The Silver Thief: The Story of a Burglar Who Was Too Good for His Own Good: The story of Blane Nordahl, an eminent silver thief in New Jersey and the hunt for him.
posted by reenum on Dec 22, 2009 - 28 comments

Turn a silver coin into a ring with a hammer, an anvil (or something similar), and a drill.
posted by quin on Nov 23, 2009 - 40 comments

Nearly 1 in 5 young adults is out of work. Student debt is the highest its ever been. With a 10 year job growth of negative 230,000 jobs, the pool of available jobs is the lowest its ever been as a ratio to available college grads. And even with this dwindling tax base, in order to sustain Medicare and Social Security by 2020, we will need to tax 1.5 workers for every retiree. [more inside]
posted by Acromion on Sep 19, 2009 - 83 comments

the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.... This will take you back. SLYT And also your introduction to youtube's version of HULU. [more inside]
posted by HuronBob on Apr 24, 2009 - 39 comments

The new monetary standard: Copper.
posted by bigmusic on Apr 19, 2009 - 51 comments

You may have heard of John Ziegler. A former right-wing talk radio host turned right-wing documentarian, he was once the subject of a well-known David Foster Wallace essay about conservative talk radio. Ziegler later gained some notoriety by slamming Wallace heartlessly after the author committed suicide, calling him an overrated writer and criticizing the press for its coverage of his death. Now, Ziegler has once again made waves by going nuclear in an interview with pollster-watcher Nate Silver over the legitimacy of a commissioned Zogby poll. Silver questions the value of the poll, which contains leading questions, and which Ziegler plans on using in his upcoming documentary to "numerically prove" that Obama supporters are grossly misinformed idiots. [more inside]
posted by billysumday on Nov 19, 2008 - 70 comments

The Silver Swan is a life-size musical automaton built in 1773 from silver and glass, now housed in the Bowes Museum in County Durham. [more inside]
posted by fire&wings on Jun 24, 2008 - 17 comments

Kim Neely has enjoyed a very rich professional life already. A writer for Rolling Stone for fifteen years, she also penned the Pearl Jam biography. These days find Kim involved in an entirely different pursuit. Lampworking is a type of glass work that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. At her mom's unused workshop Kim created Bluff Road Art Glass. [more inside]
posted by netbros on May 15, 2008 - 7 comments

Silver Bookmarks is a collection of images of over 1000 antique silver bookmarks. They can be browsed by category (e.g. shape, origin, style) all of which are divided into myriad sub-categories (e.g. Art Deco, cat, Shakespeare, Iceland, Tunbridgeware, knife). Stevengraphs has pictures of the famed bookmarks made by the firm of silk weaver Thomas Stevens as well as other products. Among my favorite Stevengraphs are Ye Faire Ladie Godiva and Peeping Tom, The Apostle of Free Trade, John Bright, MP, Assassinated at Washington 14 April 1865 - The Late Lamented Lincoln, Speed Well Remember Me and for cheap laughs there is the glorious duo of Ride the Cock Horse and I Love Little Pussy.
posted by Kattullus on Apr 25, 2008 - 2 comments

Canal Zone Images is a collection of stories and images about the Panama Canal Zone. Did you know that the construction workers were paid in gold and silver ('spiggoty' dollars)? "Paper money was not used on the pay car at all. In the first place, there was always a danger of its blowing away, and in the second place paper money in the hands of negro workmen soon assumed a most unsanitary condition." [more inside]
posted by tellurian on Feb 25, 2008 - 12 comments

Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs (1867).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Dec 5, 2007 - 11 comments

Scientific esthetics- Made With Molecules. Some classy, some trashy, and some just plain cute. [more inside]
posted by sunshinesky on Nov 19, 2007 - 9 comments

In 1840, the Cuerdale Hoard - the greatest Viking silver treasure trove ever found outside Russia - is found in Lancashire. 2007: a father and son find an amazing Viking hoard while metal detecting in in Harrogate. The most important find of its type in Britain for over 150 years, it reveals a remarkable diversity of cultural contacts in the medieval world, with objects coming from as far apart as Afghanistan in the East and Ireland in the West, as well as Russia, Scandinavia and continental Europe.
posted by chuckdarwin on Jul 20, 2007 - 20 comments

Pyramids with eyeballs on top notably absent. There was a time when one could ride into washington D.C. and turn paper into silver. NSFW if 19th century engravings of carelessly draped breasts might be hard to explain.
posted by longsleeves on Aug 6, 2006 - 31 comments

Great fakers scammed ancient Italy. An ingenious counterfeit-coin scam has been rumbled by scientists in Italy. But no one is going to jail, because the forgers lived more than 2,000 years ago.
posted by riffola on Mar 28, 2006 - 7 comments

Health care and politics seem to be popular topics on MeFi; here is a story that combines them both. It seems that the Libertarian senate candidate in Montana turned himself blue with a medically questionable remedy. He seems unconcerned; however, this lady is not too happy about her experience with colloidal silver.
posted by TedW on Oct 3, 2002 - 22 comments

$200 million in gold and silver buried under WTC. Get there first and it's yours! No harm done in picking up a bar of gold. (Via Nando)
posted by HoldenCaulfield on Sep 15, 2001 - 31 comments

Finally! Relief from the Orbital Mind Control Lasers EMF-induced cancers getting you down? Are aliens eating your brain? Aren't you tired of regular, fabric-based clothing? These folks have the latest in tinfoil hats and so much more.
posted by Skot on Feb 8, 2001 - 8 comments