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Kat Chow, with NPR's Code Switch, put together a short piece on the history and the prevalence of the well-known nine note "stereotypical Asian theme." As described in a 2005 Straight Dope forum question: You know, the one that goes dee dee dee dee duh duh dee dee duh. Featured heavily in braindead Hollywood flicks made by clueless directors who want to give a scene an "oriental" feel. Also a variation of it can be heard in David Bowie's "China Girl." [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:05 PM PST - 48 comments

“Our target user for this controller is not very specific, it’s very general, as even a beginner who has never touched the controller can use it, your grandmother can use, or even children with small hands can use it." Shigeru Miyamoto devoted more time and energy into the GameCube’s controller than any of Nintendo’s previous controllers. The NES controller was the first controller to add a D-Pad, the SNES controller would be the first to add shoulder buttons, and Nintendo 64′s controller introduced the analogue stick to 3D consoles. How would Miyamoto be able to top his previous three achievements? The Pressure to Create the Perfect Controller, from Dromble.com's Emily Rogers.

Previous Dromble and Emily Rogers on Metafilter: A Dolphin's Tale: The Story of GameCube.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:43 PM PST - 32 comments

From AC/DC to Zappa, these are the “artists” who have ruined music.
posted by wmoskowi at 8:02 PM PST - 179 comments

Inside Google's Secret Drone Delivery Programme The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range research lab.
posted by modernnomad at 7:05 PM PST - 37 comments

Louisiana is drowning, quickly.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:35 PM PST - 27 comments

"My count is now up to five. Five of my friends and fellow comedians have taken their own life. It's shocking, but, sadly, not surprising. Non-comedians — or as we call them, 'civilians' — are always surprised. And I am always surprised they're so surprised. They have yet to realize the Two Big Things all comedians know." [may be triggering] [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:26 PM PST - 53 comments

Olodum ; - 'The God of Gods' or 'The Supreme God' in Yoruba
A group of Drummers dedicated to cultural activism who famously play in the Pelourinho in Salvador de Bahia.
In 1995 they came to have a wider audience as they appeared in They dont Care About Us, a Michael Jackson single which was shot both in the Pelourinho and the Dona Marta Favela of Rio de Janeiro.
Olodum.
posted by adamvasco at 6:18 PM PST - 4 comments

How to make 2 ingredient ice cream bread. Yes, ice cream bread. From the Simple Cooking Channel on you YouTube.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:45 PM PST - 51 comments

"The abrasiveness trap: High-achieving men and women are described differently in reviews" A study of 248 performance reviews of 180 people found that women received a much higher ratio of critical feedback than men. Moreover, the reviews of women were much more likely to contain criticisms of their personalities in addition to constructive criticism. According to the article: "This kind of negative personality criticism—watch your tone! step back! stop being so judgmental!—shows up twice in the 83 critical reviews received by men. It shows up in 71 of the 94 critical reviews received by women."
posted by jazzbaby at 5:29 PM PST - 36 comments

This is a beginner's guide to drills and bits. Need something more basic? Then try An Idiot's Guide to Buying Power Tools or stick with Four Essential Power Tools.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:14 PM PST - 73 comments

Some pretty big names are wading into the Amazon waters with a group of new instant video pilots debuting today. Marc Forster ("World War Z") directed Hand of God, "a psychological drama about a morally corrupt judge who suffers a breakdown and believes God is compelling him onto a path of vigilante justice"; David Gordon Green ("George Washington," "Pineapple Express") helmed Red Oaks, "a coming-of-age comedy set in the 'go-go' 80s about a college student enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end--and the future begins"; Whit Stillman ("Metropolitan") turns in The Cosmopolitans, "a dramatic comedy about a group of young American expats in Paris searching for love and friendship and an ocean of distance from their past"; and Jay Chandrasekhar ("Super Troopers") is responsible for Really, "a funny, honest, behind-the-curtain look at the psychological and emotional complexities of marriage and the charged dynamics of a tight-knit group of friends grasping on to what's left of their youth." There's also Otto Bathurst's Hysteria, "an investigative thriller about a haunted young doctor who is summoned back to her hometown to investigate an epidemic that may be linked to social media - and her own tragic past." User reviews determine which pilots get picked up for series.
posted by Clustercuss at 1:40 PM PST - 29 comments

classic first lines of novels... written in emoji [slslate]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:21 PM PST - 34 comments

The experiment to determine whether the universe is a hologram has begun. (Previously)
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:16 PM PST - 58 comments

Russia has invaded Ukraine opening a second front to the south to open a land-bridge between Russia and Crimea. The Southern Front Catastrophe – August 27, 2014 translated from Ukraine has military details. Map of Operations Aug 10-27 (detail Mariupol and detail Lugansk pink/red is separatists). So far it's been a stealth invasion and slow escalation, today Russian troops, armor columns and artillery have openly crossed the border (video). Thousands more Russian troops are amassed. Ukraine has announced a reinstatement of the draft to commence in the Fall, and is demanding EU military assistance. An emergency UN meeting is currently in session (the 24th). Russia claims "No Russian forces are crossing in any point the border of Ukraine."
posted by stbalbach at 12:06 PM PST - 360 comments

