July 13, 2009

I Just Can't Stop Watching PingWire

PingWire is an (almost) live feed of images being posted to Twitpic. Clicking on a thumbnail will take you to the full sized photo. As it's a live, unfiltered picture feed, you can expect some inappropriate content will make its way on there as well. Best considered NSFW.
posted by jim.christian at 11:38 PM PST - 36 comments

It Came From the Stacks

Awful Library Books Volumes that are so outdated or so outmoded that they no longer belong in a public library. Your grandfather's Computer Science. Your grandfather's Rocket Science. Your grandmother's Feminism. Your great-grandmother's Pre-Feminism. (And your great-grandfather's.) Your grandparents' parents! World Powers that no longer exist! Old predictions that didn't happen! Bios of people when they were famous for something else! Roller Disco! Books considered crackpot when they were new! Stuff even the Politically Incorrect would think are Just Plain Wrong! And more! Are any of these books hiding in YOUR library? (If so, mail them to me.) [more inside]
posted by wendell at 9:41 PM PST - 78 comments

Where have you gone, Delino DeShields?

Where have you gone, Delino DeShields? Seven years ago, Delino DeShields was released by the Chicago Cubs, ending a 13-year, 5-team journey through Major League Baseball during which he earned almost $29 million. He's now the hitting coach for the Billings Mustangs in the rookie-level Pioneer League, making as much money for the season as he used to make per game. The Washington Post goes to Montana to find out why. [more inside]
posted by escabeche at 8:37 PM PST - 17 comments

Ireland Passes Blasphemy Law

Who asked for Ireland's blasphemy law? Ireland's sweeping new defamation law, passed in the Dáil on the 9th, "introduces a new crime of blasphemous libel." The creators of Father Ted want some clarification. And at their recent AGM, "...Atheist Ireland members voted to test the new law by publishing a blasphemous statement, deliberately designed to cause offence. The statement will be finalised in the coming days." Across the sea, comedian and co-author of Jerry Springer, the Opera Stewart Lee asks: "What's Wrong With Blasphemy?" [40 minute documentary] [more inside]
posted by milquetoast at 8:02 PM PST - 68 comments

Let the games begin

Today began Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings, with opening remarks from the Senators on the Judiciary Committee, introductions from NY Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, and an opening statement from Judge Sotomayor herself. Among the shouted protests from pro-life advocates in the gallery, highlights included Sen. Lindsay Graham's statement about what he thinks the advise-and-consent function of the senate should entail, and Sen. Al Franken's first real moment in the U.S. Congress.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:40 PM PST - 86 comments

Scientific literacy.

Americans like science. But they think much less highly of American scientists than American scientists themselves do. Most scientists also rate media coverage of science as only fair or poor. Yet public knowledge of some scientific facts is .... not that bad (Section 7). A Pew Research Report reveals all.
posted by binturong at 5:44 PM PST - 38 comments

Sappy, Unsexy, and Anachronistic

"She's getting married this fall. It wasn't religion that made her do it. It wasn't fear of being alone. It was simply affection."
posted by Parallax.Error at 5:38 PM PST - 63 comments

Orange Juice. 9 MM Handgun. Butter Knife.

Living with First-Person Shooter Disease (SLYT)
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:45 PM PST - 86 comments

God damn trees!

From the guys that brought you Hobo With A Shogun comes award-winning short, Treevenge (NSFW)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:33 PM PST - 34 comments

Bruxellisation

Top 10 comic book cities
posted by Artw at 2:22 PM PST - 49 comments

A Fairly Intense Puzzling Walk

Monday Flash Fun Puzzle: A Short Walk is a fairly simple flash game where you navigate your character from one point to another. You are a human that has been abducted and a progressively more difficult series of tests are administered.
posted by schyler523 at 1:59 PM PST - 15 comments

Yes, Sir, this Is War!

Microsoft Office 2010 - for free, on the web. Yeah, you heard me right. [more inside]
posted by Muddler at 1:00 PM PST - 106 comments

turns out not everything looks perfect from far away...

Christian metalcore band Confide uses a Postal Service cover as a clever tactic to promote their god-awful music. [more inside]
posted by azarbayejani at 12:37 PM PST - 152 comments

Cats have a specific "manipulative" purr

I see what yer doin' there From the "I already knew this but someone did formal research on it" department: Research indicates cats have a "manipulative" purr which differs from normal/pleasure purring. The manipulative purr is specifically used to get food and attention.
posted by ShadePlant at 12:12 PM PST - 84 comments

Where's the button to summon Godzilla?

A zoomable, isometric map of Hong Kong
posted by juv3nal at 11:33 AM PST - 34 comments

50 million and counting..

A concise article in support of a single-payer health care system written by an East Tennessee family medicine physician. [more inside]
posted by pwedza at 10:50 AM PST - 82 comments

Dumpster diving: one man's trash recepticle is another's pool

Inspired by the creative re-use of dumpsters in Athens, Georgia by Curtis Crowe of the band Pylon, the Macro|Sea collective have taken the idea further, and have their first dumpster pool space prototype up and active in Brooklyn (via). The group's big idea is to revitalize strip malls across America. On the smaller scale, British artist Oliver Bishop-Young has "turned skips into gold," by refurbishing small skips into little ponds, parks, skate ramps, and micro meeting areas (more details). On the more personal level, Michel de Broin created "Blue Monochrom," a dumpster hot tub.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:35 AM PST - 9 comments

Fauxbituaries

i dream of a world without you: death notices for the nonexistent. [more inside]
posted by Iridic at 10:23 AM PST - 12 comments

The Needlers and the Hookers and the damage done

Crafters may look like a close-knit group, but the reality is that there are armed camps within crafting. Knitters and crocheters brandish their respective tools and claim their craft is easier to learn or more versatile, while those who are bistitchual remain determinedly on the fence. For the uninitiated/uncrafty, here’s an explanation of the difference between the two. “Wooly Bullies” [sic], a documentary, explores the animus between the Needles and the Hooks. When Sandi Wiseheart of Knitting Daily dares to mention the “c” word, she gets many comments from knitting readers who, while stressing that they have nothing against crochet, just don’t want to see it in their backyard magazine. When Kim Werker, editor of Interweave Crochet, tries to talk to the Knitting Daily crowd about crocheting she gets even more negative feedback. Part of the problem seems to be that while knitters contend with the “old lady’s pastime” stereotype, crocheters are up against the much more negative “granny square and toilet paper cosy” stigma. [shakes head in sorrow] Crafters, can’t we all just get along? and make stuff?
posted by orange swan at 9:26 AM PST - 111 comments

Land, Eagle, Land

We Chose the Moon: The JFK Library and Museum has just launched this interactive web experience using archival audio, video, photos, and recorded transmissions to re-create, in real time, the July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 mission to the moon.
posted by Miko at 6:48 AM PST - 43 comments

To sleep, perchance to dream

Whatnot [slyt], a short and strange animated film about dreaming and flying.
posted by mippy at 3:23 AM PST - 6 comments

First, select your species to access the correct section of our website

28 years ago they came to Earth. Explore the world of District 9. Consider a career with Multi-National United. Find out about enhancing your math skills with DNA from outer space. Play the game. And learn the truth behind the lies.
posted by scalefree at 1:08 AM PST - 120 comments

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