Lev Grossman (wiki) has picked the six greatest fantasy novels of all time to This Weeks "Best Books...chosen by" series. Grossman blogs that each one"absolute indisputable classic" that "completely changed the game." [more inside]
posted by shothotbot on Nov 30, 2009 - 144 comments

Ignore Everybody: Reflections on living a creative life, via No Depression blogs.
posted by Miko on Oct 23, 2009 - 44 comments

"Which [U.S.] metropolis has the most intelligent residents? The Daily Beast crunched the data on the brainpower of America’s 55 largest cities (w/ video), from first-to-worst." The list. First -- Raleigh-Durham, NC. Worst -- Fresno, CA. [more inside]
posted by ericb on Oct 11, 2009 - 99 comments

The 20 most bizarre Craigslist posts of all time.
posted by miss lynnster on Sep 15, 2009 - 43 comments

Punctuality, privacy, dead time, concentration: all dead or dying at the hands of the Internet, according to this list in the Daily Telegraph.

Only at festivals with no Wi-Fi signals can the gullible be tricked into believing that David Hasslehoff [sic] has passed away. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 5, 2009 - 55 comments

Top 10 Disgusting Websites to Share With Friends: Bloody-Disgusting l The Internet Pathology Library for Medical Education and so much more.
posted by nickyskye on Aug 15, 2009 - 29 comments

Thinking of relocating in these troubled economic times? You might want to consider checking out Forbes' list of The Most Overpriced Cities in America. The Top 5: Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York, and... Providence?
posted by grapefruitmoon on May 12, 2009 - 56 comments

Five ways 'common sense' lies to you - a description of some everyday logical fallacies and how they effect us in a larger scale.
posted by flatluigi on Mar 18, 2009 - 70 comments

1000 novels worth reading [about], from the Guardian. Part of its ongoing 1000 series: 1000 albums, 1000 films, 1000 artworks. More than a list, it includes sub-articles and paragraph long write-ups of each.
posted by stbalbach on Jan 22, 2009 - 45 comments

Top 10 Science Fiction Flicks For The Thinking Man (beerandscifi version) - The Portland based blog (with a very admirable focus) takes on the Rotten Tomatoes list with a less dull alternative. (via)
posted by Artw on Jan 15, 2009 - 102 comments

The X most blankiest somethings in the history of whatever. It's "...one stupid article that, (due to its total lack of focus and consistency) not one person will fully enjoy".
posted by An Infinity Of Monkeys on Dec 5, 2008 - 23 comments

In 2009, a remarkably gifted politician, confronting a remarkably difficult set of challenges, will have to learn to say "No we can't", Guantánamo will prove a moral minefield, economic recovery will be invisible to the naked eye, governments must prepare for the day they stop financial guarantees, we will judge our commitment to sustainability, scientists should research the causes of religion, we will all be potential online paparazzi, English will have more words than any other language (but it's meaningless), Afghanistan will see a surge of Western (read: American) troops, Iran will continue its nuclear quest while diplomacy lies in shambles, the sea floor is the new frontier, we should rethink aging, (non-)voters will continue to thwart the European project -- but cheap travel will continue to buoy it -- though it has some unfinished business to attend to, and a Nordic defence bond will blossom.

The Economist: The World in 2009. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 27, 2008 - 31 comments

100 Illustrated Horror Film Posters part 1 and 2 [more inside]
posted by Mitheral on Oct 31, 2008 - 27 comments

The 20 most significant comics in American comics history, according to Steven Grant.
posted by Artw on Oct 23, 2008 - 71 comments

50 Greatest Villains In Literature
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Sep 23, 2008 - 139 comments

The Actionbutton.net Manifesto: The 25 Best Games of All Time. An eclectic list of awesome, and sometimes obscure games, accompanied by impassioned, long-winded, often pretentious and sometimes insightful essays/reviews. [more inside]
posted by empath on Sep 7, 2008 - 96 comments

10 Futuristic User Interfaces. [...] we present 10 recent developments in the field of user experience design. Most techniques may seem very futuristic, but some of them are already reality. And in fact, they are extremely impressive. Keep in mind: they can become ubiquitous in the next years.
posted by soundofsuburbia on Aug 18, 2008 - 57 comments

