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Pop Vultures, perhaps the freshest show to grace our radio airwaves in recent years has been cancelled. Host Kate Sullivan and a collection of friends mused on pop music and associated pop culture with passion, a strong does of "um" and "uh, like" and an always great soundtrack. You can listen (for the moment anyway) to the archives . R.I.P.
posted by donovan at 8:13 PM PST - 21 comments

Firefox ad on the NY Times. The long-awaited 2-page ad for the open source browser is finally out, complete with the 10,000 names of donors.
posted by arrowhead at 7:25 PM PST - 79 comments

It shakes me that something as prosaic and taken for granted as a paper clip was once an innovation. Someone actually invented it. It revolutionized. It evolved. At one point, it became a political symbol strong enough to warrant arrest. Eventually, it became something so ho-hum that it could be artistic, profound. In short, it became indispensable -- er, ubiquitous. Before I die, I would like to visit a paper clip factory.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:17 PM PST - 32 comments

S. Dali + 3 Marxes. From Marx-Out-Of-Print, "a tribute to The Marx Brothers with full reproductions of books and articles from magazines and other publications that are now 'out of print' and hard to find." Dali was a huge fan of Harpo and once gave him a harp strung with barbed wire. He also wrote a script for the Marx Brothers, which was deemed "too surreal."
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:18 PM PST - 8 comments

Millenarianism (or millennialism :) A brief history of the end of the world. Why do end-of-time beliefs endure? [also see, oh and (OT) :]
posted by kliuless at 6:00 PM PST - 16 comments

FutureIsNowFilter "TengoInternet and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced a pilot program to offer wireless Internet service at five Texas state parks... The wireless service will allow park guests while visiting the park to access the Internet to gain park information, send e-mail or pictures, or just surf the Web, without cords having to physically plug into a network."
Shouldn't be camping be more about nature than technology?
posted by Doohickie at 5:30 PM PST - 31 comments

The University of You Suck! While the newer comics are lacking a certain something, oldschool Cat and Girl should still be ranked among the Best of the Web. Please keep in mind, Cat and Girl are Not For Babies.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:27 PM PST - 20 comments

The Best Webcomics of 2004 as presented by the Webcomics Examiner Advisory Board [mentioned here previously]
posted by tpl1212 at 4:13 PM PST - 24 comments

Evangelical enviromentalists. "Any kind of pollution that hurts the unborn, children, families and the poor—this is contrary to loving your neighbor, which is at the center of ethical teaching." Maybe there's hope for this world after all.
posted by fungible at 3:48 PM PST - 31 comments

A New York Times crossword puzzle printed on November 5, 1996, election day, was designed to predict the winner of the election, no matter who won. That takes some skill to design.
posted by BradNelson at 3:48 PM PST - 20 comments

Gay or Eurotrash? This fab game from Blair Magazine one of the early web's greatest zines, the first issue published a decade ago. They also made the Lesbian or German Lady?. Lest you think that all they did was quizzes here are some articles: Goomiliation, Masters of the Universe, How Stella Got Her Jazzy Back and Rock on GoldDust Woman (I don't remember The World Wrestling Federation ever being that interesting). It's all great, and since only seven (plus one) issues ever came out, it'll take all too short a time to read.
posted by Kattullus at 2:51 PM PST - 14 comments

The magic of needlepoint...featuring The Six Million Dollar Man!!
posted by onkelchrispy at 2:07 PM PST - 20 comments

If you've been paying attention, then you're probably aware that Clear Channel own your favorite (or least favorite) radio station, your local concert venues, the promoter who organizes shows for them, the billboards that advertise the show, and the company you bought the tickets from. And now they own your favorite dead rock star. SFX Entertainment, a promoter owned by Clear Channel, has bought an 85% share of Elvis Presley's estate and name from Lisa Marie Presley. That includes Graceland. Wow, do they ever suck. (Salon agrees.)
posted by logovisual at 2:00 PM PST - 37 comments

Wheelchair Junkie, for all your wheelchair offroading (and ramp-jumping and wheelie-popping) needs.
posted by kavasa at 1:58 PM PST - 6 comments

