For the last five years, the whereabouts and sudden disappearance in 2003 of former MIT graduate, Pakistani national, and alleged terrorist Aafia Siddiqui (wiki) have remained mysterious. Accused by the U.S. of terrorist ties, earlier today she appeared (having been recently wounded) in a NY courtroom to face trial for attempted murder of American officers and FBI agents while being held in Afghanistan. But the facts behind the case are conflicted. For years she was rumored to have been held in the U.S. prison at Bagram base in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, her disappearance has proved to be a lightning-rod on the issue of the hundreds of others who have been rounded up as terrorist suspects--only to disappear without any trace, let alone any due process or criminal trial. A preliminary hearing for Siddiqui is set for Aug. 19.
posted to MetaFilter by ornate insect at 3:44 PM on August 6, 2008 (22 comments)

Help me not be terrified of the dentist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 9:35 AM on November 16, 2005 (27 comments)

Cake Wrecks. "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong." [via]
posted to MetaFilter by kolophon at 4:57 PM on July 22, 2008 (69 comments)

All of you have been given a harsh gift. It’s the same gift the graduating class of 1917, and 1938, and 1968 and now you guys got – the chance to enter adulthood when the world teeters on the rim of the sphincter of oblivion. You’re jumping into the deep end. You have no choice but to be exceptional. Patton Oswalt addresses the class of 2008 at his old high school.
posted to MetaFilter by jbickers at 4:44 AM on July 10, 2008 (104 comments)

I Met the Walrus In 1969, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. This is the whimsically animated film that Jerry has produced about the interview.
posted to MetaFilter by milestogo at 2:31 PM on July 6, 2008 (26 comments)

Congratulation! You have a fruit! A fruit is not ready currently. You must prepare a fruit. The color of a fruit is green. The color of a fruit to taste great and put inside your body is red.

[YES! A link to SomethingAwful "dot com." BUT.]
posted to MetaFilter by Countess Elena at 3:59 PM on July 5, 2008 (64 comments)

Without explanation, all of Violet Blue's posts have been removed from Boing Boing, raising serious questions about ethics and revisionism that run contra to the thoughtful declarations of blogging pioneers. Is this hypocritical in light of BB's own public bouts with censorship? Or does this reflect an altogether different loss of control?
posted to MetaFilter by ed at 9:58 AM on June 30, 2008 (2580 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)

How do I take night shots with my Canon Rebel XTi without looking like a nerd with a tripod?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jimdanger at 1:49 AM on May 20, 2008 (20 comments)

Delta Green - be part of the conspiracy. The latest sourcebook for Delta Green, the cult modern day Call of Cthulhu setting, is being financed via fundable. If the target for funding is not met it’s release will be delayed... if it is released at all. A niche setting within a niche system in a hobby in decline, Delta Green is still intensely well loved by those who know about it, making them a good target for the ransom model. Will thinking outside the usual publishing business models save pen and paper RPGs?
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 12:05 AM on May 11, 2008 (63 comments)

Once upon a time in the postwar, before the advent of EPA and OSHA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission and weenies in bike helmets and multilingual warning stickers on stepladders, crazy people walked this earth. Good, fun-loving Americans who knew that "instructions" were something you threw in the trash along with the empty Falstaff bottles. A halcyon era filled with manly men who savored the wholesome virtues of a rugged game of un-seatbelted automotive chicken. One of these men was Gene Middlebrooks, who founded Turbonique.
posted to MetaFilter by dg at 5:43 AM on April 23, 2008 (50 comments)

“He'd speak wistfully about some future day when he'd have less work on and could investigate the paranormal for real. And now that day has come.” Jon Ronson attends a UFO conspiracy conference with Robbie Williams. Compare and contrast, Dan Aykroyd.
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry at 5:52 AM on April 19, 2008 (31 comments)

The intersect of data visualization and aural phenomena is a fascinating space, from simple chartings of the history of sampling to mapping the entire world of music (or even just electronica). Pop songs become sketches, iTunes libraries become twisted geometric forms, and last.fm listening behaviors form coloured orbs and waves. The collaborative networks of comtemporary rappers, jazz musicians, and classical composers are revealing of specific and meaningful community structures. Explore the algorithmic music of Stephan Wolfram's computational universe, listen to pi or e or the Mona Lisa or the weather or the temperature in New York City, discover the shape of sound, or just, you know, see music. Use the Echo Nest to visualize your own music (example), tag your music collection with colours, or just wade through the plethora of ways to map connections between artists and genres. (several previously)
posted to MetaFilter by youarenothere at 1:50 PM on April 9, 2008 (12 comments)

Is it worth it to file a complaint with the EEOC?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 1:09 PM on April 1, 2008 (18 comments)

Kevin Ray Underwood found guilty of first degree murder in the April 2006 killing of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin. The jury only needed 20 minutes to decide on his guilt. Previously on Metafilter, because he linked here. How could a seemingly normal, albeit "single, bored and lonely", young man become a cannabalistic child rapist and murderer? Exhibits: The blog he kept for almost four years up until the day after the murder. A collection of misc information about Underwood, including (near the bottom) the text of an online chat he had with a friend after killing Bolin. An extremely disturbing transcript of his confession to the FBI. Video footage of the trial. Deliberations will begin Monday as to whether or not he will be sentenced to death.
posted to MetaFilter by banishedimmortal at 6:53 PM on February 29, 2008 (154 comments)

