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Pioneer 10 space probe finally packs it in for good. So long, little fella...
posted by 40 Watt at 10:41 PM PST - 27 comments

"ByteShark is the TIVO of the Internet" Prominently featured in the Reuters Internet story "Imagine a World Without Ads". But that's not all the ByteShark claims to do. Is this going to be the killer app that does to Google what Google did to AltaVista? Or should we trust a guy whose previous product was simulated interactive interrogation software for solving murders"? Something about this whole enterprise smells like spyware, or worse. But there are lots of better webware experts at MeFi than Me. Would YOU swim with this Shark?
posted by wendell at 10:11 PM PST - 11 comments

La Catedral de Girona - visit this Gothic masterpiece on the Costa Brava through a flash exhibition that affords a fascinating exploration of internal and external architectural details, stained glass, artwork, sepulchres, and more. Be sure to take the visit and don't miss the famous Tapestry of Creation.
(found at MeFi member Zootoon's wonderful blog by the same name - lots of great treasures there too!)
posted by madamjujujive at 9:16 PM PST - 14 comments

The life of a pig, from conception to Christmas ham. A frank and charming slide show of the life of pig Onni, backed by horns, narrated in melodius Finnish, and subtitled in English. Be warned: it uses Flash, and ends in death.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:38 PM PST - 30 comments

"The study of feelings, once the province of psychology, is now spreading to history, literature, and other fields." Scholarship on the emotions is a rich field for historians and philosophers. Martha Nussbaum (previously discussed here) has written on historical views of the relationship between morality and emotion, and delves more deeply into it in her recent book, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Of particular relevance these days may be M.F. Burnyeat's new book, Restraining Rage: The Ideology of Anger Control in Classical Antiquity, which focuses on Classical views of anger and its proper place in human action. Many today could learn from Marcus Aurelius: "as grief is a mark of weakness, so is anger, for both have been wounded and have surrendered to the wound." [First link via Ye Olde Phart.]
posted by homunculus at 4:31 PM PST - 17 comments

Techno-cool cars include a fingerprint access system that locks out thieves and a heartbeat detector that sniffs out left-behind infants and pets. In the worst case—when a sensor detects a hostile life form, Star-Trek style, hiding in the car—the driver can hit a button that alerts the police. The truly paranoid, with access to a freewheeling aftermarket, might prefer to fit the button to an ejection seat. [via WebMonkey]
posted by dg at 3:17 PM PST - 11 comments

"64 grams of fat, 2,090 milligrams of sodium, and enough cholesterol to kill anything that's ever lived." 104% of your USDA daily requirements of saturated fat. 231% of your daily intake of cholesterol. Swanson's Hungry-Man All-Day Breakfast! (Pancakes included.)
posted by crunchland at 2:37 PM PST - 49 comments

Blair unveils global warming plan, says U.S. must do more "We will continue to make the case to the U.S. and to others that climate change is a serious threat that we must address together as an international community," he said. "We in Britain have shown that it is possible to break the relationship between economic growth and ever-rising pollution." With the Bush administration relying so heavily on British support of its war plans, does Blair have some real leverage here to push for more progressive Bush policies on other issues?
posted by damn yankee at 1:47 PM PST - 30 comments

Be a GOP Team Leader! Mentioned briefly in a previous post, you can join the Team to send pre-written letters to the newspaper editors around the country to tell them what you think of our President, or better yet, create your own differing viewpoints using the same technology. Thanks GOP and thank you Sneakemail! You're the best!
posted by CrazyJub at 1:22 PM PST - 28 comments

Emerging Storm Weblog The Gartner Group has put together a formidable weblog of sorts to discuss hot topics in workplace security, crises, and other happenings. The best part is that you can comment along with the "best" of the industry. check out the comments about Social Security. We knew blogging was mainstreaming, but this is a significant use of the application outside of the general media. I don't believe registration is required to view the weblog.
posted by djspicerack at 1:08 PM PST - 6 comments

Alberto Sordi, one of the greatest italian actor of all times, died today. Just wanted to let all the italians around the world without .it TV access know. He'll be so incredibly missed.
posted by elpapacito at 12:13 PM PST - 6 comments

Homeland Security Threat Monitor is a small Windows application that runs in your system tray, showing the current terrorism threat level. Features blinking notification of increased threat level! [via Small Values of Cool]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:55 AM PST - 17 comments

State of Validation 2003. Off the 430 W3C members, only 28 (6.5%) have sites that validate with the W3C validator as either HTML or XHTML! This represents an increase in standards compliance of 75.7% from the year ago tests. [via the big orange Z]
posted by riffola at 11:16 AM PST - 28 comments

A Mighty Wind - courtesy of Christopher Guest, folk music finally gets the spinal tap treatment.
posted by lilboo at 10:45 AM PST - 30 comments

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. [More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:43 AM PST - 33 comments

