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More companion robots! Another in a series (see PARO, previously) of healing toys for Japan's rapidly greying population, Yumel the Healing Partner from Tomy. Like some kind of unholy cross between a Cabbage Patch Kid and Teddy Ruxpin, you can see a promotional clip of the doll here, or read a list of translated stock phrases (thank you Harper's). Also, an interesting article from the Economist about WHY the Japanese love robots so. (Hint: it's Shinto)
posted by ikahime at 11:17 PM PST - 3 comments

Is now captured Robert A. Levinson a spy? a government agent?
Perhaps someone on non-official cover (NOC)? or just a guy doing some research for a book in Iran. The WaPo cuts through the mumbo jumbo here.
posted by specialk420 at 11:01 PM PST - 11 comments

Why do these always happen when I'm not looking?
posted by IronLizard at 8:41 PM PST - 45 comments

The Story (Mp3 - first part of 51 Min broadcast) Audio interview with Ok Sun Kim, one of the Korean "Comfort Women" pressed into sexual slavery by Japan during WWII. She was 16 when kidnapped, and raped the first night.
posted by edgeways at 7:58 PM PST - 21 comments

Zoo Babies from around the world. Probably the cutest photo gallery you'll see this week.
posted by cerebus19 at 6:06 PM PST - 19 comments

Virtual Tourism: A mashup of YouTube travel videos of individual sites, their aerial location via Google Maps and text from Wikipedia. It's Web 2.0-licious!
posted by Ogre Lawless at 5:42 PM PST - 4 comments

Waaaaaah! was an early 90's indie label of with an ever-changing number of a's in it's name. The owner of the label has put the entire catalog onto his site for download in mp3 format. He indicates which songs he likes the best by putting a very, very tiny picture of a kitten next to the songs. Artists include The Field Mice, White Town, They Go Boom, BMX Bandits, Dufflecoats, The Bedfloweres and Strawberry Story. You can see pictures of the bands on the site. If you spent your youth saying things like "this is pure, perfect pop music, why isn't this on the radio" then you've probably already clicked the link.
posted by Kattullus at 4:46 PM PST - 38 comments

"What are they talking about?" Was it just an April Fools' joke? Are they really gonna end Red Vs. Blue: arguably the most successful machinima series ever? Will Blood Gulch be silent of one-liners and snide comments once more, or is this a blatant attempt by Rooster Teeth to drum up interest in their 100th episode? Considering the fact they started it four years ago on April Fools Day, it's really hard to tell. (surprise! no youtube links!)
posted by ZachsMind at 4:06 PM PST - 11 comments

The Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly was thought to be extinct in 1982, after its primary (and federally protected) habitat was (allegedly) destroyed by the City of Ranchos Palos Verdes. But in 1994, butterfly enthusiasts discovered that it had apparently survived LA's best efforts to destroy it. It even spawned a PC app (that anyone can download) aimed at tracking insect populations. These days, it's doing better.
posted by hifiparasol at 4:06 PM PST - 4 comments

Why do people hate mimes? First you should get to grips with the history then get into a mime version of 9/11. Follow it up with an interpretation of Camus's The Outsider and Daniel Reyes's Mimes of the Caribbean. End your lesson with Mime World.
posted by meech at 3:42 PM PST - 76 comments

Why We Banned Legos - Exploring power, ownership, and equity in an early childhood classroom. National Review response. (via this post on Salon Broadsheet)
posted by Melinika at 2:26 PM PST - 224 comments

Oh, but it's much more than just guitars. How about a John Lennon set list from 1974? Maybe Bon Scott's tour jacket is more your thing. Me? I want the Mr. Big tour cases because they're in mint/hardly used condition.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:33 AM PST - 12 comments

Truly Awful Stuff [via mefi projects]
posted by serazin at 10:45 AM PST - 37 comments

You love pop culture trivia quizzes. Am I wrong?
posted by miss lynnster at 10:43 AM PST - 28 comments

The Purgegate Primer is a helpful document from The Morning News to assist all us armchair pundits in making sense of the U.S. Attorney scandal. Brought to us by the letter Q and recently-mentioned defective yeti, who it seems is about more than just laughs. (Also see his Plamegate Cheatsheet.)
posted by JHarris at 9:52 AM PST - 55 comments

BubbleFilter: Real Estate Roller Coaster. [via] US Home prices adjusted for inflation plotted as a first-person ride on a roller coaster. Keep your eye on the bottom right-hand corner for the corresponding year. Don't worry about the dramatic ending. I mean really, how bad could bad get?
posted by afx114 at 9:48 AM PST - 97 comments

What they didn't teach us in library school. An article written by a former public librarian in Salt Lake City, concerning the dilemmas of dealing with the homeless. [via alternet]
posted by hydatius at 9:10 AM PST - 132 comments

Weather warfare. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 8:46 AM PST - 15 comments

The currency of the New Economy won't be money, but attention -- A radical theory of value. It's with great hesitation that I post an article that refers to the Internet as "cyberspace", but I found this article revolutionary when I read it almost ten years ago. Does MetaFilter prove it right after all these years?
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 8:13 AM PST - 40 comments

A British research team led by the world's leading heart surgeon has grown part of a human heart from stem cells for the first time.
posted by jason's_planet at 8:09 AM PST - 46 comments

One fast motherf#%*^@$ train warning: video and in french
posted by Stynxno at 7:40 AM PST - 88 comments

Enza Matsu Pine Tree at Aoyama from Mount Fuji in Woodblock Prints.
posted by y2karl at 7:29 AM PST - 13 comments

If Mittens chose to save Baby Penguin based on his beliefs, and Mittens' beliefs are not under his direct control, does Mittens really have freewill? SNL's spot-on parody of "Dora the Explorer."
posted by jbickers at 7:06 AM PST - 53 comments

Looking for a life on the Mississippi? Why not build your own live-aboard sternwheel riverboat? (The site layout is atrocious, but patient perusal reveals articles, pictorals and links that should set you daydreaming... )
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:37 AM PST - 3 comments

"Graham Chapman and I were commissioned by Ringo Starr, of all people, to write a one-hour US TV special for him. That was SF comedy." Fantastic unpublished interview with Douglas Adams from 1979 just after the radio series of Hitchhiker's and before the books, the tv show, and everything else wonderful for which we remember him. Part 2 here.
posted by humuhumu at 4:26 AM PST - 5 comments

Your Studio and You. (google video, 14 mins). A short parody of Universal Studios by Matt Parker and Trey Stone in deadpan (and spot-on) 1950s-educational-film style. Very funny cameos by Steven Spielberg, Demi Moore, Tracy Lords, James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, and Sylvester Stallone, among others.
posted by zardoz at 2:20 AM PST - 24 comments

Guess who's building nuclear power plants. Short memories or hypocrisy ?
posted by Substrata at 2:10 AM PST - 50 comments

Remember When We Used To Have Fun? A look into the causes of modern unhappiness by Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Nickel and Dimed."
posted by amyms at 1:43 AM PST - 73 comments