If you were to make a huge database of skyscrapers where users could submit their own isometric drawings, I'd tell you that you'd done a wonderful thing.

If you compiled these isometric drawings in to neat collections (see: World's Tallest, New York 1935, and Evolution of World's Tallest) I would then acknowledge that you had made something of substantive import and value, and extend my sincere thanks.

But it is when you provide a robust and responsive search functionality that allows me to include any type of structure, and sort by city, by project status, (eg. "Built", "Under Construction", "proposed", "destroyed") that I drop to my knees and reverently fellate you while holding back tears.
posted by cadastral at 10:56 PM PST - 40 comments

Welcome to Cold War City It covers 240 acres and has 60 miles of roads and its own railway station. It even includes a pub called the Rose and Crown. Oh, and it's underground. And for sale. Much more interesting than the article, though, are these photo galleries.
posted by dersins at 10:51 PM PST - 18 comments

"They use my lines for free -- and that's bull." The CEO of SBC Communications Inc. Ed Whitacre launched this criticism at the likes of Vonage, Google,Yahoo and MSN. Meanwhile Google is seeking some alternative paths to the Internet.Perhaps SBC should head the old adage from John Gilmore "the net treats censorship as a defect and routes around it”Or perhaps these companies need to pay the proverbial Internet plumbers; myself, I prefer more competition;my phone bill has never been lower!
posted by thedailygrowl at 10:30 PM PST - 23 comments

A kick-ass guide to doing stuff on the web.
posted by JPowers at 10:06 PM PST - 18 comments

Up for auction is Vincent Gallo's sperm.
posted by radiosig at 9:52 PM PST - 22 comments

500 panoramic views of parks in 'quality' order. [QTVR] Here are the full screen VRs. All by Erik Goetze.
posted by tellurian at 8:27 PM PST - 8 comments

Old Haunts :: A Halloween Bonanza!
posted by anastasiav at 8:00 PM PST - 3 comments

Ever wonder where lab mice come from? [warning: flash.]
posted by Jon-o at 7:40 PM PST - 20 comments

"Help! My Joe Broke in Half!" From 1982 to 2005, The Complete Guide to G. I. Joe is one man's "one-stop shop" for the die-hard G. I. Joe aficionado, including (but not limited to) theme song lyrics, cartoon transcripts and the aforementioned action figure repair procedure.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:14 PM PST - 19 comments

Oh, Color! From abstract artistic applications to the history of pigments, color has lots splainin' to do. For example, who put color in my World War I photos?! (insert Michael Jackson joke here)
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 6:56 PM PST - 2 comments

We want brains
posted by afu at 6:48 PM PST - 16 comments

The Mystery of the Green Menace "It's been celebrated as a muse and banned as a poison. Now an obsessed microbiologist has cracked the code for absinthe - and distilled his own."
posted by dhruva at 6:28 PM PST - 48 comments

Do you play Sony DRM-protected CD's on your computer? If so, you might be wide open in terms of security. It seems that Sony is installing an almost-impossible to find rootkit on the computers of purchasers of their music. Their EULA doesn't mention the fact that their "small, proprietary" program goes much too far, managing to bypass security software, firewalls, etc. You might want to do this, anyway.
posted by solopsist at 5:01 PM PST - 60 comments

John Peel's box of 142 favorite singles discussed in The Times and The Observer. These guys are collecting the whole set (NSFMPAA). [via Stereogum]
posted by Armitage Shanks at 2:57 PM PST - 83 comments

Armagetron Advanced is a free network enabled Tron lightcycle racer for windows, OSX & linux. Attractive graphics and interesting camera controls make up for a fairly difficult opponent skill level. Screenshots here, download link here.
posted by jonson at 1:25 PM PST - 11 comments

Dear Mrs Bergman,
... I want you to know how deeply I wish to translate those ideas into images, just to quiet down the turmoil of my brain... Yours very truly and devoted,
R. Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini writes to Ingrid Bergman.
The Swedish movie star had written a fan letter to the Italian Neorealismo director Roberto Rossellini, expressing her desire to work in one of his films: "If you need a Swedish actress who speaks English very well, who has not forgotten her German, who is not very understandable in French, and who in Italian knows only "ti amo", I am ready to come and make a film with you".
This is how he responded -- by writing a part for her in his 1949 film "Stromboli." It was the beginning of one of the most famous love stories of the twentieth century. More inside.
posted by matteo at 10:08 AM PST - 14 comments

Anocht Oidhche Shamhna! (Happy New Year!) Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) or Samhuinn (also pronounced Sow-en I guess) "was (and is) considered a very magical time, when the dead walk among the living and the veils between past, present and future may be lifted in prophecy and divination." It's also a good candidate for the most important historical holiday in the European pagan calendar.

Isaac Bonewitz's Neopagan.net has a few pages about the history and misconceptions & lies about All Hallows Eve from the neo-pagan perspective . Concerned that he's trying to get you join some loony cult of tree huggers? While you're there, run Mr. Bonewitz through his own Cult Danger Evaluation Frame and see if you're still scared.
posted by illovich at 9:59 AM PST - 94 comments

Get in the mood for Halloween. To begin, you can carve a virtual pumpkin . Then, over at PingRay, "a free, weekly eguide to the Net's best entertainment," there's a scary short film, a voodoo boss doll and talking monster cards to round things out.
posted by WildThang at 9:37 AM PST - 2 comments

David Skal talks about the Origins and Myths of Halloween. [MP3 file] The author of Death Makes A Holiday was interviewed in 2004 for the radio program Talking History. The Skal interview runs from 4:47 to 18:20 of the program. Skal briefly addresses some Halloween urban legends, which are more thoroughly debunked at Snopes Halloween page.
posted by LarryC at 8:44 AM PST - 1 comments

Illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico is, for the people coming across, a dangerous and not always successful method of trying to live and work here. The Mexican government has published a booklet (english version) which is distributed with some popular comic books and is designed to both discourage citizens from crossing over and offer advice on the dos and don'ts of safe crossing.

