The oil in your oatmeal is just a bit of The Oil We Eat.
posted by stbalbach at 11:18 PM PST - 28 comments

Ruby on Rails 1.1 is out and you can pretend you know what Ruby on Rails is after reading the overview on the homepage or checking out the screencasts if you have some time. Some might recognize this from prior posts (perhaps, undeservedly) or from some of the web applications that were developed with it.
posted by jmhodges at 10:50 PM PST - 37 comments

The Battle of Glorieta Pass is considered the turning point of the Civil War, in terms of the New Mexico Territory. It happened March 26-28th, 1862. Initially Charles L. Pyron and William Reed Scurry's Confederate force, based at Johnson's Ranch, thought that they had won the battle. They would soon learn that the Union troops, lead by John P. Slough, had circled and destroyed their supplies, leading to Scurry's retreat towards San Antonio. More detailed battle info: [1] [2]-Some site photos.
posted by rollbiz at 8:17 PM PST - 27 comments

Does copyright extend to the bit encoding sequences used in P2P applications? A case is made for the myriad paths bit encoding can take in the formation of MP3 files, the argument being therefore that said bit encoding sequences used in the formation of MP3 files are exempt from copyright law. Furthermore an application is offered to demonstrate the point. But isn't bit encoding just another 'language' like French, German, Spanish and therefore a copyrightable adjunct to the authors/copyright owners work? (Even if there are myriad dialects.)
posted by Muirwylde at 7:02 PM PST - 57 comments

Brotherly Love. "When a young Fort Lewis soldier returned from Iraq paralyzed from the upper chest down, it was his teenage brother who assumed the role of roommate and primary caretaker." The Seattle Times tells the story of Brandon and Blaine Powell. Be sure to check out the audio slideshow, which features Brandon speaking over photographer Alan Berner's images.
posted by jeffmshaw at 6:32 PM PST - 13 comments

Australian artist Pro Hart has died. Hart used DNA in his paintings to foil counterfeiters. Sometimes he painted with a cannon, other times with a plane.
posted by tellurian at 6:30 PM PST - 16 comments

Curating the City A Flash exhibition exploring the past and present urban landscape of Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. A modest topic explored in depth - which is perhaps what makes it so fascinating. The site includes a pdf guidebook, in case you want to check out the bricks-and-mortar version.
posted by carter at 1:16 PM PST - 8 comments

Wade in the Water In 2004, Smithsonian Folklife Festival featured the maritime cultures of the Mid-Atlantic region, from Long Island to North Carolina. Now, this site gives a home on the web to the cultural documentation gathered for the festival -- music, recipes, stories and oral history, an interactive map, the occupational folklore and natural history of regional fisheries, photos, video, and more. The material, ably compiled by folklorists and educators, creates a lasting and very accessible archive of festival highlights as well as an excellent overview of the distinct coastal culture of the Mid-Atlantic. Don't miss the great menhaden net-hauling chantey Help Me to Raise 'Em (links to mp3).
posted by Miko at 12:50 PM PST - 7 comments

Engadget points out Sven König's Scrambled Hackz, an Ableton Live-like app that takes in sound samples, analyzes their spectrum, and builds a triggerable, interactive beatbox set upon which hilarious and remarkable performances can be built. A GPLed package will be released soon.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:34 PM PST - 23 comments

I'm positive one of you people did this. Predated by Cory sucking and as foretold by prophecy.
posted by boo_radley at 12:32 PM PST - 112 comments

A group of scientists have announced that they have created cloned and genetically modified pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids. NPR has more on the story, including an audio report from Joe Palca. There are apparently some naturally occuring pigs with their own omega-3 fatty acids, primarily a Spanish breed called Ibérico. Descended from native Iberian wild boar, black-footed Ibérico hogs are raised in specially maintained oak forests, and feed primarily on acorns. Until last September, however, no Spanish producer had been approved to export Ibérico products to the United States, and consumers may have to wait a few more months before they can get their hands on the tasty pork. As the ham is sure to be in short supply, you can put down a $199 deposit now for a ham that will carry a final price tag of as much as $1000. If you're unable to wait for—or afford—the Spanish version, you can treat yourself now to the Bacon of the Month Club, which serves up a different artisanal bacon each month. For more on raising hogs, read James Buchan's account in the London Review of Books. And don't forget the bacon blogs: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:25 PM PST - 28 comments

