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THE BEST USB DRIVE EVAR!! (flash video.) Via here and here.
posted by loquacious at 10:16 PM PST - 38 comments

You may know that some of the Tatooine parts of Star Wars were filmed in Tunisia . But did you know you can spend the night in Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's distinctive underground house? In the middle of the desert, local people have taken up residence in the 30-year-old set.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:31 PM PST - 20 comments

Mark Foley's ... ewwwww Now that the House Ethics committee has finished its investigation of Mark Foley, we can look through the report itself, or at the Exhibit List and discover...Exhibit 13, 104 pages of Maf54's IM conversations (.pdf).

Reading the IMs and the emails is a bit like a train wreck, horrible to watch, but difficult to look away. It's just beyond pathetic to watch Foley attempt to "seduce" the pages while they're doing their best to keep thing at the "lol" level (see page 36 of the pdf for the title quote source). Does anyone know where the IM texts came from? Did Foley IM from his office in the House?
posted by jasper411 at 8:57 PM PST - 102 comments

Michel Gondry solves a Rubik's Cube with his feet. Guess how he does it. (youtube)
posted by fungible at 7:15 PM PST - 40 comments

The Comic History of Rome (1852), illustrated by John Leech (1817-64). Image index. The Victorian Web on John Leech. The John Leech sketch archive from Punch (over 600 images). A recent reprint. via the always great BiblioOdyssey.
posted by stbalbach at 6:59 PM PST - 7 comments

Search the complete works (including 8000 pages of critical commentary) of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a gift by the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum on the occasion of his 250th birthday. (German links are also available).
posted by ubiquity at 6:21 PM PST - 8 comments

Removing layers upon layers of old paint? What a royal pain in the a$$. But now there's a relatively painless way! Silent Paint Remover. The bad news? $400-$500. Too rich for you, Bunkie? Well, God Bless The Internets.
posted by spock at 5:22 PM PST - 21 comments

A Tale of Two Cockies. A Story of Love, Compassion, Friendship & Loyalty. [Via MoFi.]
posted by homunculus at 5:02 PM PST - 15 comments

Who is Rabbit Jones? Some text and images NSFW. A man steals a giant rabbit head. He meets another man who eats flies. He beats up a weirdo, then gets ugly drunk, and impersonates a refugee. Plus lots of other adventures & cool Rabbit Jones photos. But what is the connection to Jamaica? "The weirdness of Kingston is highly entertaining. Is Peter Dean Rickards "The Canadian born, chubby, self-appointed, self publicist, media terrorist of Kingston" or just a hater?
posted by Area Control at 4:40 PM PST - 5 comments

There's a killer on the loose...and he's targetting working girls in your provincial English town. Some are in such dire straits that they go back out to work even after the first body was found. According to some, sex workers "are more terrified of starving than of murder." In the words of Carrie Mitchell, "It's no wonder when women are thrown off welfare...that they turn to prostitution to survive." "How do you ask the Police for help when you may have a warrant out for arrest and an ASBO?" Is it really unthinkable to consider the prostitutes claim: "Would decriminalisation really make women safer?"
posted by dash_slot- at 4:27 PM PST - 32 comments

I'm an amendment to be - Yes an amendment to be. And I'm hoping that they'll ratify me. With political pressure towards signing bills becoming more relevant in the Rovian era of politics (example), will we see a shift in Congressional jurisprudence on issues such as Social Security, The War in Iraq (nytimes op-ed reg req), Ethics in the 110th? Perhaps Public Perception has a lot to do with it. Of course, some loopholes couldn't hurt.
posted by stratastar at 4:11 PM PST - 16 comments

The 40 Best Celebrity Rumors Ever --from the editors at Nerve (and maybe nsfw, textwise). Sex, drugs, rock n roll, deaths, more sex, more drugs, etc. Dive in. But be careful. This stuff doesn't wash off.
posted by amberglow at 3:57 PM PST - 27 comments

Anti-depressants increase suicide risk in young adults, FDA warns. "When results are analyzed by age, it becomes clear that there is an elevated risk for suicidality and suicidal behavior among adults younger than 25 years of age that approaches that seen in the pediatric population." More here and here. This follows the FDA finding that anti-depressants increased the risk of suicide in young children. The FDA now requires manufacturers of anti-depressants to include warnings, and plans to meet on Dec 13 to discuss the findings further.
posted by shivohum at 3:08 PM PST - 42 comments

The Daily Monster - Time-lapse videos of artist Stefan Bucher turning ink splotches into monsters. A new one every day. Also available on YouTube.
posted by Partial Law at 2:07 PM PST - 13 comments

Leslie Harpold Remembered When her annual advent calendar was not updated after December 7th people all over the web started to express concern over Leslie Harpold's absence. Sadly it has been confirmed that she died sometime last week. I think Leslie would be touched to see the way friends and strangers have spontaneously posted remembrances of her via a medium she loved and help mold.
posted by amphigory at 1:07 PM PST - 67 comments