Reactions north of the border to this are predictably mixed.
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 8:42 AM PST - 11 comments

Google has a blog. Yahoo doesn't.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 8:12 AM PST - 26 comments

No list that puts MeFi at #55 is perfect, but Yahoo's 100 Sites for Men includes lots of other goldmines, like an info source for embarassing problems, hangover cures, and other gems like Draw Your Boss. Ladies, don't miss the top 100 Sites for Women, and if anyone's Ball of Paint needs are unfulfilled, you can always check out the Top 100 Weird Sites.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 7:41 AM PST - 31 comments

"Boy!!!? Have you been lumberjacking??!!" The Adventures of Dr. McNinja - he fights Paul Bunyan's Disease with his ninja skills and gorilla receptionist. He also knows Batman.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 7:21 AM PST - 32 comments

A final resting place for bad animation. Half-rendered halloween horrors. A tangled corpse (quicktime) not fit for this world. Avert your eyes from these demonic beings (quicktime).
posted by phirleh at 5:41 AM PST - 6 comments

Newsfilter: Samuel A. Alito Jr. is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. His ideological likeness to United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has earned him the nickname "Scalito." According to CNN, he is expected to be nominated to the Supreme Court later today. This site provides more background and links to some of his important decisions. Here's one anecdote about him. If you want, you can even rate him at Rate It All.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:36 AM PST - 223 comments

A fantastic collection of old school toys posing in many astounding and awkward landscapes consolidated into a Flickr slideshow. Just as life should be.
posted by panoptican at 5:40 PM PST - 11 comments

Cleaning up the WMD's 20 years ago the US passed a law to destroy the stockpiles of WMD's it has. There have been many snags and lack of funding. We need to get rid of them before they are used against us and the old ways of disposal just won't work anymore. What can be done?
posted by Balisong at 5:39 PM PST - 11 comments

Express Yourself, It's Later Than You Think (warning - tiny grey type. also available here with original illustrations and an all over the place old-style table layout.) Illustrator Brad Holland defines some basic terms of Postmodern Art. For additional reading, see his memories of hanging out at the Playboy mansion with Shel Silverstein.
posted by TimTypeZed at 3:59 PM PST - 14 comments

Japan's Ruling party, has released a new draft of the Japanese Constitution The draft drops the whole 'renouncing war' bit, and re-titles article 9 'national security'. Japan is one of the largest military spenders in the world. Second only to the United States (IIRC). The new constitution also stipulates that the Emperor is the "head of state".
posted by delmoi at 3:58 PM PST - 44 comments

Death as we know it will die. If you wish to be a prophet, first you must dress the part. No more silk ties or tasseled loafers. Instead, throw on a wrinkled T-shirt, frayed jeans, and dirty sneakers. You should appear somewhat unkempt, as if combs and showers were only for the unenlightened. When you encounter critics, as all prophets do, dismiss them as idiots. Make sure to pepper your conversation with grandiose predictions and remind others of your genius often, lest they forget. Oh, and if possible, grow a very long beard. By these measures, Aubrey de Grey is indeed a prophet. The 42-year-old English biogerontologist has made his name by claiming that some people alive right now could live for 1,000 years or longer. Maybe much longer. Growing old is not, in his view, an inevitable consequence of the human condition; rather, it is the result of accumulated damage at the cellular and molecular levels that medical advances will soon be able to prevent — or even reverse — allowing people to go on living pretty much indefinitely.
posted by sharksandwich at 3:58 PM PST - 43 comments

If you're going to to break into the cowboy business, this is as good a place as any to do it. [more inside]
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:49 PM PST - 8 comments

Illustration Friday is exploding dog for the rest of us. Each week, they post a theme (this week it's "broken") and anyone can submit a drawing based on that theme. Surely this is a double post. But I searched and couldn't find it.
posted by grumblebee at 1:32 PM PST - 20 comments

A retired Chinese chemist whose daughter is a PhD student at Caltech, regularly posts his earthquake predictions on his website. He claims to have successfully predicted the Bam earthquake in 2003, the Indonesian earthquake in 2004, the Pakistan earthquake in 2005 and numerous others by identifying earthquake clouds in satellite images supposedly caused by stress and friction acting on underground water. Oh and Southern California? Brace yourself. You are heading for a 7.0 plus quake on or before February 3rd, 2006.
posted by DirtyCreature at 12:57 PM PST - 24 comments

Mologogo Track any Java/GPS enabled phone through a convienent Google Maps based interface with mologogo.
posted by phrontist at 12:15 PM PST - 10 comments

Risen from the ashes. For nearly half a century, the ruins of the Dresden Frauenkirche lay untouched, as a memorial to the Allied bombardment in February 1945 that devastated the city. Over the past decade, the church has been painstakingly rebuilt, with assistance from former enemies. Today it was reconsecrated.
posted by holgate at 9:13 AM PST - 32 comments

On this day in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire, 32 year old Muhammad Ali knocked out 25 yead old George Forman and regained the World Heavyweight Title. "The Rumble in the Jungle was a fight that made the whole country more conscious," Ali wrote at the time. "The fight was about racial problems, Vietnam. All of that." Above all the fight was a demonstration of Ali's inventiveness in the ring. After dazing Foreman with his trademark quickness in the first rounds, Ali fell back against the ropes, and waved Foreman to come get him. Protecting his head, Ali let Foreman pound away at his ribs and his gut. "At about the seventh round, I had him beaten, I knew I had him," Foreman recounted after the fight. "He fell on my side and whispered, ‘Is that all you got George?’ I knew something strange was happening in my life especially because that was all I had." In the eight round Ali came off the ropes and unleashed a fury of punches against his exhausted opponent. The dope went down. "I did it," Ali boasted after the fight. "I told you he was nothing but did you listen? I told you I was going to jab him in the corners, I told you I was going to take all his shots. I told you he had no skill. I told you he didn't like to be punched."
posted by three blind mice at 7:57 AM PST - 58 comments

Baby Cage. Infant Confinement Specialists since 2001.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:39 AM PST - 49 comments

