September 20, 2010

Are you a cafeteria American?

She read from notes, stumbling occasionally, and did not so much lean on her metaphors as wrestle them to the floor and grind them underfoot; but they loved it anyway - all 15 minutes of it. She attacked everyone from the president on down, demanded stricter standards for America's service personnel, espoused an aggressive red-meat constitutionalism, and proposed a new policy which she summed up as "if you don't like it - go home." The 2,000-strong crowd cheered wildly as she literally howled her frustration before leading them, fists pumping, in an anti-incumbent chant of "Go home!" A strange mix of patriotism and petulance, it was a rough kind of stump speech that hadn't been tested in a focus group or tried out on a campaign aide, and which was delivered with complete disregard for how it might play in the media. Witness the startling political debut of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, American citizen.
posted by anigbrowl at 11:19 PM PST - 115 comments

It annoys me that knights aren’t allowed to carry their swords

Beloved author Terry Pratchett was knighted in 2008. He has since decided that he needed a sword. [more inside]
posted by quin at 10:28 PM PST - 55 comments

"A novel metric of habitability"

Amid news of new extrasolar planet discoveries, including a system with a possible 7 planets, Greg Laughlin and Sam Arbesman have released a paper that will be published next month in the open-access journal PLoS One. "A Scientometric Prediction of the Discovery of the First Potentially Habitable Planet with a Mass Similar to Earth" (pdf of full paper) boldly predicts that: "the fi rst potentially habitable planet will be discovered, in this case, as early as May 2011, and likely by the end of 2013." NASA's Kepler mission is set to release data on hundreds of candidate planets early next year. The mission has discovered 7 so far. (Pre-vio-usly)
posted by IvoShandor at 10:16 PM PST - 23 comments

bollywood radio

Bollywood Radio, the classics l Top 40 Countdown, news, interviews, talk about the music scene in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam l Bonus links: Indian classical music on Radio Live365 and more.
posted by nickyskye at 10:00 PM PST - 8 comments

"this is so fuckin awesome. I want to be fuckin bird"

BBC puts cameras on some speedy raptors' backs.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:35 PM PST - 40 comments

I'm hoping you can fill in the squares.

Much like the Garfield Randomizer, Random Dick — the Dick Tracy Continuity Randomizer creates wonderfully surreal little comics (thanks to The Comics Curmudgeon)
posted by OverlappingElvis at 8:32 PM PST - 18 comments

And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

The entire assemblage comprises 14,882 human skeletal fragments, as well as the mutilated remains of dogs and other animals killed at the massacre site -- Sacred Ridge, southwest of Durango, Colo. [....] when the violence took place, men, women and children were tortured, disemboweled, killed and often hacked to bits. In some cases, heads, hands and feet appear to have been removed as trophies for the killers. The attackers then removed belongings out of the structures and set the roofs on fire. [....] At least two other separate studies have come to similar conclusions, suggesting the genocide victims at Sacred Ridge belonged to an ethnic group that was different from that of other nearby populations.
posted by orthogonality at 7:37 PM PST - 45 comments

HTML5 Games and Other Demos

For those Internet gamers who have grown tired of the same old Flash games, Casual Girl Gamer has assembled a well-vetted list of the 30 best HTML5 games. And for those with a more artistic bent, HTML5 also has much to offer, such as this kaleidoscope project (which allows visitors to use their own Flickr photos) or this doll creator (which also allows users to create custom faces from their own photos). These pages -- or at least some of the links contained within them -- are all associated with Microsoft's Beauty of the Web event, which highlights websites taking advantage of HTML5 and other cutting edge Web technologies. [more inside]
posted by GnomeChompsky at 6:44 PM PST - 41 comments

Burn Rubber, Baby, Burn Rubber

Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l'Autodrome, France [more inside]
posted by bwg at 6:30 PM PST - 28 comments

Worry and change, it has spun me around

It's time to smile. (SLYT)
posted by jbickers at 6:25 PM PST - 7 comments

'If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.' - Frank Lloyd Wright

When Humans Ruled the Earth. [SLV] An insight into the human machine and it's consumption addiction.
posted by Fizz at 6:24 PM PST - 12 comments

Bad-assed woodworking

YouTube video (15:45) description says: "Mike Jarvi badassedly constructs his signature one-piece, the Jarvi Bench." Really?   r e a l l y .   More of Mike's badass work at mikejarvi.com.
posted by spock at 5:46 PM PST - 26 comments

Northern lights online

AuroraMax will be providing live images of Canada's northern lights, courtesy of the Canadian Space Agency. It all begins tonight at about 11:30 EDT.
posted by Crane Shot at 5:20 PM PST - 10 comments

Bahnhof ISP

Located in a nuclear bomb shelter which was built during cold war under 30 meters of rock mountain, Bahnhof ISP is host to the Wikileaks servers. [more inside]
posted by gman at 4:46 PM PST - 43 comments

How white is your hood?

