MetaFilter

Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism. Examining the social rules and norms, as well as the pitfalls, of electronic "friending" (yes, it's a verb now - or is it a gerund?). Via.
posted by amyms at 11:06 PM PST - 54 comments

This is the full, 81 min (embedded small screen vid) speech given today at Columbia University by President Ahmadinejad of Iran. Columbia University President, Lee Bollinger sets the stage with some critical statements about the President of Iran.
posted by snsranch at 7:35 PM PST - 194 comments

Some amazing photos of the ongoing anti-government protests by Buddhist monks in Burma. Things are getting tense.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 6:58 PM PST - 62 comments

Indian company to outsource its outsourcing. Outsourcing in Ghana, where the government takes English very seriously indeed. Finally, Native American outsourcing.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 6:42 PM PST - 8 comments

A Kurdish-controlled Iraq?

The goal of human society, ibn Khaldun thought, was the development of culture and the sciences.

For a variety of reasons, namely "geopolitical reality," it'd never work, but a poli-sci friend of mine did call it "philosophically interesting and compelling even."
posted by kliuless at 6:01 PM PST - 30 comments

The World's Stupidest Conspiracy Theories
posted by Falconetti at 5:11 PM PST - 80 comments

Making $9.00/hour ("pennies thrown at my feet"), James Razsa leaves the trailer he shares with a roommate every morning to spend the day cleaning the pools of "the ignorant rich" in rural Maine. His most prominent clients -- former President George H.W. and Barbara Bush in Kennebunkport. "'If every American had to pool-boy for these people for a day, you'd have a revolution on your hands,' is how he sees things."
posted by ericb at 2:32 PM PST - 170 comments

GTA anime mod A video of a Grand Theft Auto mod with gun toting anime girls and deadly Pikachu/Doraemon attacks. Via the ever-wonderful Japan Probe.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:22 PM PST - 22 comments

The Cat Diaries. [Via The Underwire.]
posted by homunculus at 1:40 PM PST - 19 comments

Dr. Ben Goertzel is an interesting guy. Having previously tried to create an AI based on internet distribution he refined his approach. High level elaborations on his developing thinking here, here and here (arranged chronologically). He gave a talk to Google about it recently (video) (related text), while mentioning why he thought Google isn't in the AI business. Here's a (low quality, sorry) vid of his system's virtual learning in action. Research finances were always a problem - could this be a solution?
posted by Sparx at 1:32 PM PST - 11 comments

Matthew Ingram at Stylus pontificates various band logos, revealing some secret origins and offering some perspectives on consistency and cultural signifiers built into them.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 1:21 PM PST - 25 comments

LOLMICROSOFT!!!1!
posted by quonsar at 1:19 PM PST - 122 comments

Halo 3? Phooey! Sure, Bungie's latest title in greatest series for the Xbox is released tomorrow, but for some perspective, take a look at Marathon: Aleph One — the free, open source engine to Bungie's first achievement, the Marathon Trilogy. [more inside]
posted by Down10 at 12:50 PM PST - 57 comments

The destruction of Untitled #133 by Aeneas Wilder took place on Labor Day. He knocked down his latest piece at the San Francisco Exploratorium to cheers from the audience and applause. The giant wooden sphere took 10 days to make out of painstakingly stacked (never fastened) wooden planks. Is it an artistic expression of the impermanence of man? Another chapter in the ongoing discussion about the nature of art? Or just every little kid's ultimate building-blocks-meet-Godzilla fantasy?
posted by Brockstar at 12:24 PM PST - 16 comments

Bill MacEwen's laptop got stolen last week, but all might not be lost. Someone in possession of the laptop -- possibly the thief -- just posted a self-portrait to Flickr using the account stored in the laptop. If you know anything about the gentleman in the photo, please contact Bill through his blog. If you like to fantasize about committing "the perfect crime", add this boo-boo to your "DO NOT DO" list.
posted by AccordionGuy at 11:29 AM PST - 80 comments

LATE BREAKING NEWS (9.20/2007) 4:57 PST. In an unprecedented display of Huge Crab rage, A Huge Crab claims the lives of 2 innocent civilians...
posted by crunchywelch at 11:28 AM PST - 50 comments

For many kids, the space age made its TV debut years before Sputnik with 1950's TV space serials.
1950 - Space Patrol - The Hidden Treasure of Mars. (Part two)
1954 - Rocky Jones' Space, Space Ranger - Rocky's Odyssey. (Chapters two, three)
1954 - Flash Gordon - Deadline at Noon and Akim the Terrible. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 11:20 AM PST - 5 comments

So, it seems like (almost) everyone is watching Heroes. But if you want more, Heroes doesn't have to just a hour of screen time a week. The weekly 'graphic novels' offer backstory [PDF] to familiar faces, fill in plot holes [PDF] and introduce* [PDF*] new characters, they've even continued during the haitus. But Heroes' impressive online presence encompasses more than just comics... Spoilers for S1 throughout, mild spoilers for S2 (casting, new characters, some plot), I've asterisked the most spoilery. [more inside]
posted by featherboa at 11:01 AM PST - 69 comments

I am a middle class 20 year old with hopes, dreams, fears, and a visa check-card.
posted by man vs sun at 8:14 AM PST - 118 comments

Mockumentaries based on myth are pretty popular. There's Max Brooks' World War Z, (zombie warning), being turned into a movie. Along the same lines is the favorite Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. Animal Planet and Discovery got into the game with a wild potential future, dragons, and even a couple projected alien worlds based on work by Barlowe. [more inside]
posted by monkeymadness at 7:34 AM PST - 41 comments

The sad story of Sœur Sourire, the Singing Nun. [more inside]
posted by carsonb at 7:12 AM PST - 27 comments

Photographer Kim Keever takes incredible, otherwordly nature shots using a unique technique: she builds the subject by hand in a 100 gallon fishtank. Other galleries of her work here & here. Via, which was via.
posted by jonson at 7:11 AM PST - 37 comments

Ffffound is kind of like del.icio.us for images.
posted by gwint at 6:02 AM PST - 12 comments

Nicolas Chorier takes stunning photos of a wide range of subjects and themes using Kite Aerial Photography. Be sure to click on the India link on the editions button as well as Uzbekistan. Another Frenchman, Arthur Batut (click "Le cerf-volant) took the first Kite Aerial Photograph in 1888. Here are some resources should you wish to try this out.
posted by adamvasco at 4:53 AM PST - 7 comments

The North Pacific Trash Vortex - Researchers have discovered a Texas-sized area of (mostly plastic) rubbish floating in the Pacific Ocean. [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:40 AM PST - 67 comments

"Hey look at this shiny trinket, I think I'll pick it up and see what it---OH GOD MY FACE." A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.
posted by null terminated at 12:29 AM PST - 79 comments