Photos before the show starts Yakutat AK; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA; L.A; Cleveland, OH.
posted by efalk at 4:35 AM PST - 15 comments

I guess if you already have X-Box, this will have to suffice. [Warning: Embedded WMV file]
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:04 AM PST - 57 comments

To invoke Fast and the Furious: It's not how you play the game that matters, it's the color of your uniform
posted by daksya at 11:10 PM PST - 21 comments

Harmonie/Harmony: a beautiful flash of birds,poetry imbedded 435 clicks
posted by hortense at 10:57 PM PST - 8 comments

Gallery of funeral art. On this halloween weekend, a brief collection of photographs of tombstone carvings & other cemetary decorations.
posted by jonson at 10:21 PM PST - 6 comments

Sophie Scholl , a member of the White Rose, was beheaded in 1943. Her crime? Being brutally honest with a brutal regime. Her punishment was death. It's now a film, Sophie Scholl, the Last Days. I'm looking forward to seeing this. Finally Germany is showing great films.
posted by movilla at 6:01 PM PST - 26 comments

Why Does God Hate Amputees? - Marshall Brain, creator of HowStuffWorks and author of Robotic Nation, has posted his latest work, a multi-chapter website examining the delusion of religious belief. If you're busy, he suggests reading Understanding Delusion. If you want the whole story, start at the beginning. (title explaination)
posted by jsonic at 5:53 PM PST - 216 comments

Global Voices Online. I was a bit surprised to find that this hasn't been posted. Global Voices aims to foster a more diverse online conversation primarily through spot-lighting blogs written by people all over the world. It started last October and has really picked up steam these last few months.
posted by panoptican at 4:25 PM PST - 9 comments

Bomb blasts in New Delhi. The three explosions seemed to target shoppers preparing for the festival of Diwali (previous post on Diwali here).
posted by homunculus at 12:02 PM PST - 35 comments

'My religion contains pain, suffering, sacrifice,/Hardship, and bliss. My shoes are God.' H.G. Bissinger's book Friday Night Lights told the story of a town consumed by devotion... to its high school football team. 'These places really are like shrines,' said Bissinger in an interview for the movie's web site (flash). Nike ads invite viewers to 'test your faith daily' and Muscular Christians distance themselves from 'musclemen.' Secular America still bends its knee in the name of the sound body, and Hail Mary passes are recalled in detail twenty-five years later. Of course, not everyone subscribes to the culture of fitness.
posted by rebirtha at 10:48 AM PST - 16 comments

Nature has a somewhat technical but free supplement on sleep
posted by Gyan at 9:28 AM PST - 19 comments

Richard Smalley , Nobel Laureate and co-discoverer of C60 (buckminsterfullerene) passed away yesterday. He was 62 years old. RIP.
posted by lalochezia at 8:06 AM PST - 21 comments

A literal cornucopia of online web design resources to help you keep on top of specifications and sites related to CSS, accessibility, graphic design (color tables and theory), DOM, typography, and much, much more...
posted by Rothko at 7:28 AM PST - 40 comments

Alter Egos. Robbie Cooper explores the world of online gamers again.
posted by brautigan at 10:59 PM PST - 7 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 by mecran01 at 10:01 PM PST - 29 comments

Rusty's family tried to accept his kinkier interests. "Father, will you buy me that leash for my birthday?" "But Patches already has a leash," said Father. "I didn't want it for Patches," said Rusty. Father chuckled uncomfortably.
posted by jonson at 8:55 PM PST - 36 comments

Go Rangers This is the tale of a young man who lost an eye to a suicide bomber in Iraq and THEN joined the U.S. Army Rangers. I don't think that he was busy calling his Mom.
posted by snsranch at 5:56 PM PST - 51 comments

U2, the Pope, Bush, Blair and Oprah together -- doing head and shoulders! Yet more Flash Friday fun.
posted by Hot Like Your 12V Wire at 5:49 PM PST - 23 comments

The Best Banned Advertising, from the publishers of the Best Rejected Advertising books, is a collection highlighting quality ads that received numerous consumer complaints and in some cases government bans. Most aren't your typical "too hot for tv" commercials; some are fantastic.
posted by kyleg at 5:13 PM PST - 23 comments

What to do when you have more richies than quaint antique European towns for them to buy? Create a new one. The newest in über premium five-star living for the non-cyclical rich. [via We Make Money, Not Art]
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:36 PM PST - 11 comments

Sinister Dolls: "They lived. They died. They were raised from the grave. Sinister Dolls were once ordinary dolls". More creepy art by the same artist. Happy Hallowe'en!
posted by biscotti at 1:51 PM PST - 13 comments

This has got to be the awesomest pumpkin ever.
posted by essexjan at 1:41 PM PST - 32 comments

Now there's hope. Ask your doctor about Hetracil. [Honestly, I've posted this thinking it's a parody... These days, though, one never knows.]
posted by ancientgower at 1:20 PM PST - 48 comments

Have you seen this person? Friday flash fun. Make your own police sketch.
posted by Gamblor at 1:20 PM PST - 9 comments

WoWFilter: It's official. The Burning Crusade debuts today in Los Angeles at BlizzCon, a company-sponsored event that is also showing off Starcraft: Ghost. The convention has been sold out for nearly 3 months now. Surprisingly, even after selling out all the tickets, Blizzard went on to announce that The Offspring will perform (with an opener from Christian Finnegan), there will be a fully equipped exhibit hall, and the event will take place right next to Disney Land. The convention opened its doors this morning, and Blizzard promptly put up the official site for the expansion. The only question that remains is: What is the new mystery playable race for the Alliance? My vote is for drunk Panda Ninjas.
posted by thanotopsis at 12:58 PM PST - 43 comments

"Hey Mom it’s me." Something my son always said every time he called, but this time his voice sounded unusual. He had a really serious tone in his voice and the automatic gunfire in the background was loud and more constant than usual. My heart began to race and I took a deep breath. "Hey, I'm trapped on a rooftop and I don't think we are going to make it out of here, so I just called to tell you that I loved you and that I am thinking of all of you."
posted by caddis at 10:47 AM PST - 114 comments