Kristin's List. There are plenty of events guides in Los Angeles, but none has as personal a voice, as finely honed an aesthetic (the Neutra font is an inspired touch) or as discerning an eye as Kristin's. Her weekly emails and web listings are one woman's recommended sampling of the most interesting music, film, architecture, food, fashion, literary and unquantifiable events across the megalopolis. And so far, it's completely ad-free.
posted by Scram on Jul 21, 2008 - 30 comments

50 years ago Johnny O'Keefe released "Wild One" and Australia had its first homegrown rock'n'roll star. To commemorate the 50th year of Australian rock'n'roll The Age newspaper has asked various Australian music industry figures to pick the top 50 Australian albums (scroll down for the Top 50 - or check the (more inside)). [more inside]
posted by awfurby on Jul 14, 2008 - 51 comments

The 50 top comicbook characters, according to Empire.
posted by Artw on Jul 11, 2008 - 153 comments

Too busy to watch all of the great videos over at Ted (or, for that matter, read all the posts about TED here on the blue?)? Ted has you covered: Ted Top Ten.
posted by allkindsoftime on Jun 27, 2008 - 22 comments

100 Must-Read Books (for dudes) Men just have different ... needs ... than women, so apparently they need to read different books as well. However (as a chick myself) I tend to check this sort of thing out in a futile but ongoing attempt to figure out men. Hmmph. Men. Go figure ....
posted by kd on May 14, 2008 - 89 comments

This is a list of frogs. Look at pictures the frogs. Most importantly, listen (sounds like a fart) to (sounds like a baseball card in your bike tire) the (sounds like a sheep) frogs (classic frog sound). [more inside]
posted by bigmusic on May 3, 2008 - 21 comments

The 100 best comic book runs as voted for by the readers of Comics Should be Good. [more inside]
posted by Artw on May 2, 2008 - 97 comments

The Sunday Times have published the 2008 edition of their annual Rich List. The full list of the 1000 wealthiest people in Britain is not online yet but they have published a list of the top 150 (pdf). So now you're richer than Croesus what do you spend your wealth on? [more inside]
posted by electricinca on Apr 27, 2008 - 28 comments

50 best cult books from The Telegraph.
posted by Artw on Apr 26, 2008 - 85 comments

110 Best Books. 'The perfect library' - According to the Torygraph... at least there's a 'Sci-fi' section among the usual suspects (And one or two bizarre choices - Pelzer! What the heck!)
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Apr 8, 2008 - 78 comments

Great Poets Of The 20th Century. From The Guardian so Brit bias... Introduction, William Boyd on Siegfried Sassoon, John Banville on Seamus Heaney, Jeanette Winterson on Ted Hughes, Andrew Motion on Philip Larkin, Margaret Drabble on Sylvia Plath, Rowan Williams on WH Auden, Craig Raine on T.S. Eliot.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Mar 19, 2008 - 30 comments

50 Animals with Drinking Problems Also, 50 Animals with Day Jobs, 50 Animals Driving, and the apparently related 50 Animals in Casts [Previously] Via
posted by psmealey on Mar 17, 2008 - 20 comments

Next Generation presents the Hot 100 Game Developers of the year. See which developers are lighting up the world of games in 2008. For the impatient: skip to the end. [more inside]
posted by slimepuppy on Feb 20, 2008 - 12 comments

The 10 Neatest Articles of 2007.
posted by homunculus on Jan 14, 2008 - 21 comments

Top 10 Challenges Facing the US in the Middle East, 2008 [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Dec 31, 2007 - 54 comments

Best list of Best of 2007 lists of 2007.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Dec 21, 2007 - 25 comments

The best music of 2007 according to Stereogum, Pitchfork, All Music, NME, PopMatters, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, TIME, MTV, the Guardian, eMusic, Amazon, Spin Magazine, Q, Largehearted Boy, and more. Among the most frequently listed are Radiohead, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Of Montreal, Feist, and The National.
posted by Soup on Dec 18, 2007 - 68 comments

