Two-dimensional Flash animations of gears, linkages, pumps, turbines and other mechanisms.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:09 PM on July 12, 2008 (17 comments)

Does the city you live in have a great website? What (specifically) makes it great?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jmnugent at 4:59 AM on July 11, 2008 (18 comments)

Alright, Mefites, what did you do on your summer vacation? "Hit the pool a lot." "Sweated like hell." "Got through a lot of summer reading." ... "Went overseas and built a playground for children in a land not my own."
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike at 2:56 PM on June 24, 2008 (16 comments)

A squirrel enjoys a nice cracker, to the tune of "If This Is It" by Huey Lewis. Strangely satisfying.
posted to MetaFilter by jbickers at 10:24 AM on June 5, 2008 (103 comments)

ESPN's Paul Jackson tells the tale of 10-Cent Beer Night and the ensuing riot in Cleveland on June 4, 1974.
posted to MetaFilter by togdon at 12:25 PM on June 4, 2008 (28 comments)

Looking for a new musical toy to supplement your current studio setup? You may already have a MIDI-via-WiFi-enabled* sequencer (1, 2)/drum-and-bass groovebox/audio sampler & scratcher/Mod Tracker in your pocket!
*a wired version is also available.
posted to MetaFilter by lekvar at 8:20 PM on May 22, 2008 (14 comments)

What does a man do during the last 20 years of his life? We learn what every day was like for this unnamed soul who lived through the death of John Lennon, was there for the biggest television experience ever and who saw many presidents inaugurated and witnessed some of them shot.
It might have been because of the holidays or just to fit in but sometime around the early 80's he began smoking. Throught the 90's his health declined and eventually the illness took over.
What must we think about the Star Trek fan with a surreal taste for art and who loved pasta? I'm not sure, but I am certainly thankful for the images.
posted to MetaFilter by MikeonTV at 4:23 PM on May 21, 2008 (68 comments)

MetaFilter's own dirtdirt has been taking a polaroid photograph every day since July 14th, 2002. That's 2114 images as of today. He has other cool sets on his flickr page, my favorite being his pictures of school lunches.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 4:53 PM on May 5, 2008 (42 comments)

Very pleasing video of five metronomes syncing
posted to MetaFilter by TheDonF at 9:00 AM on May 3, 2008 (43 comments)

Why has this article on a basement door (and some other readers' questions) spent so much time at the top of the boston.com "most emailed" list?
posted to Ask Metafilter by theredpen at 3:04 AM on April 20, 2008 (12 comments)

"The sweet aroma of sap permeating the air, still harkens the arrival of Spring"^* in New England, Canada and other U.S. states. The Eastern Woodland Indians discovered that maple sap cooked over an open fire produces a sweet sugar [video], resulting in maple syrup. Many associate the syrup with Quebec (which produces most of the world's supply) and Vermont where about "one of every four trees...is a maple."^* Vermont even has a "maple cop." He enforces "Vermont's maple regulations for the state Agency of Agriculture, which strictly regulates how Vermont's most famous export is made, marketed and sold."^*
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 3:50 PM on April 6, 2008 (36 comments)

Seventeen years Steve Feltham sold up everything, bought an old mobile library van and parked up alongside Loch Ness to look for Nessie... He's still there.
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry at 5:38 AM on March 24, 2008 (20 comments)

"Gaze upon my packets, ye savory, and despair." -Saucymandias The Condiment Packet Gallery has hundreds of scanned condiment packets. You can view them by type, brand, or country of origin, or just view them all at once. (Via.)
posted to MetaFilter by cog_nate at 4:38 PM on March 5, 2008 (37 comments)

The Land List: everything you need to know for and about vintage Polaroid cameras.
posted to MetaFilter by fandango_matt at 9:59 PM on February 6, 2008 (35 comments)

MeFi Austinites, recommend some downtown eateries!
posted to Ask Metafilter by lychee at 7:02 PM on February 3, 2008 (21 comments)

