January 25, 2008

What Am I Craving?

What Am I Craving? That's the question we always ask ourselves when thinking about what to eat. So we got to thinking: wouldn't it be cool to have a tool that could listen to what we were craving and then suggest something good to cook?
posted by amyms at 10:19 PM PST - 28 comments

Pixar's papers on computer graphics

1982-2007 Pixar's papers on computer graphics
posted by brundlefly at 9:39 PM PST - 21 comments

"I prophesy a mighty burning soon"

O Hammers, Head : discussion of a freakish reference in Philodemus's On Methods of Inference, found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. [more inside]
posted by paduasoy at 6:26 PM PST - 43 comments

The Case for the First Folio

The Case for the First Folio For centuries, editors of Shakespeare's plays have conflated different published editions (quartos and folios) in an attempt to create one true text as the writer intended. In this essay (.pdf file) Jonathan Bate, one of the editors of The RSC Shakespeare makes the case that in fact what they're doing is editing together different drafts of the play originated by the bard at different times in his life attempting to make better dramatic sense. Essentially that none of the texts you studied at school are what Shakespeare intended to be performed at all. [more inside]
posted by feelinglistless at 4:42 PM PST - 29 comments

Blog from Iraq by an ex soldier

Frontline Blogger covers war in Iraq with a soldier's eyes. First hand impressions, photos, and reports from a non journalist. A NYT write up.
posted by semmi at 2:30 PM PST - 27 comments

Basic Concepts in Science: A List

Basic Concepts in Science: A List A regularly updated list of blog entries explaining the basics of science and mathematics.
posted by LeeJay at 1:27 PM PST - 16 comments

That monocled dandy among dandies...

For your consideration: the entries of the New Yorker's Eustace Tilley redesign contest.
posted by youarenothere at 1:09 PM PST - 19 comments

I don't read

Books That Make You Dumb - Ever read a book (required or otherwise) and upon finishing it thought to yourself, "Wow. That was terrible. I totally feel dumber after reading that."?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:48 PM PST - 234 comments

"After looking at this pad, Hugh Hefner is a square"

Ursa Major, the former home of deceased basketball great (and cocksman extraordinaire) Wilt Chamberlain is for sale. History. Slide shows.
posted by dersins at 12:45 PM PST - 22 comments

Who Can I Turn To?

Who Can I Turn To? - Anthony Newley, 1965 [more inside]
posted by post punk at 12:10 PM PST - 29 comments

Coelho gives out pirate copies of books... reaps benefits

Author Paulo Coelho talks about how creating The Pirate Coelho, a site with links to torrents of his own books, leads to a massive increase in sales.
posted by dobbs at 11:16 AM PST - 9 comments

Books about blogs in the New York Review of Books

"Blogs", by Sarah Boxer in The New York Review of Books. An essay concerning books about blogs. Boxer, former New York Times reporter and critic, is author of the forthcoming Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web (NPR interview), an anthology of the best of blogs.
posted by stbalbach at 10:53 AM PST - 26 comments

Fungus troubles caves

Fusarium solani, a fungus known for attacking tomatoes, has become a major problem in France's famous Lascaux Cave, a World Heritage site. Authorities say it's under control, but that's disputed. "They tell us the cave's condition is stable. But that's what they say about Ariel Sharon," said one anonymous expert quoted in a special report by Time magazine. The fungus is also believed responsible for a deadly epidemic of "White-Nose Syndrome" that has been killing bats in the Northeastern U.S. over the last few years. The fungus is durable: "Authorities began spraying massive doses of antibiotics and fungicides [in Lascaux] in an effort to stop the rapidly spreading organisms. Within weeks the molds reappeared quickly developing a resistance to the antibiotic sprays."
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:30 AM PST - 24 comments

You can't spell "terrarium" without "terrar"

When it's been gray for days and it seems like spring will never come, making a terrarium (sometimes known as a Wardian case) is a good way to keep from going mad. Your own little ecosystem can be set up easily and cheaply in almost any clear-walled, enclosed container -- even a Mason jar or a two-liter Coke bottle. (Inspired by this.)
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:43 AM PST - 21 comments

My Fair Ladys are both in control and easily led

Oscarology is a system of astrology I invented -- excuse me, that was revealed to me in a powerful mystical experience -- based on what movie won the Best Picture Oscar for the year you were born. I have been communing with the Spirit of the Oscars and transcribing the visions it has vouchsafed to me.
posted by arcticwoman at 8:29 AM PST - 64 comments

living in a gilded cage

America's debtor prisons.
posted by geos at 7:09 AM PST - 81 comments

'One in six billion miracle'

Demi-Lee Brennan received a liver transplant at the age of nine. Her doctors were rather surprised when her body subsequently took on the immune system of the organ donor and her blood type changed from O-negative to O-positive.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 6:57 AM PST - 35 comments

95% of gaijin demand 70% more pie charts

Election poll fatigue? Diversify your daily dose of stats with What Japan Thinks. Check out Japan's favorite emoticons, thoughts on drinking vinegar, and of course awwcats. [more inside]
posted by soma lkzx at 6:11 AM PST - 28 comments

1920s hodge podge.

Let's pay a little visit, shall we, to everyone's favorite lasso twirlin', geetar strummin' stars of the Vaudeville stage, Otto Gray's Oklahoma Cowboys Then let's head for the South Pacific, for the "Hawaiian" sounds of Witt and Berg. And from the early days of the "talkie", Max Fleischer explains the new-fangled technology for us in the 1929 cartoon, Finding His Voice.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:28 AM PST - 10 comments

It's not a fixed-gear, either.

Bikes: Steel? Aluminum? Carbon Fiber? Wood, and nothing but wood.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:21 AM PST - 29 comments

The Polar Bear Expedition of 1918-1919

"The "American Intervention in Northern Russia, 1918-1919," nicknamed the "Polar Bear Expedition," (wikipedia) was a U.S. military intervention in northern Russia at the end of World War I." The ostensible purpose was to open an Eastern Front following the Russian withdrawal from World War I, but in practice the unit stayed to fight Bolshevism. An archive of the expedition, which gives wonderful insight into early Bolshevik Russia as well as war-weary United States, is online. [more inside]
posted by Rumple at 1:19 AM PST - 23 comments

Stop Spyin'

Stop the Spying! Don't just tell Congress to stop the spying -- show them.
posted by telstar at 1:09 AM PST - 37 comments

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