June 23, 2007

Peak Coal?

Is the USA the Saudi Arabia of Coal? Not so fast! It appears that US coal reserves have been grossly overstated. (See also this report in PDF format.) Does this mean we've already hit peak coal in the lower 48? How does this change the plans of those who want to use CTL to ease our dependence on foreign oil.
posted by Crotalus at 10:40 PM PST - 28 comments

The wages of sin... are fabulous!

High salaries and rising property values in Sodom and Gommorah? There Goes the Neighborhood: How and Why Bohemians, Artists and Gays Effect Regional Housing Values.
posted by orthogonality at 10:03 PM PST - 38 comments

HELLO KITTY HELL

HELLO KITTY HELL
posted by loquacious at 8:37 PM PST - 35 comments

Apoteket Orkestern

Apoteket Orkestern.
posted by hama7 at 7:56 PM PST - 23 comments

Every ruler everywhere, ever.

Philosophy of History is what the page is called; it's by a philosophy professor, Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D., who's a libertarian and obsessed with Leonard Nelson and the Friesian School, whatever the hell that is. Never mind all that. If you scroll down past the essays and the Military History section and the calendars and the book reviews, you get to the Reference Resources. As he says, "Not all of history may be covered here, but a very extensive fragment of it certainly is." Take, as one tiny example, Margraves & Counts of Flanders. There's a longish introduction and a colored map, then there are lists of rulers and detailed genealogies accompanied by more text, then similarly for the Counts of Artois, the Kings & Dukes of Brittany, the Counts of Anjou, the Dukes of Normandy, the Counts of Blois & Champagne, the Counts of Toulouse, the Dukes of Aquitaine and Dukes of Gascony, the Lords & Counts of Foix, the Kings and Lords of Man, the Dukes of Marlborough and Earls of Spencer (including a detailed list of the Vanderbilts), the Dukes of Buccleuch, Grafton, & St. Albans, and the Dukes of Berwick & Fitzjames. That's one page. There are dozens and dozens of them. The Prime Ministers of the Dominions, the Kings of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland, the Islâmic Rulers of North Africa, the Emperors of India, China, & Japan, all the way down to the Mangïts of Bukhara, 1747-1920. If you have any interest in history, This Site's For You.
posted by languagehat at 3:31 PM PST - 48 comments

Nature Slowly Reclaims Abandoned Amusement Park

Chippewa Lake Park is a former amusement park in Ohio; opened in 1878, it closed in 1978 due to lack of attendance. During the decades since then, the ballroom, roller coasters & other rides have lain abandoned as the surrounding forest reclaims them.
posted by jonson at 2:55 PM PST - 40 comments

So, you represent a country whose leader renamed the month of January after himself? We'll take the job!

"Even the best-endowed regimes need help navigating the shoals of Washington, and it is their great fortune that, for the right price, countless lobbyists are willing to steer even the foulest of ships." Journalist Ken Silverstein poses as a representative of the government of Turkmenistan to see if Washington lobbying firms will take on the job of making a country with a considerably less-than-stellar human rights record more palatable. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials calls Silverstein's work disingenuous; others disagree.
posted by hifiparasol at 2:13 PM PST - 14 comments

Bill O'Reilly vs. High School Student

Boulder High School involved in a controversy. Here's some background. And here's the smackdown. Here's what some other students think. My favorite moment isn't even anything that's said - it's about 2:46 into the smackdown video when the other student on the panel, Andrew, realizes things are getting ready to kick-off. These are all YouTube links BTW.
posted by philad at 2:06 PM PST - 68 comments

Surreal Life

The National Media Museum in Bradford is currently running an Autochrome exhibition to mark 100 years of colour photography. Similar to this, the Autochrome method of photography is both stunningly surreal and hauntingly reminiscent of pre-raphaelite art. Unfortunately, the art of making Autochrome plates seems to have been lost, but you can create your own using Photoshop.
posted by cardamine at 1:07 PM PST - 5 comments

Put the block in the hole.

Bloxors. (Game, flash.)
posted by empath at 12:27 PM PST - 53 comments

Intelligence for Everyone

"Silobreaker is a groundbreaking, web-based current awareness service designed for executives, desktop researchers, and other light information professionals who are seeking contextual insights and actionable answers."

Sounds interesting enough. How about taking the system for a test drive?
(Open-Source Intelligence resource courtesy of InteLink)
posted by mystyk at 11:11 AM PST - 23 comments

Colin Fletcher, RIP

Colin Fletcher, hiker and author of The Thousand Mile Summer, The Man Who Walked Through Time, and The Complete Walker series, has died at age 85. LA Times obit.
posted by mosk at 9:34 AM PST - 19 comments

dass ist nicht so funky

YouTube Funky Für Elise Wars :
  • Not so funky.
  • Trying hard to be funky
  • Indeed funky.

  • posted by Flem Snopes at 9:14 AM PST - 29 comments

    Black Lightning

    Vincent Black Lightning 1952
    posted by vronsky at 7:35 AM PST - 45 comments

    Coping: A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome

    Coping: A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome. A short, to-the-point guide to the unwritten rules of life.
    posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 6:27 AM PST - 47 comments

    Because the music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life

    12 of the Best Music Social Networks Internet radio may be facing uncertain times, but many musical social networks continue to thrive. This article surveys Flotones, Mercora Radio 2.0, Mog, the popular Last fm, iLike, JamNow, Haystack, five others as well as some additional sites, like Kompoz, mentioned in the comments.
    posted by psmealey at 5:49 AM PST - 18 comments

    RFC on eight or more sane cults

    Eight of the craziest cults evar. An honorable mention is being considered for the Taiwanese chicken cult.
    posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:17 AM PST - 49 comments

    John Safran vs the World

    In 1997, the ABC gave John Safran, "Australia's most exciting guerilla filmmaker", his big break on Race Around The World. Although he came last in the competition, it's not too hard to fathom why he won the popular vote, with these submissions: Don't screw with the rules in Japan, The ambulance chaser (Mumbai), Anarchy in the Renault family hatchback (Bristol), The right to bare grudges (Cote d'Ivoire), Mum I'm not Jewish any more (Cote d'Ivoire), Father Pino vs the Devil (Sicily), Mohammad's guide to busting a move (Lebanon), Football's my religion (Jerusalem), The series of unfortunate events and The happiest place on earth, my butt (Disneyland). youtube; each ~6 minutes
    posted by goo at 2:53 AM PST - 16 comments

    Not quite the throwdown of Hilti & Bosch, but ...

    Daft Hands*, deft hands, or both? You decide. *YouTube; safe for work.
    posted by bwg at 2:16 AM PST - 23 comments

    Professional northerners

    Northerners aren't overly represented on t'internet. Our kid reckoned the late Bernard Manning would make a comeback using MySpace, but that didn't 'appen. But hold onto t'whippet because The Lancashire Hotpots are filling the entertainment vacuum (I recommend Chippy Tea from the playlist). 30% Peter Kay, 30% George Formby, 39% Mike Harding (circa his Rochdale Cowboy phase), and 1% the UOGB, they're postmodern northerners for the 21st century (comparisons to Chas & Dave are inevitable and will be ignored).
    posted by humblepigeon at 1:10 AM PST - 34 comments

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