MetaFilter posts by roofus

This is how we roll

roofus — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:15:29 -0800

This is how we roll in India
This is how we slide in Saudi
This is how we fly in Sweden
Some people are a little bit casual about road safety.

Hedghogs in space

roofus — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:39:33 -0800

Flash ~~friday~~ late night thursday fun: Hedgehog Launch

Influenza in the Amazon

roofus — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:19:43 -0800

A British TV crew have been accused of spreading flu to a remote Peruvian tribe of 250 members, leading to 4 deaths.

Beat-boxing Basset

roofus — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:42:36 -0800

A beat-boxing basset hound flash toy. (via)

Life imitates soap opera

roofus — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:34:59 -0800

John Darwin disappeared while canoeing of the coast of North Yorkshire in 2002. He was presumed dead, until he walked into a police station on Saturday with no memory of where he has been for 5 and a half years.

PSA and the media

roofus — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:45:06 -0800

“If you’re a prostate cancer survivor, one of the hardest things to question is whether your treatment was worth it.”
In 2003 Professor Alan Coates, then chief executive of the Cancer Council of Australia, caused a media storm, when he suggested that based on available evidence he personally would not undergo PSA screening for prostate cancer. This month's RSM journal analyses the Australian media response in detail.

Post Peak Oil Post

roofus — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:58:26 -0800

"The world is at the beginning of a structural change of its economic system. This change will be triggered by declining fossil fuel supplies and will influence almost all aspects of our daily life." The new Oil Report from Energy Watch Group makes a strong case that we have now passed peak oil.

Salcedo's Shibboleth

roofus — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:58:14 -0800

Other artists have made holes in gallery floors, including Richard Wilson, and Einstürzende Neubauten. None so big as Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth though. How does one go about making a 548ft crack in the floor of the Tate Modern?

I come to bury Pratt, not to praise him

roofus — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:30:56 -0800

An obituary for Lord Michael Pratt a classic British toff. Despite his expertise on Central European country houses it seems he will be best remembered as: "one of the last Wodehouseian figures to inhabit London's clubland and...an unabashed snob and social interloper on a grand scale." Many more hilarious and unkind details about his schooling: "He was sent to Eton, having already acquired the rotund shape that would stay with him for the rest of his life.", and his boozing: "He was also a leading light in another Oxford club called the Snuff Committee, the sole purpose of which was to take snuff and drink port. Membership was by invitation only; the only stipulation was that one had to be the son of a landowner." Wags are already describing it as "the least hagiographic obit ever published".

The Marion Tinsley of Skateboarding

roofus — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:56:16 -0800

A three part biography of skateboarder Rodney Mullen. He invented more than 30 tricks, including the flatground ollie, the kickflip, and the heelflip. Despite being voted the most legendary "extreme sports" athlete of all time, the only extreme thing about him is his reclusive, geeky, devotion to practice.