skip to main content
April 30
ITV Digital is
dead. I woke up this morning to find channel after channel replaced with a blue screen, telling me they can no longer broadcast pay-tv. Mtv UK are marking the occasion with lots of slow contemplative music. I want my Mtv! (and E4, UK Gold and ....)
posted by feelinglistless at 10:28 PM PST - 12 comments
Hamas accepts Saudi peace plan:
"There has been generation after generation (of war). Now there is a generation who needs to live in peace, and not worry about their safety," said [Hamas executive Ismail Abu] Shanab. "So it is a generation that wants to practice living in peace and postpone historical issues. We speak of historical Palestine, and practical reality."
Since their official position is that "Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason" (
Hamas Charter, Article 32), this is a dramatic change in policy indeed. I'm gobsmacked; this is utterly unbelievable, yet apparently real. And genuinely hopeful IMHO. What do you think?
posted by boaz at 9:16 PM PST - 16 comments
Canadians fuzzy on concept of left and right.
A new poll suggests that three quarters of Canadians have trouble telling political left from right. Sort of makes me wonder why voter turnout is higher in Canada than the U.S.. Canadians are also hard to pin down politically, as polls suggests they generally want less taxes
and more government spending.
posted by bobo123 at 9:07 PM PST - 17 comments
Now we know why French was required in school : échangisme, libertinism, Cléopâtre
"For the past 18 months Jean-Charles and Sylvie have had a standing date with each other and with a changing cast of instantly made new best friends at a private club in central Paris called Cléopâtre...échangisme, she said, is something more interesting than the movies to do on a Saturday night...nearly 50 restaurants, clubs and saunas in Paris openly cater to heterosexual adventurers. " Time to bring back Plato's Retreat. [NYT reg req]
posted by Voyageman at 8:42 PM PST - 5 comments
VCards
are sort of a viral(or maybe voyeuristic) greeting card. You send one to someone, and they are sent your note with some attachments. The recipient is asked to run one of them(a VB script), that decrypts the other files, which are three images randomly chosen from the hard drive of the person who sent it to them, and so on. Everything is explained up front, and full source is provided at the web page.
posted by Su at 6:53 PM PST - 10 comments
Havening (sic) a lousy day?
Whenever the IT industry gets me down, I look to this oldy but goody of a link to help me realize that I don't have it all that bad. Have you ever been on any tier of computer support? This is a classic (albeit somewhat cruel) chronicle of working alongside a useless help-desk drone we'll call George.
posted by machaus at 6:26 PM PST - 25 comments
Who caused the great flood?
Yesterday,
Ernie posted a notice that Steve from Blue's Clues was leaving to become a rock star. Now Steve's web site seems to be down for bandwidth overages. They might be unrelated; still, it raises important questions about the possibility of accidentally overloading someone else's server. Where do burdens lie in this scenario? Does anyone have a historical perspective on this sort of situation? =]
posted by spaceboy86 at 4:25 PM PST - 22 comments
Why the towers fell.
PBS is airing a
special episode of Nova about the science behind while the World Trade Center towers collapse. Nova's reputation for converting esoteric science & engineering into understandable explanations for the layman should make the show something to watch. 7PM EDT/PDT on most PBS stations. Set your Tivos.
posted by Argyle at 3:58 PM PST - 23 comments
Aaah, the joys of PetitionOnline.com. As of right now, 840 people have petitioned Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema to
change the name of "The Two Towers," the sequel to The Lord of the Rings, saying that Jackson purposely made the title in reference to the September 11th attacks.
Nevermind the fact that the book of the same name was published by Tolkien in 1954. Naturally, there is a
petition against the petition. Hooray, democratic process!
posted by littleyellowdifferent at 3:47 PM PST - 39 comments
It looks like that the British network
einstein.tv and the
FIDE may open negotiations this month for a reunified world chess championship. The championship was split in 1993 when Garry Kasparov left the FIDE to start his own failed league. Kasparov claims the world championship left with him, while the FIDE claims he abdicated by refusing to play nice with others. Kasparov lost the championship last year to Kramnik. Einstein.TV is
milking the publicity while the FIDE says
we are meeting but no comment. Wood pushers like me are probably better off leaving the politics to the people who can't stand each other and sticking to the
internet chessclub, the
free chess servers or simply
email chess.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:27 PM PST - 2 comments
The Ancient Library Of Alexandria:
Its long-awaited re-opening has been
postponed, supposedly because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So it seems the age-old dream of historians and poets everywhere(
Jorge Luís Borges comes to mind)will have to wait a bit longer... I wonder, though, if Egypt's ever-stricter censorship laws and practices will ever be compatible with a true, universal library such as, by most accounts, the original Alexandria Library was.[
Via Nutcote]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:21 PM PST - 9 comments
Japans Gross National Cool
- Foreign Policy has an interesting article on the impact of Japanese culture and how it has replaced "Made in Japan" products as the dominant export from Japan. The author points to director Hayao Miyazaki, director/actor Takeshi Kitano, artist Takashi Murakami, and singer/songwriter Namie Amuro, as well as anime in general and Hello Kitty as examples of the global spread of Japanese culture. Do you recognize these people or their work? [more inside]
posted by gen at 2:37 PM PST - 18 comments
Could the end be near
for cult television cartoon family "The Simpsons?"
