Quantum Sleeper ... If I blow $100,000+ on a bed, Sandra Bullock better be in it.
posted by RavinDave at 8:29 PM PST - 33 comments

Remember this, from a few days back? Retro vs Metro? Well, the book is out, and the publishers have made it available for free download in pdf format. I've read the first chapter and so far it's pretty good.[more inside]
posted by condour75 at 8:28 PM PST - 21 comments

Was Iraq always about Iran? Iran turns toward the United States, again.
posted by four panels at 8:10 PM PST - 69 comments

Follow the Rhinos Weblog tracking two white Rhinos as they travel next month to the Phoenix Zoo. Nice looking site (via CSS Vault). In related news, poachers have killed about half of the world's population of wild white rhinos in the last year (more here).
posted by oissubke at 8:07 PM PST - 2 comments

Iran systematically filters political websites: In contrast with what the Iranaian President had said in the UN summit on Information Technology last year, the OpenNet Initiative, in its latest bulletin, concludes that "Iran is indeed engaged in extensive Internet content filtering beyond just pornography, including many political, religious, social, and blogging websites.
"Most of these censored websites are Iran-specific; very little non-pornographic, "global" content is filtered from Iranian users. "
posted by hoder at 7:48 PM PST - 8 comments

Hello, my name is Tamara! As you can probably tell, I'm a Christian who loves Jesus and cares for all humans, even the wicked. What you probably don't know is that I'm hot.
posted by loquacious at 4:09 PM PST - 68 comments

Pageant of the Masters : if the tableaux vivants presentation in the Olympics opening ceremony leaves you wanting for more, it's not too late to find your way to southern California this month. This is the 71st season of this famous and unique event in Laguna Beach. (More behind-the-scene stories here and here.)
posted by of strange foe at 4:07 PM PST - 8 comments

Passed Out Wookies • Photographs of comatose hippies who may have smoked too much granola. Carolyn Cole it ain't, although this one might be worth framing.
posted by dhoyt at 1:51 PM PST - 24 comments

The Tsurezuregusa, or Essays in Idleness, of Yoshida Kenko. Those of us who, like myself, cannot read Japanese will have to be content with incomplete sets on various sites.
posted by kenko at 1:16 PM PST - 5 comments

Memory and Manipulation. The trials of Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist who questions the reliability of recovered memories. [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus at 1:03 PM PST - 4 comments

George W. Bush's latest TV ads juxtapose Iraq's and Afghanistan's flags with footage of Olympic sport, proclaiming, "At this Olympics, there will be two more free nations — and two fewer terrorist regimes." At a campaign stop, Bush said, "just the image of the Iraqi soccer team playing in this Olympics. It's fantastic, isn't it? What a fantastic thought." The possibly medal-bound Iraqi soccer team, however, objects to any such association. While Bush goes on to say, "Here's a country now, battling for a country that is now free. It wouldn't have been free if the United States had not acted," Ahmed Manajid, midfield goes so far as to say, "if he were not playing soccer he would 'for sure' be fighting as part of the resistance."
posted by rafter at 11:39 AM PST - 65 comments

Want to be ecologically responsible yet still blingin' like a superstar? Duece Bicycle Spinner Wheels has you all set. Hell, Jamie Foxx endorses them, they've got to be good. (flash site)
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:32 AM PST - 18 comments

The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the transference to Greenland of its Home Rule Authority from Denmark sparks this ironic exhibition in Copenhagen, posing the questions: What position can Greenland take in the future as a people? Culture? Nation? When answer, of course, is to conquer the world:

GREENLAND! WE ARE AT WAR!

AT THIS MOMENT THE TROOPS OF GREENLAND ARE ADVANCING FROM THE SOUTH OF EUROPE, TO THE WEST OF AMERICA, TO THE EAST OF INDIA, TO THE NORTH OF RUSSIA.

I, for one, welcome our new Greenlandic overlords.
posted by AwkwardPause at 11:18 AM PST - 13 comments

Worst. NewsFilter. Ever. "No details are available", but at last count, Google News had over 250 sources for the "Paris Hilton's Missing Dog" non-news story. I'm a dog lover myself, and was once broken-hearted by the loss of a chihuahua, but too few alleged journalists are treating this 'news' with even a small dose of the disrespect it genuinely deserves. Meanwhile one TV show is crowing about getting "the scoop" (but apparently not on their own website, which can't even spell Rumor). But The Daily News and USA Today connected the story to Tinkerbell's upcoming book, ghost-written by MeFi's beleved Dong "Don't Call Me 'D'" Resin, and USAToady gave the book a sidebar story. Which raises the big question: with the book's release about two weeks away, could our own Delightful Dong have been the dognapper? I've seen worse publicity stunts for a book.

In other entertainment news, remember the suitcase full of priceless Beatles memorabilia? Well, a Beatlemania expert says It's Fake. You just can't trust anybody these days.
posted by wendell at 10:45 AM PST - 18 comments

FreedomOfChoice's Apple petition was shut down yesterday by Real Networks after a single day. Why? Seems that allowing comment backfired. Instead of lambasting Apple, everyone used the forum to vent their ire at Real. Only so much freedom at a time, thank you very much.
posted by rtimmel at 10:20 AM PST - 16 comments

It's our language, not yours. So, you were born in an English-speaking country founded by the English, speak English, have a degree in English, write and publish in English, have lived in England for years, and would like to become an English citizen? Sorry, you failed our English test to determine whether you have workable English, so you can't be English.
posted by rory at 10:19 AM PST - 38 comments

JAWS reenacted by bunnies
posted by konolia at 9:29 AM PST - 37 comments

Just because you're in a wheelchair doesn't mean you can't have a ruck. Browsing our current favourite website I found myself intrigued. This year's paralympics will again feature Wheelchair Rugby, a sport that has been alternatively described as 'Chess with Violence'. The rules are explained here though I think you might have to actually see a game to figure out how they would work in practice.
posted by biffa at 8:42 AM PST - 8 comments

Toogle Google image search represented in ASCII. [via Hot Links]
posted by DBAPaul at 8:42 AM PST - 17 comments

The World's Worst Website? Well, yes, it is really bad, but is it the worst? More importantly, isn't there a better way to educate budding web designers? How about sites that encourage, with examples of what to do, rather than the opposite? [via The Red Ferret Journal] [SFW, annoying MIDI]
posted by tommasz at 8:24 AM PST - 14 comments

Loglands. Ongoing mobile phone cam coverage from the rainy mud Lowlands Festival taking place this weekend.
posted by sebas at 7:10 AM PST - 2 comments

The 60 best cheapest places to live in America.
posted by PenDevil at 6:50 AM PST - 45 comments

You know how it is ... you date someone for a little while, it's "interesting and significant" ... but in the end, it just doesn't work out. She has her graduate work at Harvard and you've got your own political career, but you manage to part ways amicably. Heck, given the right circumstances, she'd even ask people to vote for you in November.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:32 AM PST - 14 comments

Trendwatching. "Vast groups of immigrants now travel back and forth between their old and new homelands", "the fast growing class of products and services that cater to consumers' need for simplicity", "no-frills chic", "light versions of countries or societies, stripped of annoying 'features' like crime, bad weather and excessive taxes", "the obsession of ordinary citizens wanting to leave ‘something’ behind in print, audio or imagery", online access everywhere, the C Generation (where C means 'Content' - and that's not a reference to how they feel).
posted by iffley at 5:30 AM PST - 9 comments