How segregated is your city? Eric Fischer maps the top 40 US cities by race, using 2000 census data. Each color-coded dot represents 25 people: Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, and Orange is Hispanic. The maps are oddly pretty, and revealing. Compare, for example, Detroit and San Antonio. via [more inside]
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:53 PM PST - 174 comments

Like Speed Chess, But With Writing Instead of Chess

Click "Write". Get a prompt. And a timer that will all too quickly hit 0:00. That's when you don't get to edit anymore. It's Six Minute Story, and it's among the most fun/frenetic (or perhaps fun/harrowing) 360 seconds you'll have today. [via mefi projects]
posted by davidjmcgee at 2:31 PM PST - 25 comments

Movie Unsheets

When a movie one sheet not an ad for an upcoming film? Some talented graphic designers have taken to creating one sheets for already released films. These 'unsheets' as screenwriter John August calls them are often clever and subtle pieces that reference iconic scenes of the film such as Die Hard's infamous walk on broken glass scene for example. Previous discussion of re-imagined movie posters. and here.
posted by clockworkjoe at 1:40 PM PST - 27 comments

Cuil, I Hardly Knew Ye

Former Cuil employees are saying that the search engine is down for good. [more inside]
posted by bayani at 1:37 PM PST - 56 comments

Creative Action for Collective Good

Every day, our world gets a little bit smaller and a lot more complex. So much so that even minor decisions can have major consequences. Not just for trees or frogs or polar bears, but for human lives, and livelihoods. At its core, sustainability is about people. The Living Principles for Design aim to guide purposeful action. It is a place to co-create, share and showcase best practices, tools, stories and ideas for enabling sustainable action across all design disciplines. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 1:20 PM PST - 9 comments

It's a rare condition.

Family Matters Theme (Room 4 U Remix) [SLYT]
posted by defenestration at 1:06 PM PST - 36 comments

Map and streaming playlist of the best non-commercial college radio stations.

Map and streaming playlist of the best non-commercial college radio stations. [via mefi projects]
posted by KokuRyu at 1:04 PM PST - 56 comments

Fair and Balanced...now shuddup!

Fox News has taken a leaf off Scientology's book, and sued for copyright infringement a Democratic candidate who dared use Fox News footage in his campaign ad.
posted by Skeptic at 12:58 PM PST - 26 comments

And this little piggie was incorporated into over 185 different products...

Over the course of three years, designer Christien Meindertsma tracked the products that had been made from the remains of a single pig. In doing so, she discovered that the skin, bones, meat, organs, blood, fat, brains, hoofs, hair and tail of a single pig might be used in more than 180 very diverse products, from shampoo, medicine, tattoo ink, munitions, cardiac valves, matches, desserts and bubblegum, beer and lemonade, car paint and brake discs to pills and bread. TED Talk. TED Bio. Vimeo video: Reading through the pages of Pig 05049. Exhibition (in Dutch). Design Observer: Pig 05049. Amazon: Pig 05049 [more inside]
posted by zarq at 12:56 PM PST - 24 comments

Even the SEV crew have to obey traffic laws!

These Flickr collections document NASA's 2010 Desert Research and Technology Studies tests (Desert RATS!). [via]
posted by brundlefly at 12:52 PM PST - 7 comments

Ben Does Life

Ben’s 120lb Journey. “Christmas of that year, I realized I was unhappy with my life, and just being there being with [my grandmother], I realized it was the time to do something about it. So I started my blog, BenDoesLife, wrote the address on the card, and gave it to her as a Christmas gift. She got me a shirt, which was two sizes too small. I told her rather than take it back, I was going to work on fitting in it. And eventually I did.” Ben running in January 2009 and then at his second weigh-in. Recent Interview with Ben.
posted by yeti at 12:48 PM PST - 38 comments

A man with no arms and no legs in the English Channel.

