MetaFilter

"Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the World Heritage Convention" (also available here) is a collaborative study by the IAU Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The study has been endorsed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its 34th session in Brasília, Brazil, marking the first time a study in scientific heritage has been so endorsed. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor at 11:19 PM PST - 4 comments

Topic of Cancer. "One fine June day, the author is launching his best-selling memoir, Hitch-22. The next, he’s throwing up backstage at The Daily Show, in a brief bout of denial, before entering the unfamiliar country—with its egalitarian spirit, martial metaphors, and hard bargains of people who have cancer." Christopher Hitchens writes about his cancer. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 10:18 PM PST - 94 comments

According to Comics Alliance, 'if you missed the teaser footage from the Avengers panel at Comic-Con it's online (for now)!' But who would want to watch the real teaser trailer when there are so many fake ones to select from? [more inside]
posted by eccnineten at 9:31 PM PST - 31 comments

Arcade Fire devise 'synchronised artwork' for The Suburbs. Montreal band develop album art in the digital age, providing bonus material to accompany the download of their latest LP. "The idea is simple... Tightly sync a series of images with specific moments in a song using the m4a format. Like some podcasters do, but with micro chapters for each lines of the lyrics. In addition to that, we were able to add good old hyperlinks also synchronised to the song. This gives the possibility for the band to add, at any moments, all kinds of references related to each song. They plan to change and update those links occasionally." says: Vincent Morisset, director of Arcade Fire's Miroir Noir live DVD
posted by Fizz at 7:52 PM PST - 51 comments

R.I.P. Bobby Hebb The artist who originally recorded Sunny died yesterday at the age of 72.
posted by Morpeth at 7:25 PM PST - 28 comments

Are you a radical Barksist? Presenting: Beru's Disney Comics Fan Page!

With comics by: Carl Barks (personal favorite: "The Pixilated Parrot") - Marco Rota - Romano Scarpa - Tony Strobl - Al Taliaferro - Vicar - William Van Horn - Don Rosa (including his masterpiece The Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
posted by dunkadunc at 5:57 PM PST - 20 comments

Airplanes used for other stuff What happens to old airplanes? They often end up as restaurants, houses or even boats. [more inside]
posted by warbaby at 4:11 PM PST - 25 comments

Congressional candidate (and MetaFilter's own) Sean Tevis (find his previouslies here) and XKCD [Update: nothing to do with XKCD, actually] bring forth a new concept in politics: American Nations, An Awesome and Practical Plan to Re-Balance the U.S. Political System.
posted by scalefree at 3:54 PM PST - 179 comments

Update on Google Wave: Google Wave is dead. (Previously)
posted by Baldons at 3:48 PM PST - 114 comments

Women of the Storm ... and the men who love them - anchored by Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and including many celebrities, an advertising campaign called "Be the One," sponsored by the Gulf-Coast organization Women of the Storm, recently issued a "50-state" challenge to develop a "national solution" to problems in the Gulf of Mexico. The PR watchdog site DeSmog Blog alleges that the campaign is an astroturf effort from "BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Chevron, and other polluters." The allegations contend a front group called America's Wetland Foundation is using Women of the Storm to propagate the message that taxpayers should contribute to the oil-spill cleanup. The New Orleans Times-Picayune disagrees. The Women of the Storm and America's Wetland Foundation respond to the allegations. What's the truth?
posted by mrgrimm at 3:41 PM PST - 14 comments

In 2004 then 19 year old Sara Reedy was raped at gunpoint. Six months later, she was jailed for false complaint. Today, a federal appeals court reinstated her lawsuit against the police detective who orchestrated her arrest. [more inside]
posted by bearwife at 3:06 PM PST - 75 comments

The Video Website, created by Jimmy Kimmel Live intern Jeffrey Loveness, is a parody of The Social Network.
posted by gman at 2:47 PM PST - 8 comments

Bruce and Katharine Cornwell are primarily known for a series of remarkable animated films on the subject of geometry. Created on the Tektronics 4051 Graphics Terminal, they are brilliant short films, tracing geometric shapes to intriguing music, including the memorable 'Bach meets Third Steam Jazz' musical score in ‘Congruent Triangles.’
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:58 PM PST - 8 comments

Red Eye, the latest from Christoph Niemann's Abstract City. [more inside]
posted by phunniemee at 1:33 PM PST - 4 comments

OhLife: The easiest way to write your life story. "Every night we'll email you the question 'How did your day go?' Just reply with your entry and it's saved here instantly." [more inside]
posted by chunking express at 12:13 PM PST - 65 comments

Other than its former residents, few mourn the demolition of San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 12:03 PM PST - 39 comments

A comprehensive list of songs you didn't know were covers.
posted by LSK at 11:00 AM PST - 185 comments

unseen hands: women printers, binders and book designers. an exhibition from the princeton university library.
posted by tamarack at 10:58 AM PST - 7 comments

Did you forget about what the TSA allows in carry on bags? Need to know if that guy behind you in line is on the FBI's most wanted list? Need to look up a zip code? Calculate your BMI on the road? The US Government has an app for that. [more inside]
posted by booksherpa at 10:52 AM PST - 33 comments

New York's MTA has a YouTube channel that features some pretty great historical videos from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. [more inside]
posted by millipede at 10:29 AM PST - 11 comments

"On September 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked 'What God do you pray to?' 'What beliefs do you hold?'"

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently defended the planned Cordoba Initiative Islamic Community Center and Mosque to be built near Ground Zero against critics. Yesterday, after the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to allow the demolition of a building that would be replaced by the center, Mr. Bloomberg gave a speech on Governor's Island (the location seems to have been deliberately chosen) in which he eloquently defended religious freedom. (YT: Video) (Previously on MeFi)
posted by zarq at 8:57 AM PST - 316 comments

With a ruling scheduled today on Prop 8 — the California ballot measure that took away the right to marry from same-sex couples — Dave Fleischer has an in-depth analysis of all of the polling data on Prop 8, and his findings include some counter-intuitive numbers, like that the confusing wording actually ended up helping the No vote more than the Yes.
posted by klangklangston at 8:25 AM PST - 619 comments

Undercover investigators posing as students interested in enrolling at 15 for-profit colleges found that recruiters at four of the colleges encouraged prospective students to lie on their financial aid applications — and all 15 misled potential students about their programs’ cost, quality and duration, or the average salary of graduates, according to a federal report. NY Times [more inside]
posted by Think_Long at 8:23 AM PST - 48 comments

Weirdo Toys started with a mix between Superman, Green Lantern, and good old fashioned racist characterization. Along the way it's found a demon lumberjack (ok, maybe not), action figures that should probably have never happened, cake decorations, real toys that look like knock offs, and a butt flashing pee boy. My favorites though are Super Spider-Man and Disney Transformers (part 2).
posted by theichibun at 7:32 AM PST - 17 comments

"Abwärts is a West German post-punk group from Hamburg. Members Mark Chung and FM Einheit would leave the group in the early 1980s to join the Berlin-based band Einstürzende Neubauten. Their best-known recordings include the single "Computerstaat" ("Computer State") (1980) and the LP's Amok Koma (1981) and Der Westen ist einsam ("The West Is Lonely," 1982), the latter in particular being regarded as a classic of West German postpunk."
posted by electricsandwich138 at 6:48 AM PST - 13 comments

BP has stated that the static kill was successful. [more inside]
posted by wierdo at 12:49 AM PST - 134 comments