Einstein Speaks from Beyond the Grave... To issue a vigorous challenge to the muddled claims coming from all sides about the inherent incompatibility of science and religion. (No secondary links to go with this, but in my opinion, this link is interesting enough to stand on its own.)
posted by all-seeing eye dog at 10:20 AM PST - 69 comments

Heiterkeit (12 meg quicktime movie) is an utterly charming German music video about all the other fun things you can do lying down. (Yes, it's entirely safe for work, unless your workplace forbids quirky charm.) If you enjoy it, check out Transsylvanische Verwandte(12 meg quicktime movie), another work by the same director. For a look behind the scenes of both films, there's this making-of video. (The making of video is a realplayer file, and it's in German--but I don't speak German, and I got the general idea.) Via Antville.
posted by yankeefog at 10:03 AM PST - 12 comments

Last night I didn't fall asleep until early in the morning. And I've got a long day ahead of me. So, what the hell is making me smile at seven thirty-five in the morning? (embedded quicktime)
posted by still at 9:59 AM PST - 57 comments

Its official. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby indicted on two counts of Perjury, two counts of Making False statements and one count of Obstruction of Justice. All of which are felonies. It is expected Libby will tender his resignation today.
posted by SirOmega at 9:48 AM PST - 320 comments

Is the US broken beyond repair? Columnist Peggy Noonan asks some disturbing questions about the US and its future. Have the wheels come off the trolley and are we headed off the tracks. Can anyone put us back on the tracks or is it too late? A very thought provoking article.
posted by waltb555 at 9:28 AM PST - 117 comments

Old School tough guy. Perhaps the single most hated villain in wrestling, Dick the Brusier was a midwest legend and his matches always scored a high positive on the Muta Scale before there was a Muta Scale. Brusier typifyed t.v. wrasslin' before the second golden age, as late as 1976 you could still catch a match on the small time UHF channels. But whether he and his tag team partner Crusher were real blue collar guys or not, you can smoke cigars, drink beer and gobble bbq in his old stomping grounds.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:59 AM PST - 18 comments

Famous last words

and a famous last ramble

"Hey, Jimmie! The Chimney Sweeps. Talk to the Sword."
posted by Mr T at 8:49 AM PST - 26 comments

Dengue in Texas. If it ain't the flu, it's the haemorrhagic fever. Disease info from WHO, CDC, Wikipedia.
posted by Eothele at 8:35 AM PST - 10 comments

Hundreds of hours of unedited interview footage with television pioneers. From the Archive of American Television, previously available via appointment, now available via Google Video. Okay, so maybe Michael J. Fox [video link] is no pioneer, but Norman Lear [video link] is. Also Mister Rogers [video link].)
posted by nobody at 8:19 AM PST - 2 comments

Good smell perplexes New Yorkers How odd the city smelled sweet, like maple syrup, and all over: up in Harlem, downtown, in Astoria, Park Slope, other parts of Brooklyn. And what was it? A breakout of MSUD and public urination? Or something more fortean or more sinister?
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 7:54 AM PST - 120 comments

A slideshow via Beware of the Blog: "Pathways To Music, Part One: The Birth of Electronic Music" [QT req].
"This installment covers electronic music from 400 BC to 1950, including analog techniques such as the "soundhouses" of the 17th century to the glass harmonica, before finally moving along to early electronic instruments such as the Dynamophone and the Ondes Martenot." View Part II [MP4]
posted by hall of robots at 7:01 AM PST - 3 comments

Death in Sakkara: An Egyptian Adventure (flash).
An Indiana Jones style web-based game from the BBC's Ancient History department.

Egypt, 1929. Journalist Charles Fox plunges into a darkly sinister world of intrigue, murder and mysticism in the hunt for a missing archaeologist.

Oh yes, it's really hard.
via Wonderland
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:19 AM PST - 17 comments

To boldly go where no one has gone before. George Takai comes out of the closet! Old Star Trek episodes suddenly become gay kitsch, develop strange, new context. Sexuality: The Final Frontier?
posted by insomnia_lj at 12:59 AM PST - 106 comments

It's Comcastic! Manipulate and record messages with digital flash-based puppets. All the fun of real marionettes, but without the pesky strings. (The site also features some dexterity tests/games for your mad mousing skillz)
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:56 PM PST - 22 comments

The Yoda hip hop dance easter egg from the latest Star Wars DVD is posted at Google Video. 1 min long, flash video.
posted by jonson at 8:35 PM PST - 54 comments

"Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo."

A frothing rant on bloggers and blogging by Forbes [bugmenot]. Don't miss their advice on how businesses can fight back!
posted by nyterrant at 6:56 PM PST - 61 comments

How things do change! A short Guide to Iraq published in 1942 by the US government. The handbook was written for American soldiers who were stationed in Iraq to prevent Nazis from seizing the country’s oil. .... 63 years later.
posted by threehundredandsixty at 6:51 PM PST - 30 comments

Bill O'Riley's Cowards List. Includes such luminaries as Dick Cheney, Michael Chertoff, Jeb Bush, Tom DeLay... Cindy Sheehan. And many more.
posted by delmoi at 3:35 PM PST - 64 comments

I love to guita-r. (QT required, but the downloads were pretty fast.) Wha-wha without the paddles. These are videos of past winners and hall-of-famers of US Air Guitar Championships. Makes for a laugh.
posted by countzen at 3:27 PM PST - 12 comments

Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything. Suggesting specific podcasts might be a little iffy but if you haven't heard Benjamin Walker, you're really missing out. A self-described "radio artist," Walker's delivery immediately jumps out. And once you start to listen to whatever it is he's saying, you'll find yourself angry, fascinated, entertained and/or perhaps enlightened.
posted by panoptican at 1:58 PM PST - 15 comments

