The Encyclopedia of Life project will create a compendium of every aspect of the biosphere. It aims to compile data on all of Earth's 1.8 million known species on one Web site, and will include species descriptions, pictures, maps, videos, sound, sightings by amateurs, and links to entire genomes and scientific journal papers. E. O. Wilson is getting his wish. [Via BB.]
posted by homunculus at 10:15 PM PST - 31 comments

"The Twelve Tribes" A useful and interesting statistical breakdown from Belief.net of the socio-cultural divides in the US. via digby
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 9:02 PM PST - 70 comments

Moptops in suits. Not necessarily the ones you were thinking of.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:47 PM PST - 32 comments

Have you ever come across a plaque commemorating an historical event that seemed well… just a little strange? Maybe it was the Krblin Jihn Kabin (KHS #1) in pCalifornia, Notgeon. Maybe it was the Noizomi in nMichigan, Raalberdus? Welcome to Kymaerica.
posted by tellurian at 8:11 PM PST - 26 comments

WiserEarth is a user-editable relational database that aspires to list, categorize, and describe every non profit and civil society organization on Earth. It currently includes 104,304 organizations which can be viewed by name, location, or areas of focus. You can perform complex searches. You can post (or search) jobs, events, and resources. You can discuss areas of focus, such as Urban Forestry, Evolutionary Ecology, or government oversight and reform. You can also visualize the networks connecting these areas of focus and the various organizations.
posted by alms at 7:28 PM PST - 6 comments

Turtle > cat youtube, cute critters
posted by Joe Invisible at 5:37 PM PST - 50 comments

Vladimir Putin: You know who else wanted to dominate the world? Also: Russia suspends compliance with treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. A 2002 analysis of Putin's foreign policy by Clifford Gaddy and Fiona Hill discusses Russia's fear of US unilateralism; a more recent article by Hill notes that high oil prices have made Russia an energy superpower. A 1951 article by George F. Kennan on US policy towards Russia. Previously.
posted by russilwvong at 5:32 PM PST - 28 comments

The BBC have published online new guidelines for programme makers as to how the end credits to television shows should be formatted in future. The instructions are geekily idiosyncratic and the diagrams offer a preview of at least BBC One's on-screen graphics in the future. Spy drama Spooks famously dumped its credits online. Are we now seeing the first stage of a process in which the same will happen for all programmes? Does it matter?
posted by feelinglistless at 3:45 PM PST - 29 comments

Sex Education media has been around since the days of silent films. Seems most everyone can use a bit of guidance when it comes to the appropriate handling of their lustful urges... your geriatric, dementia-ridden parents, soldiers, Boys, Girls, couples, teens, Christians, and yes, trainables. On a less serious note, the topic of Sex Ed as addressed by: Monty Python, Conan O'Brien, fireside chats, Amy Sedaris, MAD TV, Fry & Laurie, Weeds, Ali G and the Simpsons, Family Guy, and some Florida trailer park slut on youtube. Note: this fpp will not play well in Bangalore. NSFW. Duh. (Previously.)
posted by miss lynnster at 2:37 PM PST - 53 comments

Sweet! Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has made a 3D printer that forms objects out of sugar.
posted by exogenous at 1:02 PM PST - 36 comments

The 25 most exquisitely sad songs in the whole world. (via I Will Dare)
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:49 PM PST - 357 comments

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF AMERICA warning: sound, animated gifs, frontpage-1.0-ish
posted by Stynxno at 12:29 PM PST - 65 comments

The Free Voice of Labour [Flash video 57.11] traces the history of a Yiddish anarchist newspaper publishing its final issue after 88 years. One of 200+ films on anarchist and related themes at the ChristieBooks channel on Brightcove. Other films include Gordon Carr's documentary on the Angry Brigade, a wealth of Spanish-language material on the civil war and revolution, a Russian-language biopic of Nestor Makhno, the story of the Bonnot Gang and a history of Uruguay's Tupamaros. In other news, Franco is dead.
posted by Abiezer at 12:27 PM PST - 10 comments