"I think we are closer to winding it up," the television show's creator, Matt Groening told the Financial Times in an interview published Tuesday."
posted by jcterminal at 2:28 PM PST - 25 comments
Spanish dogs say "guau guau".
Did you ever read comics or something in a language other than your cradle tongue and notice that onomatopoetic words, particularly for animal sounds, are different in different languages? This webpage has animal sounds from loads of languages, organized by language and animal. Indonesian dogs say "gonggong".
posted by jeb at 1:44 PM PST - 46 comments
The Tom Waits Streaming Event.
Anti Records is streaming both of Waits' new albums in their entirety, each in turn for three days starting today, prior to their release. Is the home listening booth for whole cd's a common marketing tactic now?
posted by liam at 1:04 PM PST - 24 comments
Veganism nearly kills baby?
A New york couple is charged with reckless endangerment after there baby is taken to the hospital underdeveloped and near death. The article doesn't specifically say veganism was the reason for the baby's poor health but strongly impies it.
[link via plastic]
posted by drezdn at 10:59 AM PST - 55 comments
Up in Smoke: Drugs and the End of Music.
"It's extremely doubtful whether house would have achieved the dominance it has without E fuelling the nation's clubbers. With ecstasy dictating the musical content of many club nights, the demand for seamless, relentless grooves with little change in tempo has grown and grown ... Dance music is no longer a music that touches the head and heart as well as the feet, as it did with Northern Soul. Instead, it has become a soul-less metronome for the E generation to mark time to."
posted by moz at 9:32 AM PST - 57 comments
Kissinger: Wanted for Questioning.
...as his list of possible vacation spots grows smaller,smaller. Christopher Hitchens details the ever more complex legal situation of former U.S. Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, who is now wanted for questioning by courts in Chile, Spain, and France. Writes Hitchens:
"Recently, I was informed via the former Spanish ambassador to the United States that Kissinger had approached the embassy asking whether he would be safe if he visited Spain. These days he does not travel without legal advice."
posted by Ty Webb at 9:30 AM PST - 30 comments
World of Awe
-- Through a portal on 419 East 6th street in Manhattan, a traveler passes into the Sunset/Sunrise--a desert terrain locked into the mindframe between night and day, in search of a lost treasure. The voyage is documented in a journal found on a laptop evidently built by the traveler in Silicon Canyon, which is a graveyard for old computer components. The journal contains letters to an absent lover, travel logs and descriptions of the unique navigation tools. Following a hi-tech/lo tech, double-sided map (Eep & Moo), the traveler describes a search for a treasure that keeps relocating. The only remains found are crumbs fallen from the body of the treasure that surprisingly resemble candy sprinkles.
posted by boltman at 8:59 AM PST - 6 comments
Prof says pedophilia ain't so bad.
"I don't think it's something where we should just clamp our heads in horror," he said of pedophilia. "In 1900, everybody assumed that masturbation had grave physical consequences; that didn't make it true."
Apologies for yet another NYTimes link.
posted by Samsonov14 at 7:35 AM PST - 102 comments
Do short men get short-changed?
Any real life experiences to back up or refute this study? I found this very interesting:
"If a teenage sense of social exclusion influences future earnings, it may have great implications for youngsters from minority groups."
posted by bittennails at 5:21 AM PST - 65 comments
From a NYT piece
on the horrifying incompetence of NY mental homes:
On a Thursday in June 2000, Mr. Ridges returned from his job and went to his room. He encountered Mr. Chapman and the two apparently argued over rap music, the police said. Mr. Chapman pulled out a brown and gold folding knife. He lunged, stabbing Mr. Ridges more than 20 times in the neck, sternum and arm.
"Me and Greg Ridges didn't get along," Mr. Chapman told the detectives who arrested him.
When Mrs. Ridges did not receive her customary phone call from her son that day, she called the home. An employee told her everything was fine. Wary, Mrs. Ridges went to the home that night, and no one would let her in. Several hours later, police officers showed up at her apartment and told her what had happened.
I get sick of all the NYT pieces on here too, but, damn it, this is just haunting, a long visit in a demented underworld of society that most of us try to ignore. Well worth reading in its (extensive) entirety.
posted by gsteff at 1:03 AM PST - 3 comments
April 29
Fear Can Turn Us All Into 'Good Germans.'
Harley Sorensen takes on the culture of fear and bigotry that's rising in the US and Israel (and other places as well), where people are willing to give up their own freedom in the name of unity, and are happy to
plug their ears when an alternative opinion is expressed. Includes an amazing letter from someone who's "decided not to be Jewish" because of the attitude of his religion.
posted by Jimbob at 11:01 PM PST - 32 comments
Jeez, is Gordon Clune a big jerk or what?
After weeks of anticipation (okay, several reminders from my wife), I sat down tonight to watch the first two hours of PBS's
Frontier House. I thought it was
much better than I expected, but I can't keep the doubts away - is this really just an
1883 Survivor?
posted by yhbc at 8:47 PM PST - 28 comments
"The reality, or substance, of professional wrestling is the ability to perpetuate a fantasy... I can look back and credit my tremendous success to what some would term insanity. I never distinguished between fantasy and reality. I made my fantasy reality for over 60 years."
Lou Thesz, perhaps the greatest pro wrestler of the 20th century,
died yesterday. His autobiography,
Hooker, is one of the best books about pro wrestling ever written.
posted by tranquileye at 7:44 PM PST - 6 comments
Three Dead From Southern Maryland Tornado.
