November 23, 2012

Munchausen by Internet

Why would someone want to fake a serious illness on the Internet? Valerie, a cancer survivor, decided to blog about her experience with cancer. While blogging, she interacted with three women who faked illnesses to get attention or had what is referred to as "Munchausen by Internet." As a result, Valerie lost money and friendships, gained a troll, and shut down her blog. Here is a list of clues for the detection of false Internet illness claims.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 8:13 PM PST - 135 comments

RIP, Larry Hagman

Actor Larry Hagman, notorious and beloved as 'Dallas' villain J.R. Ewing, dies.
posted by slater at 7:57 PM PST - 93 comments

Most expensive books of 2012

Publishers Weekly lists the most expensive books of the season.
posted by anothermug at 6:55 PM PST - 34 comments

So dig this big crux

Minutemen's Mike Watt interviewed about Double Nickels on the Dime. [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen at 4:58 PM PST - 36 comments

The Last Laughing Death

Fifty-five years after the first reported cases of kuru, an article looks back at the discovery, study, and cultural context of the prion disease.
posted by zamboni at 2:33 PM PST - 29 comments

"You're no longer in the film business—you're in the Fabergé egg business."

With 35mm Film Dead, Will Classic Movies Ever Look the Same Again?
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:31 PM PST - 77 comments

get back here cat stop escaping

Circle The Cat (flash friday fun) It's not like anyone was going to be productive at work today anyway, right?
posted by elizardbits at 12:12 PM PST - 66 comments

Spoiler alert: Northern Europe does well

The 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index ranks the wealth and well-being of the world's countries according to eight sub-indexes. Interestingly, you may individually re-weight those eight sub-indexes, in order to create country rankings closer to your own values and priorities. Foreign Policy has more on the Prosperity Index's unique approach to the ultimately very silly art of numerically ranking nation-states.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:54 AM PST - 25 comments

Beyond the Vault

Gaming made me - RPS writer Patricia Hernandez on how Fallout 2 shaped her world view, her politics and her sexuality.
posted by Artw at 10:52 AM PST - 88 comments

Randomized Consumerism

"Every time I run [Amazon Random Shopper], I give it a set budget, say $50. It grabs a random word ... then runs an Amazon search based on that word. It then looks for every paperback book, CD, and DVD in the results list, and buys the first thing that’s under budget."
posted by griphus at 9:07 AM PST - 52 comments

“First with the head, then with the heart.” ― Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One

Bryce Courtenay, prolific Australian author, dies. "Courtenay, who has been suffering from stomach cancer, died in Canberra late on Thursday with his wife Christine, son Adam, and his family pets, Tim the dog and Cardamon the Burmese cat, by his side. He was 79."
posted by Fizz at 5:43 AM PST - 15 comments

do that conga

A familiar sight in many post-Thanksgiving households: Sloopy the dancing Chihuahua (SLYT).
posted by fight or flight at 5:30 AM PST - 24 comments

CTRL+ALT+DEL+ - Deleted?

No more CTRL+ALT+DEL+. Tim Buckley is rebooting his Web-Comic. Interesting explanation of why in his blog post (scroll down to the Post titles Endings.
posted by lloyder at 4:52 AM PST - 60 comments

The New Recreation Frontier?

Lets Swim To Work! "Centuries of boat traffic, heavy industry, sewage runoff and toxic dumping have ingrained in us the idea that urban waterways are not places for people. Even as cities have rushed to the water’s edge over the past couple of decades, building elaborate waterfront parks and esplanades, few have taken the next logical step: encouraging residents to dive in." [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:57 AM PST - 42 comments

The Yodeling Astrologer

When Jim Holmberg fractured his skull after a motorcycle accident in the 1960s, it left him several things - deafness in the left ear, a belief in cosmic forces that had cured the resulting spinal meningitis, and an astonishing sopranino range in his voice. [more inside]
posted by solarion at 3:53 AM PST - 10 comments

The Wrong Right

5-part series from Conservative Home about weaknesses in how the UK conservative movement thinks and operates. 1: Polling not punditry. 2: The working class has different concerns in 2012. 3: Conservatives need a new attitude to government. 4: Thatcher and Reagan didn't tame the state. 5: Why does the right treat spending cuts as light entertainment?
posted by TheophileEscargot at 2:29 AM PST - 18 comments

The threat won't be understood until a Cyberdisaster

The Frightening Things You Hear at a Black Hat Conference. (Previously-ish).
posted by MattMangels at 12:52 AM PST - 51 comments

missing link

Can’t get enough of these videos from AsapSCIENCE. Here’s an earlier one from the Your Brain On Drugs series entitled marijuana. I was pretty stoned when watching it and ended up cracking up at the funny cats – total highlight for me. Can’t remember the gist, but you should definitely check it out. (Text Via) (slyt)
posted by infini at 12:37 AM PST - 13 comments

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