I never finished college, instead I've been a passionate self-learner for a long time now. I'm interested mostly in cognitive in behavioral sciences. I've read a number of academic and college textbooks on the subject. And now, I really don't know what to do with all this knowledge.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 1:44 PM on February 20, 2008 (16 comments)

Another round of "Should I eat this?"
posted to Ask Metafilter by Bookhouse at 4:46 PM on February 14, 2008 (27 comments)

How can I become less clumsy?
posted to Ask Metafilter by iamkimiam at 3:20 PM on February 12, 2008 (34 comments)

A special treat from the Annie Awards on February 8th, 2008. The cast of Spongebob Squarepants redubs a clip from Casablanca. They are accurate to the script; which makes it completely awesome. via.
posted to MetaFilter by sir_rubixalot at 8:48 PM on February 11, 2008 (32 comments)

"It's amazing how we rely on them." BlackBerry email service went down this afternoon in "The Americas Network." That's bad. But is over-reliance on a network the worst of it? Or is it the thumb-ache? or the back-ache? or the work-life imbalance? or the shakes?
posted to MetaFilter by jbickers at 3:55 PM on February 11, 2008 (60 comments)

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years
Howlin' Wolf - Meet Me in the Bottom
Howlin' Wolf - Highway 49
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning
Howlin' Wolf - Dust My Broom
Howlin Wolf - I'll Be Back Someday
posted to MetaFilter by y2karl at 9:47 PM on February 4, 2008 (29 comments)

American audiences remember Akira Kurosawa as the genius of the samurai epic, a past master who used the form both to revise and revive Western classics - Shakespeare with Ran and Throne of Blood, Dostoevsky with Red Beard and The Idiot, Gorky with The Lower Depths - and to give splendid and ultimately immortal life to new archetypes, as in The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Yojimbo. But Kurosawa also made films of his own time. His masterpiece, in fact, was the quiet story of a gray Japanese bureaucrat dying in post-war Tokyo, and of his attempt to do something of lasting good before he leaves. The film is Ikiru ("To Live"; 1952).
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 8:17 PM on January 29, 2008 (46 comments)

Did you hear about the BMW M5 crash that occurred in Ocala, Florida over the weekend? (video - with a car advertisement opening, ironically). The five teenagers in the car flew 200 feet off an airport runway, then hit a tree, splitting the car in half. What you may not have heard of was that the driver, Josh Ammirato, was an active member of m5board.com, an online BMW M5 forum community. AmericanM5, he was known by, had posted only a day before the crash, asking about rough shifts when exceeding 140MPH. The thread about his crash. Edmunds Inside Line has full details of story, including map of the accident.
posted to MetaFilter by patr1ck at 3:09 PM on January 29, 2008 (252 comments)

Written in 1967 by Bob Dylan, it was originally quiet, lowkey... and vaguely menacing. But when Jimi Hendrix redefined it the following year, even Dylan knew that the song had changed forever.

Since then, it's been covered (over and over again), praised almost as often, analyzed, referenced, and, of course, found to be encoded in the minds of Cylons.

Originally released 40 years ago, erm, yesterday: All Along the Watchtower.
posted to MetaFilter by John Kenneth Fisher at 7:16 PM on December 28, 2007 (41 comments)

The Midwest Teen Sex Show is a podcast for teens and adults covering the wonderful, awkward, stimulating, sticky world of sex.
posted to MetaFilter by tehloki at 2:48 AM on September 2, 2007 (28 comments)

Back in April you guys posted and commented on a cartoon I did called "Internet Argument." Matt's allowed me to mention here as a follow-up that I am now auctioning off the original cartoon with all proceeds going to charity.
posted to MetaTalk by XQUZYPHYR at 6:46 PM on November 29, 2007 (37 comments)

We have a club that has just started and the purpose of the club is to create awareness and provide events that deal with: Humanitarian, Social, and Environmental Issues. In short it is an activism club. I was wondering of the metalfilter community could provide us with any events having to do with H/E/S issues (preferrably not just community service) and also perhaps links or resources. It would be greatly appreciated if you could all contribute before next Monday because we are beginning to lose the interest of many of our members due to the fact that we have not established any solid events. Much thanks to those that contribute! :]
posted to Ask Metafilter by meta.mark at 12:57 AM on November 19, 2007 (10 comments)

Wu-Tang Clan's RZA Breaks Down His Kung Fu Samples by Film and Song. Kung-fu's influence on hip hop has been around since the '70s, when B-boys busted Bruce Lee moves while break-dancing. But in 1993, gritty rap supergroup the Wu-Tang Clan released Enter the Wu-Tang (36-Chambers), the first chart-topping album to kick up raw rhymes with dialog sampled from underground Hong Kong flicks.
posted to MetaFilter by psmealey at 4:34 AM on November 17, 2007 (56 comments)