Say you find yourself at Stockholm's Globe Arena (the largest hemispherical building in the world) and don't feel like taking in a show. No problem -- just find Götgatan and head north. You'll come to the Stockholm City Museum. Look for a short pillar with an orb atop it. That's Mercury. You just walked one twenty-millionth of the distance from the Sun's corona to its first planet, and started your tour of the Sweden Solar System. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 11:43 AM PST - 11 comments

Brickjest is a recreation of Infinite Jest ... in Lego!
The Grauniad interviews Kevin Griffin, who makes the recreations with his 11 year old son, Sebastian.
posted by Lemurrhea at 11:39 AM PST - 11 comments

I don't always ignore your emails, but when I do, it's because the answer is on your syllabus. "In my effort to teach students appropriate use of emails, my syllabus policies [had] ballooned to cover every conceivable scenario -- when to email, when not to, how to write the subject line -- and still I spent class time discussing the email policies and logged hours upon hours answering emails that defied the policies. In a fit of self-preservation, I decided: no more." [more inside]
posted by scody at 11:30 AM PST - 71 comments

Chubby little prairie dog requires aid, plz. (slYT)
posted by Kitteh at 11:15 AM PST - 41 comments

1. Everyone has mites.
2. Humans host (at least) two mite species that aren’t closely related to each other.
3. Mites can tell us about the historical divergence of human populations.

"If reading this made your face a little itchy, rest easy. In an evolutionary perspective, humans and Demodex are old, old friends. You are in good company. And so are your mites." [more inside]
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:06 AM PST - 25 comments

Online game retailer GOG--which started (as Good Old Games) with a focus on updating classics to run on modern computers, then branched into offering newer games DRM-free--has announced that they will start selling movies under their DRM-free model. [more inside]
posted by kagredon at 10:44 AM PST - 13 comments

[...]non-black [AirBnb] hosts earn roughly 12% more for a similar apartment with similar ratings and photos relative to black hosts. [more inside]
posted by threeants at 10:33 AM PST - 43 comments

"The new Energy Elixir and “sparkling future pop sensation” QT has finally debuted its new jingle “Hey QT” in full. It’s as if the drink’s creators, SOPHIE and A. G. Cook, harnessed the most cloying earworms and pop tropes of the 21st century, shaped them into slightly grotesque manifestations, and then teamed up with the best marketers in the business to optimize it for mass consumption. The result? A song that provides its listeners with crisp focus, pure energy, and razor-sharp reaction." [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:05 AM PST - 32 comments

I tend to measure most of my work in rent. Freelance game critics, like most freelance writers, probably measure most things in rent. I also like to measure my wellbeing in whether I can afford a bottle of Sailor Jerry that month. This only reflects a little of the type of person I am. The Sailor Jerry sort of helps to cope with the fact that I am my own worst commenter. Sailor Jerry is also very useful for coping with actual commenters and the hell of the internet.

Cara Ellison: How to write about a game.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:39 AM PST - 21 comments

A self-styled 'digital nomad' aims to create 12 startups within 12 months.
posted by mippy at 8:42 AM PST - 25 comments

André 3000 Is Moving On in Film, Music and Life [New York Times]
posted by Fizz at 8:35 AM PST - 37 comments

Gridland is a match-3 game from doublespeak games, makers of A Dark Room.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:25 AM PST - 48 comments

The Academy, by Monica Seles. Yes, that Monica Seles has written a young adult romance series. Grantland writer Brian Phillips provides "62 scalding takeaways from The Academy, by M. Seles,1 Books 1 and 2."
posted by Tevin at 8:10 AM PST - 59 comments

"If a woman is objectified in a relationship, the research indicates, it's more likely that her male partner will sexually coerce and pressure her." [more inside]
posted by flex at 8:02 AM PST - 110 comments

44 Medieval Beasts That Cannot Even Handle It Right Now [more inside]
posted by Grangousier at 7:38 AM PST - 42 comments

In a scientific study of Chinese online state censorship, Harvard researchers not only gathered large amounts of social media in real time from within the country but created a large amount themselves to see what got through and what was removed. Through this method, they reverse-engineered what they describe as "the largest selective suppression of human communication in the recorded history of any country". The results, to use a popular term, will surprise you. [more inside]
posted by Devonian at 7:04 AM PST - 31 comments

Notice that cute girl on campus? Like to know her better? Why not give her a hand?
posted by pjern at 6:58 AM PST - 48 comments

"It involved four international teams and an empty stadium, no ticket sales and yet the game was (open) for betting," Steans explains. "I sat and watched match fixers with a briefcase full of cash to pay the referees."
posted by josher71 at 6:56 AM PST - 5 comments

Ikea migrated from product photography to digital rendering in V-Ray and Max so 75% of its catalog is virtual - down to the afternoon sunlight filtering through soft NORDIS curtains across SLÄTTEN floors near that framed BILD print resting against the BILLY bookcases...
posted by viggorlijah at 3:26 AM PST - 71 comments