Bill Maher's criticism of Obama? Be more like Bush. ...And just like Lindsey [Lohan], we see your name in the paper a lot, but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something. Follow up of his statements with Keith Olbermann. ...But where's the beef? And it's easy to make speeches; what's hard to do is stand up against corporations. Corporations and their incredible strength are what have ruined this country so far, and this president -- we thought -- might be the one to stand up to them. I'm losing hope. I still have audacity, but my hope is fading.
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Jun 18, 2009 - 124 comments

How Lehman Brothers Got Its Real Estate Fix. A great article in the NYTimes describes some of the details of commercial real estate lending in its heyday, with a focus on one of Lehman's biggest dealmakers.
posted by SeizeTheDay on May 3, 2009 - 7 comments

Here's Razorhawk a superhero who also wrestles and makes suits for other superheroes. This is Master Legend who recently had an article published in Rolling Stone about him. Meet Superhero who patrols the streets of Clearwater, Florida in his custom Corvette. They call themselves real-life superheroes. A documentary film featuring them has the first 10 minutes free online at google video. [more inside]
posted by flipyourwig on Dec 31, 2008 - 17 comments

Animata is an open source real-time animation software, designed to create animations, interactive background projections for concerts, theatre and dance performances.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Dec 8, 2008 - 14 comments

It's lovely! I'll take it! Sometimes, you just wonder what people were thinking when they posted photos in their real estate listings.
posted by Astro Zombie on Jul 11, 2008 - 69 comments

Kip Macy is a well-known developer and mentor in the community focused on the FreeBSD operating system. He is also having some major legal problems. [more inside]
posted by metasonix on Apr 24, 2008 - 46 comments

Ursa Major, the former home of deceased basketball great (and cocksman extraordinaire) Wilt Chamberlain is for sale. History. Slide shows.
posted by dersins on Jan 25, 2008 - 22 comments

If a seller told me his house was haunted, would I be obligated to disclose this information? You think disclosure of ghosts is funny? The fact is, a Haunted House falls into the characteristic of "stigmatized" housing. Disclosure of this information, and the laws surrounding it, are typically up to the state. Some Agents have written columns on how to tame your ghosts so that the house sells. Of course, some ghosts can be very helpful and promote the property value for you. Would you live in a haunted house? [more inside]
posted by thanotopsis on Oct 16, 2007 - 79 comments

Hot Properties: Want to feel inadequate? Want to visit InsaneWorld? Check out the L.A. Times real estate column Hot Properties, which covers the world of high-end celebrity real estate moves. It's like rock candy for masochists. Scarlett Johansson recently picked up a $7 million pad from a family friend. Courteney Cox wanted more privacy, so she and David Arquette flipped their $33.5 million shack for a $17 million compound. John Cleese is selling his ranch for $28 million. Tom Cruise shows them the money for a $35 million upgrade from his rental. Even the D-list celebs get ink. Double you. Tee. Eff.
posted by Cool Papa Bell on Aug 19, 2007 - 42 comments

Would you like to buy an island? Some are small and affordable. Others, not so much.
posted by dersins on Aug 17, 2007 - 49 comments

Countrywide Empties Out on Widowmaker gives a vivid idea of the turmoil in the mortgage market, and the difficult American real estate environment. "You sold your unlimited subway card after the 5th race, plunged full-bore on a filthy hot dog, a beer and a 9-1 shot that finished next-to-last. You are Countrywide."
posted by Adamchik on Aug 16, 2007 - 42 comments

Garbage + illumination = art? Various artists carefully pile rubbish on a gallery floor, or meticulously assemble a collection of ordinary items, plug in a light source, and create incredibly detailed and surprising shadows on the wall. Meanwhile, blog commenters cry "Fake!" and "Photoshop!". I guess they didn't see any of the Quicktime movies of Shigeo Fukuda linked here.
posted by maudlin on Jun 20, 2007 - 14 comments

Running late at work? Need to get dinner on the table? It is easy to warm up the George Foreman USB iGrill from any internet connection. With a little advance planning, your meal can be ready when you get home! (via b3ta newsletter)
posted by moift on Jul 28, 2006 - 45 comments

