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Let's take a brief detour into the strange sonic labyrinth of Sun Araw. [more inside]
posted by SomaSoda at 11:27 PM PST - 16 comments

Singers get all the chicks.
posted by empath at 10:56 PM PST - 45 comments

Ayn Rand has a fantasy in Atlas Shrugged of striking ‘creative’ capitalists, a fantasy that finds its perverted realisation in today’s strikes, most of which are held by a ‘salaried bourgeoisie’ driven by fear of losing their surplus wage. These are not proletarian protests, but protests against the threat of being reduced to proletarians.

The Revolt of the Salaried Bourgeoisie in the London Review of Books.
posted by klue at 8:42 PM PST - 91 comments

In 2009, Roxana Altamirano made her first post to Nerd Boyfriend (previously), a style blog that finds clothing similar to those worn by iconic male figures. Now, almost three years later, there is a Nerd Girlfriend. [more inside]
posted by mokin at 7:50 PM PST - 31 comments

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has begun releasing Security-Enhanced Android patches and tools, which port their Security-Enhanced Linux tools to Android devices. SEAndroid and SELinux provide mandatory access control designed to limit the amount of damage that rogue or exploited software can do. [more inside]
posted by jeffburdges at 6:53 PM PST - 35 comments

The Truck They Couldn't Drown Watch agog as this Rasputin of Russian trucks conspicuously fails to give up the ghost crossing a Siberian river.
posted by ironjelly at 5:43 PM PST - 70 comments

Today Dutch sailor Laura Dekker returned to St. Maarten, completing her yearlong solo voyage around the world aboard her sailboat, “Guppy.” (Previously)
posted by the_artificer at 5:28 PM PST - 49 comments

Lists of Note is a new site from Shaun Usher, proprietor of Letters of Note. It posts interesting lists, running the gamut from funny to poignant, mostly by famous people, though other sources crop up. Here's a sampling of lists: Johnny Cash, Walt Whitman, Eero Saarinen, Don Carman, Marilyn Monroe and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
posted by Kattullus at 5:05 PM PST - 9 comments

Comedian Bert Kreischer was named the "top partier" at Florida State University in a 1997 Rolling Stone article. The 2002 movie "Van Wilder" was inspired by his life. Bert Kreischer is THE MACHINE (animated version). Bert Kreischer hangs out with Tracy Morgan. NSFW (language).
posted by IvoShandor at 4:21 PM PST - 13 comments

Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill Collection provides visitors with the opportunity to view a virtual reconstruction of Walpole's extensive collections--everything from armor to wall hangings--housed in his custom-built Gothic villa, Strawberry Hill. (For video tours and discussions of its ornamentation, ongoing restoration &c., check out the Strawberry Hill Youtube Channel.) Objects can be viewed according to maker, type, or room; there's also a virtual tour, based on contemporary paintings and sketches. For more about Walpole, plus links to e-texts of his fiction (most famously, the pioneering Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto), visit The Literary Gothic.
posted by thomas j wise at 4:07 PM PST - 5 comments

Perfected by the old masters, this age old tradition has been imitated, innovated and passed on to the next generation. The question remains, what made them hate those guitars so much? (MLYT)
posted by TheCoug at 3:43 PM PST - 32 comments

Emil Johansson is attempting to build a Family Tree that holds all of the characters in Middle Earth. As of today, there are 646 entries.
posted by soelo at 3:12 PM PST - 31 comments

There's been a lot of great photography of Yosemite National Park. National Geographic has done some excellent work and there's plenty of photos that provide a great historical view of the area. More recently there was a fantastic zoomable 17 gigapixel project (previously). But this HD time-lapse day & night video of several locations around Yosemite Park provides perhaps the most amazing view of the area yet. More info on the making of the video at Project Yosemite.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:02 PM PST - 8 comments

Mapping out whiskey. Start here, swimming in Drunkards Channel: Map On Temperance, 1846. [more inside]
posted by not_the_water at 2:20 PM PST - 17 comments

