Yesterday was self government day in Greenland. The last step before complete independence from Denmark. They played the Greenland National Anthem.
posted by Xurando on Jun 21, 2009 - 15 comments

The 50 words that generate the most click-throughs to the dictionary from the New York Times. The Nieman Journalism Lab reveals the words that sent NYT readers running to the Merriam-Webster. Key fact: Maureen Dowd is overly fond of the word "louche." If the post is TL;DR for you, here's the list in Wordle.
posted by escabeche on Jun 15, 2009 - 132 comments

Parents can no longer support their hipster children's lifestyle. Oh, the humanity. I realize that schadenfreude is a particularly ignoble emotional response, but how am I expected to control myself after reading: [more inside]
posted by mojohand on Jun 8, 2009 - 238 comments

Crescendo in the West Bank : NYT video on the rise of classical music programs in The West Bank.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Jun 3, 2009 - 1 comment

[E]ven if you are unemployed you still receive a base amount of [vacation money] from the government, the reasoning being that if you can’t go on vacation, you’ll get depressed and despondent and you’ll never get a job.
[...]
But does the cartoon image of [the Dutch system] — encapsulated in the dread slur "socialism," which is being lobbed in American political circles like a bomb — match reality? Is there, maybe, a significant upside that is worth exploring? [...] I think it’s worth pondering how the best bits might fit.

After a year and a half of living in the Netherlands, American writer Russell Shorto compares the Dutch "welfare state" to the tax, health care and social security systems of the United States.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on May 4, 2009 - 119 comments

Some have questioned Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's neutrality in dealing with the elite of the financial community. Here's his calendar [150MB pdf] for the last two years. You decide.
posted by Xurando on Apr 27, 2009 - 32 comments

The Pulitzer (and Polk)-winning investigation (1,2) that dare not be uttered on TV. (previously)
posted by AceRock on Apr 23, 2009 - 57 comments

Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory : spotless minds might be closer than we think.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Apr 16, 2009 - 20 comments

NYT Guesstimation Quiz. Enrico Fermi estimated the yield of the Trinity A-bomb test by dropping some shredded paper. He also asked his students to estimate unusual quantities like the number of piano tuners in Chicago - to show that just about anything can be estimated without detailed knowledge.
posted by Electric Dragon on Apr 1, 2009 - 54 comments

To Sleep Perchance to Dream : an exhibition of 17th century sleep-related paraphernalia at the Folger Shakespeare Library offers insight into attitudes towards sleep and dreams. Insomnia? Try eating some lettuce.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Mar 29, 2009 - 2 comments

Today marks the launch of the Tata Nano. Some see this car as the next Ipod. Some have grave environmental concerns. (previously)
posted by Xurando on Mar 23, 2009 - 63 comments

It's Spring And It's Mountain Oyster Time Probably NSFW
posted by Xurando on Mar 19, 2009 - 36 comments

Ross Douthat, senior editor of The Atlantic and co-author of Grand New Party [nyt review], has been chosen as a new opinion columnist for the New York Times, replacing William Kristol and joining David Brooks as one of the paper's conservative voices.
posted by billysumday on Mar 11, 2009 - 45 comments

We've very much enjoyed the beautiful work of the NYT graphic and infovisual design staff before, but what about when those glorious graphs and interactive adventures don't turn out as expected? Still pretty neat.
posted by carsonb on Mar 11, 2009 - 17 comments

Snark - A Polemic in Seven Fits
posted by nevercalm on Feb 22, 2009 - 17 comments

Is the police blotter dying? Not so. In other parts of the world, the blotters are a little weird and violent. (nsfw)
posted by Xurando on Feb 19, 2009 - 36 comments

Journalism may be going through a painful period but thanks to the web the once lowly information graphic is finally growing up to be all it never could on paper. Especially the New York Times seems to currently stand out in how frequently and quickly they build amazingly detailed and insightful interactive features. Consider the tracking of US Airways Flight 1549 or the piece on raising its engine from the Hudson. Other recent highlights: 9,955,441 parking tickets issues in NYC mapped by street, The Ebb and Flow of Movies: Box Office Receipts 1986 — 2008, Ansel Adams's Yosemite, the view from the 10-meter platform explained, A look at the language of presidential inaugural addresses 1789 to the Present, A Map of the number of medals that countries won in summer Olympic Games, Going to the End of the Line, The 44 Places to go in 2009, an explanation of how the Pentagon responded to criticism of then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, The Soyuz Spacecraft, How the Towers Stood and Fell and many, many, more. [more inside]
posted by krautland on Feb 14, 2009 - 16 comments

