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Long before 2006 you could probably make a convincing argument that the music video has outlived its purpose; however, musicblogger docopenhagen's list of the top 50 music videos of 2006 has some excellent inclusions, and hopefully something for even the most jaded viewer. My threefavorites.
posted by jonson at 11:33 PM PST - 19 comments

If you don't watch My Puss then You Suck. But what I want to know is, if you're gonna Eat to the Beat, How Many Licks until you go blind? Maybe we can find out Downtown. Sure, this post is full of video, audio, pop-ups, and is probably NSFW, but you know you want to join in with your favorite songs in praise of the empowered punani! Come on and Put a Little Sugar in My Bowl!
posted by serazin at 9:48 PM PST - 51 comments

Hisakyu's Railway Guide
posted by hama7 at 7:02 PM PST - 21 comments

Silphium was the wonder plant of the ancient world. Originally identified by Greek colonists in North Africa, the plant - a species of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) - grew only in a dimunitive area near the coast and could not be cultivated. Silphium was popular as a spice for cooking, but its notoriety stems from its alleged medicinal qualities, particularly its use as an herbal contraceptive (the "I love you" heart symbol may have originated from the shape of silphium's seed pods and its use in sex). So valuable was Silphium that it became an important component of the ancient world's economy and appears on coins. It's also among the first species recorded (by Pliny the Elder) as going extinct, probably by grazing sheep or uncontrolled harvesting. Or is it?
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 5:09 PM PST - 21 comments

GODMEN. "It's the wuss-ification of America that's getting us!" screeches Stine, 46. A moment later he adds a fervent: "Thank you, Lord, for our testosterone!"
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:17 PM PST - 134 comments

Flags of the world... with client comments. Oh, Canada :( flash video
posted by boo_radley at 4:07 PM PST - 32 comments

Trapped in the Clauset - part one, part two, and part three. [youtube]
posted by atom128 at 3:57 PM PST - 14 comments

Bill O'Reilly responds^YouTube to a 8 year old^YouTube (though he leaves out her saying "that idiot O'Reilly"). Bill and his "expert" Wendy Murphy (who claims that the ACLU supports child sex abuse) agree that the girl's performance is child abuse - "the ultimate inhumane treatment of a child". Murphy goes on to highlight the danger possibility of "some [religious] nut [who] wants to hunt this family down." The many comments at YouTube illustrate this point – while some are supportive, others call her a slut, and Tanzman6 (who has belonged to Right to Life and Peer Ministry clubs) says

"This little chink should shut the fuck up. We should have killed her parents in Viet Nam when we had the fucking chance. Burn the bitch."

While the child obviously had help with her material, is O'Reilly right that statements like "religion has caused the genocide of nations" is propaganda about which she understands nothing? Even after considering that she is Lakota (Sioux) and probably related to Greg Zephier, an American Indian Movement Leader? [most material taken from Jesus's General]
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 2:30 PM PST - 100 comments

Insect views from If You Could See How Praying Mantises Hear.
The first picture is of a Phyllocrania paradoxa.
There's more about mantid ears at Yager Labs.
See also Picture Perfect Insects for the how to of it.
posted by y2karl at 2:05 PM PST - 9 comments

We previously discussed your cell phone as a roving bug, but what about your ipod?
posted by bmpetow at 12:54 PM PST - 26 comments

The Art of the Photogravure celebrates the process and the history of the all-but-forgotten art of the hand-pulled photogravure. In addition to the extensive collection of works from early masters to contemporary practitioners, check out the site's affiliated blog and some rich ambrotypes by site founder Mark Katzman. (via Gordon Coale)
posted by madamjujujive at 12:10 PM PST - 5 comments

Dr James Anderson, from the University of Reading's computer science department, claims to have defined what it means to divide by zero. It's so simple, he claims, that he's even taught it to high school students [via Digg]. You just have to work with a new number he calls Nullity (RealPlayer video). According to Anderson's site The Book of Paragon, the creation, innovation, or discovery of nullity is a step toward describing a "perspective simplex, or perspex [ . . . ] a simple physical thing that is both a mind and a body." Anderson claims that Nullity permits the definition of transreal arithmetic (pdf), a "total arithmetic . . . with no arithmetical exceptions," thus removing what the fictional dialogue No Zombies, Only Feelies? identifies as the "homunculus problem" in mathematics: the need for human intervention to sort out "corner cases" which are not defined.
posted by treepour at 12:07 PM PST - 63 comments

