TOKYO International Great Quilt Festival 2008, a photo collection of beautiful Japanese art quilts. From Moonstitches via CRAFT.
posted by artifarce at 8:09 PM PST - 7 comments

So, do you do it? Is your significant other "one of them"? Is it catching? [more inside]
posted by pearlybob at 7:44 PM PST - 61 comments

Web Trend Map 2008 Beta.
posted by signal at 6:59 PM PST - 18 comments

Your mother told you never to discuss religion or politics in polite company. You'll probably start a fight. [more inside]
posted by JDHarper at 6:53 PM PST - 3 comments

Here is an alphabetical list of the most popular music stars real names.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:49 PM PST - 48 comments

Way back in 2003, I posted a link to a video that showed an octopus transforming itself to look like its surroundings. If you read the thread, there was some doubt about it and I think we all wished that web video was better at the time. Well, a friend posted a link to a TED talk recently that shows this same octopus at a much higher resolution. The relevant footage appears near the end of the talk. [more inside]
posted by stefnet at 6:29 PM PST - 30 comments

Don't Mess with Charles Bronson (Videos) Charles Bronson is not to be messed with on the street, in any man made structure, but certainly not on a train. When Charles Bronson wants to sit alone and read his paper on the subway, leave Charles Bronson alone.
posted by thisisdrew at 5:57 PM PST - 34 comments

Landscape Urbanism Bullshit Generator. Now you can join in when the rest of the architecture grad students go to the roof to smoke a joint/apply for grant money.
posted by plexi at 4:54 PM PST - 22 comments

Female educator & writer comments on male culture - describing video gaming males in their 20s as 'child-men', delaying traditional responsibility by decades compared to previous generations (NPR interview). Inevitable response by gaming community and others in their 20s. Further example on the change in societal isolation that leads to bowling alone, or a new social community structure being born? [more inside]
posted by Argyle at 4:30 PM PST - 172 comments

Reading the news, the violence in Kenya can feel distant. For Mission in Action/Nakuru Baby Orphanage, located in the heart of the Rift Valley, the violence is all to near, and extremely troubling. (the last link contains images that may be very disturbing) [more inside]
posted by [expletive deleted] at 4:17 PM PST - 15 comments

Bloody balls! Make sure to stick around for the surprise ending. [more inside]
posted by nangsta at 4:14 PM PST - 14 comments

Off-Road Velociraptor Safari [flash game, requires Unity Web Player installation]
posted by Elmore at 2:45 PM PST - 9 comments

I can has... wait, it's canned? Canned cheeseburger, only €3.95. [more inside]
posted by whir at 2:21 PM PST - 81 comments

The Polypunk mixtapes. "selected in Tokyo, designed in London, posted from Brooklyn, hopefully enjoyed around the world." From digi nikki. via. [more inside]
posted by vronsky at 2:08 PM PST - 6 comments

The story behind Woody Allen's signature typeface (with screengrabs from each film). Via. [more inside]
posted by growabrain at 12:12 PM PST - 42 comments

Marijuana vending machines. [more inside]
posted by Mister_A at 11:10 AM PST - 90 comments

7 short stories by Roberto Bolaño Gómez Palacio, The Insufferable Gaucho, Álvaro Rousselot’s Journey, Phone Calls, Dance Card. From Nazi Literature in the Americas: Edelmira Thompson de Mendiluce, Luz Mendiluce Thompson & Ernesto Pérez Masón and The Fabulous Schiaffino Boys. If you know the fiction of Roberto Bolaño you know what you're in for. If you don't, any of these stories is a good place to start, though the first three are perhaps the most natural starting points. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus at 10:47 AM PST - 10 comments

Questioning Consciousness. "To understand consciousness and its evolution, we need to ask the right questions." By Nicholas Humphrey, who was previously discussed here. [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus at 10:00 AM PST - 51 comments

Meet the Sheeples. The rehasher of the Dress-Up Jesus magnets (Previously on MeFi) has immortalized his legion of hate-mailers in comic form. Click each to read the actual tête-à-tête. [more inside]
posted by hermitosis at 9:36 AM PST - 63 comments

Steve Martin on the development of his comedy. [more inside]
posted by bove at 9:14 AM PST - 61 comments

"That half-destroyed paperwork is a tantalizing secret." The Stasi fostered a pervasive and justified paranoia. And it generated an almost inconceivable amount of paper, enough to fill more than 100 miles of shelves. The agency indexed and cross-referenced 5.6 million names in its central card catalog alone. Hundreds of thousands of "unofficial employees" snitched on friends, coworkers, and their own spouses, sometimes because they'd been extorted and sometimes in exchange for money, promotions, or permission to travel abroad. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Stasi tried to destroy its records. Now, with the help of computer science, the "billion-piece puzzle" is finally coming together. The article is an interesting update on the one featured in this 2003 Metafilter post . [more inside]
posted by amyms at 7:42 AM PST - 29 comments

Why is your plane late? Airlines can make more money selling 70 airplanes worth of tickets per hour than they could if they limited themselves to the 60 airplanes per hour that the runway can handle. A long but excellent post on what is causing the delays at the airport.
posted by Coop at 7:18 AM PST - 34 comments

Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules. A truly inspirational set of values that could add everything to the life of anyone in education. What makes this set of rules even better is that they came from the students themselves. But they couldn't have done so without the pioneering work of Sister Mary Corita [more inside]
posted by MrMerlot at 6:10 AM PST - 32 comments

Grills made of you are worn by sellers of drugs / You are used in cars, and great for spark plugs. A periodic table of rather bad poetry about the elements. Via This compilation of periodic tables.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:40 AM PST - 17 comments

Affordability for first-time home buyers in the UK has fallen by 351% over the last 10 years. Never fear; through a deal with the Hyde housing association, Paramount Homes and Scandinavian partner Skanska, Ikea has introduced the BoKlok into the British housing market. These prefab homes will start at just £70,000 (including a voucher for some free furniture) and will probably be built on the fringes of London, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. Previously
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:29 AM PST - 68 comments

While the dream of immortality might be as old as mankind, the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula (image) seems to be living it:

The hydrozoan Turritopsis nutricula has evolved a remarkable variation on this theme, and in so doing appears to have achieved immortality. The solitary medusa of this species can revert to its polyp stage after becoming sexually mature (Bavestrello et al., 1992; Piraino et al., 1996). In the laboratory, 100% of these medusae regularly undergo this change. Thus, it is possible that organismic death does not occur in this species!

An in-depth research paper.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:33 AM PST - 48 comments