So it turns out that not only were we being spammed (1, 2, 3, 4) by the Times, a whole lot of other people were too. We should have a Most Wanted page for webmasters to consult or something, since MeFi does such a good job at being the canary in the coal mine. Nice catch, Jess/Matt.
posted to MetaTalk by bonaldi at 4:48 PM on January 30, 2008 (76 comments)

Written by the mando player, Hamdog. I'm playing fiddle - everyone had a blast with this.
posted to MeFi Music by Baby_Balrog at 9:56 AM on January 10, 2008 (16 comments)

Is it a banjo? Is it a ukulele? No, it's a banjolele!
posted to MetaFilter by MaryDellamorte at 9:09 PM on January 17, 2008 (36 comments)

These webcams were found automatically through a variety of clever search techniques and update several times a day. Their owners may or may not have intended for them to be public, but they obviously are. Via Opentopia.
posted to MetaFilter by allkindsoftime at 9:35 AM on January 16, 2008 (36 comments)

Country/jazz. acapella. An open letter to Amy Winehouse. Super Mario Galaxy.
posted to MeFi Music by By The Grace of God at 6:09 PM on January 5, 2008 (12 comments)

"In June of 1977, Jim, John, and Gary saw Star Wars at White City Cinema in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were impressed. In the months after seeing the movie, so many costumes and models were made that they decided to remake a few scenes on super 8 film. The project grew into a fifty minute film." (Text from the Google Video description of the 15 minute version.) The remake's website includes stills, a downloadable "bloopers reel", an extensive "making of" photoessay and a brief photoessay on the construction of the R2 unit used in the remake.
posted to MetaFilter by cog_nate at 8:43 AM on January 4, 2008 (19 comments)

How do I cultivate relationships with people so that they will write me letters of recommendation (for artist residencies, post-grad programs, MFA programs, and grants)? This problem has been stymieing me for years!
posted to Ask Metafilter by xo at 11:39 AM on January 2, 2008 (7 comments)

Is This Transparency? OP with very slim, one-year posting history asks a question about finding a good charity in AskMe, just prior to year-end tax-decision time. Newly registered responder posts a newly formed charity-aggregator/evaluator organization, without mentioning that he is, apparently, one of the two founders. Self-promotional setup leading to self-link? Or am I being too cynical?

[update, 1/3/08: a summary of events is being developed on the wiki. --cortex]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 10:44 AM on December 31, 2007 (1426 comments)

He was born in 1980, during a risqué Groundlings show. After cameo roles (NSFW/language) in two Cheech & Chong movies, he earned his own HBO special. Four years later, Pee Wee Herman made his first feature film. Love him or hate him, his tv show won 22 Emmys... it seemed he was the luckiest boy in the world. Until one fateful day. Since then he's kept busy, and has regularly started and then nixed rumors of the bow tie's return. Recently he's changed his mind though, and in June a middle-aged Pee Wee made a surprise appearance after 15 years. Now he's promising two upcoming Pee Wee films... but will Johnny Depp take over his giant underpants?
posted to MetaFilter by miss lynnster at 1:39 AM on December 17, 2007 (105 comments)

Fancying myself a connoisseur of egg nog, I want to know your favorite pre-manufactured egg nogs (both alcoholic and non), and your favorite (or even "secret") family recipes to help me find the the best nog ever.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mboszko at 11:07 AM on November 28, 2007 (28 comments)

