The day in posts: 02/11/2008

A look at the (likely terrible) CGI Star Wars prequel hitting theaters this autumn. The "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" movie is expected to run around 100 minutes and pick up between episode II and III. Anakin Skywalker is not yet Darth Vader. The story will then continue in 30-minute smallscreen installments.
posted by incomple at 11:40 PM PST - 106 comments

Querying the hive mind [pdf]
Jane McGonigal, one of the lead designers of I Love Bees writes about collective intelligence, the phenomenon of massive groups of people gathering online to solve problems, as it played out in I Love Bees (an alternate reality game).
posted by Kattullus at 11:09 PM PST - 13 comments

A special treat from the Annie Awards on February 8th, 2008. The cast of Spongebob Squarepants redubs a clip from Casablanca. They are accurate to the script; which makes it completely awesome. via.
posted by sir_rubixalot at 8:48 PM PST - 32 comments

Rainbow Divider warning: sound; animated gifs; awesomeness
posted by Stynxno at 8:20 PM PST - 56 comments

Hedgehog eating.
posted by 31d1 at 6:49 PM PST - 63 comments

Acquitted of the murder of Francis Scott Key's son by the first successful pleading of temporarily insane? Check. Civil War Union general? Check. Medal of Honor winner? Check. Amputated leg on display to the public? Check. Lover to the deposed Queen of Spain? Check. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to Major General, Foreign Minister, and Congressman Daniel Edgar Sickles. [more inside]
posted by Atreides at 6:46 PM PST - 18 comments

Comic Book creator Steve Gerber has died. [more inside]
posted by wittgenstein at 6:16 PM PST - 28 comments

Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian. Including crayon tests, the original telescoping shopping cart and more. [via the horse's neck]
posted by mediareport at 6:08 PM PST - 7 comments

"It's amazing how we rely on them." BlackBerry email service went down this afternoon in "The Americas Network." That's bad. But is over-reliance on a network the worst of it? Or is it the thumb-ache? or the back-ache? or the work-life imbalance? or the shakes?
posted by jbickers at 3:55 PM PST - 60 comments

Three Little Pigs claymation Music video by Green Jelly NSFW YouTube Three Little Pigs as told by Christopher Walken NSFW YouTube Three Little Pigs BeBop Trio Looney Tunes cartoon (YouTube) [more inside]
posted by Daddy-O at 3:50 PM PST - 23 comments

The Pritzker Military Library, a "public institution for the study of the citizen-soldier as an essential element for the preservation of democracy." Found while doing some after-film research on Charlie Wilson's War, the site is a trove of largely non-partisan, often refreshingly candid military perspectives. Particular highlights are video and audio interviews with Jim Lovell and Congressional Medal of Honor winners.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 3:07 PM PST - 5 comments

Yo-Yo Core [more inside]
posted by mnology at 2:50 PM PST - 13 comments

The Twenty Worst Foods in America. There's something for everyone!
posted by monospace at 12:49 PM PST - 145 comments

Zednik stable after carotid artery severed in Panthers-Sabres game. (NSF Hemophobes) [more inside]
posted by afx114 at 11:34 AM PST - 54 comments

Yeah, that's right. It's just a video of a guy putting a meathook through his nose & back out his mouth.
posted by jonson at 11:29 AM PST - 33 comments

If you have missed knowing about the 'declaration of war' from Anonymous, Jess Lee does a good job of summarizing the story. In short: some people don't like the Church of Scientology and have been waging a virtual war on the Church's various electronic presences. After some of that, someone called for a live action: protesting in front of CoS facilities. It happened this weekend. [more inside]
posted by phearlez at 9:53 AM PST - 171 comments

"We have the chance to accomplish two other things: to provide a model for what a truly sincere, forthright, and courageous Presidential candidate might look like, and to demonstrate how desperate America’s voters are to see one." Jesus in 2008!
posted by not_on_display at 9:52 AM PST - 21 comments