Wild-Landscape photography
posted by Gyan at 12:56 PM PST - 15 comments

Retrieved photos: This fellow develops film that has been locked away in cameras, often for a long time. Some interesting photos. The commentary under the photos is a bit ... lackluster. A nice little site to waste a little time with.
posted by edgeways at 12:32 PM PST - 49 comments

The last remaining Brown Derby in Los Angeles has been sold, and is reportedly facing demolition in favor of a condo complex. Will the historical landmark go by the way of the Ambassador Hotel, or will signing the petition help?
posted by Lillitatiana at 12:31 PM PST - 12 comments

Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) uses a mild electric current, applied to the head, to influence the perception of motion. [NTT Lab] [AP article] [Making people act drunk]
posted by rxrfrx at 12:27 PM PST - 5 comments

GrooOOoovy Halloween Sharity Tiki-Tim's Exotica Lounge has been posting a fab collection of 60s Halloween novelty records, including Frankie Stein and His Ghouls, Gene Moss and His Monsters, a Munsters album, and other gems. Just the thing to get the party going!
posted by carter at 11:37 AM PST - 7 comments

Named after the hill on which Jesus was crucified, Golgotha Fun Park, once the country's #1 shaded biblical mini-golf destination, is now but a memory. Fortunately, there are still other options.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 11:23 AM PST - 14 comments

Meet the only out player in Major League Professional Sports: Sheryl Swoopes, of the WNBA. Will Swoopes's revelation help chip away at the homophobia that is rampant in some locker rooms and fuels much of the negative recruiting that goes on in women's sports? She has her own Nike shoe--the only woman to ever get one, and now, another first for this rarest of athletes – someone who comes out publicly during their career.
posted by amberglow at 10:56 AM PST - 181 comments

Newsfilter: If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Israel, would anybody listen? Apparently this time they are. While vague threats from Iran are a dime a dozen, "Since 1945, the establishment of the United Nations, no head of state which is a member of the United Nations ever called for the destruction of another member of the United Nations, publicly and clearly, as the president of Iran did." according to Shimon Peres, in demanding that Iran be expelled from the UN for the statement. Much of the world seems pretty upset (including the US, who's destruction was also called for on this merry "World without Zionism" conference), but will it lead to anything, or is it just a ratcheting up of the hyperbole between Iran and the IAEA?
posted by loquax at 10:53 AM PST - 111 comments

You park, they pay NYC Port Authority found negligent by having parking under WTC. Jury finds terrorists 32% responsible for exploding van there in 1993. 400 plaintiffs seek $1.8 billion, NYCPA will have to pay 100% of the damages that might be awarded.
posted by dand at 10:11 AM PST - 45 comments

Knitting Pattern Hall of Shame This site appears to be where all the really bad patterns get held up to all the ridicule they deserve. I’ll be kind and say that these designers must have meant well. After all, there must be a certain demand for that perfect pattern to make for the gay pride parade or your favourite knitting fetish bar or to get one through those days of abject self-hatred. Every designer has trouble remembering that not every woman is 5’10 and 115 pounds. And it’s really kind of heartwarming that they try so damn hard to sex up knitting. But knitters, before you make any of these, please remember a few basic rules: one’s knitting project should not land one on an endangered species list, give one retina burn or a heightened cholesterol level, or house more than six people. And if your boyfriend dumps you when you give him this for Christmas, rest assured that you’ll get custody of it. (via MonkeyFilter, courtesy Melinika).
posted by orange swan at 9:30 AM PST - 27 comments

RFID+US Passport? By October 2006, the U.S. government will require nearly all of the passports it issues to include a computer chip containing the passport holder's personal information...
posted by yoga at 8:43 AM PST - 41 comments

Assembler is a compilation of exclusively foreign, obscure and unreleased video game consoles, as well as strange hybrids, developer units and something you might have found in the Sears catalog ten years ago.
posted by setanor at 8:24 AM PST - 10 comments

The Art of Mark Bryan :The Metal Man, The First 1000, giddyup. At the Solomon Dubnick Gallery.
posted by OmieWise at 7:12 AM PST - 8 comments

Iraqi insurgents are rejecting al-Qaida in favour of the political process. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad spent 5 days with an Iraqi resistance group during the constitutional vote, and found that al-Qaida involvement in the insurgency-particularly their tactic of targetting Iraqi police and soldiers-is both unwelcome and unwanted. Instead many Sunni are looking toward using the democratic process to achieve their ends.
posted by MadOwl at 6:59 AM PST - 42 comments

Newsfilter: Miers withdraws herself
posted by cillit bang at 6:07 AM PST - 157 comments

Mystery of the Scream. In August 2004, two armed and masked robbers pulled off a stunning daylight robbery when they entered the Edvard Munch museum in Oslo and pulled The Scream and Madonna off the walls in front of stunned visitors and carried them out of the museum. Although suspects have been identified, no charges have been filed, no arrests have been made, and the paintings remain missing. Last week, the museum gift shop began selling a children's board game called Mystery of the Scream where players assume the roles of art thief and police. Not everyone was amused. Kaare Berntsen, artistic director of Oslo's Kaare Berntsen Gallery, said "In principle I find it a bit in bad taste to make a game out of the theft of The Scream." Yesterday, bowing to pressure from the Norweigan government, the museum pulled the game from the shelves.
posted by three blind mice at 5:22 AM PST - 15 comments

Although originally posted in 1999, Tales of Mere Existence bears a repost, as the site has been updated since then with lots of new and hilarious films and comics about "stuff you think but don't talk about." (QT)
posted by amro at 10:14 PM PST - 14 comments

88 years in the making. The Chicago White Sox have swept the series.
posted by wfrgms at 9:51 PM PST - 74 comments

Are Texans Poised to Ban All Marriage Altogether? A group opposed to the Texas anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative is pointing out that the language in Proposition 2 (one of nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution up for a vote November 8) might actually ban all marriages: gay, straight, whatever. The group -- Save Texas Marriage -- is organizing phone banks, offering signs and fliers, and pointing to language in the measure that would ban "any legal status identical or similar to marriage" without specifying that the ban would apply to gay persons. Prop 2 supporters, of course, are crying foul.
posted by mmahaffie at 7:27 PM PST - 55 comments

