November 25, 2005

Asterix vs President Moron

Asterix gets political. After over four decades of defending his lone holdout village from Roman attack, French children's book icon Asterix is taking on America in the latest novel. The village is besieged by an alien army whose leader is named Hubs, (a thinly veiled anagram of the U.S. President). The aliens invade seeking non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
posted by jonson at 11:53 PM PST - 35 comments

Passion of the chef

À la carte explores French cookery in just about every angle one can imagine. Featuring an extensive list of recipes, suggested menus, and in-depth articles ranging from how to plan a meal, to what tools to use, including everything one needs to know about knives. Like Strawberries, & crêpes? Want to know more about ice creams & sorbets? Obsessive is an understatement.
posted by riffola at 11:23 PM PST - 15 comments

Not so intelligent design?

Deep Time. “Once we realize that Deep Time can never support narratives of evolution, we are forced to accept that virtually everything we thought we knew about evolution is wrong.”
It’s not the latest salvo from the proponents of intelligent design... [more inside]
posted by nanojath at 10:29 PM PST - 65 comments

The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata

The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata - Discover, identify and create your own Steam Age nanobot. Requires Flash. [MI]
posted by sjvilla79 at 10:28 PM PST - 2 comments

Bike the Pike

Pike 2 Bike! You've done rails to trails, how about a bike ride on an abandoned section of the PA Turnpike?
posted by Fat Guy at 9:08 PM PST - 20 comments

It’s kind of a radar for gayness, or a gay radar. It’s called… a homometer

'Gay' horse jibe lands student in court
posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 7:37 PM PST - 88 comments

Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?

Faith based prisons... Can Gov. Jeb Bush's new drive to introduce God to the inmates make a difference, or was Jesus 'dying for our sins' not enough already? Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?

"Night has fallen. He has died now. A fly crawls over the still flesh. Of what use is it to me that this man suffered, If I am suffering now?" - Jorge Luis Borges
posted by 0bvious at 7:34 PM PST - 36 comments

Transit in Detroit

Transit in Detroit details an urban planner's initiative to cut the costs of the city's traffic congestion-relieving highway expansion by proposing a transit system combining light rail and bus-rapid-transit. [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007 at 7:13 PM PST - 15 comments

Gov Approved Prison Tats

The Canadian government has come up with a novel approach to stemming the tide of disease in prisons. They're paying for clean needles. For those who wonder what it all means. Great photos of this subculture and the tattoo as a mark of rebellion.
posted by IronLizard at 6:35 PM PST - 20 comments

Map Out Of Hell

Fed up with navigating badly set up voice mail systems, Paul English has posted a voice mail cheat sheet to help you cut through to a real human. Which is just as well because most companies seem to set up their voice mail systems like this.
posted by Zinger at 6:25 PM PST - 19 comments

What's this button do?

Enter the Dark Complex (A very late flash friday) The triple-sized sequel to the devious, but fair Dark Room, this puzzle should kill a lot of time this holiday weekend. via
posted by empath at 4:03 PM PST - 6 comments

If only all Politicians were this honest!

Finally, The Bush vs. Blair debate that we've all waited to see. Silly Friday-Flash. [Warning, contains profanity]
posted by metaxa at 3:37 PM PST - 22 comments

Inky milk ?

Possible "contamination" of some baby milk-based products 30 million liters of big-brand name milk were recalled in Italy and other EU countries because of contamination by traces of ITX (ISOPROPYLTHIOXANTHONE) which is a product used in packaging printing.Tetrapack issued a press release (Italian language) in which they declare they are not going to use ITX for printing anymore as a precautionary measure. According to a memo sent to an italian consumer-oriented tv show(italian), Tetrapack acknowledges that 1200 more products use packaging with the same printing technology. What about their recall and is it happening worldwide ? [Google News query]
posted by elpapacito at 3:25 PM PST - 13 comments

They come in peace.

