Displaying post 1 to 50 of 476
Did a 'dream team' of biblical scholars mislead millions?
[Chronicle of Higher Education] You may recall the curfuffle over the gnostic "Gospel of Judas"
(previously). The National Geographic's documentary premiere "attracted four million viewers, making it the second-highest-rated program in the channel's history, behind only a documentary on September 11. . . . However, it's a perfect example, critics argue, of what can happen when commercial considerations are allowed to ride roughshod over careful research. What's more, the controversy has strained friendships in this small community of religion scholars — causing some on both sides of the argument to feel, in a word, betrayed."
posted to MetaFilter by spock
at 7:48 AM on June 30, 2008
(142 comments)
Remember
They Rule, the now-stale site from 2004 that mapped connections between executives and corporate boards? OK, now remember
NNDB, the constantly updated collection of unsubstantiated dossiers on "Notable Names" of all sorts? Behold the
NNDB Mapper; a They Rule-like visualization tool that integrates the entire database of people and connections. It's fun for
conspiracy theorists,
gossip hounds and
political junkies alike.
posted to MetaFilter by contraption
at 3:27 PM on June 29, 2008
(6 comments)
Joss Whedon's latest project is a family affair.
Seems that Mr. Whedon got a little bored during the writer's strike and called up some friends and family to help him make a low-budget web-series:
The story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. Featuring Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens. Written by Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon. Directed by Joss Whedon. Produced by David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon. Music by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. Lyrics by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. Score and Orchestration by Jed Whedon.
Make sure to watch the trailer, and read
Joss' announcement. And if you're so inclined, there's an
official MySpace page, and a
fan page.
posted to MetaFilter by vertigo25
at 3:09 PM on June 29, 2008
(93 comments)
Back in the 80s DiC produced a cartoon, aired in syndication and on ABC Saturday Mornings, called "
The Real Ghostbusters." Based on the popular action-comedy movie, it more-or-less continued the adventures of Ray, Egon, Winston and
Garfield Peter through seven seasons of supernatural shenanigans. It could have been a mere cash-in, but there was something more to it. It aspired to realism, at least as much as possible. It was story-edited by
J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5. (He also worked on
He-Man and
Murder She Wrote!)
This may explain the second season episode, written by
Michael Reaves and rife with Lovecraft references, in which the Ghostbusters face down the Cthulhu cult.
Part 1 -
Part 2 -
Part 3
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris
at 3:29 AM on June 25, 2008
(64 comments)
The rumors are true. Outage-plagued Twitter really has been raising money and
today announced that they'd closed their funding round. Venture firm Spark Capital doled out some cash
as did Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. Twitter, however, ain't saying how much money was raised. (It's reportedly around $15 million.)
CNET helpfully points out how the press release from Twitter that announced the news went out of it's way to mention that the company will -- hold the presses -- someday be supported by an actual revenue model: "To reach our goal, Twitter must be reliable and robust. Private funding gives us the runway we need to stay focused on the infrastructure that will help our business take flight."
posted to MetaFilter by not_the_water
at 8:24 PM on June 24, 2008
(81 comments)
"
Lost is a far more ambitious piece of media, which uses the entire web as its canvas and its entire audience as its creators. I'd suggest this piece of work -
Lost, when viewed in its entirety - is truly new."
posted to MetaFilter by lunit
at 10:05 AM on June 2, 2008
(99 comments)
Christopher Tarnovsky, smartcard programmer,
gives a fascinating insider account of his years in the cloak-and-dagger world of satellite TV piracy. Tarnovsky began as a satellite pirate himself before being hired by a DirecTV contractor to develop anti-piracy electronic countermeasures; he was allegedly responsible for the
"Black Sunday" attack on DirecTV pirates.
posted to MetaFilter by whir
at 6:33 PM on May 31, 2008
(13 comments)
Read at Work.
How to read at work without being busted, and not in a "guide to" kind of way...
posted to MetaFilter by jonathanstrange
at 8:38 PM on May 28, 2008
(49 comments)
Blonde Zombies
-
So NSFW, unless your work is cool with trashy Mexican comics, space vixens, pulp paperback covers, and the like.
posted to MetaFilter by jtron
at 1:48 AM on May 23, 2008
(30 comments)
YouTomb
MIT project that tracks youtube file deletions for aledged copyright infringement. They do not host the deleted files, fyi.
via wired
posted to MetaFilter by asok
at 5:43 AM on May 21, 2008
(16 comments)
100 Must-Read Books (for dudes)
Men just have different ... needs ... than women, so apparently they need to read different books as well. However (as a chick myself) I tend to check this sort of thing out in a futile but ongoing attempt to figure out men. Hmmph. Men. Go figure ....
posted to MetaFilter by kd
at 1:29 PM on May 14, 2008
(90 comments)
Before the advent of Cellular phones and the internet,
cities around the world were entwined with a series of
webs hanging precariously overhead. Their function: to
relay messages from one part of town to the
next. And the pioneers who were put in charge of this arduous task--the
Switchboard Operators. The first choice for this new source of employment was a
disappointing failure, not surprisingly, but then a new breed of
worker emerged on the scene. These
hardworking individuals were the epitome of
good behaviour and
gritty determination. Patient and understanding, they were always expected to
fulfill their tasks, no matter what the cost. And, to their credit--they are
still remembered today for the
unique place they held in some peoples hearts.
posted to MetaFilter by hadjiboy
at 5:10 AM on May 14, 2008
(19 comments)
"We were treated like rock stars. I was told there were female Trekkies who kept lists of all the cast members with whom they'd slept. I was told this!"
Extracts from 'Up To Now', the autobiography of
William Shatner... from his time on
Star Trek, where he comes over as the colossal jerk of legend, to his poignant recollections of the death of his third wife.
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry
at 8:43 AM on May 12, 2008
(75 comments)
An ever-changing collection of
220 flash games, perfect for your procrastination needs.
posted to MetaFilter by Orb
at 7:14 AM on May 10, 2008
(10 comments)
The iMac turns ten today. Unveiled on May 6, 1998 by a
button-down Steve Jobs, the iMac personal computer was Steve Jobs' antidote to the countless boring beige models in Apple's product line. Offering
"three easy steps to the Internet," the iMac proved to be a lightning rod for criticism (
small "hockey puck" mouse, no floppy drive, no SCSI, the debut of USB,
toy keyboard, no expansion possibilities), the first Bondi Blue iMac got people talking and sold by the truckload. Although the design may look a bit dated today, the candy-colored plastics
influenced consumer product design for the next several years. Even if you don't enjoy using an iMac, there's no denying its contributions to computing and popular culture.
posted to MetaFilter by porn in the woods
at 10:05 AM on May 6, 2008
(72 comments)
Like sea monkeys in your pants!
Entomological blogger Bug Girl (
previously) debunked a
web site touting the benefits of giant Japanese non-biting genital lice as personal "pets" (
they just live happily in your underwear. It’s so COOL! They grow, and have families. You can feel em living and crawling around!). She dismissed it as a hoax.
So the site's author
sent her a
sample.
posted to MetaFilter by Turtles all the way down
at 9:34 AM on May 7, 2008
(60 comments)