10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On. "Celebrating the death of somebody you disagreed with pretty much makes you a dick."
posted by Avenger50 on Dec 16, 2007 - 243 comments

In 2008, China will fail to ride the Olympics wave and improve its worldwide image, the US will vote mainly on health (barring a terrorist attack or a recession), usher in a period of pragmatic caution and toast to it over a nice Merlot, the culture wars will go global, Israel may decide that it must act alone against Iran, African gangs will prosper, UK politics will be re-established as a spectator sport, we will finally quit oil - and want yet more of it, the potato will make a comeback, an island will be moved for the sake of the Euro, we will rush to give for free what others charge for, U will HAV CASH, robots will explore the seas of Earth, which is round, by the way, pigs will fly, and we will like totally love it (don't we?).

The Economist: The World in 2008. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 28, 2007 - 33 comments

Imagine a world without lightsabers—where, instead, every big Star Wars finale consists of a 10-minute slap fight. Thank the maker we’ll never have to witness such a spectacle, because magical and impossibly high-tech weapons are staples of nearly all of our favorite entertainments! ToyFare Magazine presents the 50 Greatest Fictional Weapons of All Time.
posted by cmgonzalez on Nov 21, 2007 - 59 comments

Top 101 Cities Lists (in the US)
posted by graventy on Nov 6, 2007 - 48 comments

"How do you deal with fear? Is it safer for them if I act or stay quiet? I don't want to get on a list."
posted by orthogonality on Oct 26, 2007 - 66 comments

Five Easy Ways to Go Organic [more inside]
posted by Dave Faris on Oct 25, 2007 - 43 comments

Design Patterns, Reuse, recycle, but don’t reinvent the wheel unless necessary. This collection captures findings of consistent, unique or interesting interfaces and design flows from across the web. One of the many tools, tutorials etc. from Smashing Magazine's list, Best of September 2007. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Oct 10, 2007 - 9 comments

Rolling Stone's 25 most outrageous music videos. Outrageous apparently includes the sacrilegious, the dirty, the disturbing, and, um, Christopher Walken. Some videos may be not safe for work and one contains David Hasselhoff.
posted by blahblahblah on Sep 27, 2007 - 59 comments

The Seven Wonders of the IT World. Thrill at the camera closest to the North Pole! Consider the computer farthest from Earth! Goggle at the secret Google computing center! Tremble at the world's most powerful computer! Also, be slightly interested in large grid computers, Linux, and the OQO portable computer.
posted by blahblahblah on Sep 12, 2007 - 17 comments

The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time, in alphabetical order, with embedded video clips of each show. Time Magazine critic James Poniewozik explains how he made his (admittedly US-centric) choices. [more inside]
posted by amyms on Sep 9, 2007 - 126 comments

The Eight Strangest Communites On the Internet. (via)
posted by nuclear_soup on Aug 31, 2007 - 72 comments

Radar picks the worst colleges in America. At least one of the picks is rather dubious, although I suppose being the "worst" Ivy League is a position of some note, and another one of the picks was where my school's valedictorian went. Either way, it's always nice to see the Moonies somersaulting into otherwise non-Moonie related stories.
posted by Sticherbeast on Aug 27, 2007 - 75 comments

52 Influential Photographs: From the oldest survivng photograph, to images of revolution, misery, beauty and humility, to...goatse and LOLCAT? You win some, you lose some, I guess.
posted by Jimbob on Aug 4, 2007 - 68 comments

The American Film Institute decided the need for more money an update to their 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Movies was so pressing that they made a new list. Ebert (and friends) ask where's Fargo?. The IHT wonders why the past decade has only spawned four new, worthy movies. And, generally, no one seems super excited about it. (some links go to wikipedia to avoid registration on AFI's site).
posted by ztdavis on Jun 21, 2007 - 88 comments

The Failed States Index 2007. Iraq is now ranked as the world's second most unstable country, behind Sudan. [Via Newshoggers.]
posted by homunculus on Jun 19, 2007 - 53 comments

100 words every high school graduate should know (according to the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries).
posted by mr_crash_davis on Jun 13, 2007 - 159 comments