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mefi
Freesledding
looks a lot easier than snowboarding. Some short video clips:
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 7:04 AM on November 19, 2006
(39 comments)
Arthur Kane used to play in a band
While working in a Mormon genealogy library, Arthur asked a member of his congregation if he could get a ride to the pawn shop to get his guitars out of hock. Apparently, the former president of his band's fan club, someone named "Morrissey" had called and wanted Arthur to play a reunion concert with his old
band.
His friend made a documentary about it.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 10:01 PM on October 28, 2005
(29 comments)
Networking on the Network
Started over 10 years ago, long before social web apps became ubiquitous, Phil Agre's
Networking on the Network was an introduction to professional networking, using the internet, for graduate students.
The document has grown and evolved to encompass 90 pages of widely applicable advice on building professional relationships and helping others do the same. Much of what he writes is applicable to surviving in
any institution.
Reading it feels like being taken aside by an expert practitioner who tells you, "Pssst....hey buddy, here's how things
really work."
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 8:47 AM on October 7, 2005
(12 comments)
The Mormon Peanut Butter Assassin
David Race Bannon was serving as a Mormon missionary in Korea when he was caught up in a peanut butter smuggling ring that led to his imprisonment and eventual recruiting by Interpol for project "Archangel," a team of assassins trained to hunt down and terminate the leaders of child sex rings. Whew. Oh, and he
has a book out. Is it just me, or does this sound a little . . . odd?
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 9:51 AM on November 9, 2004
(35 comments)
Whatever happened to Howard Dean?
"He was assassinated by Bill and Hillary with the assistance of Chris Lehane, the political hit man who first worked for Kerry and now backs Clark.
Desperate to keep control of the Democratic Party, the Clintons used their negative researchers and detectives to the ultimate and generated a story-a-day savaging Dean. The Vermont governor, not ready for prime time, cooperated by being thin-skinned, surly and combative. "
caveat: I'm not trolling, but as a democrat I find this interesting. Ok, nauseating.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 9:05 AM on January 24, 2004
(102 comments)
When Web Designers Reproduce
We've all seen web pages announcing new arrivals, and I have thrown up my own minimalist attempts using bare bones html. But I found this link a fascinating example of what happens when one applies a particular web aesthetic to an important life event. A new genre is born!
Is your infant w3c compliant? (no Flash required)
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 6:58 AM on November 11, 2003
(57 comments)
Don't kill p2p because of a few bad eggs
Peer-to-peer networks can be used for legal or illegal purposes. So can the telephone, a newspaper or a church's bulletin board. People are responsible for their own actions and there are laws designed to prosecute people for illegal actions.
The legal uses of P2P are rarely heard, because they are not 'sexy' or political. P2P allows artists and listeners to connect directly. The proliferation of unique works created and distributed on the Internet is staggering.(not the best letter to the editor, but the best I could find)
Ok, so in theory, p2p apps can be used for purposes other than downloading coprighted music and porn. But seriously, does anyone actually use it for legitimate purposes? What do you search for on Kazaa/Gnutella/BitTorrent that is useful, legal, and interesting?
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 8:23 AM on September 16, 2003
(42 comments)
Honda expands their Asimo line of robots
with a stunning 44 ft. unit developed specifically for
Carmax.
From the press release:
Based on Honda's Asimo robot, Carmax and Honda have developed a new version specifically for use in Carmax showrooms. The new version is much larger however - standing at roughly 44 feet tall. Because of its size, it is far less mobile but much more imposing. According to Thomas Folliard, V.P. of store operations; "We're already seeing an effect from the new Asimo sales force -- many potential shoppers are almost, to borrow a phrase, shocked and awed into buying a car.
I hate to be the voice of doom and gloom, but this sounds kinda dangerous.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 9:30 AM on April 1, 2003
(15 comments)
Auto-organic backlinking in Blogspace
Jon Udell has an intriguing article describing the automatic backlinking used by Disenchanted and other sites. For example, if you link to a
Disenchanted article, it automatically links back to you. Udell writes:
More than economy is at work here, though. Offering backlinks is a strategy that furthers the ambition of every blogger to engage other minds. It does so by enlarging the surface area and altering the shape of the posted article, which is the unit of information currency in blogspace.
What a groovin' idea. I like that the backlinking is automated, essentially creating new networks of knowledge with every post. Is anyone else doing this? It seems that if this "feature" were included in existing blogging engines, it could change the shape of the net.
--------------------
Link courtesy of
Kairos News
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 6:48 AM on June 25, 2002
(22 comments)
Lord of the Hackers?
Sherri Turkle writes in the NYT:
Adolescents are wise in the psychology of computer games and Middle Earth. They live in a world they can't control, in a body that seems increasingly alien. To them the computer world is soothing, offering reassurance through mastery. Just as each episode of "The Lord of the Rings" presents a danger and each has its resolution, so many adolescent boys move from one block of intransigent code to another, from one screen to the next, declaring victory as they go.
But this distinction is about more than gender; it is about ways of looking at the world — real, imagined or computer-generated. Some pioneers of computing had a style of working that rewarded risk. They spoke of programming itself as though it were a dangerous quest. At M.I.T. computer hackers even had a name for it: "sport death." To pull back from the impending doom of a system crash required near magic, an almost empathetic knowledge of the intricacies of code. For this community, a certain bravado came to be seen as valuable, even necessary, beyond the world of programming.
Any programmer-hobbits care to comment on this? This doesn't
exactly describe my feelings when unsnarling html.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 7:46 AM on March 8, 2002
(41 comments)
Easy anonymous email
I thought I'd post this since many anonymous remailers no longer exist. In this age of anti-terrorism I don't know how long it will exist.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 9:47 AM on February 2, 2002
(12 comments)
Pumpkins in Space
Water rockets and large vegetables=pure flying satisfaction. (this is an .mpg)
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 12:49 PM on August 4, 2001
(3 comments)
Heaven is just a funky moose.
Complete the frightening experience of returning to the 80s (Star Wars! Cold War! ) with this flash-based Journey retrospective.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 7:45 AM on June 7, 2001
(19 comments)
Survival Research Labs:
as covered by KCOP TeeVee in L.A. I like this clip because not only is the contrast between the slick newscaster and exploding, flaming machinery bizarre in and of itself, but there is some great footage of the SRL shows and machinery. Hey, it's summer!
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 10:40 AM on May 9, 2001
(9 comments)
The Soul of an Old Machine
This is a wonderful article on Ron Popeil, founder of Ronco (remember the pocket fisherman?) and the Showtime Rotisserie. Besides some great reading on the marketing of pre-digital technology, Gladwell has some great things to say about usability.
If Ron had been the one to introduce the VCR, in other words,
he would not simply have sold it in an infomercial. He would also
have changed the VCR itself, so that it made sense in an infomercial.
The clock, for example, wouldn't be digital. (The haplessly blinking
unset clock has, of course, become a symbol of frustration.) The
tape wouldn't be inserted behind a hidden door--it would be out
in plain view, just like the chicken in the rotisserie, so that
if it was recording you could see the spools turn. The controls
wouldn't be discreet buttons; they would be large, and they would
make a reassuring click as they were pushed up and down, and each
step of the taping process would be identified with a big, obvious
numeral so that you could set it and forget it.
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 6:28 AM on May 3, 2001
(21 comments)
Time Digital 2026:
Normally I wouldn't get too excited about Time Digital, but this issue was edited by SF writer Bruce Sterling and features such future niceties as sewerbots and organically grown homes. Now if we could only get him to guest-edit Family PC...
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01
at 6:16 AM on December 6, 2000