In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day 2012, I present the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society. Start a chapter in your area! (Previously on MeFi)
posted by hermitosis at 2:19 PM PST - 17 comments

Evgeny Grinko is a Russian musician who recently posted two gorgeous, minimal instrumentals to YouTube. He also has a free EP called Winter Sunshine. [more inside]
posted by fake at 2:17 PM PST - 8 comments

A Florida roofing crew is surprised when they disrupt a bat home. For maximum fun, there's also a longer version. (via Nothing to do with Arbroath)
posted by madamjujujive at 2:09 PM PST - 58 comments

Nearly three decades after Israel began airlifting Ethiopia's ancient Jewish community out of the Horn of Africa, Israel's rabbis are now working to phase out the community's white-turbaned clergy, the kessoch, whose unusual religious practices are at odds with the rabbinate's Orthodox Judaism. [more inside]
posted by Blasdelb at 1:43 PM PST - 31 comments

Speaking of Dub (the real kind), just over one year ago the music world lost one of its pioneers in the realm of dub and roots. Vivian "Yabby You" Jackson produced some of the most hard driving reggae ever released. RIP. [more inside]
posted by Jibuzaemon at 1:33 PM PST - 12 comments

What, exactly, is Dubstep? Electronic music artist Bassnectar explains. [via]
posted by saiwol at 11:32 AM PST - 147 comments

Young Russian Violinists' Impromptu Jam With Dave Brubeck
posted by noaccident at 11:22 AM PST - 18 comments

“You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours.” Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher of the NY Times give an in-depth report on Apple's migration of electronics manufacturing to Asia and its impact on middle class Americans.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:19 AM PST - 158 comments

Animatronic baby mechanism for anonymous job (SL Nightmare Fuel)
posted by dirigibleman at 10:02 AM PST - 33 comments

...Failed Simulations & the Surprising Psychology of Impressiveness: "Accomplishments that are hard to explain can be much more impressive than accomplishments that are simply hard to do", posits Cal Newport of Study Hacks ("Decoding Patterns of Success" - at work, at school). (via AskMeFi)
Also from the blog: The Passion Trap ("How the Search for Your Life’s Work is Making Your Working Life Miserable") and Beyond Passion ("The Science of Loving What You Do"). [more inside]
posted by flex at 9:52 AM PST - 15 comments

Lifecycle - A bike in New York is locked to a pole and photographed everyday as it slowly disappears. [via]
posted by quin at 9:28 AM PST - 42 comments

Gizmo's Freeware is a non-commercial community website staffed entirely by volunteers. Our primary function is to help you select the best freeware product for your particular needs.
posted by Trurl at 9:14 AM PST - 8 comments

The Secret Document That Transformed China. Planet Money story about Xiaogang village in China that was hungry and desperate in 1978, and how the risk the farmers took ended up influencing the transformation of China.
posted by Eekacat at 8:26 AM PST - 4 comments

The first sexual revolution: lust and liberty in the 18th century
posted by Artw at 8:11 AM PST - 17 comments

A much anticipated birth is expected by many Chinese families after the New Moon on Monday, 23rd January ushers in the auspicious Year of the Dragon. The only mythological beast in the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon as a symbol in China dates back to 3000 BC and stands for happiness, immortality, procreation, fertility and activity. This year's babies will be Black Water Dragons, considered to be calmer, more flexible and even more charismatic than other elements. In previous dragon years, countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have all experienced baby booms, and preparations are in place for this year's influx of baby dragons.
posted by infini at 7:00 AM PST - 34 comments

Is a tent clothing? Is someone wearing a tent illegally squatting? Is the person recording it all very annoying? (SLYT) There are so many things to think about here. The guy in the background makes it hard to concentrate on those things, but they're there.
posted by h00py at 4:49 AM PST - 68 comments

Steven Siegel's photos of New York in the 80s. Via gothamist. [more inside]
posted by latkes at 12:00 AM PST - 41 comments