Researchers from the University of Chicago and MIT (PDF file) have analyzed data obtained from an unnamed major online dating service to try to uncover how the online dating market works. Shockingly, they have discovered both sexes care strongly about physical appearance and a woman's choice depends on the income and education of the men. Recent NY Times article about same. Paper authors other papers here.
posted by Fozzie at 5:19 PM PST - 44 comments

The Longhorn Browser and RSS Team. Long video warning (almost an hour; how far will you get?) - If you've ever worked with the Redmondites, this'll look pretty familiar. What a kick to read all of ya'lls comments...how 'bout it?
posted by ValveAnnex at 2:46 PM PST - 55 comments

600 arrests over Sethusamudram Ship Channel. That seemed like a lot. So I was curious about why. Turns out, they're going to dredge up the sea floor so big ships can have a short cut. Fisherfolk and others think it's probably a pretty bad idea.
posted by RedEmma at 2:14 PM PST - 4 comments

Bush sort of answers lots of serious questions This transcript of Trevor McDonald's interview with Bush is actually quite interesting. I find myself agreeing with his stance on Africa, which is probably a first for me with ANY of his stances on ANYTHING. His climate change and Iraq stances, on the other hand, I didn't quite agree with.
posted by antifuse at 1:39 PM PST - 59 comments

journal of nomadic and popular culture
posted by Thayer-P at 12:03 PM PST - 7 comments

Arlington West. Photos: 1, 2, 3.
posted by loquacious at 11:57 AM PST - 3 comments

The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear-words.
posted by nthdegx at 11:41 AM PST - 47 comments

"Too many people know this. It should break wide open this week" First mentioned on Friday, Sunday brought confirmation : "E-mails surrendered by Time magazine to a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity show that a top White House aide, Karl Rove, was one of the sources, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday." Is Karl Rove in trouble ? Read between the lines.
posted by troutfishing at 11:36 AM PST - 122 comments

The Declaration of Independence It's meant to be read aloud
posted by warbaby at 11:33 AM PST - 46 comments

Need a new ride? Can I interest you in a 27 horsepower two-cylinder, two-stroke engine, and cotton reinforced plastic body? For the celebs in the house try the new stretch Yugo! Cars from the east.
posted by arse_hat at 11:18 AM PST - 11 comments

Following up on this post, the Barbershop Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA) will be holding its annual International Convention this week in Salt Lake City. The contest sessions and several other non-competition concerts will be broadcast live on the internet. There's a fee for the video feeds, but the audio feed is free!
posted by Buzz at 11:14 AM PST - 4 comments

Karla Homolka is due to be released today. For those of you who don't keep up with this story, Homolka and her husband Paul Bernardo kidnapped, raped and killed two teenaged girls in the St. Catherines (Ontario) area a few years ago, with one of the women being Homolka's own little sister. Homolka is getting away pretty lightly because of sheer stupidity on the part of the then-prosecutor. Well she's about to get out now. While the official Karla Internet Death Pool no longer exists, one does wonder how long she will last, assuming she's still planning on moving to Montreal's NDG district.
posted by clevershark at 11:11 AM PST - 124 comments

To chip or not to chip? Fresh from the BBC - the first UK conviction for chipping a games console. Admittedly he was selling modified X-Boxes, but how will this affect those who chip for fun or for friends?
posted by Nugget at 10:53 AM PST - 18 comments

Dreams of Liberty Who Are Americans to Think That Freedom Is Theirs to Spread? Op ed from Michael Ignatieff, Carr professor of human rights at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; an edited version of which appeared in Sunday Observer 03 July. Ignatieff previously mentioned here.
posted by adamvasco at 10:40 AM PST - 10 comments

God Bless Americana. This 4th of July, celebrate the true America with Charles Phoenix, who's been collecting found slides of other Americans' vacations from the 50s and 60s.
posted by herc at 10:18 AM PST - 4 comments

Cyclists face all sorts of hazards. But as the Warrington Cycle Campaign's cycle facility of the month feature shows, sometimes the well meaning local authority provision can be more dangerous than other road users. all links to Warrington Cycle Campaign are coral cache links.
posted by handee at 8:10 AM PST - 57 comments

The fitness of evolutionary psychology
posted by daksya at 7:49 AM PST - 22 comments

"I CELEBRATE myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.."

Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass is 150 years old today.

"Great is life . . and real and mystical . . wherever and whoever,
Great is death . . . . Sure as life holds all parts together, death holds all parts together;
Sure as the stars return again after they merge in the light, death is great as life."

posted by peacay at 6:55 AM PST - 30 comments

Very few people will ever need to learn the value of pi beyond a handful of digits, but some people are more obsessed than others. They call themselves Piphilologists, and all the pi-memorization writings you could ever possibly want have been compiled into one massive Piphilogical text file. And today, Piphilologists the world over must surely bow in tribute to Akira Haraguchi, who has just recited pi from memory to 83,431 places.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:48 AM PST - 22 comments

Stick Man Movie Scene Quiz combines the simplicity of the stick figure drawings with the frustration of the well known invisibles quizzes.
posted by keks at 6:25 AM PST - 29 comments

Openly and unapologetically, the world's No. 1 oil company disputes the notion that fossil fuels are the main cause of global warming. Exxon opposes the very idea of capping global-warming emissions - From the article Exxon Chief Makes A Cold Calculation On Global Warming. A interesting read, whatever your opinion on the oil industry is...
posted by SharQ at 3:29 AM PST - 30 comments

"A 2,600-year-old corpse has been discovered in the moors of northern Germany. It's not the only one. Such finds are frequent, but have posed an increasingly large riddle: Why were so many of the bodies victims of violence and dismemberment?"
posted by brundlefly at 12:27 AM PST - 30 comments