National holidays are so boring.

September 1, 2008 1:27 PM

Laboring on labor day? Some things to keep you busy. Ugly Mailboxes. Bizzare Statues. Hand Drawn Maps. French Manhole Covers. What's special about this number?.
posted by Lutoslawski (22 comments total)

They ought to call it Managing and Coordinating Class Day, since that's who gets the day off.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:31 PM on September 1, 2008

Actually, 1729 is not only a taxicab number, Ta(2), but it is the one which Ramanujan and Hardy discussed on Ramanujan's deathbed, and the one from which the others get their name. See here for more information.
posted by ubiquity at 1:41 PM on September 1, 2008

Why is emptywebsite using Javascript from buttonred.com, a site that FF3 happily blocks due to it being reported as an attack site.

Linking to malware on MeFi?
posted by stace at 1:41 PM on September 1, 2008

Yeah, Avast went completely apeshit when I clicked on that Empty Website link.
posted by Token Meme at 1:45 PM on September 1, 2008

Yeah, Avast went completely apeshit when I clicked on that Empty Website link.

Same here.
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 1:48 PM on September 1, 2008

Sorry about the empty website link. I didn't have any issues with it. If it is malware, its news to me. Apologies.
posted by Lutoslawski at 2:03 PM on September 1, 2008

There's a weird script on the "Empty Website" after the empty body tags. The script consists of eval(unescape("long string of hex characters")). I'd stay away if you're running a malware-susceptible OS (Windows, and... er, Windows).
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:19 PM on September 1, 2008

I want a mailbox that looks like goatse.
posted by cropshy at 2:20 PM on September 1, 2008

You're making my browser labour.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:20 PM on September 1, 2008

Volcanic Satellite Images
posted by homunculus at 2:23 PM on September 1, 2008

Is there away to remove just that tag? I don't want to fuck up people's browsers.
posted by Lutoslawski at 2:23 PM on September 1, 2008

Historical Churches in Italy
posted by homunculus at 2:32 PM on September 1, 2008

You know, I remember looking at manhole covers in Paris as a kid (my grandparents used to live in the suburbs) and thinking how much nicer they were than anywhere else, but until now I'd completely forgotten I remembered. Thanks for the nostalgia!
posted by bettafish at 2:42 PM on September 1, 2008

The manhole covers are teh awesome.

Thanks, Lutoslawski.
posted by jason's_planet at 2:59 PM on September 1, 2008

Here's a bizarre statue in Washington DC: it celebrates the first Boy Scout jamboree in 1937.
posted by acrasis at 3:30 PM on September 1, 2008

I removed the Empty Website link, no idea what that was about. Carry on.
posted by jessamyn at 3:55 PM on September 1, 2008

That was a close call. I feared I would have to spend the rest of my life in the French manhole cover site! Clicking the red X stopped it but hitting the back button started it again. Finally had to kill it and re-enter MetaFilter. Maybe I should have shouted"Arretez" since clicking Stop was useless.
posted by Cranberry at 4:11 PM on September 1, 2008

On the bright side, I was grumbly and bored until selecting the mailboxes and maps; by the empty website I was noticing a familiar sensation and, finally, your username. So I (finally) signed myself up. Think I could pick you out of the inevitable interworldwide web too?

Here, for contrast, is my least favorite use of fossil fuels thus far.
posted by JaiMahodara at 5:19 PM on September 1, 2008

Drainspotting
posted by hortense at 7:21 PM on September 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

My wife was a little scared when I told her these french manholes were giving me a stiffy.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:16 PM on September 1, 2008

Mnahole covers are the bomb. US ones often have a location of the cover or of the foundry it was made. My kids and I are always trying to find the one from the furtherst place like the license plate game of states sort of thing.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:19 PM on September 1, 2008

Submission for a competition to design a new manhole cover for Vancouver.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:32 PM on September 1, 2008