Do you know these men? Recently, the Saint Paul Police Department released a picture online of two suspects who are wanted for an unsolved aggrevated assault case which occurred in December. Nobody who was at the party knew the men. It's fascinating seeing police departments use the Net for modern-day wanted posters. Incidentally, the Saint Paul Police Department also runs the infamous prositution arrest mugshots page.
posted by manero at 10:37 AM PST - 46 comments

Konono No. 1 "This band is one of the main exponents of a spectacular style of music which has developed in the suburbs of Kinshasa (DR Congo). The Congolese call it "tradi-modern", in other words: electrified traditional music. These are musicians who left the bush to settle in the capital and who, in order to go on keep fulfilling their social role and make themselves heard by the ancestors (and, more concretely, by their fellow citizens) despite the high level of urban noise, have had to resort to DIY amplification of their instruments, and to megaphones (conical speakers). This makeshift electrification has provoked a radical mutation of their sound, as it has introduced distortions which they have integrated to their style. [...] The band's line-up includes three electric likembés [thumb pianos] (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers." Via womanonfire.
posted by jokeefe at 10:18 AM PST - 16 comments

Know what time it is, Kidz? It's U.S. Department of Justice Time!

On today's show, we'll learn why Hacking is REAL BAD, and give you a chance to find out if you are a good cybercitizen. Next, we'll meet Axel, the talking drug dog, and his friends the Bomb Dog Bunch! Then, we'll check in on the ATF, for some cool science fair ideas.

And finally, just for you kids with crooks or international terrorists for parents, here's a nifty PDF coloring book (Native American version also available).
posted by eatitlive at 9:51 AM PST - 11 comments

America and England: Separated By Humor? "This laughter gulf between two otherwise co-dependent cultures should not be thought surprising. The two most fundamental aspects of comedy are observation and speech rhythms and these are necessarily subject to local variation. The point has often been made that British jokes derive most often from class and puns, while US humour is rooted in gags." While talk show host Ruby Wax claims "If your language consists of little more than guttural grunts and cherry pie, you can't be blamed for not getting it." Is it any wonder her little show tanked so fast?
posted by owillis at 9:39 AM PST - 45 comments

The thinking man's MMOG is now live and accepting subscriptions. Someone on mefi noticed this game in development last July, but very little attention was given to it at that time. What has evolved in the game is an interesting social experiment, rather than your typical hack and slash Massive Multiplayer game. Many have equated it to Sims Online, but whereas that game appears to have failed to result in anything that doesn't smell of pig excrement, this title appears to have a soul. In fact, it's garnished its first review since opening on Feb 15th (shameless self-linking).
posted by thanotopsis at 9:07 AM PST - 16 comments

In this exposé a Wired News reporter easily gains access to some sensitive areas of the Los Alamos National Lab, and brings back pictures to prove it. While certainly an embarrassment for a place throwing workshops on homeland security (and doubly so because their seminars started today), is it wise for Wired News to post essentially a how-to guide on breaking into the lab where America's nuclear secrets reside?
posted by mathowie at 8:27 AM PST - 17 comments

Even Shakespeare bashed the French. Here's the play in which Willie the Shake indulges in a bit of Frog-bashing.
posted by mrmanley at 8:22 AM PST - 53 comments

Virtual march on Washington. "On February 26th, in every Senate office and in the White House, the phones will be ringing off their hooks...Working together, we'll direct a steady stream of phone calls - about one per minute, all day...while at the same time delivering a constant stream of emails and faxes."
posted by gottabefunky at 7:51 AM PST - 52 comments

In the house where I grew up, we had a 1950's-era Bomb Shelter in the backyard (a cold war relic inherited from the previous owner). We used our shelter as a playground, but many are now forgotten, repurposed, or restored as museum exhibits. Although such shelters are still for sale (often marketed as Tornado or Storm Shelters), many people today regard these shelters as relics from an earlier time. For some, however, the current terror alerts are reviving cold war shelter memories. As demonstrated by sites like the excellent civildefensemuseum.com, we are clearly still fascinated with this important and revealing part of our history.
posted by anastasiav at 7:51 AM PST - 7 comments

The troll gap - Despite heroic American efforts such as the "Kick/nuke their ass and take the gas" troll, "Each year, the Institute for Comparative Troll Studies publishes a report on the state of trolling vis a vis national security of the United States. This year, the outlook is not good..."(via Kuro5hin)
posted by troutfishing at 7:42 AM PST - 19 comments

Kevin Bacon and Bill Gates spawn love child. In a surprisingly un-clumsy attempt to a) figure out what teens really like to do online, b) create an app to tap into this behavior, and c) rule world, a skunkworks project inside MS has beta released the surprisingly clued-in threedegrees. It most literally rocks.
posted by i blame your mother at 6:48 AM PST - 33 comments

How come Dan Rather can get to him, but the CIA can't?
posted by luser at 5:39 AM PST - 32 comments

In these difficult times it's a relief to know that Nethack is still being updated.
posted by chrisgregory at 4:16 AM PST - 23 comments