MetaFilter posts tagged with silver

The Silver Thief

reenum — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:20:24 -0800

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.

Changing your change

quin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:52:35 -0800

Turn a silver coin into a ring with a hammer, an anvil (or something similar), and a drill.

The First Ripples of the Silver Tsunami

Acromion — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:18:53 -0800

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. The dominant media narrative now is focused on the racial tensions surrounding Obama's health care reform. But in reality, the strongest opposition to Obama now comes not from young whites, who stand to benefit the most from medical reform. It is largely from 'angry white seniors' who fear cuts in the their Medicare. Are you ready for the Silver Tsunami?

Hi-yo, Silver

HuronBob — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:48:26 -0800

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. I'll buy a beer for anyone over the age of 50 who is able to close this page BEFORE the opening theme is done!

The Copper Standard

bigmusic — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:30:41 -0800

The new monetary standard: Copper.

John Ziegler vs. Nate Silver

billysumday — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:54:17 -0800

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. An excerpt from the end of the Nate Silver interview: NS: Well, since you’re running a website calling people misinformed, I’d like to see if -- there are certain things you’ve said that I would consider misinformed. JZ: Misinformed? You're a piece of work! You are never going to have the guts to post a representative transcript on your website! I thought you actually ran a legitimate website! NS: Thank you, have a good day. JZ: Go fuck yourself. And here is an excerpt from the David Foster Wallace essay (Wallace sort of hammers Ziegler in the essay over Ziegler's obsession with OJ Simpson and his determined and frequent use of the n-word on the many radio shows he's been fired from): The trouble starts when Tiger Woods wins the 1997 Masters. As part of his commentary on the tournament, Mr. Z. posits on-air that Tiger constitutes living proof of the fact that "not all white people are racists." His supporting argument is that "no white person would ever think of Tiger as a nigger," because whites draw a mental distinction "between people who just happen to be black and people who act like niggers." His reason for broadcasting the actual word "nigger"? "This all goes back to O.J. I hated the fact that the media treated viewers and listeners like children by saying 'Mark Fuhrman used the N-word.' I despised that, and I think it gives the word too much power. Plus there's the whole hypocrisy of how black people can use it and white people can't. I was young and naive and thought I could stand on principle." As part of that principled stand, Mr. Z. soon redeploys the argument and the word in a discussion of boxer Mike Tyson, whereupon he is fired, "even though there was very little listener reaction." As Mr. Z. understands it, the reason for his dismissal is that "a single black employee complained," and WWTN's parent, "a lily-white company," feared that it was "very vulnerable" to a discrimination lawsuit.

"..watched him seize a silver fish from under the water and hold up his head and go through the customary and elaborate motions of swallowing it..."

fire&wings — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:02:44 -0800

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. The clockwork swan rests on a "stream" of glass rods in which little silver fishes swim. When activated the swan preens itself then appears to catch one of the fish before swallowing it in a display which lasts around 40 seconds. The mechanism, built by John Joseph Merlin (who also brought us the rollerskate) includes "six camshafts, a quadrant-and-pinion, chains running up the slender neck and a pair of spring-operated lazy tongs." While this 235 year old swan is still eating fish daily, its real life counterparts prefer underwater plants and cereal crops.

Fine Lampwork Beads by Kim Neely

netbros — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:32:46 -0800

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. A few of my favorites include these glass bones, this necklace called fossil, and this fine silver link bracelet. Kim also blogs her work.

Silver Bookmarks and Stevengraphs

Kattullus — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:01:47 -0800

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.

Preserving the Heritage of Zonians

tellurian — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:02:31 -0800

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." A couple more: The story of Submarine 0-5 [4 times! What do you have to do to get gold?]. A train wreck at Miraflores (here is the other postcard [different site] that he mentions).

"My humble efforts to assist in the elucidation of the social condition of a distant and comparatively unknown race."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:34:54 -0800

Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs (1867).

Let the holiday shopping begin.

sunshinesky — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:04:11 -0800

Scientific esthetics- Made With Molecules. Some classy, some trashy, and some just plain cute. If only there were more!

chuckdarwin — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 03:07:22 -0800

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.

Money. Beautiful, beautiful money

longsleeves — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 17:45:18 -0800

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.

Fake money 2000 years ago

riffola — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:14:47 -0800

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.

TedW — Thu, 03 Oct 2002 06:40:40 -0800

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.

HoldenCaulfield — Sat, 15 Sep 2001 18:47:40 -0800

$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)

Skot — Thu, 08 Feb 2001 09:22:00 -0800

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.