Giga Society: the world's most exclusive high IQ society, where an IQ of 196 or higher (one in a billion) is required to join. Not quite as cranially-advantaged? Well, there's always the Oath society, which'll take you if you're only one in a thousand (a mere 150 IQ or higher). Big brains and design skills (or language ones, for that matter) don't mix well, though, it would seem. [more inside]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:22 PM PST - 86 comments

World's Finest, Sandy Collora's new "trailer" featuring the the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. (Quicktime required) Also check out his previous fan flick Batman: Dead End.
posted by riffola at 7:14 PM PST - 13 comments

Verizon goes Vonage? ATT, announced this week that it's giving up on residential phone service. And here, from the look of it, Verizon is starting to offer what I believe is Internet-based phone service. Is the Internet the future of phone?
posted by ParisParamus at 6:53 PM PST - 27 comments

"Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play."
The overriding ideal behind Ultimate frisbee is Spirit of the Game where sportsmanship is valued above all else. Next week is the World Ultimate & Guts Championships in Turku, Finland where 23 countries compete, so now is a great time to (re-)learn to play. Besides being lots of fun for everyone, it might even improve your career prospects.
posted by quiet at 6:00 PM PST - 13 comments

Francesco Petrarch & Laura deNoves.
posted by hama7 at 3:44 PM PST - 6 comments

The end of the light bulb? E. Fred Schubert, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute "claims to have invented a 99-percent efficient reflector that promises to speed the replacement of light bulbs with LEDs." According to researchers, this could happen within the next five years. The current prototype is bankrolled by the ARPA and The National Science Foundation "recently award Schubert's team a $210,000 grant to create in three years a commercial version of his patented omnidirectional reflector."

"Schubert claimed that lighting accounts for 25 percent of U.S. electrical energy consumption. Since white LEDs emit more light per dollar and generate less unwanted heat, they are potentially a major energy saver." (see EE Times link)

Meanwhile, some of the oldtimers seem to be pretty refractory.
posted by tcp at 2:57 PM PST - 10 comments

Why I use a typewriter. All this talk of retro technology! Great essay from Bill Meissner on why he uses a typewriter. Also worth checking out is Ian Frazier's piece in The Atlantic about typewriter man Martin Tytell, and this interview with Harlan Ellison about why he can't use a computer to write with. (via Sassone)
posted by braun_richard at 2:20 PM PST - 33 comments

Software has no sense of humor. A man whose car bore personalized license plates reading 'NO PLATE' received notices for thousands of unpaid parking tickets. No, not an urban legend, Snopes says it is true. For more classic software bugs check out Software Glitches which includes some software induced disasters. I, Robot anyone?
posted by caddis at 1:50 PM PST - 12 comments

The Douglas Self Site is an eclectic mix of web oddities including The Museum of RetroTechnology, some less than successful audio projects and the truth about Roswell. The RetroTech Museum is full of forgotten mechanical devices like monowheels, pneumatic networks, gyrocars, and optical telegraphs. (via dm)
posted by euphorb at 12:30 PM PST - 2 comments

Palindromes
::shamelessly stolen from plep::
posted by anastasiav at 10:44 AM PST - 20 comments

The Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi now has a digital archive containing 10,000 images of medieval stained glass from English churches and cathedrals: a wonderful resource for anyone interested in medieval art. These stunning images of the windows at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, are just a tiny fraction of the extraordinary riches available on the site.
posted by verstegan at 7:40 AM PST - 14 comments

Genie Corp: The Splice Of Life. Creature Comforts [via BoingBoing]
posted by srboisvert at 6:29 AM PST - 1 comments

Cool wheelchairs.
posted by dg at 4:53 AM PST - 11 comments

The National Journal opens up its doors to the public for two weeks every four years. Best known for its annual vote ratings (which declared John Kerry most liberal senator of 2003), there's also ads galore, snarky coverage of the media, and more polls than you can shake your fist at.
posted by calwatch at 1:01 AM PST - 6 comments

Poll Shows Growing Arab Rancor at U.S. Arab views of the United States, shaped largely by the Iraq war and a post-Sept. 11 climate of fear, have worsened in the past two years to such an extent that in Egypt -- an important ally in the region -- nearly 100 percent of the population now holds an unfavorable opinion of the country, according to two polls due out today... More within
posted by y2karl at 12:06 AM PST - 126 comments