MetaFilter posts tagged with Bubbles

“He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation”: James Garfield

Mutant — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:31:04 -0800

The First Bank of the United States was Americas first attempt at forming a Central Bank. Inaugurated by Congress in 1791, it was followed by The Second Bank of the United States, which was dissolved in 1836.

And then The United States of America was without a Central Bank for 77 years. Those were hardly halcyon years; as US States and banks shared responsibility for printing money, inflation, asset volatility, market crashes and even depressions were common, for example The Financial Panic of 1837, The Panic of 1857, The Panic of 1873 (aka "The Long Depression"), The Panic of 1893, and the Panic of 1907. Central Banks serve two very important groups of customers: they provide banking services both to the government as well as retail, commercial and investment banks. Also, as recent events have shown, the importance of their role as "lender of last resort" in time of financial stress (systemic as well as specific) can not be underestimated. Regardless, suspicion of Central Banking is very high in post bailout America, leading to a variety of demands ranging from requests for an audit of The Federal Reserve, to more extreme views that The Federal Reserve should be abolished altogether. But if not The Fed then who would control the nation's money supply?

Semple Science

jayCampbell — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:47:23 -0800

Look up and smile.

Just Don't Breath IN!

amyms — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:00:26 -0800

Here's something interesting you can do with those clear plastic buffer discs that come in stacks of blank CDs: Blow a looooong bubble that looks like a condom. Here's another example. Here's a doubter trying it for himself. Apparently you can do it with actual CDs too, at least according to this post at English Russia. There are lots more videos of CD bubbles on YouTube, showing varying levels of success.

Goodnight, Ricky. Goodnight, Julian. Goodnight, Bubbles.

not_on_display — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:25:12 -0800

[NSFW] It's almost time to Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys -- the final episode of the Trailer Park Boys aired in December, 2008. (As Bubbles says, "It's a dirty, sassy liquor. So sassy.") Producer Mike Clattenburg says that there will be a second movie, "Countdown to Liquor Day", to be released late in 2009. After that, though, the TPB franchise will buy the great double-wide in the sky. [pervyously, preevisilly or however th' fuck you say it.] More TPB Youtubery: • All of the episodes • Plenty Outtakes Trailer Park Boys (in character) on: • The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos: 1 2 • on QTV • on G4 • Walking in on the sports report • at the Toronto Film Festival • Bubbles flies a jet on This Hour has 22 Minutes • Pre-TPB Bubbles footage • Bubbles singing "Liquor and Whores" and more, live on stage at The Ricky, Bubbles & Julian Community Service Variety Show More of a Randy & Mr. Lahey fan? • A contentious interview on the CBC News at Six with John Dunsworth (breaking kayfabe) • Bo-Bandy's Bubbles impression, live on stage • Randy & Lahey hosting the Gin Blossoms in Surrey • Randy & Lahey on Reign Supreme Sports And: TPB, the Lego edition.

Making bubbles in the pool

not_on_display — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:31:38 -0800

Got some dry ice? Got a swimming pool? Well, what are you waiting for? Inquisitive dogs will be confused! Start with a small chunk. Next, take a 60-pound block of dry ice and kick it into the jacuzzi. Okay, so you're looking for more of a thrill? Try a dry ice depth charge! (If you don't have a pool, a frozen lake will do.)

The bubble to end all bubbles?

up in the old hotel — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:29:40 -0800

The cover of a major financial publication warns: If you're holding U.S. Treasuries, GET OUT NOW! As has been noted previously, investors have headed for the financial equivalent of a bomb shelter -- U.S. Treasury bills and notes -- triggering an epic rise in prices and pushing yields (which move inversely to prices) to zero. Now, with a weakening dollar and gold prices holding steady, some see Treasuries as a bubble that's about to pop. Who will apply the pinprick?

Will it be Japan, which holds half a trillion of our debt? The president of a Japanese credit rating agency says the land of the rising sun should write off its holdings of U.S. Treasuries or start building U.S. roads and bridges in what he sees as Marshall Plan II.