Yet another study says the middle class are fleeing New York City. What happened to the previous studies and solutions? Bloomberg to Middle Class, "Get Out."
posted by Xurando on Feb 6, 2009 - 78 comments

Getting married soon? Consider having an iPod wedding. Some things can go wrong. DJ's fight back.
posted by Xurando on Jan 8, 2009 - 118 comments

The Provigil Debate Continues On. Previously
posted by Xurando on Dec 27, 2008 - 53 comments

We should have known it was inevitable. Your local newspaper being written in India. Get ready for the outsourcing of journalism. Maureen Dowd doesn't like it.
posted by Xurando on Nov 30, 2008 - 57 comments

Come And Visit The Garden Of Earthly Delights
posted by Xurando on Nov 20, 2008 - 12 comments

David Fishman, 12-year-old food critic, takes himself out to dinner.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Nov 17, 2008 - 90 comments

Phil Gramm is unrepentent. "Mr. Gramm said the problem of predatory loans was not of the banks’ making. Instead, he faulted “predatory borrowers". "Mr. Gramm, ever the economics professor, disputes his critics’ analysis of the causes of the upheaval. He asserts that swaps, by enabling companies to insure themselves against defaults, have diminished, not increased, the effects of the declining housing markets." “This is part of this myth of deregulation,” he said in the interview. “By and large, credit-default swaps have distributed the risks. They didn’t create it. The only reason people have focused on them is that some politicians don’t know a credit-default swap from a turnip.”
posted by Xurando on Nov 17, 2008 - 69 comments

"...For his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity," the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics has been awarded to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Oct 13, 2008 - 94 comments

The New York Times reports that tens of thousands of voters from swing states have been illegally purged from voter registration lists using social security numbers. Unsure whether your vote will count? Check here.
posted by Xurando on Oct 9, 2008 - 71 comments

Have you tried MUni yet? It's the latest rage in adventure sports.
posted by Xurando on Jul 27, 2008 - 39 comments

The NYT has a new blog on aging and eldercare. Thanks to the marvels of medical science, our parents are living longer than ever before.The Gray Lady has started a blog catering to the sandwich generation, with topics, so far, ranging from when to take the car keys to personal accounts of eldercare crises. The 290 comments on this post in particular are eye opening and heartbreaking.
posted by mygothlaundry on Jul 11, 2008 - 20 comments

Via The Friendly Atheist and the New York Times, this blog post and this article explain two instances of a very, very unsettling new phenomenon. [more inside]
posted by kldickson on Jun 17, 2008 - 93 comments

Gore Vidal on The New York Times Magazine. On McCain: "Who started this rumor that he was a war hero? Where does that come from, aside from himself? About his suffering in the prison war camp?". On WFB's death: "I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred". [more inside]
posted by falameufilho on Jun 15, 2008 - 118 comments

Ever wonder about the sign language used amongst stock market traders? Wonder no more, with this handy visual guide (NYT link) to the hand signals used by traders on the floor.
posted by zardoz on Apr 7, 2008 - 22 comments

Ever have a job working for a record label on a street crew. And yer puttin up publicity posters on lightpoles for an artist like Rocko and some asshole won't stop takin yer picture. Whadda you do then? Break his friggin camera.
posted by Xurando on Mar 24, 2008 - 79 comments

Checkout: Where all lanes are open. NYT article article on Walmart's new blog written by their buyers with uncensored commentary on Walmart products. "After heeding the lessons of Wal-Mart’s earlier blogs and consulting with several well-known bloggers from sites like the Huffington Post, the buyers decided the site would succeed only if they wrote in their own voice, free from censorship and corporate review." [more inside]
posted by Xurando on Mar 3, 2008 - 55 comments

Stylish Blight (slideshow of awesome live/work architecture office) The outside says pure urban squalor, while the inside is pure awesomeness. Full story in today's NYT about the project. (via beebo)
posted by mathowie on Mar 2, 2008 - 25 comments

The Times Machine allows easy browsing of every edition from 70 years (1851-1922) worth of New York Times in the original format. Very cool.
posted by peacay on Feb 25, 2008 - 44 comments

This little news story might be slightly damaging to John McCain's campaign. You know how the press lets stuff like this slide. uno dos tres cuatro cinco sex?
posted by chuckdarwin on Feb 21, 2008 - 250 comments

