conditions they will tolerate deferential sperm donors. At age 2 or 3 a male leaves his natal clan and wanders off to beg acceptance into another clan. After vicious rejections, he eventually succeeds and reaps his reward: brutal harassment as the clan's nadir, one of the last in line for food and sex. This probation, which biologists call "endurance rivalry," is a test, Holekamp explains: "The guy who can stick it out the longest wins." The trial lasts about two years, after which some females may grant him access. "You do not want to be a male hyena," Holekamp says.
-From an article in Smithsonian Magazine, Who's Laughing Now? Professor Holekamp's hyena site. Also, hyena pictures and The Hyena Pages, a fine site about this fascinating animal.
posted by Kattullus at 8:28 PM - 32 comments

Tom Waits Press Conference (that is all)
posted by ornate insect at 8:24 PM - 78 comments

FaceStat, a new startup from crowdsourcing consultants at Delores Labs bills itself as "market research for the individual." You upload a photo of yourself, and "within a couple hours, you will have detailed statistics about how people feel about the picture you provide." Oh, and it's powered by creepers like you, using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (previously posted about here). [more inside]
posted by thisjax at 7:20 PM - 37 comments

Chinese manufacturers are setting up shop in the U.S. due to a weak dollar, energy shortages, tax credits, and a desire to compete globally.
posted by gman at 5:23 PM - 38 comments

With the big screen bonanza imminent, let's have a go at bean-plating G.I. Joe.
posted by mikoroshi at 3:34 PM - 40 comments

Animal Kingdom Odd couples . Evidently, altruism is everywhere.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:33 PM - 25 comments

Jacqui Smith to reclassify cannabis - despite pressure from the UK Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Home Secretary has announced the reversal of Tony Blair's 2004 decision to downgrade cannabis. Critics see the move as pandering to tabloid scaremongering
posted by Acey at 3:28 PM - 59 comments

Art curators explain (on youtube) Luc Tuymans art and suggest how people on the street would respond to it. How correct are they?
posted by semmi at 3:05 PM - 23 comments

Ebbsfleet? Never heard of it? Not even the new international railway station? A 50m sculpture is hoping to change that... the five short-listed designs have been revealed today.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:02 PM - 15 comments

Teams of student entrepreneurs around the world had six days to add value to a stack of Post-It notes as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. The results are documented in Imagine It!, which aims to promote creative thinking. [more inside]
posted by divabat at 3:00 PM - 20 comments

The Day the Music Died The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [...] has also been warning anyone who would listen that they should not “purchase” encrypted music from these services, since if these services go under then all that “purchased” music will no longer… what’s the word… “play”. But mostly people ignored them (and me), because, you know, Microsoft was at the center of it all, and nobody ever got fired for “buying” from Microsoft.
posted by desjardins at 2:18 PM - 66 comments

Gmail Redesigned is a really slick CSS makeover for - you guessed - Gmail. It uses the Stylish Firefox add-on. (So yes, this is something you would need a computer, firefox, and gmail to care about.)
posted by Wolfdog at 1:45 PM - 63 comments

Federal and state government officials and border activists say the garbage dumped in the Sonoran Desert by illegal immigrants and their smugglers is staggering. The cleanup is costing taxpayers millions. The Southern Arizona Project(pdf) is a multi-year program setup by the Bureau of Land Management to mitigate the impacts to the ecology by illegal immigration and smuggling. In 2006 alone, more than 1.18 million pounds of trash was collected along the southern Arizona border.
posted by netbros at 1:17 PM - 22 comments

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