Pachelbel Rant (YouTube) by Rob Paravonian (official site). A few more of his videos, including a comedy bit on the Friends theme and Sugar Ray lyrics. (previous reference on MeFi here)
posted by Melinika at 12:02 PM PST - 39 comments

The end of one-click patents? The Supreme court recently handed down a decision in the case of KSR v. Teleflex requiring courts to use "common sense" in determining what is an is not "Obvious" and therefore not patentable. According to SCOTUSblog, this will greatly affect "combination" patents that involve combining two already existing ideas in a new way.
posted by delmoi at 11:23 AM PST - 32 comments

Two podcasts from the BBC. Around the world, by every measure, America's reputation and image has never been so poor. Part 1: Venezuela; Part 2: Turkey
posted by adamvasco at 11:18 AM PST - 43 comments

The boundary stones of Washington DC.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:48 AM PST - 52 comments

Librarians and book collectors have many tales about ephemera left in books. While the legend of the bacon bookmark may be among the more pervasive reports of strange finds, a smallpox sample is probably the most bizarre. There are blogs and discussion boards that record other makeshift markers. Some readers prefer designated over spontaneous markers. Mirage Bookmark has an extensive collection of bookmark ephemera, with Bookmark of the Week and Bookmark Collector also offering noteworthy collections.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:34 AM PST - 68 comments

Like Progress Quest but looking for something you can get a little more involved with? Hours of semi-interactive entertainment are now available! Save, load, and undo with the roguelike game Save Scummer. Level up with Statbuilder, where you must click to win. And try my personal favorite, NPC Quest, which gives you all the excitement of RPG inventory management while automating the boring battles and exploration. (NPC Quest is near the bottom; scroll down.)
posted by CrunchyFrog at 9:28 AM PST - 8 comments

Bandology! For those who loved Skyrates, here comes another casual, online community game from the brain-trust at the Carnegie Mellon University school of game design. Choose your instrument, join a band, and play old-school mini-games to build up your skills. Or choose track B to start your own band, recruit new members, and manage your gigs and travel. (And BTW, Skyrates has now rebooted from the beginning, with a new map and much more fun stuff implemented.)
posted by Navelgazer at 8:45 AM PST - 7 comments

Dude catches sunglasses with his face youtube 1:37
posted by Flashman at 8:45 AM PST - 109 comments

Secondlifefilter: The popular (and increasingly Euro-centric) site has certainly been getting some bad press recently. It's a little sad that a virtual world must now be patrolled by real policemen.
posted by chuckdarwin at 8:18 AM PST - 72 comments

The Long Take aka "The Greatest Long Tracking Shots in Cinema".
posted by Armitage Shanks at 6:39 AM PST - 93 comments

"Three years of legal education has been wasted because of an unmoderated message board." 3rd-year law student Anthony Ciolli has lost a job offer due to his association with law school message board AutoAdmit.
posted by lalex at 2:19 AM PST - 257 comments

The diminutive but intensely powerful Lillian Leitzel was known for her fiery temper, her flirtatious banter, and her ability to spin her entire body in the air while supporting herself by only one hand upwards of 200 times in a row, much like a human pinwheel. She was one of the Ringling Bros. brightest (and most petulant) stars, famously firing and re-hiring her maid several times a day. She married 3 times - (the second marriage ended after she cut off her husband's finger) but her last marriage was to the purported love her life, trapeze artist Alfredo Codona, a master of the triple back summersault off the flying trapeze who also enjoyed success as a Hollywood stunt double . Their passionate (if mercurial) relationship was cut short when, during a performance, Lillian's ring broke, and she fell 45 feet onto a concrete floor. Two days later she was dead. Alfredo, devastated, became reckless and was injured in a fall of his own, cutting short his career. His subsequent marriage to another performer failed, and while meeting with a lawyer to finalize their divorce, he shot her and then himself. Alfredo and Lillian are reunited in death, buried under a marker of their lives and love.
posted by serazin at 12:45 AM PST - 22 comments