Slow news day: One properly used semicolon inspires paroxysms of joy in the NYT.
posted by GrammarMoses on Feb 18, 2008 - 76 comments

Handmade 2.0. NYT magazine article discusses crafting, Craft Magazine, etsy, Stitch & Bitch, Church of Craft, getcrafty, Austin Craft Mafia, Craft Congress, and more.
posted by ClaudiaCenter on Dec 16, 2007 - 21 comments

You Can Almost Hear It Pop, by Stephen S. Roach
The Facts Say No, by Marcelle Chauvet and Kevin Hassett
Bet the House on It, by Laura Tyson
Not if Exports Save Us, by Jason Furman
Nobody Knows, by James Grant
Wait Till Next Year, by Martin Feldstein

Stolen, HTML and all, from Calculated Risk.
posted by Kwantsar on Dec 16, 2007 - 24 comments

Gossip of the Sewing Circle Profound cattiness from 1903. Learn to use such snarkily coded terms as embonpoint in everyday conversation. Need to shame a beautiful rival who hasn't produced an heir for her much older husband? Describe her in The Newsaper of Record as owning "an extremely clever parrot." PDF, link from the NYT Archives.
posted by maryh on Dec 2, 2007 - 38 comments

Daniel Clowes, creator of the seminal and controversial comic series Eightball, is currently producing the serial Mister Wonderful for the New York Times Magazine's The Funny Pages. The NYT also presents a slideshow exploring the medium of graphic novelscomics featuring Art Spiegelman, Joe Sacco, Chester Brown, and previous Funny Pages contributors Seth and Chris Ware. [more inside]
posted by Alvy Ampersand on Sep 27, 2007 - 27 comments

Christopher Hitchens reviews Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. nyt, via their book review podcast.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed on Aug 11, 2007 - 63 comments

A better article about robots. More interesting robots than I posted about last time. Cute, tiny transforming robots. And for those of you less interested in real robots, 2-XL, the toy that got me obsessed with the whole thing as a kid.
posted by StrikeTheViol on Aug 5, 2007 - 14 comments

Ferris wheels making a comeback. Wheels across the world, past, present, and future, big and small. Graphic comparing various wheels. The London Eye. The Singapore Flyer. A triple Ferris Wheel that closed 10 years ago. And George Washington Gale Ferris's 1893 wheel that started it all.
posted by grouse on Jul 28, 2007 - 14 comments

The sounds of the old New York Times, (By David Dunlap), now that the paper is moving into a new building
posted by growabrain on Jun 13, 2007 - 5 comments

Satire [M]y father, temperamentally a gentle person, is often filled with rage. The news does this to him . . . . I have found a way not to be angry at all. I have taken shelter in the ridiculous.
posted by caddis on Sep 16, 2006 - 31 comments

Oh God, please never let the NYT review of my latest novel never start like this: Every few years, as a reviewer, one encounters a novel whose ineptitudes are so many in number, and so thoroughgoing, that to explain them fully would produce a text that exceeded the novel itself in both length and interest. Lately it seems the book reviewers at the NYT--including Michiko Kakutani, on Jonathan Franzen's latest ("Just why anyone would be interested in pages and pages about this unhappy relationship or the self-important and self-promoting contents of Mr. Franzen’s mind remains something of a mystery")--have been pulling out all the stops. Poor Irvine Welsh (?).
posted by gottabefunky on Aug 29, 2006 - 61 comments

How a Right-Winger Sees the New York Times.
posted by brain_drain on Aug 18, 2006 - 78 comments

Ever Wonder How Newspapers Decide Which Photos to Print? NYT Online's Talk to the Newsroom has a question and answer session with the Assistant Managing Editor for Photography, Michele McNally. She addresses a few of the more common questions many people have about how editorial decisions are made in regards to which photographs get published, and which don't among other topics.
posted by stagewhisper on Jul 13, 2006 - 13 comments

David Pogue is the rudest man alive! "My wife and I were excited to receive, as [a] very generous Christmas present from a relative, a Magellan RoadMate 300." He then goes on to absolutely obliterate the gift, *on the New York Times website*, for 20 paragraphs, after which he demands, "For the gift-giver: Do your research. Read the customer reviews. Beware outdated products on store shelves." It's a gift! Learn some tact dude.
posted by JPowers on May 31, 2006 - 63 comments