Real-Life Tekken.
posted by fandango_matt on Jun 19, 2006 - 28 comments

How to Buy a $450K Home for $750K - Yes, its true. Low and behold, all the conditions have been met, and it is indeed possible to buy houses for 50% above their market value.
posted by H. Roark on May 31, 2006 - 56 comments

I first saw Chel White's Photocopy Cha Cha (mpg excerpt - can't find whole thing online) in 1996 and I thought it was fantastic. In 2002 I saw Virgil Widrich's Copy Shop, which impressed me even more. Yesterday, thanks to Kottke, I saw Wildrich's phenomenal Fast Film. Wow. From Channel 4's page on the film: "Director Virgil Widrich captured stills from ... 300 movies, and made over 65,000 photocopies of these, then folded them into a variety of shapes and animated them." {the two VW films are unfortunately in Real format but definitely worth putting up with the format for}
posted by dobbs on Jun 7, 2005 - 8 comments

Hitman.us is certainly a parody, offering, for a reasonable $20,000 fee, to remove the unwanted from your life. One of the rotating ads on the site, however, points to bustoutdealer.com (registered under the same name), which, with a fee under $4,000, looks like it may be serious.
posted by nobody on Jan 19, 2005 - 17 comments

Edison's New Media. American Memory (natch) offers this sprawling archive of audio files and filmic material. Uncovered while seeking an archive of piano roll recordings, unsuccessfully. Also noted: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier and recordings from the American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920.
posted by mwhybark on Sep 6, 2004 - 3 comments

FreedomOfChoice's Apple petition was shut down yesterday by Real Networks after a single day. Why? Seems that allowing comment backfired. Instead of lambasting Apple, everyone used the forum to vent their ire at Real. Only so much freedom at a time, thank you very much.
posted by rtimmel on Aug 19, 2004 - 16 comments

For nearly a quarter of a century Thor the Barbarian waged a lonely crusade against tyrannical bureaucracies and disempowering systems. Undaunted, he faced the monstrous social evils of our day head on, as an unsung organizational change agent... as a professional inside New York's vast mental health network. Real interview here (about a minute in) - scroll down to the Thor - LIVE link.
posted by dobbs on Jul 30, 2004 - 4 comments

RealOne without the spyware The BBC, being a public service broadcaster, are forbidden from advertising. However, their internet streams are in Real format - the player of which is not known for being ad-free. The BBC have done a deal with Real to provide a "clean" version of RealOne (Windows only) - only available from the above link.
posted by Mwongozi on Feb 2, 2004 - 31 comments

IgNobel 2003 Prize Ceremony. [Real Player Video 1:35:43] Waste your morning listening to the Ignitaries giving their nano lectures.
posted by srboisvert on Oct 7, 2003 - 1 comment

RealNetworks opens up. RealNetworks today launched the Helix Community which provides the source code to its RealPlayer client (the server and encoding components are coming later). This will present the first end-to-end open source media delivery system- Apple has open sourced its streaming server, but not its clients or codecs; Microsoft's Windows Media platform is totally closed. Marketing ploy or real step forward for the software industry?
posted by mkultra on Oct 29, 2002 - 22 comments

Real goes subscription. A decent business model, IMHO. But with two lacking elements: 1) Too expensive ($3-5/month is better), 2) More compelling content (needs more name brands). I think a flat rate type content model could work well for video/multimedia content (the porn industry does well with it).
posted by owillis on Aug 15, 2000 - 8 comments

"Real" has done it again. For the third time they've embedded surreptitious monitoring capability into one of their programs.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." What do we do for the third time? (A tactical nuke seems indicated.)
posted by Steven Den Beste on May 22, 2000 - 16 comments

Danger Will Robinson, Real knows what music you listen to! If you've ever used Real Jukebox, check out this article. Apparently, the client uploads your listening and recording choices along with your IDENTITY to RealNetwork's servers. Real knows every CD you've encoded and every file you've played. RealNetworks = Big Brother.
posted by mathowie on Nov 1, 1999 - 1 comment