MetaFilter posts by The Michael The.
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How We Know. An essay about information theory in the New York Review of Books by Freeman Dyson, building off a review of James Gleick's The Information.
posted on Feb-26-11 at 11:22 AM
Distributive Justice - It's an art project with both an interactive web exhibit and an installation at the American Effects exhibit currently showing at The Whitney Museum in NYC. In the words of the artists: "Distributive justice is not only a central issue of moral and political philosophy, but also an object of common-sense moral reasoning. Everyone is sensitive to the question of his/her share of the common good. Even those who get the best peace of the social pie are in need to justify the actual model of distribution. It has become a truism that most people (especially in the transition countries) experience their own social position as "unjust", relying on certain intuitive principles of distributive justice... All the parts of the project would later on be integrated on a web-portal. The actual or potential participants would thus gane a virtual space of their own designed for exchange of information and opinions (mailing list, forum, chat), creating archives etc. In this manner the project would eventually develop into a permanently open forum."
posted on Aug-19-03 at 7:43 PM
Art of the First Cities. An excellent online gallery courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art focusing on the beginnings of urbanization that have led to the city as a heart of the Western world. More on the brick-and-mortar exhibit here and, as a special bonus, another great online exhibit of artifacts of the Greek world from the Penn Museum (available in Greek too!)
posted on Jun-24-03 at 11:26 AM
A Brief History of Goosestepping. Shades of Busby Berkley perhaps? Or something much more sinister? To some, goosestepping is a fun and comical activity. But what about these guys?
posted on Jan-30-03 at 8:52 PM
A short history of frozen food.
posted on Jan-2-03 at 8:30 PM
Atapuerca (in Spanish, with incomplete English translation) is the site of the earliest European hominid ancestors yet found in Europe. Two of the most stunning finds are Gran Dolina, where the first Homo antecessor fossils were found, and Sima de los Huesos, site of the most complete Homo heidelbergensis fossils ever excavated. And soon: an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in New York. I know my plans for January 11th.
posted on Dec-10-02 at 10:27 AM
Aperture at 50. The great photography magazine Aperture, founded by giants Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White, is turning fifty years old. The cool part? To celebrate, they're holding fifty simultaneous exhibitions around New York City (PDF Map here). This is pretty fantastic for any photophile in the Northeast (or with enough cash, time, and desire to come to New York). I personally am going to try to see as many as I can.
posted on Oct-24-02 at 11:14 AM
Becoming Human is a site by the ASU Institute for Human Origins, and its focus is human evolution and the hominid fossil record. Equally notable is the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program. Perhaps the most in-depth site I've found, however, is Modern Human Origins. It's incredibly detailed (down to diagnostic characteristics of individual fossils), and accurate as far as I can tell. Just don't forget about Sahelanthropus Tchadensis, the most recent and oldest (6-7 million years) find in our possible family tree. Good stuff for Science Saturday.
posted on Oct-5-02 at 4:21 PM
The Street Harassment Project sounds like a pretty good thing. Street harassment has been a crusade for my girlfriend for some time now, and it looks like she's not alone.
posted on Oct-3-02 at 2:31 PM
NYC Subways and then some. This has been one of my favorite sites for a long time. It's amazingly comprehensive, and not just being content with New York, it covers nearly every other subway in the world as well. If you're not into the technical details, just enjoy the thousands of pretty pictures.
posted on Sep-26-02 at 6:23 AM
Where's Marlon Brando? Wonder no longer: he's making bad acting videos and is just as nutty as ever. Very interesting and personal Rolling Stone article about one of America's finest (and one of my favorite) actors (I'm talking On the Waterfront and The Godfather here, not that Dr. Moreau crap. Also, there's a companion RealAudio piece from This American Life here, about 3/4 through). He's still every bit the enigma he's been for the past twenty years.
posted on Aug-30-02 at 12:12 PM
Pimp Anthropology (RealAudio file) is the title of a 1999 episode (description) of This American Life. It chronicles the rise and fall of a man that, with three friends in the '70s, became a pimp, didn't follow the rules, and lost everything. It's amazingly honest, interesting and heartbreaking, and doesn't fall into the trap of glorifying pimping and prostitution. This is the best thing I've heard in a while.