This is the kind of news story you skip because it doesn't happen in your state. It didn't even register to me until I realized that one of my daily reads -
Moire - lives in La Plata. The twister went through her front yard. Her account of the storm and its aftermath is pretty powerful. Were any other bloggers involved? (It's my first post; be gentle.)
posted by web-goddess at 6:42 PM PST - 16 comments
Unlikely Allies Bound by a Common Hatred.
"Herr von Laden is an example for our children." The bridge between radical Muslims and the neo Nazis in Europe and the United States.
In 1991, German neo-Nazis tried to form a "Condor Legion" to fight alongside Iraqis against the U.S.-led international coalition. More recently, members of the European far right have journeyed to Baghdad to express solidarity with Saddam Hussein.
posted by semmi at 5:47 PM PST - 15 comments
Did any other Metafilter parents (or other grown-up fans of children's television) catch
Joe's introduction on Blue's Clues tonight? I've always made an effort to watch whatever my son's watching, so I'm a little sad to see Steve go, but my four-year-old approves of the new host. I am very happy to see that Steve Burns has already moved on to
new, exciting things (including an upcoming album that features several members of the
Flaming Lips). The whole ordeal reminds me too much of the last time a
beloved host was
replaced.
posted by Eamon at 5:27 PM PST - 22 comments
Christians are burning.
News.com has a
story on the latest plan by Liquid Audio & EMI to allow users to
burn CDs of Christian music from net downloads. Are Christians less likely to re-rip the CDs and post them for P2P sharing?
posted by Argyle at 2:35 PM PST - 18 comments
Keep your CEO out of grad school.
I found this article to be provocative. Can the performance of a CEO be judged by just one number (i.e., return to shareholders)? Shouldn't the study be controlling for size of firm, industry characteristics, economic cycle etc.? What do you think?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 2:35 PM PST - 2 comments
Time for a change of business strategy focus?
Nokia and VolksWagen are the examples given,
'the heart of productivity growth is what happens inside the firm, and firms are first and foremost organisations of human beings'
positive role models to lead us from downturn alley?
posted by asok at 2:23 PM PST - 2 comments
What happened to sportsmanlike behaviour in hockey?
Islander fans booed the Canadian national anthem hours after a memorial service for the Canuck soldiers who died at American hands. Fine, whatever, that type of behaviour is expected. They also harrassed Toronto fans in the parking lot outside the rink, including stealing their flags and setting the Maple Leaf ablaze. Now if this was Canadians burning the
American flag...
posted by drgonzo at 11:48 AM PST - 52 comments
I have a bad feeling about this.
The UK government has urged employers to be leniant to staff who want to watch the World Cup when they should be working. Isn't this instantly discriminating against people who happen to like football (Soccer) all that much? For example, I'm sure I know what would happen if I broached the idea of turning up for work late on May 16th after I've been to the first showing of
this thing.
posted by feelinglistless at 11:35 AM PST - 15 comments
Alexa, the internet depository that lead to things like
the wayback machine was acquired by Amazon some time ago. A new service,
Alexa Web Search joins the power of Alexa's archive with Amazon's proven interface and feature set with Google's killer-app level searching power.
The results are fairly impressive, adding a related sites layer that may actually help folks browsing the web (as opposed to direct searching). [via
anil]
posted by mathowie at 11:10 AM PST - 28 comments
In re: the middle-east conflicts, you can't believe everything you read, if only because so much that is rather obviously important and relevant seems to be never-the-less falling off the map, so-to-speak. Want proof?
Perhaps someone can give me a rationale explanation as to why this
story is not to be found in
any major news outlet.
posted by BentPenguin at 8:40 AM PST - 25 comments
Introducing eMac,
a new version of the iMac aimed solely at the education market. Rather than getting all slashdotty, let's discuss the looks of it, rather than the guts, and debate the wiseness of this new strategy.
Oh, Apple also released a
new 800MHz TiBook.
posted by me3dia at 8:32 AM PST - 59 comments
Barbie creator, Mattel founder Handler dies
More than one billion Barbies have been sold in 150 countries and has inspired love from girls everywhere and pure hatred from feminists everywhere.
"The impossibly well-endowed doll -- her original figure would be about 39-18-33 if she were human -- has infuriated feminists, inspired artists and intrigued academics around the world. Barbie even was placed in the official "America's Time Capsule" buried in 1976." Can you think of any other toy who has brought about as much ferver as Barbie???
posted by gloege at 7:15 AM PST - 30 comments
What does MX stand for?
It doesn't say, but Macromedia, launched a huge new strategy today to integrate all of its software properties. Very smart, and perhaps too late?
posted by boardman at 4:34 AM PST - 18 comments
Every sport is an extreme sport in Afghanistan.
Sorry couldn't help posting this surreal news tidbit: "A friendly basketball game between U.S. and Afghan teams turned violent, with one American player kicked in the head and two Afghan spectators shot in the leg, peacekeepers and witnesses said Friday."
posted by talos at 4:25 AM PST - 9 comments
Paper money in many countries is really beautiful and often employs great use of typography and color. The designs are sometimes used to showcase an indigenous resource, to pay homage to a cultural icon or national leader, or occasionally as a political weapon. Anyone looking for currency scans on the web usually ends up at
Ron Wise's site - thousands of quality, free for the download scans from every country in the world (I have not verified this), including a
1991 500 Afghanis note from Afghanistan, which portrays the national sport of Butskashi (polo played with a goat carcass). Like the proverbial cake that's too pretty to eat, some of this currency seems
almost too beautiful to spend.