I, for one, welcome our... Oh, the hell with it. Canadians want to start diplomatic relations with aliens.
posted by mullingitover at 3:22 PM PST - 26 comments

[Ugarte gives exit visas to Rick for safe keeping]

First they take Ugarte and then she walks in. On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether people must show "papers" whenever police demand them. Unlike Dudley Hiibel (discussed on mefi last year) who had (arguably) caused a disturbance meriting police attention, Deb was just riding the bus when she was "welcomed" to the Denver Federal Center.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:04 PM PST - 35 comments

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities There are a lot of great freeware products out there. Many are as good or even better than their commercial alternatives. This list features my personal pick of the "best of the best."
posted by Postroad at 1:18 PM PST - 45 comments

If it ain't red hot or nailed down

Baltimore Officials Puzzled By Stolen Light Poles. Thieves, apparently sometimes disguising themselves as utility workers, have stolen 130+ aluminum light poles in Baltimore. How is it that no one has seen the thieves making off with a 30' pole? On the other hand, maybe this will help the city find its new slogan (I like "Baltimore: Leading the Fight Against Light Pollution").
posted by 445supermag at 12:56 PM PST - 30 comments

Vintage postcards

Vintage postcards are pretty neat. They show us the history of local areas, the growth of nations and they provide the briefest of glimpses into the lives of the past. Oh, they even brought porn to the masses.
posted by cmonkey at 12:49 PM PST - 9 comments

"We're going to the Emerald City by a difficult road..."

We all know the story: little Elli, a girl living in the steppes of Kanzas with her dog Totoshka, is blown by a hurricane (stirred up by the wicked witch Gingema) all the way to Magic Land, where she meets the Cowardly Lion, the Iron Woodman, and the scarecrow Strashila and has to make her way to the Emerald City to find the magician Gudvin so she can get back home... What, you don't remember it that way? Didn't you read The Wizard of the Emerald City and its much-loved sequels Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers, The Seven Underground Kings, The Fiery God of the Marrans, The Yellow Fog, and The Mystery of the Deserted Castle? Ah, you're not Russian! Listen [RealAudio] to a five-minute description (on Studio 360) of Alexander Volkov's Russified versions of Baum (with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky) and how they captivated children and adults in the Soviet Union (you even get a bit of the famous song Мы в город Изумрудный/ Идем дорогой трудной ["We're going to the Emerald City by a difficult road..."]); visit the Emerald City website (Russian version, where all the links work); and see the wonderful illustrations at this site, which links to the texts of all six novels (click on Читать...)—in Russian, but the images need no explanation. (Fun fact: the word "Oz" doesn't occur anywhere in the Russian versions.) And if you're interested in other alternate versions, go to Oz Outside the Famous Forty. (Via P. Kerim Friedman.)
posted by languagehat at 12:17 PM PST - 21 comments

Video Games & Education

What can video games teach us about learning and literacy? A lot, says James Paul Gee whose recent book approaches the question armed with three different discourses (situated cognition, new literacy studies, and connectionism). [mi]
posted by panoptican at 12:04 PM PST - 23 comments

Welcome our Sylph Overlords!

Chemtrails "are" the linear clouds formed by condensation behind high-altitude airliners. Sylphs "are" fourth-dimensional beings that are here to save us from the chemtrails. Check Sylphs Over Brea for photos, and Sylphs Battle Chemtrail Spew Planes Over Orange County for a quick view of this lunacy.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:15 AM PST - 49 comments

Borat Strikes Back

Borat Strikes back after being threatened by the Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry. I like his website? Do you like his website? Previously mentioned in this post.
posted by reverenddrjice at 11:02 AM PST - 14 comments

Words fail me

Friday flash fun. I have no clue how to finish this one...
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 10:29 AM PST - 23 comments

Brownout

Michael Brown starts Disaster Planning Firm After doing a "heck of a job", the former Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association teaches others how to avoid stepping in shit.
posted by null terminated at 9:49 AM PST - 27 comments

Pentagon FOIA Logs

FOIA'd again Mike Petrelis from 2000 through 2005 and found that major media have used the law on the DoD less than 50 times each in five years. E&P asks if reporters are using the law enough and some think that points to the media's laziness, others think they're missing the point.
posted by nospecialfx at 9:07 AM PST - 6 comments

loopy lenticulars

Lenticulars - fun 3-d art from Howard Hallis, the guy who did the the picture of everything. For the graphic designer, here's more info on the art of lenticulars.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:03 AM PST - 6 comments

RIP Pat Morita

The "Hip Nip" is no more. Noriyuki "Pat" Morita has died at 73.
posted by Vidiot at 6:54 AM PST - 69 comments

scarry 2.0

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever then & now (1963 - 1991). Pretty Stewardess -> Flight Attendant, etc.
posted by marlowe at 5:50 AM PST - 39 comments

Rest in peace Besty

George Best dies at 59. Footballer George Best has died today from an infection after a protracted iillness due to ill health following his battles with alcoholism. A great talent he was famous for his good looks, ability and love of the ladies.

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered."

Rest in peace Besty.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 5:28 AM PST - 70 comments

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