"Illusion is the first of all pleasures"
posted by MetaMonkey at 7:59 PM PST - 12 comments

An online gallery of Colonial American Currency. You can browse by colony. They also have images of early lottery tickets. Plus brief and informative essays on subjects such as The Value of Money in Colonial America. You can also relive the Copper Panic of 1789-1799.
posted by marxchivist at 6:49 PM PST - 7 comments

Physics for Future Presidents is a class taught at UC Berkeley by Physics professor Richard Muller. It's a class specifically for non-physics majors and teaches the real world results of the sometimes impenetrable math involved in university physics. After every lecture, you should come away with the feeling that what was just covered is important for every world leader to know. I just sat through the entire hour and 13 minute nukes lecture and was riveted.
posted by quite unimportant at 6:06 PM PST - 26 comments

The Danish Road Safety Council is a private association of authorities and national organisations in Denmark. The number of member organisations is currently 42. The Council has existed since 1935. The Council works to increase public road safety through information and traffic education. We aim for the public to gain knowledge and understanding of the aspects of road safety. The Council works to sustain road safe conduct by means of campaigns, consulting and the production of instruction blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
This movie was made by the Danish Road Safety Council and aims to draw attention to speed signs and speed limits in Denmark. (embedded movie, nsfw) (direct movie link)
posted by Wet Spot at 5:18 PM PST - 11 comments

You can keep your Skycar , your jet pack, your helium guzzler. Give me a Personal Blimp, floating on hot air and pushed by electricity.
posted by plinth at 5:00 PM PST - 32 comments

Welcom to Kushami Room.
posted by hama7 at 3:37 PM PST - 13 comments

Definite tech trouble with voting machines this year. I just attempted to vote at 3 different locations here in Denver. Lines were extra long due to voting booth malfunctions. Luckily they had a combination of old voting booths and new voting booths at most locations. Lines were terrible as a result of these tech failures.
posted by PetBoogaloo at 3:37 PM PST - 59 comments

Oodles of past and current interviews with both living and dead celebrities and interesting nobodies over at the support website for Andrew Denton's Australian television show Enough Rope. You will find video excerpts, some full interviews as audio downloads (the more recent ones), and lots of transcripts.
posted by sjvilla79 at 2:39 PM PST - 11 comments

Season on impact.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 2:03 PM PST - 34 comments

Britney Spears files for divorce from husband Kevin Federline. Spears, rocketed to fame in 1998 at the age of 16 by her debut single Hit Me Baby One More Time, married backup dancer Kevin Federline in September of 2004, scarcely nine months after her first abortive Las Vegasmarriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander. After two children (and one sculpture), Britney graciously introduced her husband at the recent Teen Choice awards where Kevin played a song from his new album. It looked like nothing could stop those two lovebirds. But after a recent Letterman appearance with a hot recently pregnant Britney showed up not wearing her rings, the truth finally came out. The dream is over.
posted by Stynxno at 1:38 PM PST - 141 comments

Physics Phun [Phlash, not Phriday]. Orbit is a game where you try to set up, well, orbits. How many levels can you finish?
posted by The Bellman at 1:30 PM PST - 23 comments

This short NPR interview with two guys that do negative campaign ad voiceovers is not to be missed. They cover buzzwords, types of delivery, and then riff on nursery rhymes. [via notmartha]
posted by mathowie at 1:15 PM PST - 28 comments

Chief Wana Dubie is the Libertarian candidate for State Representative in Missouri's 150th District. He has a marijuana leaf tattooed on his forehead and once painted bullseye on his roof so the 'government could find him.' After a 5-year sentence for growing marijuana, he's running for office and with hopes for a 2008 bid for governor: Dubie vs. Blunt.
posted by F Mackenzie at 12:46 PM PST - 17 comments

Today's Election Day in the United States. Political Wire provides a list of all poll closing times.(The first closings will be at 6:00 PM EST) CNN and Fox News both have up their websites where you can start tracking all state and localized races as results come in. Exit polls are being conducted, but have been quarantined until polls close. And if you want to put any money on this, you're short on time. Good luck following the winners both in your state and on MetaFilter.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 12:44 PM PST - 969 comments

The Rolling Stones have produced a few of the Greatest Albums of All Time. Now Exile on Main Street, said by many to be The Stones their best work, has had its demo tracks and outtakes leaked on to the web. via
posted by aburd at 10:05 AM PST - 132 comments

Geek Logik is Garth Sundem's book & blog about equations for every day living, including how many cups of coffee you require to be functional, who to vote for, and others.
posted by xmutex at 9:47 AM PST - 9 comments

Nice work if you can get it. Bloggers are an increasingly important part of modern elections -- something that becomes immediately obvious when you look at FEC filings. Bloggers are increasingly starting to rake in the campaign cash. Initially inspired by this feature from The Hotline, Bill Beutler combed through the FEC records and broke down what candidates were paying what bloggers how much in the current election.
posted by Heminator at 7:52 AM PST - 26 comments

Yes, another one. Best Rest of the Web. There are lots of questions sites now. Amazon opened Askville. And now Windows Live has "QnA". I'm all for competition and innovation, but really, why does the question-and-answer site format attract so much "me too" behaviour?
posted by GuyZero at 7:12 AM PST - 26 comments

Transit of Mercury again. here Transit of Mercury again. Today -- and not for another seven years or so -- Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, shwoing up a speck-like black circle. But don't look. Starting times, real-time visual, ways to see it and another caution are here. rotoman
posted by rotoman at 6:17 AM PST - 40 comments

Italian police impound the Bolzano Museum of Modern Art's toilet that flushes to Fratelli d'Italia. Prosecutors said the anthem "should never be open to ridicule."
posted by jeffburdges at 4:54 AM PST - 28 comments

Walk It is a website for planning walking journeys. It gives you a map and directions for the best route, and info on distance, walking time, calorie burn and even CO₂ potentially saved by avoiding the car, taxi or bus. London only, at present, alas.
posted by nthdegx at 3:34 AM PST - 21 comments

Malaysian bookstore Silverfish Books recently pubhlished a list of books restricted by the Malaysian Home Ministry (confiscated at the border by Customs) - a list that includes Chinese teapots, children's prayers, and Dora the Explorer. Banned books & magazines aren't exactly news in Malaysia; indeed, possession of said books can lead to severe penalties, even jail time.The Opposition has made a statement before, but that hasn't led anywhere. However, since Silverfish's list, Malaysian bloggers have had enough with the arbitrary and Kafka-esque bans and restrictions, and have come together to form Manuscripts Don't Burn, to protest and talk about banned books and the larger issue of freedom of speech in Malaysia.
posted by divabat at 2:32 AM PST - 19 comments

Guiness World Record for most T-Shirts worn at one time. (YouTube)
posted by Phasuma at 2:19 AM PST - 34 comments