There's also some
speculation that as a deterrent to counterfeiting, American currency just might be getting some color.
posted by iconomy at 3:54 AM PST - 28 comments
May 1st Day of Silence
Hundreds of Internet radio stations and channels across America are shutting off their music streams on Wednesday, May 1st, in a "Day of Silence" to highlight their concern over the upcoming U.S. Copyright Office ruling on royalty rates that may shut down or bankrupt the vast majority of the nascent Internet radio industry.
Write your senators and congressmen and women--
Here's how--the Copyright office (
info here) and the
press. Please note:
Letters to the editor (which must be entirely original and not contain any pasted material) can also be sent to your local daily & weekly papers. In both cases we recommend that you send a copy of your message to all of your congressional representatives. See congress.org for email addresses. A copy via fax is also recommended, since faxes often carry more weight than email. Snail mail to Congress these days is very slow, due to the anthrax screening. Please write, this is important. And thank you, Su, for reminding me.
posted by y2karl at 2:31 AM PST - 2 comments
Medical Compassion
from our friends at Yahoo.
Is this a classic case of overstretching one's ability to adequately provide information and services? Shouldn't companies like AOL & Yahoo be old enough now to be able to focus on core competencies and stop trying to be masters of everything?
posted by Frasermoo at 2:18 AM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment
May 1st Reboot
. On April 25, participating sites shut down and post a Reboot Holder, until May 1st, at which time they relaunch. Why?
Upon review of all of this year's participating sites, a good number of them are not using the required Reboot Holder. Most have simply continued with normal operations and even made updates as recently as this afternoon.
posted by Su at 1:50 AM PST - 15 comments
April 28
Kaycee On Law & Order?
I just finished watching the new episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and there were some striking similarities between it and the whole Kaycee shebang last year. Little sick girl, nobody has met her, corresponds only through email and telephone. And then, *stunner* she's a fake. I mean, sure, there was a big nasty murder in this version, but I think the Law & Order writing crew has been reading Metafilter.
Did you see the episode? Am I wrong? And does this mean that *gasp* web logs are having an effect on pop culture?
posted by benbrown at 8:51 PM PST - 23 comments
When I was a newspaper-slinger back as a youngster, I became acquainted with that odd funnypages subgenre-the
soap opera comic strip(i.e.
Winnie Winkle,
Rex Morgan, M.D. and the pinnacle of the genre
Gasoline Alley).
Moving at the brisk pace of 4 panels a day, these entertainments must have seemed quaint even in their early radio days infancy, yet they gained devoted followings and
Dr. Rex and
Skeezix and the Gang are actually still active. While the strips are published on the web, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a whole-hog revival of the genre. Heck,
Brenda Starr could be truly funky hip modern woman if the right person retooled her a bit and I imagine many web community administrators could relate to
Mary Worth at times.
posted by jonmc at 5:23 PM PST - 25 comments
Utah politics you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
From Paul Rolly's column in the Salt Lake Tribune
"The Republican state convention delegate was discussing with a prominent Utah GOP elected officeholder the issue of immigration when the delegate whined that a fence should be constructed to span the entire USA-Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants.
"What happens when they climb the fence?" asked the politician.
"You electrify it," said the delegate. "Then they won't touch it."
"But what if they touch it? You would let them die?"
"It would be their choice," said the delegate.
"What about a mother with a baby strapped to her back? You would let the mother and the baby die?"
"It would be the mother's choice to kill that baby," said the delegate.
"Then you're in favor of abortion?" asked the officeholder.
Dead silence. "
posted by onegoodmove at 4:49 PM PST - 24 comments
Israel refuses the UN factfinding mission
, as if anyone ever had any doubts about a government that has consistently refused any third party monitoring, fact finding, or international observers, in any aspect of the conflict with its Palestinian neighbors. In doing so, Ariel Sharon's government yells out once more its disdain for
international public opinion, and kicks yet another attempt at establishing an impartial view of the situation in the balls. If Israel acted in rightful self-defence in Jenin, then a UN fact finding mission could only confirm this state of affairs, now couldn't it? How long will we all stand by and watch this happen over and over again? Can we be critical of Israel without being labelled
anti-semitic? Does the Holocaust provide permanent immunity from compliance with international law to the state of Israel? If as a white Christian I feel anger and frustration, what should my muslim brothers in other parts of the world feel? Am I surprised that some of them resort to dispicable means to make their point?
posted by coyroy at 3:09 PM PST - 26 comments
"From my cold dead hands."
A vice-president of the National Rifle Association took credit for President Bush's election Saturday, saying that those who would restrict gun rights are engaged in "political terrorism." Hyperbole aside, is gun control a failure in the USA?
posted by tranquileye at 2:18 PM PST - 32 comments
Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project
sets out to explore the heritage of the cultures of the Silk Road through artistic performances, cultural festivals and educational programs. The Silk Road Ensemble, led by Ma, performs new and traditional musical compositions from the various cultures of the Silk Road and have recently released their first
CD. There is an
article about it all in today's NYT.
posted by homunculus at 10:46 AM PST - 3 comments
If only I can dream.