Esalen: Where "California" Bubbled Up (one photo mildly NSFW) For many others in America and around the world, Esalen stands more vaguely for that metaphorical point where “East meets West” and is transformed into something uniquely and mystically American or New Agey. And for a great many others yet, Esalen is simply that notorious bagno-bordello where people had sex and got high throughout the 1960s and 1970s before coming home talking psychobabble and dangling crystals. In short, Esalen is in every way, even geologically, California at its most extreme. It is its caricature, as well as its noblest expression.
posted by jason's_planet at 9:48 AM PST - 14 comments

It's a year since the untimely death of Chris Lightfoot. He had a remarkable combination of political commitment and technical expertise that led him to develop sites such as WriteToThem and Pledgebank for the splendid political and social software group, MySociety. His political writing brings a sharp and sarcastic wit to bear on such subjects as the Iraq war, and ID cards. There are also some good rants. A sad loss to British society.
posted by crocomancer at 9:43 AM PST - 9 comments

proggensaffischer.se - alternative, political and swedish poster art. The main gallery can be found here. [The site is in swedish, some of the posters are NSFW.] [more inside]
posted by soundofsuburbia at 9:31 AM PST - 1 comments

The most widely-distributed photograph in history may be The Blue Marble, a shot taken in 1972 by an unknown crewmember on Apollo 17. In 2002, NASA released a new Blue Marble photograph, familiar to desktops everywhere, using a composite of many photographs. In 2005, Blue Marble: The Next Generation offered even better views and some spectacular animations of the seasons from space. In the same spirit, the Discovery Channel just launched Earth Live, which lets you see the dynamics of weather and climate through a well done interface.
posted by blahblahblah at 8:34 AM PST - 37 comments

John.He.Is turns John McCain quotes into a beautiful song. Two suburban women sit around discussing whether or not America is ready for a smart President. Filmmakers get ready to release Barackula: The Musical. Rap musician BigHitBuda drops Elect Obama. [more inside]
posted by billysumday at 8:30 AM PST - 35 comments

An older study that claims artificial sweeteners actually cause weight gain, has resurfaced. In addition to the other health hazards linked to artificial sweeteners, it appears there is yet another reason to go back to nature. Unless of course you take advice from Nancy Appleton, Ph.D, who seems to think sugar is the cause of almost everything.
posted by Mr_Zero at 8:05 AM PST - 62 comments

With the Writer's Guild of America strike possibly coming to close in a couple of days, you might be interested in a guide to when the various shows will be coming back.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:53 AM PST - 59 comments

A trio of thieves have made off with over $150 Million in art from E.G. Buehrle Museum in Zurich, Switzerland. The four stolen paintings are Cézanne's The Boy in Red Waistcoat, Degas's Viscount Ludovic Lepic and His Daughter, Monet's Poppy Field Near Vetheuil and Van Gogh's Blooming Chestnut Branches. This comes only two weeks after 2 Picasso pieces were stolen in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. No one has been caught in either thefts. [more inside]
posted by dogbusonline at 7:46 AM PST - 30 comments

Worried about the state of biodiversity? Why not make some of your own? Moore’s law is all over biotechnology right now. Can the hackers be far behind? MIT's Drew Endy doesn’t think so. Ready to get started? You might already have some of the tools that you will need. Plans for others are available on the web. All you need now are some parts.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:05 AM PST - 12 comments

Rep. Tom Lantos, 80, passed away this morning. Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, he was the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in the United States Congress.
posted by awesomebrad at 7:00 AM PST - 30 comments

Here we have a virulent earworm (with a high language-independent sing-along quotient) from early 80's Hungary. Over here we have a site for constructing catastrophic webcam karaoke versions.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:34 AM PST - 12 comments

He's not just a poet. Pricasso also paints with his penis. He's 'done' Ron Paul and other world leaders. This is not a self-link, but it is a tad NSFW.
posted by gman at 4:35 AM PST - 30 comments