Want to lose weight, but don't want to exercise? How about quitting smoking? And, what about those other little nasty addictions? Well Rimonabant is the magic pill for you. It's so great that it can even cure your Doritos craving, commonly known as the munchies. It works by blocking the endocannabinoids/cannibas receptors in your brain. This latest and greatest cure-all even has it's own blog.
posted by Juicylicious at 1:26 PM PST - 50 comments

The War on Christmas. "What we are witnessing here are hate crimes against Christianity." Angered by perceived attacks on the Christ part of Christmas, Christians are taking a page from GWB and staging pre-emptive cultural strikes around the country. Or are they? Is this effort a bigger attack against Judaism and the rest of the nonbelievers/scapegoats, an honest attempt by Christians to "save" the holiday, or a media-manufactured controversy? (Air out your holiday spirit, but save your own personal grievances for December 23.)
posted by mrgrimm at 12:20 PM PST - 212 comments

Told you plastic is nasty.... Most of plastic that somehow reached the ocean floats in the North Pacific Gyre[look at Currents], an exotic name for an area of the Pacific ocean with a surface larger then U.S.A, dreaded by sailors for its lack of winds and called by some World largest Landfill. The people at Algalita Marine Research Foundation have made this nice video[Quicktime] showing how tons and tons of tiny plastic particles have been accumulating in the area for the last 50 years, slowly entering the food chain. Why does that bother us who live thousand of miles away ? Because we're on the top of the food chain and because that plastic is a sponge of hazardous chemicals.[Via tpl1212's link in another unrelated story]
posted by elpapacito at 11:34 AM PST - 44 comments

Mexican Man Kills, Cooks and Eats His Lover
Cannibalism (Wiki) is chic. With the consensual cannibalism of Armin Meiwes and a psychosexual facet as well as arguments about the religious aspects as well as how religion stopped cannibalism along with some tips, "The natives told Father Zumbohm that the fingers and toes were the choicest morsels." And now even a Donner Party Cookbook (no, no recipes on how to serve man). Can cannibalism be considered as taboo as it once was?

Of course, there are bound to be humorous sites, movies and even a musical. And heck, why not even a Letterman Top Ten?
posted by fenriq at 11:25 AM PST - 54 comments

Professor Stephen Roberds, Southern Utah University's controversial Professor of the Year 2003-2004, you're fucking fired.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:11 AM PST - 89 comments

Search Wars Part XXIV: Yahoo! Video Search.
posted by tranquileye at 9:27 AM PST - 30 comments

Honda has upgraded Asimo. They've added jogging, autonomous continuous movement, some new joint designs, and better intelligence, expanding the range of humanoid robots, which includes, the Qrio from Sony, Isamu, and Toyota's offering that entered the fray earlier this year (previously discussed). (More)
posted by effwerd at 9:04 AM PST - 27 comments

Frustrated by web sites that don't offer a customer service number? Slate magazine discovers Amazon.com's. (Of course, they'll probably change it after it gets around...)
posted by braun_richard at 8:47 AM PST - 42 comments

Catalina Bison, lovingly returned. Montana Bison, not so much.
posted by xowie at 8:37 AM PST - 3 comments

Gem Sweater Girl Rocks You! Oh my god, this is bedazzle-icious! She could totally be Mrs. Napolean Dynamite! I know its not quite Flash Friday yet, but it FEELS like Friday already... Anyways, check out the gem-sweater girl and these videos from her band... which, i will admit is not actually called Gem Sweater Girl... but it SHOULD BE! This is Leslie and the LY's! card number one... card number two... and (I think) my personal favorite.
posted by indiebass at 7:58 AM PST - 10 comments

A Whitewashed Earthsea: Perhaps topping Harlan Ellison's beef about City on the Edge of Forever, Ursula K. LeGuin expands a post on her Web site ("Had 'Miss Le Guin' been honestly asked to be involved in the planning of the film, she might have discussed with the film-makers what the books are about") into a rant on Slate trashing the Sci-Fi channel's adaptation. Things seem to have gone a bit downhill since March.
posted by soyjoy at 7:53 AM PST - 88 comments