Okay, everyone listen up. I had this great idea last night -- first, I'm going to purchase a 144 ft. yacht. No, better yet, someone
else will purchase the yacht for me. Then, I'm going to sail from Australia to Greece, stopping in 65 countries. Also, I will producing eight highly anticipated television shows along the way. It's going to be
great! Okay, who's on board? Anyone? Hey, where's everyone going? Hello?
posted by aaronchristy at 5:03 AM PST - 26 comments
April 27
Am I Annoying or Not?
I realize that the whole 'Am I X or Not' is
so 1999, but this is actually pretty entertaining. The amount of research is
astounding if you consider the massive
index that they maintain. As a side note, Jack Osbourne is sitting at
100% annoying.
posted by catatonic at 11:46 PM PST - 19 comments
30,000 tons of turkey poop
to turn an old mine site in Indiana into wetlands. Memo to self, avoid driving anywhere near Lynnville Indiana anytime soon. This is so neat. I mean what else are you going to do with 30,000 tons of turkey poop?
posted by MAYORBOB at 6:43 PM PST - 11 comments
Bush weak and ineffectual
"President George W. Bush is facing the possibility that his presidency may be undone not by an enemy ---- foreign or domestic ---- but by an ally" Is this the "real" Bush, the one the democrats described during the campaign?
posted by onegoodmove at 12:48 PM PST - 31 comments
Was MIT or her parents to blame for a suicide?
Challenging NYTimes article on the suicide of Elizabeth Shin, an over-acheiving college student. With the increasing focus on student achievement from earlier and earlier ages, it's clear that children can be deeply affected. How do we, as a society, raise children to standards that we expect without pressure-cooking them to damage or worse?
posted by gen at 12:24 PM PST - 54 comments
U.S. Blueprint to Topple Hussein Envisions Big Invasion Next Year
"The planning now anticipates the possible extensive use of bases for American forces in Turkey and Kuwait, with Qatar as the replacement for the sophisticated air operations center in Saudi Arabia, and with Oman and Bahrain playing important roles.
As to any war plan itself, the military expects to be asked for a more traditional approach than the unconventional campaign in Afghanistan. Such an approach would resemble the Persian Gulf war in style if not in size and would be fought with even more modern weapons and more dynamic tactics." There is no doubt Saddam is
a bad guy but as his
poll numbers return to earthly levels how exactly can Bush justify sending off 70-250,000 American soldiers to fight (and die) in Iraq - while we will most likely still be engaged in Afghanistan (
looking for Osama) and ripping up Al Qaeda?
posted by owillis at 11:35 AM PST - 44 comments
During Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to Crawford, Texas, this week, his representatives asked the FAA for his flights to be worked
only by male air traffic controllers, according to today's
Dallas Morning News.
posted by rcade at 11:21 AM PST - 13 comments
The Bob Haircut Worship Page
is dedicated to showing respect through picture, word, and deed to this greatest of all hairstyles, the "Bob"...
The whole point is to gaze in awe of the beautiful wearers of this fantastic hairstyle. It might even inspire you to change your own hairstyle. You won't be the first, but you'll be joining a very long line of beautiful and intruiging people from all walks of life...people with one wonderful thing in common, the Bob Haircut!
posted by jcterminal at 10:33 AM PST - 13 comments
Taking navel-gazing to a whole new level: Remember when a company called
Celera decoded the human genome a few years back? Well, now we know
whose DNA they used.
posted by mrbula at 7:40 AM PST - 5 comments
'Cambridge Students Beaten by Israeli Army'
Three of my fellow students spent their Easter vacation on the West Bank as unofficial international observers. In the course of accompanying Palestinian medics to a refugee camp, with medical supplies and food, they were allegedly stopped and beaten by Israeli troops.
While their actions are undoubtedly noble and brave ("we are doing the job the UN should be doing"), the Israeli embassy suggests that "whilst the intentions were geniune, (their) actions have been misguided."
I can't decide what to think. (more inside)
posted by chrismear at 7:03 AM PST - 25 comments
April 26
Terminal Error
was the schlock movie of the week tonight on the Pax network... featuring an intelligent virus spread by - wait for it - MP3 Files. How much do you suppose the RIAA pay for that gem?
posted by Maxor at 8:45 PM PST - 24 comments
The Process to become a Google Researcher
Speaking of google...
So, you want to play librarian and get paid? Here's How, you earn 75% of the price set for a question that you answer.
They have an
FAQ as well, and
Researcher Guidelines for those wishing to launch a researching career outside of a library.
Applying to be a Researcher is a two-step process:
Step 1: Write a paragraph about why you would like to become a Researcher.
Step 2: Answer 5 sample questions.
Sounds easier than getting an M.L.S.
posted by Blake at 1:13 PM PST - 22 comments
McDonald's meat from antibiotics-injected livestock is now the primary source of antibiotics for U.S. children, particularly for uninsured youths from low-income households.
"Unfortunately, some children still fall through the cracks in our health-care system, but luckily, McDonald's is there to lend a helping hand," Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said at a press conference announcing the findings. "So even if a child's family has no health insurance and can't afford medicine, virtually anyone can afford a delicious 99-cent Big Mac with pickles, cheese, and a heapin' helpin' of [the antibiotic] quinupristin-dalfopristin."
