It's been posted before, but on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the stunning photography of Brian Rose is certainly worth revisiting. It's amazing that something like this existed. [more inside]
posted by jedro at 2:47 AM - 1 comment

Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world? Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry debate the question with Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Anne Widdencombe. Parts 2, 3, 4, 5
posted by empath at 12:04 AM - 37 comments

Mefi's own Jason Scott (jscott) wants to raise $25,000 using waxy's Kickstarter to work full-time on computer history. He made BBS documentary (previously), founded the Archive Team, and owns textfiles.com (previously) and, yes, sockington. So far, 237 people have pledged $20,340. On Nov. 4, Jason did a 5-hours, non-stop Scottathon. Apparently, fundraising ain't easy. [more inside]
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 11:51 PM - 10 comments

Biblioburro is a library that schoolteacher Luis Soriano Bohorquez of La Gloria, a small town in northern Colombia, carries around on his donkeys Alfa and Beto. Another video of Biblioburro by Al Jazeera English. Here's some further footage in Spanish. [Biblioburro previously]
posted by Kattullus at 10:04 PM - 7 comments

Simon Mann, freed dog of war, is demanding justice. After more than five years in jail, the British mercenary is seeking vengeance on others he says were part of the failed 'Wonga Coup' – including Mark Thatcher. [previously] [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu at 9:44 PM - 13 comments

Cuban players have long been a mainstay in baseball. After Fidel Castro made it impossible for people to leave the island, the flow of players stopped to a drip. That changed with the defection of Rene Arocha in 1991. [more inside]
posted by reenum at 9:08 PM - 1 comment

Aardvark is a Q&A chat service that tries find people to answer your questions among your friends, friends of friends and people who know something about your subject. In practice it's a bit like AskOmegle. [more inside]
posted by The Devil Tesla at 4:49 PM - 31 comments

"Golb the Son has taken up his father’s cause with all the vigor permitted by multiple Gmail accounts." A tale of sock puppets and ancient scrolls.
posted by tractorfeed at 3:56 PM - 67 comments

Michelle Khine makes high tech out of children's toys. Doing medical nanotech with Shrinky Dinks and a toaster oven.
posted by idiopath at 3:52 PM - 8 comments

Desiree Jennings is a 25-year old marketing manager (and Redskins "Ambassador cheerleader") who claims that in August she received a seasonal flu vaccine at a grocery store that caused a never-before-seen dystonia. While saturating media outlets and drawing the support of celebrity anti-vaccinationists, she shunned the doctors who treated her at Johns Hopkins University who (along with other neurologists who have seen footage of her) judged that she was suffering from a psychogenic disorder. [more inside]
posted by inoculatedcities at 3:50 PM - 74 comments

Name That Movie The illustrator, Paul Rogers, description of his project: I started a series of drawings in my sketchbook, it's a kind of visual quiz of great movies. Each series is a sequence of six drawings of shots from classic films (in the order they appear on screen.) No portraits of movie stars, just iconic images from the film.
posted by TimTypeZed at 3:26 PM - 16 comments

Gerhardt 'Jerry' Fuchs, drummer for the bands Maserati (video) and The Juan MacLean died last night of injuries sustained while trying to jump of a disabled elevator in Brooklyn following an event for The Uniform Project (previously).
posted by setanor at 2:39 PM - 27 comments

"What's the deal with cat ladies?" asks an article. Maybe you saw the TV show, which could be "the grossest footage" on TV. Gross indeed, but read the studies from the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, or watch the documentary, and maybe you'll want to visit the little old lady that lives down the street and see if she's OK.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:44 PM - 33 comments

Past Tense is a publishing project exploring London radical history. Their website has texts telling us about William Cuffay, the black Chartist tried and transported for levying war against Queen Victoria; an account of an early instance of women's organised labour struggle during the 1908 Corruganza box-makers strike; the drunken uproar of the 18th-century elections for the spurious Mayor of Garratt, really putting the 'mock' into 'mock election'; a yeoman farmer in Kett's Great Rebellion of 1549; the burning of the Albion Mills; and much more, including some walking tours to locations linked to radical history in various parts of the metropolis.
posted by Abiezer at 6:42 AM - 5 comments

The Kalinin K-7 was a giant flying fortress that might have redefined aerial combat in the 1930s. The hugely expensive and trouble-prone prototype was scrapped by Stalin and its designer was later executed. Here are some renderings of the planes that might have been, with spacious lounges, battleship-sized cannons, and the ability to defend us from UFOs.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:58 AM - 67 comments