Nikki Sudden is dead. After playing a show this weekend at the Knitting Factory, Nikki Sudden of the Swell Maps and The Jacobites, as well as tons of solo stuff, died suddenly. Details and discussion. Remembrance and a live set from just this past Monday on WFMU.
posted by jann at 12:21 PM PST - 24 comments

Tim Heidecker Gets stabbed (he's ok) Tim Heidecker, of TimandEric.com, co-creator of Tom Goes to the Mayor, (Adult Swim) and pal of Bob Odenkirk was stabbed by a kid on PCP last week. He wrote about the experience and included some neat photos on his blog. I couldn't find the police blotter.
posted by sswiller at 11:58 AM PST - 35 comments

Robert Jordan has amyloidosis, a rare blood disorder that is remarkably fatal. The link has all the info you need, including: "[amyloidosis is] a rare blood disease which affects only 8 people out of a million each year, and those 8 per million are divided among 22 distinct forms of amyloidosis" and "Untreated, it would eventually make my heart unable to function any longer and I would have a median life expectancy of one year from diagnosis."
posted by taumeson at 11:48 AM PST - 49 comments

The Chapman Stick was developed by, who else, Emmett Chapman in the early to mid 70's. One taps the strings rather than plucking and is closer to a piano than a guitar. Noted musians using the stick are Tony Levin (with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) and Greg Howard (The Dave Mathews Band). Then there's the chick with a stick.
posted by sluglicker at 11:11 AM PST - 31 comments

Soft Fury Monsters with Hard Pink Genitals and other oddities of Stuckism.
posted by dios at 10:50 AM PST - 33 comments

Stone-aged and primitive are what you call people when you want their land. Baroness Lady Tonge of Kew told the British House of Lords that the Bushmen are "holding the government of Botswana to ransom." And how, you ask, can a bunch of hunter-gatherers hold the government that's herding them into "resettlement camps" "ransom"? Because they want to "stay in the stone age," of course. Not that this might be motivated by stones of a different sort. And you thought the Trail of Tears was just something in your history book.
posted by jefgodesky at 9:02 AM PST - 20 comments

Stanislaw Lem: 1921-2006. Polish science-fiction giant Stanislaw Lem died this morning. He was 84. Though Lem was not as well known as Asimov or Heinlein or the other "Masters", he was just as important to the genre. Lem was not a fan of traditonal science-fiction, and in his work tried to approach futuristic themes from a more humanistic, almost psychological, perspective. (And his books are funny!) His best-known work, Solaris, was twice made into a film, most recently in 2002. [Woefully out-of-date official site.]
posted by jdroth at 8:54 AM PST - 87 comments

John Vanderslice live, b-sides, and demos. Formerly of the band MK Ultra, John Vanderslice, owner of the Tiny Telephone analog recording studio in San Francisco, California, has become a respected record producer and solo artist. He recently produced The Sunset Tree, the newest record by The Mountain Goats, the musical vehicle of songwriter John Darnielle. Darnielle is credited as a lyrical collaborator on Vanderslice's latest, Pixel Revolt. John likes to put it all out there, offering up a meticulous Pixel Revolt recording diary, user's guide, and detailed album credits. JV on NPR. Cooking with JV.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:47 AM PST - 20 comments

Peak oil? Yesterday's news. Global warming? You won't live to see it. Today's end-of-the-world-as-you-know-it message is mad cow disease in the human blood supply.
posted by jfuller at 5:57 AM PST - 68 comments

All Politics is Thymotic. "Let me tell you what men want. Let me tell you why some middle-age men wear the sports jerseys of semiliterate behemoths half their age while others customize their cars with so many speakers they sound like the hip-hop version of the San Francisco earthquake as they roll down the street.

Recognition. Men want others to recognize their significance. They want to feel important and part of something important." (NYT via donkey o.d.)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:27 AM PST - 36 comments

The Parade of the Red Army and other scans of Soviet Children's Books from the '20's and '30's. [via DaddyTypes]
posted by anastasiav at 5:17 AM PST - 14 comments

Artificial images of our real planet : computer-generated Earth views and panoramas, all created using various free tools and resources, including the Blue Marble and USGS datasets, POV-Ray and the Gimp. CGI Mount Saint Helens vs the real thing. For truly artificial landscapes, see also the randomly-generated Landscape of week from the same author.
posted by elgilito at 4:16 AM PST - 16 comments