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Step right up and see the Sideshow. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we have something here for everyone. See the freaks of nature, the mutants, the human oddities, the sword swallowers, the dime museum, a special exhibit of sideshow banners from the past, and yes, we even have, live before your very eyes, direct from the 21st century, special acts from the Coney Island Sideshow. And for a small extra charge, a special section of premier performers including exhibitions of pugilism, as well as an exhibit of posters from Tod Browning's movie, Freaks. The circus starts in a little over an hour and a half, so you have plenty of time to see these astounding wonders of the world.
posted by mischief at 7:19 PM PST - 22 comments

How to learn about difficult things
posted by iffley at 7:19 PM PST - 26 comments

Rolling Bomber Special! [Embedded Video] Those Japanese... they have a knack for combining the bizarre with the strangely compelling.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:34 PM PST - 32 comments

Artist Jesse Reklaw takes people's descriptions of their dreams and turns them into four-panel comic strips. Similarly, The Dream Project turns descriptions into movies. Until we figure out how to record dreams in real time, this is the next best thing. Updated weekly. Submit your dream (or apply to illustrate one yourself). [props]
posted by mowglisambo at 5:47 PM PST - 10 comments

The Great Italian Yellowcake Scam. Three- part translation of a three- article series in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "attempted to reconstruct the who, where and why of the manufacture and transfer to British and American intelligence of the dodgy dossier for war." [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha at 3:42 PM PST - 17 comments

Filmgeeks -- and I know there are many on MeFi -- may wish to check out smallformat, the magazine for Super8, Single8, and 16/9.5/8mm enthusiasts. It's mother is the long-established German magazine of the same name. First issues went out the door only a few days/weeks ago.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:18 PM PST - 14 comments

Merlin Mann's 43 Folders podcast is hilarious.
posted by nthdegx at 2:27 PM PST - 48 comments

The American Civil Liberties Union today made public an analysis of new and previously released autopsy and death reports of detainees held in U.S. facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom died while being interrogated. The documents show that detainees were hooded, gagged, strangled, beaten with blunt objects, subjected to sleep deprivation and to hot and cold environmental conditions. The documents released today are available online...
U.S. Operatives Killed Detainees During Interrogations in Afghanistan and Iraq
The Bush administration has proposed exempting employees of the Central Intelligence Agency from a legislative measure endorsed earlier this month by 90 members of the Senate that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoners in U.S. custody... "This is the first time they've said explicitly that the intelligence community should be allowed to treat prisoners inhumanely," said Tom Malinowski, the Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "In the past, they've only said that the law does not forbid inhumane treatment." Now, he said, the administration is saying more concretely that it cannot be forbidden.
Cheney Plan Exempts CIA From Bill Barring Abuse of Detainees
posted by y2karl at 1:51 PM PST - 69 comments

If Fox News had Been Around Throughout History... We've learned that Greeks are in fact hiding *inside* the horse and will be attempting to infiltrate the city of Troy after nighfall... via essays & effluvia
posted by jasper411 at 12:50 PM PST - 41 comments

Aibo-Life : a page for people who love their Aibos way too much. Linked is the media page with photo galleries, videos of tricks, and terrifying visions of expressionless robo-raves. (shades of the furby-bending chorus)
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 12:40 PM PST - 7 comments

Indian Techie Flamewar [yes via 204.11.50.136]
posted by srboisvert at 12:18 PM PST - 24 comments

Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman raped by village order, is now in Madison, Wisconsin, at the invitation of Glamour Magazine, to receive an award honoring her struggle for women's rights. Nicholas Kristof, of the New York Times, broke her story to the world, calling her "one of the gutsiest people on Earth." She is in the United States despite an attempt by President Pervez Musharraf to bar her from traveling, because the visit might tarnish the country's image. Her "crime" was previously discussed on MetaFilter.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:58 AM PST - 27 comments

LA-DEEEES AND GENTLEMEN! STEP RIGHT UP! THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! The Strange and Unusual, the Freaks of Nature, the Shocking and the Bizarre! YOU won't BELiEVE your EYES!
posted by crunchland at 11:15 AM PST - 7 comments

Babycal Throw A simple and enormously addicting game. Consider yourself warned.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 10:02 AM PST - 35 comments

We believe that a power greater than Sid Meier can restore us to sanity. Yeah, World of Warcraft may currently be ruining your life, but I'd bet good money that over the long haul Civilization and other games by Sid Meier have ruined more lives than that upstart. Don't give in! NO MORE TURNS!
posted by WolfDaddy at 9:38 AM PST - 78 comments

A statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was recently unveiled at San Jose State University. Smith and Carlos were (in)famous for their raised fist protest on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics, for which they paid a heavy price.
posted by rocket88 at 9:19 AM PST - 50 comments

"R2 that seg fault is popping up again, see if you can lock it down!"
posted by Witty at 8:40 AM PST - 20 comments

Labour Party charlies cock-up smoking ban plans. Despite years of very public debate on what seems like a fairly straightforward subject, it now looks like the UK government will be forced to rethink its plans to introduce a smoking ban in public places across England and Wales. Research in places where bans are in place all support the claims for health benefits, and the Scottish Parliament is taking the lead in the UK by introducing a total ban next year, so why can't the Labour Party make up its mind? If you're tired of waiting for the government to take action, this site lists smoke-free restaurants and hotels around the world.
posted by londonmark at 5:50 AM PST - 121 comments

Critical to Attend London Critical Mass this Friday. 11-year-old London Critical Mass is under threat thanks to the new SOCA laws - that's the Serious Organised Crime Act, which we all realise was drafted for precisely this kind of thing. The Metropolitan Police distributed letters at last months ride and threaten to turn a peaceful, non-political non-demonstration into exactly the opposite. Inevitably this month's ride is set to be the biggest yet. It is reminscent of the on-going Manhattan farce (mefi) and also Milwaukee.
posted by criticalbill at 2:20 AM PST - 71 comments