"A fedora hat worn by me without the necessary protective irony would eat through my head and kill me." Goodbye to George W.S. Trow, one of the strangest, wisest, disturbingest writer ever to gape at, marvel at, and love his fellow Americans. His 1980 essay "Within the Context of No Context" (which shared with J.D. Salinger's last published story the distinction of taking up an entire issue of the New Yorker) placed television, irony, and distance at the center of the new United States. He also wrote the less well-known (but equally beautiful) short story collection Bullies, along with a novel and several screenplays, helped found National Lampoon, and was a staff writer at the New Yorker from 1966 until 1994, when he quit in protest of Roseanne Barr's guest-editing stint. He died on November 24, in Naples, at the age of 63. Appreciations from the New York Observer, Slate, and Gawker.
posted by escabeche at 12:56 PM PST - 17 comments

In the wake of a school shooting in Germany, legislators want to lock up all who commit acts of violence . . . in video games.
posted by landis at 12:51 PM PST - 36 comments

Why are women, who have the whole male world at their mercy, not funny? Please do not pretend not to know what I am talking about.
posted by nuclear_soup at 10:51 AM PST - 207 comments

Tofu is to gays as fluoridated water is to Communists? No, but tofu is as protein-rich as this article by James Rutz, chairman of Megashift Ministries, is delightfully rich in crazy. (previously on MeFi: Is soy safe?, Tofu Eaters v. Hummers). The comments thread about this article on Pandagon is priceless.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:13 AM PST - 135 comments

Russell W. Porter was an amateur astronomer who helped design the 200 inch telescope for Mount Palomar observatory. His pencil sketches of the finished mechanism are remarkably beautiful.
posted by jonson at 9:46 AM PST - 15 comments

The Young@ Heart Chorus, a group of mostly amateur entertainers (some who never stepped on stage before the age of 80), performs Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia". As seen on a recent Channel 4 documentary about the group. [Via].
posted by pfafflin at 9:29 AM PST - 15 comments

Le Web 3 is not going well in the eyes of the attendees, and has turned into a platform for irrelevant politicians and product launches. Is this the biggest unconference yet? Tom Morris has a good summary.
posted by xvs22 at 9:04 AM PST - 4 comments

Save the world with used books? A bookstore I sometimes go to in Boston is doing a Used Book of the Month Club...and apparently trying to save the world. Has anyone else every sold anything used-of-the-month? I think this is new retail territory. I could save a few bucks with a Used-XBox-Game-Of-The-Month. Or does this mean the economy is getting worse, if people can't even buy new books?
posted by UMDirector at 9:00 AM PST - 33 comments

Twenty-one years ago today a plane crashed in Gander, Newfoundland. The flight carried American soldiers heading home for the holidays, returning from a mission in the Sinai. Called the worst aviation disaster on Canadian soil, the crash killed the 248 soldiers and 8 crew members aboard. On December 16th, mere days after the crash, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, to comfort the victims' families. As time passed, however, some of the families demanded answers from the US Government regarding the circumstances of the crash. In 1989, Robin Tallon, member of congress from South Carolina, assisted the families' by bringing the matter before Congress - and also sending a letter to then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney (scroll down page). In 1992, a Time Magazine article addressed forensic evidence which supported the idea of an on-board explosion prior to impact, as well as the flight's connections to Iran Contra and the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. This article also discusses the book written on the crash by Les Filotas, a dissenting member of the air safety board. The question was brought forth again in 1993, with a bill introduced requesting that a commission be formed to further investigate the circumstances of the crash. As with any disaster with unanswered questions, conspiracy theories abound. To this day, many of the questions surrounding Flight 1285 remain unanswered. While the crash may never be fully explained, one certainty remains - for the families whose loved ones never came home for Christmas, the twelfth day of the twelfth month will never be forgotten.
posted by SassHat at 8:54 AM PST - 24 comments

Vintage Christmas 1945-70 Nostalgic images.
posted by plep at 7:52 AM PST - 6 comments

Jac Mac and Rad Boy Go! Speaking, as we were, of the late great Night Flight, here's another classic of the era. Written, directed, and "starring" Wesley Archer, who later worked on The Simpsons and King of the Hill.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:51 AM PST - 11 comments

The Internet Band
I Say Yeah! Yeah Yeah Yeahh..........I Got Fame........Right Here............If You Want It. The Beatles Had 4 Singers, I Want 5. Are You Worthy?
The World's Next Great Rock Band Is Now Forming. You Will Absolutely Be The #1 Band After Your First Cd Release. I Guarantee It.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:35 AM PST - 31 comments

Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy), the cover version.
Two San Francisco musicians cover all of Brian Eno's pre-ambient album - the one loosely inspired by a Maoist opera. Eno likes it.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 5:15 AM PST - 22 comments

Luke Vaughn has no car, but he wanted to travel from his home in Eugene, OR to the East Coast for the holidays. So he asked his fellow fans of the show with zefrank for a little help. He's becoming the Human Baton, and with the help of dozens of internet strangers, he's started his trip cross-country. They're each putting a pin on his jacket, posting photos, and blogging it. Oh, and they're planning meetups with him all through his route.
posted by Plutor at 5:09 AM PST - 10 comments

Insect Lab. Insects retrofitted with antique watch parts and electronic components.
posted by Lush at 1:00 AM PST - 30 comments