MetaFilter posts tagged with life

How An American Soldier Is Made

Effigy2000 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:29:03 -0800

This is how an American soldier is made. A fascinating photo essay that details 27 months in the life of new US Army recruit Ian Fisher. It chronicles his recruitment, induction, training, deployment and finally, his return from combat.

The only people who can change the world are people who want to.

Miko — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:38:08 -0800

Ignore Everybody: Reflections on living a creative life, via No Depression blogs.

On the Division of Our Three Score & Ten

HumanComplex — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:52:07 -0800

Ben Schott (previously) on The Ages of Man.

LIFE is Good

Knappster — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:49:41 -0800

Already hosting the LIFE Photo Archive (previously), Google today announces that it has "partnered with Life Inc. to digitize LIFE Magazine's entire run as a weekly: over 1,860 issues, covering the years from 1936 to 1972."

transcendental numbers rumble in the technium

kliuless — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:00:48 -0800

Extropy
How did life arise? What is information? In his recent dispatches from The Technium, Kevin Kelly would say extropy (cf. negentropy & Prigogine). [previously 1|2]

Bike vs. Cars War

nometa — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:39:24 -0800

In light of the recent tragic death of a cyclist in Toronto, even normally well-balanced MeFites have polarized in the bikes vs. cars “war”. But according to Guillermo Penalosa, the fight is really about better urban design. He helped to radically reinvent the transit and parks infrastructure of Bogata, making it of the best cycling cities in the world. The recent changes to Broadway in New York were influenced by Bogota's success. Gil now advises the Project for Public Spaces and is Executive Director of Walk & Bike for Life. Their solution to the pedestrians vs. cars vs. bikes battle is simple: better urban planning (previously on MeFi) that gives everyone their own safe space. Not sure if your city's infrastructure is up-to-snuff? Apply the 8/80 rule. In the meantime, keep safe out there.

take a vacation whenever you want

kliuless — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:55:33 -0800

Netflix's awesome vacation policy -- famous for crowdsourcing, Netflix is now making waves with its employee handbook. (via fs)

We're all, like, cosmic children, man!

nonspecialist — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:49:58 -0800

In 2004, the Stardust mission passed through the tail of comet 81P/Wild (aka Wild 2); in 2006, that captured comet dust was returned to Earth. Now, researchers have found glycine, one of the amino acids in proteins, in that cometary material. The glycine found is definitely extraterrestrial in origin, since the isotope of carbon that it's built from isn't found in any great quantity on Earth. Previously:

Get your schadenfreude here

reenum — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:53:08 -0800

Recently, there have been a host of websites that delight in exposing the inanity and stupidity of our society. There is the granddaddy, Overheard in New York, which recounts silly conversations heard in the Big Apple, as well as a host of similar sites. There are now a variety of such websites, dedicated to different aspects of our society. First, there are the ones targeted at different groups: STFU, Marrieds, STFU, Parents, STFU, Believers, and My Roommate is Such a Dick. Then, there are the ones that expose the silliness and inanity in our communications: Texts From Last Night, My Drunk Texts, Passive Aggressive Notes, and Lamebook. Relationships and sex loom large as well: Disgusting People I Have Made Out With, Why My Ex Sucks, and I Bang the Worst Dudes. Finally, there is just plain bad luck or failure: F My Life and FAIL Blog. Bonus: Awkward Family Photos and Hot Chicks With Douchebags

"Let people live in your heart"

madamjujujive — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:21:59 -0800

Children Full of Life - grade 4 students in Kanazawa, Japan learn deep life lessons from their incredible teacher and from each other. I strongly recommend this as awesome, but one caveat: keep tissues handy. (5 parts, 40 minutes total, English)

The KKK in photos

exogenous — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:19:54 -0800

Anthony Karen has photographed today's Klan for LIFE magazine.

Shopped, or Not?

netbros — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:58:51 -0800

Real or Fake? From the Life Magazine photographic archives.