Wherein the bastards of the bactericidal, bloody, beef business bear badinage. Fillets
(boneless strips of meat specially cut for roasting), anyone?
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 12:44 PM PST - 44 comments
"What do you expect from a bunch of underprivileged, delinquent teenagers? Certainly not genius, but that's what was happening." Welcome to the
Z-Boy revival. A new
documentary about Dogtown opens this weekend that tells the story about how some
punks from Santa Monica turned skating hardcore and along the way transformed youth culture and spawned a $3 billion dollar industry. A 1999 Spin article
"The Lords of Dogtown" kicked off the current revival.
posted by euphorb at 12:42 PM PST - 4 comments
Squirrels Invade Stanford!!!!!
Ahhh Nuts.
Quote: The campus squirrels have apparently taken to bizarre suicidal death leaps into the path of oncoming student bikers.
"It's really hard to even ride your bike on campus," said Katie Founds. "They're always leaping in front of you."
"They got into one of the residences, and they started typing on the keyboard," Shen said. "They ran over the person's laptop keyboard. They actually somehow renamed the person's hard drive."
posted by lheiskell at 11:29 AM PST - 38 comments
Cancer and Carbohydrates (per FT)
may be closely linked according to recent international study - and not just any carbohydrates but those that are our favorites - deep fried potatoes, rice, and bread all may contain high levels of cancer causing acrylamides. What's your average carb eater to do?
posted by zia at 11:14 AM PST - 13 comments
Pipedown:
The campaign for freedom from piped music (aka elevator music or Muzak). A noble cause if ever there was one.
posted by dchase at 9:52 AM PST - 8 comments
Gerrymandering... uhhh... redistricting:
A fascinating piece from the Economist describing how both of the major US parties are becoming ever more efficient in redefining electoral boundaries to suit themselves at the expense of the electorate. Check out the maps.
posted by pascal at 9:19 AM PST - 8 comments
It's Mr. Nice!
Something to cheer up even the grumpiest MeFite on a Friday afternoon -- dance, Mr. Nice, dance! (Requires Flash and a soundcard helps, too...)
posted by metrocake at 8:47 AM PST - 17 comments
Remember When?
It's like sitting down with one of your grandparents and just letting them reminisce. Except in this form it moves a bit more quickly, and it's far more organized. (Mostly Minnesota/Twin Cities stories)
posted by fnirt at 7:15 AM PST - 2 comments
When I was a kid, we had
Action Rub-down Transfers that let you place Batman and his pals across a stock battlescape or different dinosaurs across a junglescape. I get the same kind of vicarious pleasure from
Flashcan Animator, an easy little web-tool that lets even a no-talent ass clown make quick little movies out of other peoples animations. Does anybody know of something similar? I have a whole Friday to waste.
posted by piskycritters at 4:34 AM PST - 7 comments
April 25
Amanda
won. I knew it would be her four episodes ago. I can't believe I missed Will and Grace for this crap.
posted by boardman at 7:05 PM PST - 14 comments
Verisign to lay off 10% of its workforce.
I don't have anything to substantiate my intuition (other than the supposed 'insider' info posted
here, which now seems to be highly prescient), but I have a gut-wrenching fear that Verisign is going to go POOF soon. If it does, what will happen to the 'net as we know it?
posted by WolfDaddy at 6:36 PM PST - 15 comments
Attack of the Hollywood Clones
Flametracker investigates how some actors are being cloned so that they can work on twice as many projects. See also Julia Roberts and Monica Potter, Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt ...
posted by feelinglistless at 3:18 PM PST - 18 comments
Where Did Everything Come From?
Don't say, "the Big Bang." To say that everything came from the Big Bang is like saying babies come from maternity wardstrue in a narrow sense, but it hardly goes back far enough. Where did the stuff that went "bang" come from? What was it? Why did it bang?
posted by mathis23 at 1:11 PM PST - 77 comments
Teach dance in prison!
"The Federal Bureau of Prisons...intends to issue solicitation RFQ 50507-012-2 for the provision to provide Dance Instructor Services with a variety of beginning and advanced dance classes to the inmate population."
posted by kirkaracha at 12:51 PM PST - 10 comments
Mail servers down, Yahoo denies all
All my buddies have bouncing Yahoo mail and no one knows what's going on. This, unfortunately for Yahoo, coincides with the launching of their pay for mail service. Does anyone have a scoop on this?
posted by djacobs at 12:11 PM PST - 49 comments
The Saudis are about to deliver an ultimatum to Bush
In a bleak assessment, he [Prince Abdullah] said there was talk within the Saudi royal family and in Arab capitals of using the "oil weapon" against the United States, and demanding that the United States leave strategic military bases in the region. Such measures, he said, would be a "strategic debacle for the United States." How should Bush respond?
posted by Rastafari at 12:02 PM PST - 58 comments
The War over Red Star Records...
Around since 1977, Red Star Records has released albums by Suicide and the Real Kids along with Richard Hell and the New York Dolls. Now, Heineken has formed its own Red Star Records and is trying to trademark the name, which, if successful would give the beer company more legal right to the name than the original label. Who's going to win this trademark battle?
[link via rockbites]
posted by drezdn at 11:32 AM PST - 8 comments
Explosion Rocks Manhattan Building
NEW YORK -- More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene of a possible collapse Thursday at a building housing a technical school in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.
