September 4, 2010

Toothy tubes of hunger.

Toothy tubes of hunger. SharkweekFilter. Good snaps.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:36 PM PST - 18 comments

don't tell Steve.

Simplicity is highly overrated. Why people prefer feature-bloat.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:08 PM PST - 133 comments

SNIT!

Badass Japanese Precision Walking Competition. Craziness starts at 1:45, and just gets better from there on.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:57 PM PST - 69 comments

The Social Network Will Be Monetized

Social Networks and Data Mining: Where it is and Where it's Going
Telecoms operators naturally prize mobile-phone subscribers who spend a lot, but some thriftier customers, it turns out, are actually more valuable. Known as “influencers”, these subscribers frequently persuade their friends, family and colleagues to follow them when they switch to a rival operator. The trick, then, is to identify such trendsetting subscribers and keep them on board with special discounts and promotions. People at the top of the office or social pecking order often receive quick callbacks, do not worry about calling other people late at night and tend to get more calls at times when social events are most often organised, such as Friday afternoons. Influential customers also reveal their clout by making long calls, while the calls they receive are generally short. Companies can spot these influencers, and work out all sorts of other things about their customers, by crunching vast quantities of calling data with sophisticated “network analysis” software. Instead of looking at the call records of a single customer at a time, it looks at customers within the context of their social network.
posted by Weebot at 7:10 PM PST - 22 comments

Medal of Honor video game sales banned by US military

EA's new Medal of Honor video game allows players to take the role of Taliban insurgents killing American troops. In response, the US military has banned sales of the game on all military bases, including in privately run businesses (such as GameStop) present on bases. Military members (who game) don't seem too happy about the decision here. (More military member comments, some pro, some against, can be found here.) You can watch someone playing as a Taliban insurgent here. (Warning: MoH gameplay is rated 'M' for mature.)
posted by GnomeChompsky at 7:06 PM PST - 90 comments

History of the first 50 years of the Idaho National Laboratory

It has gone by many names. "National Reactor Testing Station" (1949-1975), "Energy Research and Development Administration" (1975-1977), "Idaho National Engineering Laboratory" (1977-1997), the "Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory" (1997-2005), and now the "Idaho National Laboratory" (2005-present). It has been the site of more than 50 nuclear reactors, which has resulted in a fair bit of environmental impact. In 2000, the US Department of Energy published (and has since made available on the web) a history of the laboratory over its first 50 years: "Proving the Principle."
posted by rmd1023 at 7:06 PM PST - 11 comments

Classic comic artists at their drawing boards.

Classic Chicago Tribune Cartoonists, 1931. Leapin' lizards! We're in the movies! Excerpt from the documentary From Trees to Tribunes. You can get the whole documentary here at archive.org. Classic comic artists at their drawing boards. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist at 6:24 PM PST - 1 comments

Still In Business

This Summer’s Sexiest Images From Saturn. From a billion miles away, the Cassini spacecraft continues to send spectacular images of Saturn and its moons. Cassini has been flying since 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004 after flybys of Earth, Venus and Jupiter. Its mission was originally slated to end in 2008, but it got its first 27 month extension to witness Saturn’s equinox. This year, it was given another life extension until 2017 to keep exploring until Saturn’s northern hemisphere summer solstice. [previously] [more inside]
posted by netbros at 5:03 PM PST - 21 comments

Robert Shimmel has died

Comedian Robert Schimmel, a frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, has died a week after being injured in a car accident. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 3:41 PM PST - 32 comments

Indonesian Glacier Drops 12 Inches in Two Weeks

"Rain is probably the most effective way to ... cause the ice to melt. So this was the first time you could see the surface actually lowering around you." A rare tropical glacier in Indonesia has dropped by a foot in the space of two weeks, as observed by a team sent to collect ice cores to study the effects of global warming. (Glaciers, previously.) [more inside]
posted by spitefulcrow at 3:32 PM PST - 17 comments

"Getting up mad and staying mad all day certainly describes Paul Conrad"

The acclaimed Los Angeles Times political cartoonist Paul Conrad is dead. [more inside]
posted by blucevalo at 1:45 PM PST - 14 comments

"Don't think it hasn't been a little slice of heaven...'cause it hasn't!"

Three newly approved 'in vitro' toxicity tests using artificial human skin are reducing the need for animal testing of cosmetics and chemicals. [more inside]
posted by zarq at 12:00 PM PST - 10 comments

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

CAPTCHA comics: for when typing two words just isn't enough. [more inside]
posted by Rinku at 11:24 AM PST - 45 comments

Le Fin du Fonz

In Defense of Jumping the Shark. The writer behind Fonzie's infamous, downfall-defining moment remains unrepentant. "More than three decades later, I still don't believe that the series 'jumped the shark' when Fonzie jumped the shark."
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:51 AM PST - 111 comments

Justice, Justice, everywhere...

What do bottles of water used to torture people have in common with bottles of water provided to those in danger of dying of thirst? Jay Bybee. Guess which ones he likes. Scott Horton discusses the case of Walt Stanton and Jay Bybee's curious flexibility over bottled water's proper use. [more inside]
posted by fartknocker at 9:56 AM PST - 40 comments

A trip through datagraphics in Kim Asendorf's head.

Pixel Sorting Mountain Trip [more inside]
posted by carsonb at 9:22 AM PST - 13 comments

Britney Spears: 1-6 How we filled the sad, lonely years between the release of "Ray of Light" and the invention of Lady Gaga.

Twitter Discographies summarizes musicians' entire careers in 140 characters, album by album. (SLT) [more inside]
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:46 AM PST - 34 comments

I. Want. Fries.

Pat Jordan from the New York Times meets William Shatner: James T. Kirk TJ Hooker author Priceline Spokesman ("and shareholder") horse buff at a farm Starbucks Gas Station horse park Tony Roma's mall equestrian ground
“I always did assume they were laughing at me. Lately it’s come to my attention they are laughing with me.”
A subtly poignant interview of a cultural visionary hero icon has-been phoenix one-man universe.
posted by nickrussell at 6:52 AM PST - 62 comments

Can I haz Stanley Cup?

Professional hockey goalies usually wear intimidating custom masks, but HC Lada goalie/ Tampa Bay Lightening draftee Vasiliy Koshechkin, whose name is similar to the Russian word for kitten, decided to go in a different direction.
posted by chrisulonic at 6:27 AM PST - 32 comments

What does it feel like to be the only person to survive a plane crash, a boat wreck or an ambush?

The Only Ones: Escaping Near Death : Sole Survivors from the fascinating first-person experience column in the Guardian. [more inside]
posted by lalochezia at 6:15 AM PST - 11 comments

"What's the difference between a virus and windows ? Viruses rarely fail."

Symantec’s “Hack Is Wack,” And Cybersecurity’s Most Embarassing Marketing Campaigns: Hack is Wack previously Jackie Chan - Kaspersky 2010 Antivirus Commercial. Ex Gang member turns Computer Hacker. Don't Copy That Floppy. & Don't Copy That Floppy 2.0.
posted by Fizz at 6:09 AM PST - 14 comments

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