April 1, 2014

Can you inflate the balloon in the form of a kitten?

Of course I can, I'm an expert.
posted by Brent Parker at 10:44 PM PST - 65 comments

The Google Archipelago

Google has been in Ireland since 2003, and some former Google employees and contractors with significant experience at the company say that Google’s reputation as a great employer is undeserved. Permanent staff are well taken care of, they say, but even many permanent staff are overqualified, overworked, and perform relatively menial tasks. In addition, entire layers of hidden contractors and temporary workers do much of the work without the benefits or opportunities accorded permanent staff.
posted by gorbweaver at 9:41 PM PST - 35 comments

Cyber Threats Map

Cyber Threat Real-Time Map. This Map Tracks Cyberattacks Around the World in Real Time. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 9:30 PM PST - 10 comments

The city as clip art

The "White City" of Tel Aviv is a World Heritage site with the world's largest collection of Bauhaus ("International Style") buildings. In his blog TLV Buildings Israeli artist Avner Givelter depicts these buildings' facades with local colors and typography in the style of the similarly-charming Windows of New York. [previously] [more inside]
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:28 PM PST - 3 comments

High Maintenance returns

After a hiatus, the smart, sweet, sharp, and often surprising webseries High Maintenance returned in past months with three new episodes. [more inside]
posted by threeants at 7:14 PM PST - 17 comments

I Don't Want To Hide My Love

N.A.S.A. - Hide (feat. Aynzli Jones) [Tropkillaz Remix] [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:58 PM PST - 6 comments

Hidden treasures, in drying lakes and rivers, and in NYC street cracks

The drought in California has brought about a number of things, from exposing part of Mormon Island, an old mining town that has partially emerged from Folsom Lake (news coverage clip; aerial view of a re-emerged bridge with overly dramatic music; a tour of the exposed ruins), to being good news for gold prospectors. But if there's too much of a crowd in the Sierra Nevada foothills, you can always dig for gold in New York City (alt: YouTube), in the cracks of Midtown's Diamond District with Raffi Stepanian.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:26 PM PST - 6 comments

"If you're far enough ahead that people can't tell if you're joking"

Gmail is ten years old today.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:12 PM PST - 180 comments

Screw With A Smile

Screw With A Smile. (not a joke. honest, see?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:19 PM PST - 34 comments

desreveR

April Fools' Day, everyone's (least) favorite day on the Internet, brought a 73-minute movie to Netflix of a rotisserie chicken uncooking. What a waste of reversed video. [more inside]
posted by nbergus at 1:55 PM PST - 22 comments

Wild animals

Katerina Plotnikova's portraits with wild animals are surreal. The photographer recently posted a behind-the-scenes shot along with an album of other shots showing how they stage each photograph.
posted by mathowie at 12:24 PM PST - 19 comments

Everybody? Everybody!

Homestar Runner is back. The Brothers Chaps have added new content to homestarrunner.com for the first time since 2010.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:46 AM PST - 85 comments

On the BeyHive and Cyborg Mrs. Carter

"They are in love with what she transmutes. What she is allowed to be."
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:16 AM PST - 6 comments

Detroit: Then & Now

The latest project of detroiturbex.com is Detroit: The Evolution of a City, showing incredible then and now photographs with a sliding interface, so you can see the changes (good and bad) across the decades. It's broken up into five sections: A Growing City, Deindustrialization, Unrest, Decay, and Revival. Previously from detroiturbex: Cass Tech superimposed photos. [more inside]
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 11:09 AM PST - 11 comments

RIP Hobie

Hobie Alter, inventor of the hugely popular Hobie Cat line of catamarans, has died. [more inside]
posted by Aizkolari at 11:09 AM PST - 23 comments

Ebola spreads to new territory

There's been an ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. With 122 cases so far, this is the worst outbreak since 2007's 264-case outbreak. The worst outbreak was 2000-2001's 425 cases. What makes this one different is the way it has spread so widely. [more inside]
posted by Sleeper at 9:50 AM PST - 52 comments

"It begins with an idea....."

.tumblr pro [SLV]
posted by Fizz at 8:30 AM PST - 21 comments

The Yellow Umbrella and the Blue French Horn

The ending of How I Met Your Mother has been a bit controversial. At least two people besides the writers knew all along what would happen: Ted's kids. They kept the secret for nine years. (Some MeFites might not be entirely surprised either, based on these previous threads.) The ending is a little melancholy, both for the characters and for the fans who have become attached to them over almost a decade. Don't worry, though, 20th Century Fox is already developingHow I Met Your Dad.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:50 AM PST - 327 comments

Milton Berle, Carlos Mencia, and Dane Cook walk into a bar

Given the expense and uncertainty of lawsuits, how does the comedy community enforce the proscription on joke theft? Part of an ongoing Slate series called The Humor Code.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:25 AM PST - 45 comments

The Passion of Rob Ford

Excellent Dissent magazine article on Rob Ford that looks beyond his disastrous single term as Toronto's mayor and examines the neoliberal strain in Canadian politics that has caused the larger problems facing Toronto, of which Ford's 2010 election is only a particularly appalling symptom.
posted by orange swan at 4:32 AM PST - 107 comments

So it's come to this: The canonization of Bob Dylan's 1980s albums.

"Dylan was bad in the '80s because to be anything else would've been dishonest." Steven Hyden (who else?) has found a way to appreciate '80s Dylan: "It's about appreciating the subtext of records that are more fun to think about than to listen to."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 1:01 AM PST - 60 comments

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