Elona Shooter - a fantastic castle-defence-shooter-RPG in Flash. Warning: insanely hard.
posted by catchingsignals at 12:00 AM - 18 comments

If there's one thing that MeFites are absolutely universal in loving, it's the TV show Mad Men. Right? Right? Well, here's something that even the haters will enjoy : Milk Men - A Mad Men Parody
posted by Afroblanco at 9:31 PM - 57 comments

The House of Representatives just passed the health reform bill in a vote of 220-215.
posted by reenum at 9:01 PM - 375 comments

cosmolearning has a ton of college courses and documentaries aggregated in one place. And it was started by a couple of teenagers. I'm impressed.
posted by pahool at 7:45 PM - 8 comments

Vintage Mouse Porn (NSFW). Pre-1970 pornography, redrawn with cartoon mice. [more inside]
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:25 PM - 31 comments

People Doing Stuff. Strangely compelling.
posted by flatluigi at 5:40 PM - 69 comments

Reading to the Endgame: Algorithmic translation of classic nineteenth century novels into chessboard slugfests. Select the opponents from a list of fifty-five novels in five languages, and watch each text maneuver across the battlefield.
posted by carsonb at 4:49 PM - 16 comments

Batman's "disappear into the shadows" routine goes wrong. (SLYT, via)
posted by aheckler at 4:25 PM - 30 comments

The Mineral Makeup Mutiny was founded to encourage consumers to buy indie self-made mineral cosmetics, instead of overpriced makeup that were repackaging wholesale micas from companies such as TKB Trading, or publishing contradicting ingredients lists and sending Cease-and-Desist Letters to unfavourable reviews. Miss K of Aromaleigh, founder of the Mutiny (and former seller of repackaged wholesale hues, which she's discontinuing in favour of original colours), demonstrates how mineral eyeshadows are made. [more inside]
posted by divabat at 2:55 PM - 32 comments

Ever wonder how the physics of Portal's portals worked? Or how Mario could walk on space rocks in Super Mario Galaxy? Games Demystified seeks to answer these pressing questions, with code samples and working demos. [more inside]
posted by hellojed at 1:38 PM - 8 comments

The Obama administration has again invoked the state secrets privilege in an effort to dismiss a class action lawsuit challenging government surveillance. The DOJ has also unveiled new procedures for invoking the privilege. This is not the first time the Obama DOJ has taken this position. [more inside]
posted by bearwife at 1:12 PM - 52 comments

Shouting vs. Spanking -- What should the parent choose?
posted by Taft at 12:34 PM - 100 comments

Last August, six Harvard scientists went to the hospital after drinking coffee laced with sodium azide, in what appears to be a delibarate posioning. Previous laboratory-related poisonings have occured at other prestigious institutions, although radioactivity is generally the method of choice. [more inside]
posted by emd3737 at 10:50 AM - 54 comments

Whether working with the Nicholas Brothers (Previously), working with the muppets, working with that funny, funny, funny reefer man, or making out with your wife, Cab Calloway never fails to entertain.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 8:38 AM - 29 comments

Oral histories indicate that slahal is an ancient game, dating to before the last ice age. At times discouraged, this gambling game is still being played. Also known as the bone game and the hand or stick game, the rules are simple: guess which hand holds the unmarked bone. But while your team tries to guess, the opposing team will confuse you with chants and drumming and music. And you do the same to them. An entire game can be quite loud and quite subtle. A short documentary.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:26 AM - 8 comments

A posting last month to RISKS on the topic of posthumous emails brings to mind the story of Colin Douthwaite. Mr. Douthwaite, an active USENET user, passed away in March of 1999 after some prolonged medical difficulties. His son Ian's farewell message to alt.ascii-art inspired a small flood of original memorial works and a much larger flood from members' personal archives in his memory. [more inside]
posted by mkb at 1:04 AM - 4 comments

The frequently excellent photo-blog The Big Picture at the Boston Globe has posted a collection of stunning and, well, alien-looking photos of the martian landscape.
posted by Frankieist at 12:10 AM - 30 comments

A compilation of clips in which characters say the title of the movie, in the movie.
Possibly inspired by Andy Baio's compilation of supercuts, & a Family Guy cutaway.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:45 PM - 81 comments

From the middle of the middle of me, to the middle of the middle of you, RIP Brother Blue, master storyteller, deep soul extraordinaire. [more inside]
posted by alms at 7:34 PM - 19 comments