Philippe Croizon swam the English Channel this weekend. Making this a notable feat: the 42 year old Frenchman has neither arms nor legs after having lost his limbs in an electrical accident.
posted by sonika at 12:47 PM PST - 13 comments

"He hated the Hardy Boys."

Gene Weingarten on the the most widely-read author you've probably never heard of: Leslie McFarlane, a.k.a. "Franklin W. Dixon," was the man behind the Hardy Boys. [more inside]
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:31 PM PST - 58 comments

Gangnix Wolfadaeus Phoeamada

In the mood for some homebrew remixing? Phoenix has put the complete multitracks to their album Wolfgang Amadeux Phoenix online for your downloading pleasure, for free. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd at 11:53 AM PST - 15 comments

Nice nice very nice.

What you get when you attach a 102-year old Wollensak 35mm F5.0 Cine-Velostigmat lens to a 5DmkII. And you're photographer Timur Civan.
posted by dobbs at 10:59 AM PST - 41 comments

40 years of Xerox Parc

"The Office of the Future" 40 Years Later - 40 years of Xerox Parc, the Palo Alto research group responsible for the desktop computer interface as we know it today.
posted by Artw at 10:43 AM PST - 24 comments

Do you remember the circumstances of your first meeting with Pound?

All the interviews from Paris Review (wikipedia) are now online! [more inside]
posted by mattn at 10:36 AM PST - 13 comments

bouffées d’affadissement

Lydia Davis is blogging on translation during the lead-up to her forthcoming Madame Bovary. You can also read Davis discussing style, Beckett, Proust, and translation with The Believer here.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:13 AM PST - 14 comments

Recruiting the Top-Third

Top-performing nations recruit 100% of their new teachers from the top third. In the US, it's 23% - and 14% of high poverty schools. A new study by McKinsey and Company examines what Finland, Singapore and South Korea do to attract top graduates to teaching, including selective admissions to teacher training, competitive compensation, a more professionalized work environment, cultural respect and greater opportunities for advancement. Doing the same in the US would cost roughly $180 billion a year. [more inside]
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 10:07 AM PST - 84 comments

Two steps forward, two steps back.

I go to park, and I feed the duck, and they call—I talking with the ducks... I said, "You remember the man who gave you the food? He is in a prison. Ask the God to help him." [more inside]
posted by notion at 9:41 AM PST - 39 comments

POST TITLE REDACTED

Just in time for Banned Books Week, the Bridwell Library at SMU presents "Heresy and Error": The Ecclesiastical Censorship of Books, 1400-1800.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:08 AM PST - 3 comments

That was a long time ago

Ron Fanelli was a poker player. Victoria Coren liked him. Then she learned that he had confessed to brutally killing 'bar girl' Wanphen Pienjai in Thailand. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:22 AM PST - 86 comments

A New Gayness World Record

Queering the Guinness Book of World Records: at 33 hours, Matty and Bobby have achieved the world's longest kiss.
posted by hermitosis at 7:52 AM PST - 67 comments

Coming Soon on the Ocho

Can't get enough Kabbadi
posted by jindc at 6:52 AM PST - 21 comments

What is the USDA’s definition of organic?

What is the USDA’s definition of organic?
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 6:20 AM PST - 53 comments

Only Puzz

PuzzGrid is a lightweight, fast game of forming associations, which is, ahem, "based on" the BBC's Only Connect. Hundreds of grids to play and you can submit your own, too! (The BBC site has a few dozen more, in a fancier, louder flash app.)
posted by Wolfdog at 5:52 AM PST - 40 comments

So how was the omelette, honey?

The National Portrait Gallery's Taylor Wessing Photographic Prize shortlist for 2010 has been announced. Among the entries, and causing a small ripple of controversy, is Panayiotis Lamprou's Portrait of My British Wife, which is reopening up where mainstream sensibilities of the border between art of and voyeurism lie. The photo features Lamprou's wife Christina looking directly at the camera. Wearing no knickers. [Links are SFW. NSFW links appropriately flagged on the pages themselves] [more inside]
posted by MuffinMan at 5:41 AM PST - 72 comments

Auf wiedersehn, jet

On the 19th of October, a Deutsche Bahn ICE3 train will travel from Germany to London through the Channel Tunnel. [more inside]
posted by acb at 4:30 AM PST - 60 comments

Art Without Asking

"Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art," a lovely looking guide to street art activations published by Taschen and soon to be released on the masses. [more inside]
posted by artof.mulata at 12:11 AM PST - 17 comments

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