posted on Aug-23-02 at 2:12 PM
posted on Feb-26-11 at 11:22 AM
Distributive Justice - It's an art project with both an interactive web exhibit and an installation at the American Effects exhibit currently showing at The Whitney Museum in NYC. In the words of the artists: "Distributive justice is not only a central issue of moral and political philosophy, but also an object of common-sense moral reasoning. Everyone is sensitive to the question of his/her share of the common good. Even those who get the best peace of the social pie are in need to justify the actual model of distribution. It has become a truism that most people (especially in the transition countries) experience their own social position as "unjust", relying on certain intuitive principles of distributive justice... All the parts of the project would later on be integrated on a web-portal. The actual or potential participants would thus gane a virtual space of their own designed for exchange of information and opinions (mailing list, forum, chat), creating archives etc. In this manner the project would eventually develop into a permanently open forum."
posted on Aug-19-03 at 7:43 PM
Art of the First Cities. An excellent online gallery courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art focusing on the beginnings of urbanization that have led to the city as a heart of the Western world. More on the brick-and-mortar exhibit here and, as a special bonus, another great online exhibit of artifacts of the Greek world from the Penn Museum (available in Greek too!)
posted on Jun-24-03 at 11:26 AM
A Brief History of Goosestepping. Shades of Busby Berkley perhaps? Or something much more sinister? To some, goosestepping is a fun and comical activity. But what about these guys?
posted on Jan-30-03 at 8:52 PM
A short history of frozen food.
posted on Jan-2-03 at 8:30 PM
Atapuerca (in Spanish, with incomplete English translation) is the site of the earliest European hominid ancestors yet found in Europe. Two of the most stunning finds are Gran Dolina, where the first Homo antecessor fossils were found, and Sima de los Huesos, site of the most complete Homo heidelbergensis fossils ever excavated. And soon: an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in New York. I know my plans for January 11th.
posted on Dec-10-02 at 10:27 AM
Aperture at 50. The great photography magazine Aperture, founded by giants Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White, is turning fifty years old. The cool part? To celebrate, they're holding fifty simultaneous exhibitions around New York City (PDF Map here). This is pretty fantastic for any photophile in the Northeast (or with enough cash, time, and desire to come to New York). I personally am going to try to see as many as I can.
posted on Oct-24-02 at 11:14 AM
Becoming Human is a site by the ASU Institute for Human Origins, and its focus is human evolution and the hominid fossil record. Equally notable is the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program. Perhaps the most in-depth site I've found, however, is Modern Human Origins. It's incredibly detailed (down to diagnostic characteristics of individual fossils), and accurate as far as I can tell. Just don't forget about Sahelanthropus Tchadensis, the most recent and oldest (6-7 million years) find in our possible family tree. Good stuff for Science Saturday.
posted on Oct-5-02 at 4:21 PM
The Street Harassment Project sounds like a pretty good thing. Street harassment has been a crusade for my girlfriend for some time now, and it looks like she's not alone.
posted on Oct-3-02 at 2:31 PM
NYC Subways and then some. This has been one of my favorite sites for a long time. It's amazingly comprehensive, and not just being content with New York, it covers nearly every other subway in the world as well. If you're not into the technical details, just enjoy the thousands of pretty pictures.
posted on Sep-26-02 at 6:23 AM
Where's Marlon Brando? Wonder no longer: he's making bad acting videos and is just as nutty as ever. Very interesting and personal Rolling Stone article about one of America's finest (and one of my favorite) actors (I'm talking On the Waterfront and The Godfather here, not that Dr. Moreau crap. Also, there's a companion RealAudio piece from This American Life here, about 3/4 through). He's still every bit the enigma he's been for the past twenty years.
posted on Aug-30-02 at 12:12 PM
Pimp Anthropology (RealAudio file) is the title of a 1999 episode (description) of This American Life. It chronicles the rise and fall of a man that, with three friends in the '70s, became a pimp, didn't follow the rules, and lost everything. It's amazingly honest, interesting and heartbreaking, and doesn't fall into the trap of glorifying pimping and prostitution. This is the best thing I've heard in a while.
posted on Aug-23-02 at 2:12 PM