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Decker isn't quite a roguelike about hacking in the world of Shadowrun with Windows 3.1-era graphics, but it's as close as you're ever gonna come.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:09 PM PST - 16 comments

Gin, Television, and Social Surplus — Clay Shirky on post-broadcast societal outlets.
posted by blasdelf at 8:33 PM PST - 40 comments

Vint Cerf on age, marriage, technology, jokes, and a three piece suit.
posted by Toekneesan at 7:48 PM PST - 11 comments

Meet Freddie: He looks up at me and the bargaining begins. "If I eat two peas is that enough?" I am used to him starting the bids low. "Now Fred there are only seven peas on your plate, can't you just eat them? ". He then starts to turn pale. He slumps down into his chair and fiddles with his cutlery, accidentally on purpose knocking them onto the floor to create a diversion. Can one determined woman turn Freddie into a vegetable lover?
posted by bigmusic at 7:43 PM PST - 66 comments

Gravity Defying Homes Image gallery of some pretty funky homes. {via Daily Dose of Architecture}
posted by doug3505 at 7:33 PM PST - 19 comments

Willie Nelson "Superman" featuring Snoop, Snoop Dogg "My Medicine" featuring Willie Nelson, live at Melkweg.
posted by 445supermag at 7:18 PM PST - 11 comments

Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies (on Pitchfork.TV for one week, until 5/2/08). Very, very NSFW. [more inside]
posted by msalt at 4:51 PM PST - 105 comments

Interactive Architecture is for both geeks and design freaks. Lots of interesting and WTF stuff here, like SandScapes, Funky Forests, Swarming Structures, Colour Responsive Chairs, and Jelly Architecture. Not to mention the amazing Touch, a tower with 4200 windows equipped with RGB color LEDs that can be controlled by passersby.
posted by desjardins at 3:32 PM PST - 2 comments

You're an Author? Me too! The trend of increasing authorship and decreasing readership.
posted by stbalbach at 3:26 PM PST - 61 comments

A new study in Science claims that teaching math is better done by teaching the abstract concepts rather than using concrete examples. From an article by the study authors in Science Mag (requires subscription): If a goal of teaching mathematics is to produce knowledge that students can apply to multiple situations, then presenting mathematical concepts through generic instantiations, such as traditional symbolic notation, may be more effective than a series of "good examples." This is not to say that educational design should not incorporate contextualized examples. What we are suggesting is that grounding mathematics deeply in concrete contexts can potentially limit its applicability. Students might be better able to generalize mathematical concepts to various situations if the concepts have been introduced with the use of generic instantiations.
posted by peacheater at 3:24 PM PST - 27 comments

The Straylight release of Nexus War, a browser based PvP MMO in the vein of Urban Dead (thought significantly more complex) and Kingdom of Loathing (thought significantly more serious in tone), occurred today. It brings with it a host of changes, new skills, upgrades, and expansions, shaking things up for the old player base and making it an ideal time for new players to join, both because the status quo is being rewritten and because of a vastly expanded in game help menu. [more inside]
posted by Caduceus at 2:32 PM PST - 22 comments

Listen my children and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride of Sybil Ludington - While most Americans have heard of Paul Revere, many have not heard of Sybil Ludington and her midnight ride. 231 years ago today, she rode 40 miles at night to warn the colonial militia that the British were burning Danbury, Connecticut.
posted by Argyle at 1:57 PM PST - 15 comments

Whole Lotta Shakin' - a PRI documentary series on the history of rockabilly, hosted by Rosie Flores.
posted by Miko at 1:24 PM PST - 14 comments

Heavy Metal Parking Lot, 1986 -- Raver Bathroom, 2001.
posted by empath at 1:22 PM PST - 42 comments

State Secrets: A government misstep in a wiretapping case. A New Yorker article on the Kafkaesque case of Al Haramain v. Bush. [Via Threat Level.] [more inside]
posted by homunculus at 9:35 AM PST - 20 comments

In the seas and in the air...the minions of our Alien Overlords are preparing the way....via
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:23 AM PST - 8 comments

50 best cult books from The Telegraph.
posted by Artw at 7:17 AM PST - 86 comments

“People like you are not holding up the Constitution ..." Or so said Major Freddy Welborn, Specialist Jeremy Hall's commanding officer in Tikrit. "Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers." (NY Times)
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:59 AM PST - 129 comments

“We try to follow the footsteps of our elders, who cleared the way for us with their clean minds, hearts, and bodies. They walked in clean land, drank clean water, breathed clean air, and ate clean food provided by Mother Earth. This is the Red Road.” The powwow is an integral part of Native American life, offering the opportunity for peoples to gather and celebrate their spiritual connections to their ancestors, the earth, community, and traditions through drum, song, and dance. The photography of Ben Marra.
posted by netbros at 5:34 AM PST - 12 comments

The other day I happened to come upon a music video that is just so grooving, so human and so real, that, well, it moved me, darling. Just check it out. After watching the clip, I learned that these guys are mostly disabled by polio (that's why several of them are in those rather unusual wheelchairs) and that they were living on the grounds of the Kinshasa zoo, which is where the clip was filmed. Then I learned that last year they were seeking to bring a lawsuit against the UN. Then I found some other clips. And now I am a major fan of Staff Benda Bilili. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:30 AM PST - 47 comments