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I don’t understand the term “begs the question.” I know I use it incorrectly—or so I’ve been told—but I don’t know what I’m supposedly doing wrong. Can you explain? The Morning News' The Non-Expert tackles "the phrase that nobody understands."
posted by amyms at 11:09 PM PST - 188 comments

In 1855, Frenchman Joseph Fortuné Petiot-Groffier died. One of the first daguerrotypists, the pioneering photographer was apparently poisoned by his own chemistry. Some 152 years later, in the twilight of chemical photography, his lab, found intact, is viewed in a new light. Via. [more inside]
posted by sacre_bleu at 7:53 PM PST - 16 comments

... a small, heavy package wrapped in brown paper arrived in the mail at the Woody Guthrie Archives in New York City. Inside was a mess of wires. It wasn't a bomb - it turned out to be the only live recording of Woody Guthrie known to exist. The wire was fragile, bent, stretched and twisted. Jamie Howarth applied some algorithms he had developed to restore old recordings, and the result has been nominated for a Grammy.
posted by dylanjames at 7:40 PM PST - 43 comments

"There's a place that sells these motorhomes on the road to Newton Abbot, and one day we were going past and James said: 'Let's buy one of those. Then we can go wherever we like, whenever we like, and no one will be able to stop us.' "

Britain's oldest honeymooners (combined age 178) hit the road - with a love story that'll warm your heart.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:25 PM PST - 11 comments

Was your invite to Fashion Week lost in the mail? Have no fear- you can watch video of some of your favorite designers and models at the official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week website. If you're more into schadenfreude than Sean John, check out the Zac Posen show to see Karen Elson take a tumble .
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:29 PM PST - 20 comments

The Aimee Mann Christmas Trilogy Parts One, Two, and Three (YT links) featuring: Paul F. Tompkins, Jon Krasinski, Emily Procter, Patton Oswalt, Weird Al Yankovic, Bob Odenkirk, Fred Armisen, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell.
posted by adrober at 4:18 PM PST - 26 comments

"I'm on Setanta Sports" with José Mourinho. Fantastic. The Special One returns to the world of football with his very own talk show. Very good. More clips inside. Be champions! [more inside]
posted by sellout at 3:02 PM PST - 12 comments

Lego Eddie Izzard (full set here).
posted by jonson at 2:31 PM PST - 27 comments

Images of Asia l India then and now video l Historical Chinese Postcard Project: 1896 - 1920.
posted by nickyskye at 1:05 PM PST - 9 comments

The Belgian version of Russian roulette.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:35 PM PST - 67 comments

Songerize [via]
posted by nitsuj at 12:28 PM PST - 53 comments

Lyfrau o'r Gorffennol or Books from the Past is a growing online collection of books of Welsh cultural interest which have long been out of print. Some are in Welsh, some in English, all are available to download in a variety of formats or to read online. Found as the collection includes a book on the Adventures and Vagaries of Twm Siôn Cati, the famed bard, genealogist and bandit trickster supreme from Tregaron. It's one of a host of well-presented digital archives built using the multilingual open source Greenstone software suite.
posted by Abiezer at 12:21 PM PST - 13 comments

The Washington Independent went beta a few weeks ago. The site employs several reporters to do investigative journalism on topics of national importance. [more inside]
posted by shothotbot at 12:05 PM PST - 14 comments

Citing the organization's "sharp shift in values and direction," Ken Pope, prominent member of the American Psychological Association (and a former chair of its Ethics Committee), resigned his membership on February 6. He's the latest of a growing number of professional psychologists who have quit APA in protest of its position on the use of psychologists in government interrogations in the "War on Terror."
posted by Rykey at 11:21 AM PST - 19 comments

Boo is not the smartest computer thief on the planet. Or maybe not the luckiest since he grabbed a computer from an IT specialist.
posted by SuzySmith at 11:11 AM PST - 50 comments

It's been going on in Britain for a while. Now hundreds of men in Toronto are receiving welfare for each wife. Is this what Rowan Williams has in mind?
posted by gman at 10:57 AM PST - 47 comments

Protector. ~Flash Friday~ Protector takes the mechanics of tower defense games, and adds an RPG element to it. Specialize, level up, and say goodbye to your free time. previously
posted by MythMaker at 10:50 AM PST - 17 comments

Getting to the source of 5 beautiful lines of Quake 3. Rys Sommefeldt traces the history of a very quick (and now infamous) inverse square-root function used in Quake 3. (via) [more inside]
posted by spiderskull at 10:21 AM PST - 60 comments

So, good day, and welcome to the Bob and Doug McKenzie FPP. How's it goin' eh? Like, I've got some back bacon fryin' up on the Coleman, a dozen donuts, a two-four, and our topic today is stuff on the internet relating to these two Canadian hoseheads. So, like, sit back, put a toque on, grab a beer, and enjoy! [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 10:17 AM PST - 67 comments

Philip M. Parker^[1][2] has written and published over 85,000 books on Amazon in the past few years, although by his own count the total published is over 200,000. He is like a writing machine - in fact, he has created a machine that churns out an original book about every 20 minutes. A few sample titles: [more inside]
posted by stbalbach at 10:11 AM PST - 46 comments

A most succinct explanation of the current problems facing Wall Street.
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:56 AM PST - 26 comments

Leonard Pierce aka the Ludic Kid is going undercover at CPAC for Sadly, No. While some may know him best for his Geek Index, his current work reporting from the frontlines of the culture wars is all the more hilarious (and chilling) for its basis in reality: parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
posted by jtron at 9:46 AM PST - 16 comments

The Cabinet Office in the UK has published "Future Strategic Challenges for Britain" [full pdf, summary pdf, website], a 180-page document which summarises current futures thinking in the UK Government, with a horizon of about 20 years. It includes predictions on big issues such as democratic participation, foreign affairs, climate change, family life and public services.
posted by athenian at 9:44 AM PST - 6 comments

Waging a tiny rebellion via shortwave radio. "Missing the Internet's precision, what I think most recommends shortwave radio now is its offer of quest. It's in the hunting for something unknown that might not be there anyway, and if it is, may dissolve, sputtering, eaten by sunspots or zapped in static."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:21 AM PST - 30 comments

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused to investigate allegations of illegal waterboarding and wiretapping, arguing that the Justice Department could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a Justice Department opinion, such as those written by John Yoo authorizing torture, even if that opinion turned out to be wrong and the behavior criminal. (The former head the Office of Legal Counsel has described these memos as "advance pardons" for lawbreaking.) Mukasey also told the Committee that he would not enforce contempt citations against former White House officials who refused to respond to Congressional subpoenas.
posted by unSane at 6:31 AM PST - 110 comments

Time Magazine's 25 Most Important Films On Race
posted by hadjiboy at 5:57 AM PST - 69 comments

Ernest sings. [more inside]
posted by Mblue at 5:39 AM PST - 21 comments

Calculated to amaze. [more inside]
posted by brownpau at 5:25 AM PST - 89 comments

Glimpses of South Asia before 1947 1,150 illustrated pages by the world's leading Ancient Indus Civilization scholars 774 photographs, postcards, lithographs, engravings, and archival film of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka before 1947
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:38 AM PST - 8 comments

The Primary Review has published three research reports about primary school education in the UK and elsewhere. The Structure of Primary Education: England and Other Countries. Primary Curriculum and Assessment: England and Other Countries. Press release summarising some of the findings. [more inside]
posted by paduasoy at 3:54 AM PST - 13 comments

Hitchcock Classics as illustrated in the 2008 Hollywood Portfolio from Vanity Fair.
posted by dhammond at 12:34 AM PST - 34 comments