November 18, 2014

An Adventure Game with Balls

Expanded from a demo produced for the 2012 Something Awful Gamedev Challenge (an annual event which has also brought us Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing, previously), Team Punch the Moon (which includes the creator of Job Dog, previously) have finally finished Pachinko Man, a point-and-click HTML5 browser adventure game about a Japanese salaryman whose addiction to pachinko machines drives him to make a deal with a demon that damns him to Ball Hell (conveniently also Baal's Hell), the deepest level of Office Hell (as in, Baal is renting its basement). [more inside]
posted by BiggerJ at 11:11 PM PST - 16 comments

"this is the stomach of the world"

"If we start from the guts, we go back to our origin. It is the butchers, in the end, that bring our food back to the rusticness of the tribe." Italian butcher Dario Cecchini, guts a pig, and discusses the tradition and art of butchering and the importance of being "responsible carnivores...thankful for the gift." Cecchini is the "Dante-quoting butcher" featured in Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany. And here's another video with a similar message, but a different piece of meat, more details about his village as a "tiny little gastronomic republic" and instructions on how to use every piece of the pig "in the best way."
posted by Grandysaur at 11:01 PM PST - 10 comments

Filing down a plastic razor blade to create a sewing needle, not a shank

The Los Angeles Men's Central Jail’s gay wing was set up in response to a 1985 ACLU lawsuit, which aimed to protect homosexual inmates from a higher threat of physical violence than heterosexuals faced. But something unexpected has happened. The inmates are safer now, yes. But they’ve surprised everyone, perhaps even themselves, by setting up a small and flourishing society behind bars. Once released, some re-offend in order to be with an inmate they love. There are hatreds and occasionally even severe violence, but there is also friendship, community, love — and, especially, harmless rule-bending to dress up like models or decorate their bunks, often via devious means. LA Weekly looks inside MCJ, with an exclusive video the unique situation, from Voice Media Group. For further reading on the unique K6G unit, see Two Models of the Prison: Accidental Humanity and Hypermasculinity in the L.A. County Jail (PDF), and Governmental 'Gaydar': Race, Sexual Identity and Incarceration (PDF), both scholarly articles that study this part of MCJ.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:36 PM PST - 8 comments

Two Years on from the Baldia Town Disaster

9/11/2012 saw the deadliest factory fire in history, in Baldia Town, Karachi. In Quiet Burns the Fire, Karachi-based Herald's Danyal Adam Khan investigates the follow up to the fire. (Previously on Metafilter)
posted by bardophile at 10:19 PM PST - 3 comments

"And, of course, the funniest food of all, kumquats." ~George Carlin

Find Your State in the United States of Thanksgiving [The New York Times] "We’ve scoured the nation for recipes that evoke each of the 50 states (and D.C. and Puerto Rico). Tell us your favorites." [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 8:10 PM PST - 77 comments

(Balti)More Dirty Jobs

As part of a his new CNN series Somebody's Gotta Do It, and partnered with the My Baltimore campaign, Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) is aiming to revamp Baltimore's image. However, Rowe might have pulled a McNulty earlier this month in referencing The Wire in launching his efforts, describing the PR work as "a straight-forward attempt to remind the masses that there's more to my hometown than heroin and gonorrhea." Learning not from Omar, Rowe was skewered by David Simon in a subsequent blog post. You can't even call this thing a war. He's not the only one with some ideas about what Baltimore means, but he's maybe the first to initiate an online firestorm. The Mike Rowe PR treatment has attracted some critics before, and the Dirty Jobs guy has been known to respond with some heat.
posted by pantarei70 at 6:52 PM PST - 99 comments

"This dish probably didn't need the onion rings."

"This year, give thanks by artfully assembling huge piles of fast food into a feast that will both thrill and disturb your loved ones."
Buzzfeed invites you to their lovingly-styled The Most Epic Fast Food Thanksgiving Ever.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:34 PM PST - 32 comments

Seinfeld, season 26, episode 1: 'Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee'

Imagine if the Seinfeld universe continued running, even though regular broadcasts ceased in 1998. That's what you have in this episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, written by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and directed by Larry David.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 5:58 PM PST - 24 comments

Usually, [EDM] songs succeed when they feel good on the dance floor...