Fire officials said it appeared some type of explosion collapsed some floors of the building.
They said 21 people were being treated at the scene for injuries.
West 19th Street is closed between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
From The Scene real Player Video
posted by Blake at 9:12 AM PST - 46 comments
Palestinians Evicted From Homes in Dispute With Israeli Rightists
UN Security Council Resolution 446 "Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;"
posted by aLienated at 8:54 AM PST - 11 comments
No zero tolerance for ass hunting priests !!
"...the group of cardinals and top bishops stopped short of developing a zero-tolerance plan to punish abusive priests"
Attention all catholics ! Be sure to ask your priest if he has already used his one free, get out of jail for sexually assaulting an unsuspecting child card, before you send your kid to Sunday school.
It baffles me how they cannot have zero tolerance for this.
posted by a3matrix at 4:22 AM PST - 52 comments
ð = "moderately pinocle mollify backup ammonium freshen chromium famine."
Or 3.141592653589793238462643383279...whichever is easier for you to remember.
Mnemesis tries to make it easier for you to memorize numbers by having you memorize words instead.
posted by Su at 3:00 AM PST - 11 comments
Charlie Manson denied 10th parole bid.
Ok, not a surprise. But having just re-read Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry's '
Helter Skelter' book again, and looked at Family member Sandra Goode's (now archived) '
Access Manson' site, I have to say the guy still scares the living crap out of me. He knows what he did - you can tell that from the old Tom Snyder interview (available on Audiogalaxy). The guy's 67 now, having 'committed' the murders 32 years ago. I think it's nearly time....I think you could do a damn good movie about the whole shebang;
who would you have playing Charlie? (I know there was a
TV movie, but they don't count!)
posted by boneybaloney at 12:04 AM PST - 46 comments
April 24
Newspapers fall short of diversity goal
: "The people who report for and edit the nation's newspapers look less like the people who make and read the news than a decade ago. If newspapers are a mirror that a community holds up to itself, the reflection is mostly white." Is it unfair to assume that a newspaper writer (or other media outlet) should share some sort of heritage in proportion to the population it covers to get the full feel of their stories? Or should it just be focused solely on merit without a cultural component?
posted by owillis at 11:47 PM PST - 9 comments
An
Algerian defendant tells a court of his transformation from an irreligious drug dealer on the streets of Germany to an Afghanistan-trained militant, and the
psychic journey of some young Muslim slackers in England to become fighters for Al-Qaeda (NYT).
posted by semmi at 4:27 PM PST - 14 comments
For the first time in forty years,
there is not a single UK act on the Billboard top 100 singles chart. A lot of people argue that it's because manfactured crap is interchangable, so there's no need to import it, but plenty of American artists still make it in the UK, so I'm inclined to believe there's something else at work here. Any ideas as to what that something might be?
posted by aaron at 2:19 PM PST - 71 comments
I eat crayons
is about a groovy guy's
adventures and
comics. His name is Bob.
(Some pages within the site require Flash. Uses frames, so inner links don't have any navigation on them)
posted by jaden at 2:14 PM PST - 8 comments
Dog-mauling convicts' adopted Aryan son might be the Night Stalker
says the SF Chronicle. This case continues to get weirder. The DA now wants DNA evidence from Paul "Cornfed" Schneider -- the Pelican Bay inmate and Aryan Brotherhood gang leader whose Presa Canario dogs mauled Diane Whipple to death and whose lawyers (convicted in that death) adopted him -- to see if he is the missing link in the decades old "Night Stalker" serial killer case in California. Yeesh.
posted by brookish at 1:56 PM PST - 8 comments
"
Dear Sir Charles: I have become extremely confused lately. I know that a man of prestige and standing should not bark and flounce around like a dog, but I can not seem to help myself."
Miss Manners has style,
Marilyn vos Savant has a ludicrous I.Q., and
Ann Landers has longevity. But do any of them have a ward who is eighty-fifth in line for the throne?
Sir Charles Grandiose does, and he deigns to advise the whole vast spectrum of his social inferiors.
posted by snarkout at 1:49 PM PST - 4 comments
"The Myth of Ownership."
Financial Columnist Stephen Moore's review of a new book which claims that it is a "compelling fantasy that we earn our income and the government takes some of it away from us."
posted by Ty Webb at 12:52 PM PST - 28 comments
Pong.
Starting today, you too can watch someone else play Pong, 24-7, all from the comfort of your own home. Call your cable operator today and ask for the G4 network, and
win big prizes. Or not.
The official G4 site is
here.
Flash required for official site
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:38 AM PST - 5 comments
Philip Morris vs. the Patriot Act?
According to this article in The Nation, back in October the tobacco industry convinced the White House and Tom DeLay to arrange the omission of a specific section of the Patriot Act on money laundering. It had been requested by the DOJ, but it would have made some tobacco companies vulnerable to lawsuits they were facing from several foreign governments (the full story behind those lawsuits is
here.) The smuggling charges are bad enough, but that the tobacco industry has a say in defining national security, if true, is infuriating. It also makes the enthusiasm with which the Patriot Act powers are being used to
monitor consumers a galling double standard.
posted by homunculus at 10:30 AM PST - 7 comments
The current issue of PC Magazine includes a very big puff piece on Internet mail praising the virtues of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. Their review of e-mail clients is relatively uninteresting except for the
sidebar on Disposable E-mail Addresses (DEAs). This is basically the old pseudoanonymous remailer under a different name. Among the free services
sneakemail is the most basic but
spamgourmet has the coolest attitude and allows you to make new addresses on the fly.