50 works of art you should see before you die, according to Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones and his readers--"probably the most learned cyber-community on the web." (Jones' personal top 20) [via; more inside]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:40 AM PST - 67 comments

Kodachrome color photographs of American life, dating from the 1930s, 40s, & 50s. Selections via DailyKos.
posted by ijoshua at 11:19 AM PST - 12 comments

Archaeology in Israel has long been politicized. Perhaps never more than in recent years, when minimalist critiques of the Biblical Kingdom of David have found a ready audience in Muslims eager to deny a historical connection between modern Jews and the land of Israel. Even sober, scholarly discussions of chronology inevitably resonate with political implications.

So it should come as no surprise that the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar's recent announcement that she may have discovered the foundation of King David's palace_pdf in an area south of the Haram al-Sharif was funded, in large part, by the Ir David Foundation_flash/sound and the neo-conservative Shalem Center.
posted by felix betachat at 11:08 AM PST - 17 comments

Steppin' is an hour-long documentary on an African-American dance tradition, most closely associated with historically black fraternities and sororities (though it's also found in high schools, clubs, and professional dance companies). Combining footwork, hand-clapping, chanting, singing, use of props, and changing configurations of dancers, it's a tightly coordinated dance form in which teams vie for honors in competitions nationwide.
posted by Miko at 8:18 AM PST - 20 comments

Thirty Short Poems About My Favorite Black Metal Band

by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, author of Last Plane to Jakarta.
Some selections, in no particular order- the critically necessary discussion of Mayhem, the love story, the fans. He's only up to sixteen so far, but like an evil advent calendar, there will be more entries as the month progresses.
(and no, I won't spoil the name of the band- you'll find out)
posted by bobot at 8:01 AM PST - 39 comments

Making an emergency car kit for road trips, especially in winter conditions.

How to travel safely in winter.

What to do if you're lost.

How to survive in the wilderness, according to the US Army. How to build an igloo. How to make emergency snowshoes.

equipped.org reviews personal survival kits, provides the story of five people stranded within sight of one of the US's largest cities, and blogs on the topic of emergency survival. And, last but not least, the equipped.org forums weigh in on the Kim emergency.

Requiescat in pace, James Kim.
posted by scrump at 7:49 AM PST - 57 comments

Taco Bell E. Coli Out break from... green onions? This is the second major outbreak of E. Coli from vegetables this year. Where does E. Coli come from? "One of the root words of the family's scientific name, "enteric", refers to the intestine, and is often used synonymously with 'fecal'."
posted by SansPoint at 7:05 AM PST - 33 comments

There are many ways to kill a Lobster. Some are cruel, some are extremely complicated, some are painless (or so they say). If you still feel terrible about eating them you can even just try a mock-up.
posted by darkripper at 5:14 AM PST - 57 comments

If chat rooms were real. [You Tube video, via Digg]
posted by punkfloyd at 4:59 AM PST - 32 comments

Sherry Turkle, who used to believe in the benefits of robot pets, has changed her tune and now "finds human-machine love unsettling (pdf)". Tyrell:"We began to recognize in them a strange obsession. After all, they are emotionally inexperienced, with only a few years in which to store up the experiences which you and I take for granted. If we gift them with a past, we create a cushion or a pillow for their emotions, and consequently, we can control them better." Was he referring to us or them?
posted by sluglicker at 2:25 AM PST - 14 comments

Pearl Harbor ship salvage began immediately after the attack and continued until 1944. It was dirty, dangerous, detailed, (and discouraging) work for U.S. Navy salvors and divers, but their impressive repairs eventually returned eighteen sunken and damaged ships to wartime service. Only one was left where she fell. [More in the book Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor.]
posted by cenoxo at 1:35 AM PST - 18 comments