From The New Yorker: "Depth on the Dance Floor: The Music of DJ Sprinkles." Some music to listen to while reading Joshua Rothman's profile: posted by Going To Maine at 5:45 PM PST - 7 comments

I See Bad Things In Your Future

When is fortune-telling a crime? When it's prosecuted as fraud. [more inside]
posted by Charity Garfein at 5:31 PM PST - 52 comments

Muscle Robot

The Ecce Robot is an attempt to create a robot that not only mimics human movement and form, but also musculature and body construction. There are more videos at the project's site. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla at 3:36 PM PST - 23 comments

How does it work? CBT vs anti-depressants

Cognitive behavioural therapy is the best-studied form of psychotherapy. But researchers are still struggling to understand why it works (Single Link Nature.com). [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:34 PM PST - 37 comments

"Tomorrow's news today"

Why We Terraformed a New Home for Future Fiction: "Science fiction is an extremely powerful tool. Not for predicting the future, but for clarifying our present. We want to see that happening not just in monthly magazines, but on Reddit, Digg, and Facebook. We want fiction to be part of your feed." Vice has launched its new site for short-form science fiction, Terraform, with new stories by Bruce Sterling, Cory Doctorow, and "exciting newcomers."
posted by jbickers at 1:28 PM PST - 20 comments

The best catwoman cosplay ever

Superheroes and other pop culture icons photographed in the style of Flemish paintings, by Sacha Goldberger (previously known for his true superhero grandmother Mamika, who is also featured in the superhero series).
posted by elgilito at 1:25 PM PST - 16 comments

Oh, btw - remember that comet? It contained organic molecules.

BBC: "The Philae lander has detected organic molecules on the surface of its comet [67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko], scientists have confirmed. Carbon-containing "organics" are the basis of life on Earth and may give clues to chemical ingredients delivered to our planet early in its history." [more inside]
posted by Wordshore at 1:13 PM PST - 66 comments

How Fake Fossils Pervert Paleontology

A nebulous trade in forged and illegal fossils is an ever-growing headache for paleontologists. [more inside]
posted by brundlefly at 1:11 PM PST - 7 comments

Oh the weather outside is frightful

Winter doesn't start for another 33 days but today all 50 US states posted temperatures below freezing - yes, even Hawaii - and three feet of snow fell overnight south of Buffalo with no signs of stopping (and it looks like a snow haboob).
posted by troika at 1:00 PM PST - 114 comments

...they’d look into "your personal lives, your families"

Ben Smith of Buzzfeed reports: Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists [more inside]
posted by tonycpsu at 11:49 AM PST - 245 comments

The Questionable Quartet

The First Family of Marvel Comics has a new movie coming out in 2015, and its creators have taken certain liberties with the property. While they've kept a tight lid on information so far, curious details have leaked out. If you thought the controversy over the characters was bad, this rumour could outdo even that. Spoilers galore, proceed with caution. [more inside]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 10:42 AM PST - 160 comments

"You can't just arbitrarily take letters out of the alphabet."

The Oral History of the Poop Emoji 💩 (or, how Google brought poop to America) [more inside]
posted by rouftop at 10:17 AM PST - 38 comments

Good Grief

For better or for worse, audiences will get the opportunity to see an all CGI Peanuts movie in 2015. The first trailer was released today and it looks... not bad. Producer Paul Feig has promised a minimum of modern touches. We'll all find out one year from now.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 10:01 AM PST - 125 comments

For the first time in history, neo-Nazis are marching against themselves

If you can't beat them, sponsor them: residents of Wunsiedel, Upper Franconia, the former burial place of Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, turned an annual neo-Nazi march into "Germany's most involuntary walkathon". For each meter the fascists marched, they unwittingly raised ten euros for Nazi opt-out program Exit Deutschland, which "helps right-wingers to escape from the scene and build a new life for themselves".
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 9:59 AM PST - 11 comments

"It was terrible the first time, and it's terrible now."

“Do They Know It's Christmas?” may, or may not, be the most tasteless and smug charity song ever recorded, and at least the 2014 version fixes a particularly “bone-headed” lyric from the first time around, but neither version is a patch on 2005's “Do they know it's Hallowe'en?” a riposte masterminded by the beloved, excellent, long-dead Unicorns.
posted by Zerowensboring at 9:28 AM PST - 120 comments

"I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for."