Discover Your Inner Frankenstein

amyms — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:23:52 -0800

"In Massachusetts, a young woman makes genetically modified E. coli in a closet she converted into a home lab. A part-time DJ in Berkeley, Calif., works in his attic to cultivate viruses extracted from sewage. In Seattle, a grad-school dropout wants to breed algae in a personal biology lab. These hobbyists represent a growing strain of geekdom known as biohacking, in which do-it-yourselfers tinker with the building blocks of life in the comfort of their own homes." They might be discovering cures for diseases or developing new biofuels, but are their experiments too risky? Via. Additional links from the article: "In her dining room lab, Meredith L. Patterson is trying to develop a bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine." "This home experiment for extracting DNA from strawberries [YouTube video] uses a zip-lock bag, a glass, detergent and some strawberries." "Read more about Katherine Aull's experiment in her closet lab." "DIYbio Group co-founder Mackenzie Cowell explains some of the initiatives [Vimeo video], and the community lab the group is setting up in Cambridge, Mass." Related: The Biohacking Hobbyist Biohacking: The Open Wetware Future The Open Biohacking Project

The art of Garnet Hertz

idiopath — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:26:02 -0800

Play the life simulator. By Garnet Hertz, an artist who makes things about the internet, digital technology, and the experience of using computers. Via reddit. Garnet's work has been linked to on metafilter previously.

All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there.

KokuRyu — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:39:37 -0800

Are plasma crystals alive? Cosmic dust can, in the presence of plasma, creates formations known as plasma crystals. An international team of researchers published a study in the Aug.14, 2007, issue of the New Journal of Physics (PDF here, abstract here) that indicates that these crystals may be more sophisticated than anyone realized. In simulations involving cosmic dust, the researchers witnessed the formation of plasma crystals displaying some of the elementary characteristics of life -- DNA-like structure, autonomous behavior, reproduction and evolution. Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new (circa 2007) evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space have been revealed in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth. The concept of interstellar dust-based life was described in the 1957 SF book, The Black Cloud, by Fred Hoyle. Hoyle was also responsible for the term Big Bang, though Hoyle himself did not believe the Big Bang theory. In an ironic plot twist that would foreshadow Hoyle's stance on panspermia (more here and here), the cloud expresses surprise that intelligent life is capable of forming on planets.

Video Games and The People Who Love Them

Happy Dave — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:00:12 -0800

A Life Well Wasted is a new podcast about video games and the people who love them, created by freelance writer Robert Ashley. Tightly edited and fascinating, it's been described in comment threads as NPR for gamers and something you wouldn't be surprised to hear on BBC Radio 4. Ashley talks about his project on last week's Gamers with Jobs Conference Call.

The Forgotten People

hadjiboy — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:18:22 -0800

What if you were one of the Rohingya people, and you faced death in trying to escape, or were expelled from your Homeland. Would you wait for others to help, or would you try and do it yourself...

The Spark of Life

homunculus — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:38:57 -0800

Sparks of Life. "That the electric 'spark of life' figured prominently in debates over the nature of life in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is well known. Less well known is the fact that prior to this period, gunpowder was often identified with the substances that were necessary to life, if not as a vitalistic spirit, then as an essential element in the animation of the body. The idea of a spark of life went back to ancient times, likening living beings to the glowing embers of a fire. In the Old Testament, for example, the wise woman of Tekoah begs for the life of her son, pleading 'they will stamp out my last live ember.' But from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, this vital flame was often equated with gunpowder. There was fire in the blood: not electric, but pyrotechnic fire."

Primal Tweet

nasreddin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:27:45 -0800

F*** My Life. Grouphug for the Twitter generation.

Q. Would you like tea OR coffee? A: Yes.

grumblebee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:47:24 -0800

What real-life bad habits has programming given you? "This has actually really happened to me. I was trying to hang a glass picture frame on the wall and accidentally dropped it. And in the shock of the moment, I loudly yelled 'Control Z!' Then the glass hit the floor and smashed."

Why Google Employees Quit

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:55:42 -0800

Why Google Employees Quit

You die. She dies. Everybody dies.

loquacious — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:40:47 -0800

You're going to die.

So There

cjorgensen — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:03:13 -0800

Do you have something to say, but never had the chance to? Founded in late 1997 and originally published August 15th, 1998, So There has stood as a testament to your daily lives for over five years.

Story From North America

ludwig_van — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:33:09 -0800

Story From North America. A boy learns to appreciate life in all its forms via song.

My Day Yesterday

jokeefe — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:41:24 -0800

My Day Yesterday. A Flickr set of short (under 90 seconds) videos which describe... a person's day. The instructions, as outlined by Garrett Murray, who started the group with this video: "Shoot video throughout a day in your life, then put it together and upload it the next day. Don't add any music or sound effects, just use what the camera recorded." Some favourites: Delphine Gilbert in Cordoba, Dean Allen in France, and Piotr/presentday in Florence.