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SF writers only use six words. A collection of six word epics from the cream of contemporary SF writers. Can Mefi do better? I reckon!
posted by Sparx at 8:45 PM PST - 400 comments

Rush Limbaugh claims Michael J. Fox is faking the side effects of his Parkinson's disease treatment in a new political ad being run during the World Series. Classy, Rush. Classy.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 8:40 PM PST - 118 comments

Part of anti-terroism act ruled unconstitutional in Canada on the grounds that defining a motive as a crime contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Two days ago, the same court struck down a related official secrets law after the RCMP used it to search the house of a reporter investigating the Maher Arar torture scandal. The act itself was the subject of a rare Senatorial rebuke in 2001 which blocked a number of other dangerous sections. Five years on, are we ready to take a more measured approach to combatting terrorism?
posted by Popular Ethics at 8:34 PM PST - 13 comments

Marc Horowitz started a company, a trading post, a coffee stand, a national dinner tour, a human video game experiment, a reality TV show, a sprinkler documentary, an errand feasibility study, and much more. Apparently he needs to stop soon.
posted by scottreynen at 7:25 PM PST - 11 comments

Home inspection nightmares part 1 / part 2
posted by docpops at 7:13 PM PST - 31 comments

Crystal Clear A sliding tile-matching game that allows addictive heads-up play. (Pretty sure it's flash).
posted by klangklangston at 7:04 PM PST - 11 comments

Men With Cramps. Watch the groundbreaking documentary and discover how Cyclical Non-Uterine Dysmenorrhea calls into question not only the shaping of world history, but the spelling of the word history.
posted by kindle at 6:38 PM PST - 27 comments

Is optimism enough? [via]
posted by onalark at 5:31 PM PST - 27 comments

Finding The Third Dimension. A research project at Carnegie Mellon University that attempts to extract the third dimension from one single photograph. (YouTube video, via)
posted by zardoz at 5:12 PM PST - 13 comments

A wonderful bird is the Pelican. His bill can hold more than his belly can. But it's not against any religion to want to dispose of a pigeon... (Caution - last link video and all links Not Safe For Pigeon Lovers)
posted by Flitcraft at 4:59 PM PST - 24 comments

Conversing with the matchless Judith Martin I know you are all familiar with the work of the inimitable (if syndicated) Judith Martin, alias Miss Manners, but I dared to presume that you have not come across this 2005 interview with her. In it she discusses the process of becoming Miss Manners, the cyclical nature of etiquette, her historical predecessors, sumptuary laws in Renaissance-era Venice, and the respective natures of aristocratic and democratic etiquette. Fascinating read.
posted by orange swan at 3:24 PM PST - 41 comments

"We are living in science fiction." --William Burroughs
posted by jason's_planet at 1:44 PM PST - 33 comments

Blaster Master... Solid NES Gold. Those who remember the game do so with fondness. Though critically lauded on release, and later spawning several sequels, the game was never as big a hit as its its spiritual predecessors, Metroid and Legend of Zelda. Like Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic, Blaster Master was based on an obscure Japanese game, in this case Chōwakuseisenki Metafight although the differences in this case are limited to the story. Blaster Master was also the first (and only "canon") book in the Nintendo Worlds of Power series, in which various authors novelized third-party games using the pseudonym "F.X. Nine." Download the Blaster Master book here (MSWord zipped, "enhanced" by a fan). Lastly, some bonus links: one, two, and three (!)
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:33 PM PST - 36 comments

Vote for James H. "Jim"? Voters in certain Virginia precincts will see electronic ballots featuring only part of some candidates' names. For some reason this is said to be "unfixable", even though this has been discovered two weeks ahead of election time. This problem only affects voting machines made by... not the one you'd expect, but Austin, TX-based Hart InterCivic, whose motto is "Always Accessible". Senatorial Candidate James H. "Jim" Webb (D) is, one may assume, not amused.
posted by clevershark at 12:38 PM PST - 56 comments

Julian Dibbell, the same journalist that lived off virtual cash for a year, gives Calorie Restriction a 9-week test drive and tells all about it in this long New York Mag piece. Sure preliminary evidence says you could lengthen your life by 50 years, but is 150 years of starving yourself worth it?
posted by mathowie at 12:19 PM PST - 59 comments

Not In The Newsfilter: Yesterday, two men attended their pre-trial hearing at Preston Crown Court, accused of possession of explosive material. As previously reported only in local newspapers, Robert Cottage was in possession of 'what is believed to be a record haul of chemicals used in making home-made bombs', while a search of former BNP candidate David Bolus Jackson's house 'uncovered rocket launchers, chemicals... and a nuclear biological suit'. Some webloggers, and the left-wing press, are wondering whether the story might have received more coverage if the suspected bomb-makers had been, say, Muslims. The BBC blame reporting restrictions.
posted by jack_mo at 11:59 AM PST - 19 comments

The Dictionnaire Infernal. Tired of the same old devil costume each Halloween? Why not go as Bael, Asmodeus or Gaap? Written and (wickedly) illustrated during the 1800s, the Dictionaire (annoying sound warning) has the demon you need. Of course, there are other resources. If you have a hard time choosing, try your birth month's demon.
posted by Bookhouse at 11:20 AM PST - 13 comments

Penguin Books is an all too brief Flickr Photoset of Penguin Book cover designs from decades past. For those interested, this book is highly recommended.
posted by jonson at 10:08 AM PST - 9 comments

Chris Bowers of MYDD is launching an ambitious campaign to Google Bomb the top 70 congressional races with negative articles for the respective republican candidates. If you don't find this ethically perturbing you can find the code for pasting in to your blog here.
posted by sourbrew at 9:58 AM PST - 46 comments

ISS EarthKam. Loads and loads of stunningly beautiful pictures of Earth. I recommend the search by feature feature.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:05 AM PST - 5 comments

An album with two middle-aged women who sit by a piano and sing 30 year old Steely Dan songs is, on paper, a hopelessly uncommercial idea. Swedish Jazz singers Rebecka Törnqvist and Sara Isaksson sing Steely Dan. Here's a taste: Do It Again and Barrytown.
posted by three blind mice at 9:02 AM PST - 29 comments

Before Hollywood brats got "Punk'd," and before political opponents hacked each other's Web sites, the art of the practical joke was a bit simpler.
posted by unSane at 8:56 AM PST - 11 comments

A sad day for import video gamers- online retailer Lik-Sang has closed its doors due to multiple lawsuits from Sony.
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:01 AM PST - 66 comments

Green Nazis.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:47 AM PST - 17 comments

Using a physiological sensor called the SenseWear by BodyMedia, researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have created the XPod. The XPod "learns" a user's preferences, activities and even emotions, and then selects the most appropriate music to accompany any given situation. The mood ring for the new millennium.
posted by terrapin at 7:27 AM PST - 14 comments

Stunning video flyby of the "Face on Mars". Oh, and this one too. via
posted by grateful at 7:03 AM PST - 18 comments

The Kings of Myspace. I wanted to hate this, but it's actually very funny. (youtube)
posted by empath at 7:02 AM PST - 30 comments