"If you're gonna pull someone's ponytail and about snap their head off with it, that's going over the line." BYU advances in MWC tournament despite multiple dirty plays from New Mexico's Elizabeth Lambert.
posted by hermitosis at 7:27 PM - 139 comments

This YouTube video seems to break my browser. Does it play alright for anyone else?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:15 PM - 45 comments

Enchanted Spaces by Marrigje De Maar. Russia::Finland::China::Japan
posted by vronsky at 3:40 PM - 9 comments

Isaac Eiland-Hall wins WIPO case, hands domain name over to ... Glenn Beck? [more inside]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:43 PM - 73 comments

100 Creative Business Cards if that little white piece of paper just isn't doing it for you.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:38 PM - 67 comments

Satire has long been part of discourse, with written records going back to the Ramesside Period of Ancient Egypt, and two primary classifications of satire originate with the Roman satirists Horace and Juvenal. Other notable historic figures have also been authors of significant satire, but not always with much appreciation. News satire furthers the awkward stance with public, as the public may read satire as an outrageous truth, and be angered instead of amused. The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart in specific, ranks well in the fractured world of current news programming, and the show was noted in the New York Times as "a genuine cultural and political force" (previously), but you don't have take their word for it. Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism studied the content of The Daily Show for an entire year (2007), providing interesting (if slightly dated) details on the show. That year included their much-viewed coverage fo the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. And in poll results published July 24, 2009, Jon Stewart was voted America's most trusted newscaster, apparently filling the position previously held by Walter Cronkite. But is it because Stewart is one of the few journalists willing to ask the hard questions or has America been won over by "cheap laughs"?
posted by filthy light thief at 1:51 PM - 54 comments

"I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away." So said Mark Pincus, CEO and founder of Zynga, the company behind social games like Mafia Wars and Farmville. It's the latest revelation in a week-long bit of drama between TechCrunch and the companies running the shady virtual currency that makes the games profitable. [more inside]
posted by jbickers at 1:35 PM - 40 comments

Ad agencies often have bizarre, unorthodox websites. But how about an agency that moves its entire website over to YouTube?
posted by Vhanudux at 1:33 PM - 27 comments

"Efficient Mondrian is a tongue-in-cheek art installation which generates HTML table compositions in the style of Piet Mondrian's Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red from the text of The Principles of Scientific Management by FW Taylor. It does this every two minutes, posting the results to twitter." [via mefi projects]
posted by brundlefly at 1:09 PM - 17 comments

Hey Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!!! is a blog featuring gobs of drawings by comic book artists of their favorite literary authors or characters. [via] [more inside]
posted by marxchivist at 1:06 PM - 26 comments

Mark McGwire was one of the most feared sluggers in the game during his career. In 1998, the home run chase between McGwire and Sammy Sosa helped baseball recover from the 1994 strike. But, when a reporter found a bottle containing andro in McGwire's locker, some chinks in his armor began to emerge. [more inside]
posted by reenum at 12:13 PM - 57 comments

Twenty years ago in Berlin a wall came down. But at a free concert last night given by U2 in front of the Brandenburg Gate, MTV Europe decided to put a wall back up.
posted by jefficator at 11:27 AM - 66 comments

Japanese fishing trawler sunk by giant jellyfish.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:35 AM - 75 comments

Take your nose on a stroll down memory lane with vintage perfumery. The Vintage Perfume Vault features fragrance reviews and articles on perfume history. Perfume Shrine offers articles on perfumery including essays on the science of fragrance and aroma materials, interviews with perfumers and industry professionals, trend-watching. Inspiration in Perfumery profiles Henri Robert, Andre Fraysse, Ernest Beaux and Edmond Roudnitska. More about olfactory delights from 1000 Fragrances. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 8:17 AM - 24 comments

Safe Sex - A sketch performed by Dawn French (previously), Stephen Fry (lots of previously), Hugh Laurie (previously that's not also about Fry), and Rowan Atkinson (previously 1 2).
posted by kmz at 7:49 AM - 16 comments

The Gecko Wears A Tiara [via mefi projects] Sumarian proverbs. Compare those with the 1600BCE Ashubanipal proverbs and Proverbs From the Ancient Egyptian Temples and indeed, modern Iraq and Arabic more generally. Enjoy, culture geeks. [more inside]
posted by jaduncan at 7:34 AM - 32 comments