Before 1969, the city of Zap was best known as the punch line of a joke about three towns in North Dakota that sounded like Rice Krispies—Zap, Gackle, and Mott. But when student body president Charles "Chuck" Stroup at North Dakota State University needed an alternative to Fort Lauderdale while stuck in North Dakota for spring break, he enlisted the help of some student journalists at the Spectrum newspaper to promote the "Zip to Zap," an event that became the only "official" riot in the history of North Dakota. The tiny coal mining town originally looked forward to the impromptu "Zip" festival, which had so much advance buzz that the Wham-O toy company created a toy called Zip Zap in honor of the imminent event. Unfortunately, after throngs of students descended on Zap, the only two bars in town quickly ran out of beer, and the North Dakota National Guard was called into extinguish the bonfire, beer brawls, and riot that ensued. For more info about about how the "Zip to Zap" fit in context with the 1960s zeitgeist, look here, here, and here.
posted to MetaFilter by jonp72 at 7:38 PM on November 20, 2007 (10 comments)

"Since 1862, many have heard the tale of a wandering vagrant who traveled in an endless 365-mile circle between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. The strange man only spoke with grunts or gestures and dressed in crudely stitched leather from his hat to his shoes."
posted to MetaFilter by horsemuth at 12:08 PM on October 11, 2007 (20 comments)

The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay. What happens when you have more obsolete steamships than you can burn? You end up with one of the largest shipwreck fleets in the Western Hemisphere.
posted to MetaFilter by peeedro at 9:12 PM on September 13, 2007 (28 comments)

Tips, tricks and pitfalls for someone writing short news items?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 4:12 PM on September 11, 2007 (10 comments)

St. Louis Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa loves re-treads more than a long distance trucker. And even though the Cards are often willing to take a chance on former big league players with problems, their latest retrieval from the scrap heap is unusual, even for them. At the ripe old age of 28, former pitching phenom Rick Ankiel is back. As a hitter.
posted to MetaFilter by paulsc at 7:46 PM on August 14, 2007 (25 comments)

Bitters. This sharp-flavored, slightly medicinal liqueur, originally used as an aperitif, remains one of the defining ingredients in many classic cocktails, including the Manhattan, the Pink Gin, the Champagne Cocktail, and the Sazerac. Some popular herbal liqueurs, such as Campari and Jägermeister, are essentially just big bottles of bitters. But bitters had fallen on hard times, with most bars stocking only one brand, Angostura, or, if they were particularly sophisticated (or Southern), a second option, Peychaud's. Orange bitters, once an essential ingredient in the Martini, were forgotten and impossible to purchase. Times have changed, with companies such as Fee Brothers, Regan's, the Bitter Truth, and even Angostura, releasing their own versions of the orange stuff. In fact, bitters in enjoying something of a renaissance, with bars experimenting with making their own. Hobbyists, in the meanwhile, are reviving lost recipes.
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 8:45 AM on August 1, 2007 (74 comments)

Someone puts a video camera on a Japanese sushi bar conveyor belt. You can tell it's in Japan because it doesn't get stolen as it travels around the bar. Via b3ta.
posted to MetaFilter by Mwongozi at 12:37 PM on May 25, 2007 (103 comments)

You really shouldn't miss the snazzy ukulele stylings of the great Roy Smeck, strummer and showman extraordinaire, who was not only fast as greased lightning, but for whom the ukulele also occasionally functioned as a wind or percussion instrument. The man was indeed a wizard of the strings: just give him a slide and watch him lay down that Hawaiian sound. And as you'll see here, he was still going strong in his later years. [most links to YouTube]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 5:30 AM on March 23, 2007 (15 comments)

Out of sheer curiousity I set a sound activated recorder on the flank of a road-killed deer on the Monida pass - directly in between Idaho and Montana on I-15. I was fully engaged in my summer work of road construction, the year was 1999. I saw a murder of crows assembled, making plans to have this poor deceased deer for dinner. I was curious to hear if crows spoke differently between themselves from the regular crowspeak between us and them. Though this may not be 'music', I found it to be one of the most surreal and interesting things I'd put to tape. The sounds of slow-motion bullets you hear are heavy trucks passing. The crows speak for themselves.
posted to MeFi Music by isopraxis at 10:12 PM on February 1, 2007 (12 comments)