Meet Charles Brannock. In 1926, he invented a foot-measuring device that has become an industry standard and a landmark of American innovation, now preserved in the Smithsonian.
posted by anastasiav at 7:52 AM PST - 18 comments

Have you ever wanted to be a repressed homosexual suicidal genius? Now's your chance. The UK's GCHQ has set up a series of codebreaking challenges to try and attract your attention in the hope it gets you interested enough to apply for a job. This is the latest. A previous challenge here. Plus some other puzzles they've set. GCHQ: It's not all about selling out your fellow man/woman.
posted by biffa at 7:51 AM PST - 31 comments

Free TiVo. If you are an American consumer and live in the Bay Area, the TiVo company on Friday will give away 40GB Series 2 recorders to Comcast customers who bring their cable bill and a gift for The Family Giving Tree charity to TiVo headquarters in Alviso, Calif. The giveaway will last from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until they run out of units, and will be limited to one recorder per household.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 7:50 AM PST - 23 comments

A right that ends in sorrow, aka the difficulty of standing up for something that really sucks. (via Amy Sullivan)
posted by alms at 7:45 AM PST - 73 comments

A new species of monkey turned up in India [NYTimes or Rediff]. Though the monkeys are new to science, people in the area are quite familiar with them. They call them "mun zala" or deep forest monkeys. It's a stocky, short-tailed, brown-haired creature they have named the Macaca munzala, or Arunachal macaque. Maybe not that excting for those of us not excited by, uh, mokeys, but did you know this year there have been other new things discovered? A new species of plec and one of Neon goby, even more exciting, a new electric fish was found as well. A quick search turned up dozens of new fish this year. ABC News says 178 new things found in the oceans this year alone, raising the number of life-forms found in the world's oceans to about 230,000. The big question is, of course, how many of those will Taste Like Chicken? The bad news on the little critter front is 1 in 10 bird species could vanish within 100 years, and I bet they all taste like chicken.
posted by Blake at 7:43 AM PST - 16 comments

Tastes Like Chicken : the field of culinary evolution faces one great dilemma: why do most cooked, exotic meats taste like cooked Gallus gallus?
posted by papercake at 7:01 AM PST - 30 comments

Stalin vs. Hitler. A comic. With wizardry and valkyries.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:47 AM PST - 16 comments

Ugh... As if working in an office isn't enough. This is one toy I will NOT be buying for my kid. I get the irony, but man, how depressing would it be to see this under the xmas tree?
posted by mountainmambo at 5:45 AM PST - 44 comments

Cult leader proves his divinity by being buried alive and resurrecting himself. Except for the resurrecting bit. Good show for trying though
posted by criticalbill at 4:45 AM PST - 26 comments

In the year 2014, the New York Times has gone offline. What happened to the news? What is EPIC? [flash]
posted by signal at 4:15 AM PST - 14 comments

Collins Word Exchange "At Collins we pride ourselves on reflecting current language, used by real English speakers across the world." Collins have launched a public forum designed for (amongst other things) discussing 'new' words and the legitamacy of their inclusion in official dictionaries. Chav is probably on its way, but I'm no intellectual snob, but bounce-backability? Even I'd balk at that one.
And, just remember kids, flip-flopper is not valid for use in scrabble
posted by qwerty155 at 3:57 AM PST - 8 comments

The worst opening lines to the worst novels never written. An international literary parody contest, the competition honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). The goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels.

The original bad opening sentence and inspiration for the contest? From Bulwer-Lytton's novel Paul Clifford, and made famous by Snoopy: ""It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
posted by zardoz at 3:40 AM PST - 37 comments

The Cardiff Giant, The Mandelbrot Monk, and the amazing Centaur Skeleton from Volos. It's not just this administration that loves to manufacture evidence. Scientists too have often succumbed to temptation.
posted by acrobat at 3:37 AM PST - 14 comments

Like lane markings, but better. Montreal artist Roadsworth transforms street markings into boots, bullets, and zippers. Sad postscript? He's been busted.
posted by optimuscrime at 1:23 AM PST - 21 comments