The FHM 100 Sexiest list is an annual feature in the lad's mag that 'ranks' women on their percieved pulchritudinousness. However, this year, the 91st sexiest woman in the world isn't a woman at all. [more inside]
posted by mippy on Jun 2, 2011 - 69 comments

It has applications in Economics, Biology, Pharmaceuticals, and is rooted in State Space Modeling, which with Kalman Filtering (paper, breakdown [warning: long]) was used in the Apollo program. Dynamic Linear Models are gaining in popularity. There exists an R package, and both a short doc and a really great (read: worth buying) book (sorry, not a download, but here's chapter 2) by Giovanni Petris, Sonia Petrone, and Patrizia Campagnoli with its own little website.
posted by JoeXIII007 on Jul 30, 2010 - 14 comments

Chester Fesmire sure knows how to weather a truck in 1:87. [more inside]
posted by Laotic on Apr 4, 2009 - 19 comments

Quebec clothing chain Simons has pulled its newest catalogue after getting hundreds of complaints that the models in it were too thin. The genesis of the complaints may have been a story about the catalogue (and complaints) on Radio-Canada (Canada's French-language national broadcaster) about a week ago. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Aug 27, 2008 - 77 comments

Modelling Human Memory. Or, really, predicting the point of forgetting.
posted by weston on Apr 22, 2008 - 26 comments

Historically, drug laws have been a reactive response to a moral panic. Increasingly though, some governments are now seeking a more rational basis for drug policy. For the first time ever, all interested parties have been invited to get involved in the creation of the UK's next ten year drug strategy though many senior government advisors have been openly critical of some of the premises. [more inside]
posted by PeterMcDermott on Dec 29, 2007 - 57 comments

Ever read a blog post, and think, "I wish I wrote that"? For all the Mefites with the many AskMe questions about "can I/should I/how should I learn to/ be a computer programmer", here's a pretty good explication of how good programing is done: Holding a Program in One's Head.
posted by orthogonality on Aug 24, 2007 - 43 comments

Interesting gallery of images people have made using a program called zBrush. (some images nsfw)
posted by crunchland on Sep 17, 2006 - 24 comments

Substrate: one of the more striking uses of Processing I've seen so far. And quite urban-like, no? via Computing for Emergent Architecture.
posted by signal on May 20, 2005 - 9 comments

Platonic Ideal? Or banality? Some chums and I were having the classic argument over 3d package superiority when we discovered, overjoyed, that they all had one thing in common, the Utah Teapot. I didn't realize this oddball shape had a history, or that is was real . . . but if the virtual (actual scan!) isn't your gig, whip out yer foldin' fingers.
posted by undule on Jan 12, 2005 - 12 comments

speaking of anorexia... "ministers are so concerned about the obsession of teenage girls with being thin that they are considering regulations aimed specifically at the fashion industry. the department of trade and industry is looking to draft regulations that would be designed to halt the "use and abuse" of those suffering from eating disorders and could force modelling agencies to use people with normal body shapes."
posted by palegirl on Apr 10, 2000 - 6 comments