The Marshall Project launched Sunday to provide "high-quality journalism about the American criminal justice system" and "amplify the national conversation about criminal justice." Helmed by Bill Keller, their first investigative piece was published in August and their second in October, but today they have several new feature pieces: Obama's Prison Crisis, Waiting for Ferguson, Right and Left Unite on Drug Sentencing. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, The Men Who Should Have Been Free, Eric Holder on His Legacy, His Regrets, and His Feelings About the Death Penalty, and Dying in Attica. (Previously) [more inside]
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:20 AM PST - 5 comments

The secret lives of cats

Playful pets, fearsome fighters or deadly hunters? Millions of us have cats in our homes, yet we know very little about them. In this series, Liz Bonnin joins forces with some of the world's top cat experts to conduct a groundbreaking scientific study. With GPS trackers and cat cameras, we follow 100 cats in three very different environments to find out what they get up to when they leave the cat flap.
Last October, BBC's flagship science programme Horizon devoted a series of 3 episodes to tracking and analysing the secret lives of cats. These episodes are now available on Youtube. [more inside]
posted by MartinWisse at 8:35 AM PST - 54 comments

OQueerCupid

After complaints and boycotts over the limited options it gave for users to describe their gender and sexuality, internet dating site OKCupid has begun testing a far more inclusive self-identification system. [more inside]
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:18 AM PST - 166 comments

We are dreamers, sisters, fighters.

"When I began thinking about my own transition in 2008, I worried what people would think of me, and how they would see me," photographer Rhys Harper recently explained of being transgender and photographing trans subjects. "As a photographer ... I wanted to photograph people in a way that challenged the assumptions people make about transgender people, and gender non-conforming people." Cosmopolitan (!) showcases 14 photos from the show. [Trans 101 from GLAAD; Trans 101 from T-VOX]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:12 AM PST - 13 comments

Don’t you think you should plan such an important event?

Escape from Jonestown: Julia Scheeres describes the lives of people in the last days of the infamous compound.
They’d only told him the day before that he was leaving for South America. His head was still spinning with the quickness of it all. He was glad to get away from the never-ending church meetings and rules. But mostly he was excited about seeing his father. Jim Bogue left for Guyana two years earlier, and although he’d called home using the mission’s ham radio, the conversations were rushed and marred by static. His father sounded proud of all the pioneers had accomplished at the mission post, and Tommy was eager to see it for himself.
At Port Kaituma, Pastor Jim Jones finally emerged from the wheelhouse, wearing the dark-lensed, gold-framed sunglasses that rarely left his face. He welcomed them to the village—which seemed to consist of little more than stalls selling produce and used clothing—as if he owned it. Tommy listened attentively to Pastor Jones, who was only there for a short visit. Guyana was a fresh start for him and he wanted to make his father proud.
[more inside]
posted by frimble at 8:00 AM PST - 58 comments

A startup reports from the marketing frontier

“The home runs have really been anything we can do to target our actual users,” Budman reflects. “You want to get as narrow as possible. If we can find Mac software developers in the Mission or in Brooklyn, it’s awesome.” Fast-growing online backup company Backblaze tried all kinds of marketing ploys to get new customers, from Adwords to an appearance on Ellen Degeneres: here's what worked and what didn't. (Previously)
posted by shivohum at 7:37 AM PST - 14 comments

Hip Hop When The World Was Young

In the early 1990s, photographer and cinematographer Lisa Leone was a fixture on the New York hip hop scene. She recently uncovered a trove of old behind-the-scenes photos of iconic rappers and breakdancers, which have been collected into the book Here I Am, and are currently on exhibit at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The New York Times' Lens blog has an excellent selection of the shots.
posted by Diablevert at 7:20 AM PST - 4 comments

11/18/99 2:43 a.m. RE: “no offense”.

"The next day, though, I woke up unnerved and dimly remembered getting badgered by Wesleyan after I graduated in 2001, asking me to do something to save the messages after they were transferred onto a web-based system. I typed in “email.wesleyan.edu” and my old username, just to see what would happen. | It opened up with my first guess at a password. Over four thousand emails —including sent mail, drafts, “_pine_interrupted_mail,” something called “dead letter” and another folder called “postponed_msgs”—stared at me. Who were these people? Who was I?" --Every email is a Ghost Story on the Awl.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:03 AM PST - 23 comments

Ceteris Paribus

Physicists Explain Why Coffee Is More Prone to Spills Than Beer.
posted by stinkfoot at 4:51 AM PST - 50 comments

the answer, my friend...

NASA Computer Model Provides a New Portrait of Carbon Dioxide
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:30 AM PST - 12 comments

The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is…

vape [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 1:31 AM PST - 104 comments

Wasting Time on the Internet 101

The New Yorker's Kenneth Goldsmith tells why he's planning to teach a course called "Wasting Time on the Internet" at the University of Pennsylvania. [more inside]
posted by ourt at 12:26 AM PST - 29 comments

How well do you know your pixels?

Play a quick game of Pixactly.
posted by tykky at 12:09 AM PST - 18 comments

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