The Starbucks Cup. An icon of taste and excess. On one hand, it's honored by the National Recycling Coalition for adding post-consumer recycled content (wow, 10%!). On the other hand, it's announced that the cups will soon feature religious nuggets from Rick Warren, author of the Purpose-Driven Publishing Empire. What gives?
posted by billder at 11:50 PM PST - 68 comments

Congratulations, you have just volunteered yourself to be part of this game. The aim is simple: get to the end !
posted by jonson at 11:48 PM PST - 44 comments

Wal-Mart urges Congress to raise minimum wage and "unveiled a series of initiatives designed to present a kinder, gentler face for the world's biggest retailer... exploring ways to use the company's heft and resources to have a more positive impact on society." In its bid to turn over a new leaf, Wal-Mart also announced it's going green and lowering health care costs for its workers. Is this a new sign of rethinking the social responsibility of business where the kind of growth matters as much as the amount? Or is it right to be skeptical of it as a ploy to help open more stores like its critics charge?
posted by kliuless at 9:02 PM PST - 60 comments

The Acoustics of Gases. The high-pitched version of your voice that you hear when you inhale helium represents a cool principle. Unlike the speed of light, the speed of sound is quite sensitive to the composition of the medium that it travels through. A gas such as helium that is much less dense than the air we normally breathe and hear in will actually cause the speed of sound to increase, a phenomenon that we perceive as a Chipmunks-like change in pitch. A couple of scientists have used this relationship between sound frequency and gas composition to invent an acoustic device for monitoring the gas composition of air. Of course , if you're a canary this is nothing new.
posted by derangedlarid at 8:58 PM PST - 23 comments

Climbing Eiger ... 40 years after your father died trying - New docu-drama from Yahoo - pretty gripping.
posted by RonZ at 8:01 PM PST - 19 comments

Autumn Omakase - A Tasting Menu from Tatsu Nishino. A nine course primer to one chef's exploration of seasonal Japanese cooking. Provided as a lushly illustrated, freely downloadable 64 page pdf.
via
posted by boo_radley at 7:37 PM PST - 16 comments

I don't think enough people appreciate the comic possibilities of suicide anymore. (via memepool)
posted by es_de_bah at 7:27 PM PST - 19 comments

Last Post. Evan 'Darby' Allan, the last of Australia's 330,770 World War 1 veterans, was buried with full state honours yesterday, closing one of the most dismal chapters in our history. Joining the navy at 14, Darby avoided the bloody horrors of the Somme and Gallipoli, which contributed heavily to the over 60 000 Australian war dead and 200 000 total casualties (from a population of only about 5 000 000), but he still played his part in what many historians suggest was the prime cause of 20th century totalitarianism, the second world war and the cold war. And it was all so pointless. He seemed like a nice bloke, and the reportage has thankfully avoided most of the 'hero' bullshit (I don't think he would have approved).
posted by wilful at 5:34 PM PST - 40 comments

Bad Design Kills The world is steeped in bad design. As designers we see something every day that makes us cringe or shake our head in disgust. But bad design does more than offend the eye of the designer. It facilitates a poor public perception for what our industry does and at the same time it lowers the perceived value of our services.
posted by ColdChef at 5:13 PM PST - 65 comments

Until now, the last World Series team without a black player was the 1953 New York Yankees. (via SpoFi)
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:32 PM PST - 86 comments

Octacube Sculpture The stainless-steel Octacube is a striking object of visual art and also a mental portal to the fourth dimension, a teaching tool, and a research object bringing together many branches of mathematics and physics connected to the structure of symmetry.
posted by thecollegefear at 4:29 PM PST - 27 comments

"We believe everything should be free!" Oolsi is a new zine about free tools, self-learning and living free. Won't somebody just make a new Whole Earth Catalog already?
posted by mingusmingus at 1:35 PM PST - 31 comments

Darth Vader Butter Sculpture. This was featured at the Tulsa State Fair, as one their annual butter scultpures. We've got Darth on our minds, right up there with the ultimate father figure while still making the usual dorky fan art (balloons, balloon masks).
posted by beezy at 1:30 PM PST - 21 comments

Gamer Br is a documentary of the gaming scene in Brazil (has English subtitles). A seemingly odd place for video gaming, it's garnered a conference, national tournament to make it to the world tournament, and actual worldwide champions. They also have an interesting console economy from which Sega still rules. Of course, banning video games doesn't help much.
posted by cleverusername at 12:33 PM PST - 7 comments

Milestones. On the same day that Iraqi election officials have reported the draft constitution having passed, U.S. sources are reporting that the American military death toll in Iraq has reached 2,000 people.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 12:29 PM PST - 73 comments

What does modern history have to teach us about the age of American empire? The final chapters of the British Empire offer lessons and parallels aplenty. Empires don't last forever, and the combination of martial victory, popular ennui, and liberal anti-patriotism is a dangerous mix for a superpower.
posted by four panels at 12:23 PM PST - 40 comments

All known idea generation methods.
posted by signal at 11:44 AM PST - 13 comments

Discover the goodness that is Hack A Day -- DIY geekery of all sorts awaits you: vacuum forming • Infrared web cams and digital cams • robotic helicopter • Telemarketer Interception System • Jacob's Ladder • Dobsonian telescope [pdf] • prison tatoo gun • TIG welder • parallel and serial port sound • LCD projector • FM transmitter [tripod] • computer-controlled glider • jet-powered beer cooler • retro wooden laptop • White Trash hoverboard • refrigerator speaker cabinet • tornado machine [pdf] • fog machine • LED Pimp Bed • seismometer • persistence-of-vision game system • webcam telescope • racing game controllers • Segway • laser projectors • flamethrower • bagpipes and hours upon hours of time wasting others.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:41 AM PST - 20 comments

Set the Arcs in Motion [Flash game]
posted by Gyan at 11:29 AM PST - 42 comments

No surprise: Warmest September (globally) since record keeping began, according to NOAA, 1.13 degrees above the 1880-2004 long term mean, with land temperatures more than 5 degrees F above normal across large parts of Asia and North America. Ocean temperatures were third highest on record.
posted by stbalbach at 10:33 AM PST - 46 comments