Japan's holdings of U.S. debt is second only to China's, which has announced plans to build its way out of economic collapse. Analysts worry that it may dump its massive stockpile of U.S. debt to pay for it.

Another ominous sign: the price of an index funds that shorts (bets against) long-term Treasuries is on the way up.

If the bears are right and this bubble pops, it could be really bad:

Because foreign holdings represent a significant proportion of the stock of Treasuries outstanding, a collapse in Treasuries prices might soon be reflected in a collapse of the US dollar, with the accompanying threat of hyper-inflation in the USA and depression elsewhere. At that point, many investors might wish they still enjoyed the comparative calm of the ‘credit crunch’.

Via the FT's excellent Alphaville blog.

BUBBLES

allkindsoftime — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:12:51 -0800

Downtown Miami seems like a lot more fun when its filled with foam. That is all.

A dream of what thou wert

Wolfdog — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:24:07 -0800

Soap Bubble Photos.

Bubbles Aren't Just Child's Play

amyms — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:36:44 -0800

Bubble Artist: Science and entertainment combined. "With every performance my goal is to leave [the] audience with a tingling sense that they've just encountered something mysterious and wonderful." ~ Keith Johnson

Pop-Up Video

Partial Law — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:10:11 -0800

BubblePLY lets you easily overlay subtitles and speech balloons over videos hosted on other sites.

Little Beauty

MetaMonkey — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:41:24 -0800

Loes Modderman's Science Art
Beautiful microscopic art, often striking similar to some modern art. Dig the abstract crystal images: cholesterol, crystal landscapes, vitamin c is psychedelic. Explore the sands of the world! Bubbles are pretty, plastics rock, fluids are minimalist. (via)

Bugs

ND¢ — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 12:50:37 -0800

Bugs. Orisinal has been linked to several times, but this game was so fun that I had to share. NQFFF: Not Quite Friday Flash Fun.

Its Like We Are the World in Soap Bubbles

fenriq — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 22:31:59 -0800

Colored Soap Bubbles
Look, pr et ty! via

Bubble, bubble, boil and trouble.....

johnjoe — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:24:38 -0800

Recent bubbles offer first confirmed desktop plasma generation through sonoluminesence. You remember sonoluminesence right? Responsible for brilliant shrimp, and skinny people...

Bubbles!

buriednexttoyou — Sun, 09 Jan 2005 14:27:15 -0800

Liquid Sculpture uses bubbles in the liquid to draw three-dimensional graphical patterns. (via)

Bubbles the Artist

ba — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 07:22:08 -0800

Bubbles the Artist! If you've been looking for a Pee Wee Herman dinner plate, a greeting card featuring Paul Lynde, or a painting of John Belushi drinking himself to death, then look no further. (If you love crappy disco midi files, you'll want to keep your speakers turned up.)

What the Bubble Got Right

tippiedog — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 15:05:41 -0800

What the (Internet) Bubble Got Right Paul Graham has written a thought-provoking essay on the positive lessons we should have taken away from the Internet bubble of the late 90s.

Guinness This!

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 20 Jun 2003 07:53:21 -0800

Good to see that 50 years of basic research in fulid dynamics, numerical methods, and finite element analysis has finally found a practical application.

Trailer Park Boys

boost ventilator — Mon, 26 May 2003 21:19:13 -0800

Big Plans. Little Brains. Mike Clattenburg's Trailer Park Boys could soon be more than just a Canadian phenomenon. The mockumentary began as a film, was adapted into a TV series and has been airing for three seasons on Showcase in Canada (not to be confused with this). Ricky, Julian and Bubbles even joined Our Lady Peace during its Fear of the Trailer Park Tour last summer (soon to be documented on CD and DVD) and could be seen alongside Don Cherry in The Tragically Hip's video for "The Darkest One" (a look behind the scenes - qt version). Bubbles even appeared in that informer guy's video for "Legal" and has been writing music reviews in character. (TPB was mentioned briefly here and here.)

mathowie — Wed, 12 Jan 2000 10:27:21 -0800

The Fluid Dynamics of a Guinness Stout. Do the bubbles in a freshly poured Guinness go up or down? Answer: both.