Q. How does spamgourmet stop spam?
A. Simple. We delete all of our users' email.
For commercial services there is also
spamex and
mailshell.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:21 AM PST - 5 comments
The Segway revolution has begun.
"Three Atlanta, Georgia organizations are the first to buy a fleet of Segway transporters." "Fleet," what a visually scary word. Forget priests touching little boys in naughty places and the numerous wars going on in this world, the fact someone actually bought a Segway is
CNNs new top story.
posted by Werd7 at 8:45 AM PST - 33 comments
The Latest Salvo From Gore Vidal, The Last Of The Great Wits:
He's a tremendous snob, infuriatingly opinionated and sets out to upset all and sundry, left, right and centre. But
Gore Vidal is still the meanest, fastest wit in the West.
Harry Kloman runs a magnificent
fan site, bursting with goodies and verbal violence which is an education in itself. Or, for a contrarian view, check out rival wit John Simon's
demolition job. But come on - can
anyone compete with the Master? Christopher Hitchens? Fran Lebowitz? James Woolcott? Clive James? I think not.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:53 AM PST - 29 comments
Free Words
came first, a project of 2000 books stealthily placed in museums, libraries, and bookstores. Next, Sal Randolph spearheaded the
Free Biennial during the Whitney Biennial. This week, she spent 15K and
Ebayed her way into the contemporary art mega-exhibition
Manifesta to present:
Free Manifesta. Sal Randolph is single-handedly bringing free art "to the people, man."
posted by RJ Reynolds at 7:47 AM PST - 3 comments
Former porn star Linda Lovelace dies...
Who could forget the classic pr0n movie of all time...
Deep Throat and that SONG! Can anyone find the intro song (and self-titled) to Deep Throat??
Unfortunately, the movie is also a classic example of women being forced into the pornography business which later led to Lovelace becoming an anti-pornography advocate.
posted by gloege at 6:55 AM PST - 11 comments
Robert Young Pelton,
At first the media complains because they're not getting enough information, they're not being allowed to cover the war. Then when they get to know everything, after the 120-day window, nobody cares anymore. Because once they start spelling it out and saying, "Wait a second, these guys are all from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Why aren't we fighting a war in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Egypt? Why are they our allies?" And then those are the tough questions that never really get asked, because the public doesn't really care at that point.
Is disbelieving major news organization reports a neccessity to get the
real stories?
posted by bittennails at 5:59 AM PST - 14 comments
The Bard's sexuality comes into question, again, on his birthday.
'The portrait already has considerable intrinsic historical interest, and if you believe that the young man addressed in the sonnets was Henry Wriothesley there is the additional thrill that this could be the face that Shakespeare fell in love with, perhaps wishing its owner was a girl. The magnitude of the thrill depends on how much you think the identity of the young person matters to the poems. Many think it matters a lot.'
posted by skallas at 1:37 AM PST - 19 comments
April 23
Obligatory FadeToBlack Unintentionally Funny Site Post #3
Collect them all while there's still flesh on the bones of this decomposing Equine!
Really though, Amazon can be so precious--check out the customer reviews:
One day it just happened... I realized I was at a dead end. My job, my finances, my relationships - DEAD END. Surfing the net one evening, I was strangely drawn to this book on Amazon's site. Though the anal constriction theme was a bit odd, I thought, "Hey that goodbye depression thing is for me!" It suddenly came to me - what better way to pull myself out of a "dead end" than to liven my "end" up through this boot camp for the bootie? Whew! Almost as good as the ones for
The Ultimate Guide To Anal Sex For Women, for example. No, I'm
not linking that one!
posted by y2karl at 10:10 PM PST - 21 comments
Is this Israel's Rodney King video?
Warning: graphic depiction of an execution. Mahmoud Salah was subdued, stripped and then executed by Israeli soldiers who must have not realized they were being taped. Also reported
here.
This
article makes the assertion that the regular police opposed the killing and Special Forces committed this act.
posted by n9 at 5:45 PM PST - 99 comments
Artist Marc Garrett has used the pseudonym
Eye Opener for several years to produce the Censored Porn project. Images were lifted from the net, and all skin replaced with solid color or patterns, often from the images' own backgrounds. And, no, it's still not really worksafe, although it might take a little work for anyone to figure out just what you're looking at.
posted by Su at 5:18 PM PST - 5 comments
Best Case Ever.
As in computer case, just in case you couldn't case it out. dig? anyways. like someone else said, this thing says 'geek pimp' all over it.
don't be a hater!
posted by jcterminal at 4:52 PM PST - 24 comments
The Green Fields of Vietnam
There was an interesting program aired tonight on RTE (Irish TV), about Irish born soliders who fought in the Vietnam War. Although only one Irish born solider is officially listed as having been killed, there were 20 others, who gave their US address when they enlisted. It's believed that 2000 Irish born men served in that conflict (they had emigrated and a Greencard means you can be conscripted) but the vast majority of these remain unknown.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:31 PM PST - 
_f.jpg){kind=link}