I Want It That Way Hilarious videos of two Chinese boys lip-synching. Also these.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:55 AM PST - 18 comments

Mr Angry & Mrs Calm. This illusion will BLOW YOUR MIND.
posted by smackfu at 9:48 AM PST - 42 comments

Sony drops 250,000 superballs on San Francisco in a crass attempt to distract you from the outrageous price of flat-screen TVs. [quicktime, direct link here]
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:31 AM PST - 45 comments

The 25 Most Shocking Moments In Film History. Poop eating. Involuntary ear amputation. Shocking revelations. But did they forget any? (Spoilers ahoy!)
posted by you just lost the game at 8:52 AM PST - 144 comments

Test Your Knowledge of Islam. Also: Understanding Islam, Ramadan 101, Mrs Muhammad, Healthy Fasting. Other useful links here.
posted by matteo at 8:20 AM PST - 30 comments

"[A] nightmarish sort of Mother Goose tale" are the words Charles Laughton used to describe the only film he directed, The Night of the Hunter (1955). Although James Agee is credited with helping to write the script, most critics agree that Laughton discarded Agee's effort for his own interpretation of the novel on which the movie is based. A fascinating series of rushes survive from the making of the film, showing Laughton's rapport with the actors and his own interpretations of the characters. In 2003 a detailed description of the making of the film was published as Heaven and Hell to Play With. Ebert on the movie. Margaret Atwood on the movie.
posted by OmieWise at 8:19 AM PST - 26 comments

"Because I publicly humiliated this lick-spittle senator Norman Coleman..." Storming Norm Coleman just doesn't know when to stop. He has aired new claims against George Galloway. Galloway, not surprisingly, has fought back, begging to be charged with perjury. Earlier was certainly entertaining, get some popcorn for this round. And get ready for even more uses of the word lickspittle.
posted by allen.spaulding at 7:45 AM PST - 52 comments

Wha be tha blake prevy lawe
That bene wantoun too alle tha feres?
SHAFT!
Ya damne righte!

(Obligatory secondary links).
posted by swift at 6:12 AM PST - 22 comments

Do you mix your own? Welcome to the website dedicated to making mixed tapes and cds. i like to use this site along with AMG (as a reference tool) to come up with much needed new ideas , and share them with people of similar tastes. just copy the names you find in AOTM (the ones you have no idea who they are) paste in the search engine at AMG and then listen to a sample of music from said group , to see if its your thing or not. here is a group i was introduced to a few years ago . found them ( you guessed it) on AOTM . when you find a mix you like offer to trade one of your own for it and use this site or some thing like it to share with your new friend.
posted by nola at 5:35 AM PST - 22 comments

The Animated Gif Strikes Back
posted by srboisvert at 4:00 AM PST - 33 comments

Gen H-4 The world smallest co-axial helicopter (Japanese site) with video here [wmv]. {via}
posted by tellurian at 1:18 AM PST - 29 comments

The Financial District, Pea Soup fog, the Oakland-Bay Bridge, Alamo Square, City Hall, and the view from Telegraph Hill of the Loma Prieta earthquake [Quicktime .mov file]--here's San Francisco, all made with Jell-O.
posted by fandango_matt at 11:28 PM PST - 25 comments

So long, and thanks for all the thrills. This weekend, Astroworld (I refuse to prepend "Six Flags") will close its doors. Envisioned in 1968 by Judge Roy Hofheinz (who also brought us Houstonians a major league baseball team, and a stadium in which they could play), the amusement park was where I spent a lot of my childhood in the 70s. Grass roots movements to save the park have failed, and thus it's time to say goodbye to the place that played host to one of the best rollercoasters in the world, a ride that scared the crap out of me, a double ferris wheel with a twist, as well as the Boogie Fog Disco, where I learned how to do The Hustle. All's not lost, as at least I can download the Texas Cyclone, but I still feel a little misty-eyed for the boy who spent most of his weekends in this magical and wondrous place. Farewell.
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:56 PM PST - 58 comments

Unraveling thread now reaches VP Cheney (NYTimes) and Reuters, (for those of you desiring a reputable news source.)
posted by spock at 8:55 PM PST - 132 comments

The machine that makes you a savant. (NY Times, No registration copy here) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation sounds sketchy at first, but there is growing evidence this device developed for brain mapping can change and maybe even enhance mental functions, and may (or may not) be especially useful against depression. The results of the first major US trials will come out in 2006, as discussed in this MIT Tech Review article (PDF). Are you ready for one at home?
posted by blahblahblah at 7:19 PM PST - 43 comments

Rosa Parks, RIP
posted by amberglow at 7:05 PM PST - 194 comments

Ubisoft's demo of the new King Kong PC game comes with a lovely surprise: StarForce copy protection software. Starforce installs a device driver with no warning, and many users have complained that it causes system instability. It also appears totally contrary to the idea of allowing users to copy the demo between one another (effectively robbing Ubisoft of free advertising). As with any form of copy protection it appears StarForce is simply an annoyance to the casual user, while the dedicated pirates are well on their way to cracking it.
posted by pivotal at 6:06 PM PST - 38 comments

Transform New Orleans into the World's First Arcology? The good Doctress Neutopia has a new mission: New Orleans is to be rebuilt as Arcosanti writ large. Perhaps one of the remaining Monster Truck Neutopians will lend a backhoe? Get the FAQs and the counterFAQs on the inventor (back around 1994) of the world's first online religion, and join the lovolution! (and I can't believe DN has never appeared on MeFi before, but thus sayeth the Search)
posted by Creosote at 4:35 PM PST - 32 comments

White House orders The Onion to stop using Presidential Seal. Via The Trademark Blog. see also 18 USC §713
posted by anathema at 4:33 PM PST - 66 comments

CBC Radio - Canada's publicly-owned broadcaster, has some amazing websites dev