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Jonathan Richman - I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar
The Raymond Scott Quintette - War Dance For Wooden Indians
Chic - Le Freak
Young Marble Giants - Cakewalking
Captain Beefheart - Ice Cream for Crow
Burning Spear - Foggy Road
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Cue
Jonathan Richman - I'm So Confused

Cult music on the YouTube
posted by y2karl at 11:03 PM PST - 129 comments

With the success of its abstinence only educational programs aimed at teenagers, the federal government has taken aim at another age group. Some think that this is the brink of madness, but for others, it's probably an excuse to sell more jewelry.
posted by Bistle at 9:32 PM PST - 55 comments

AustralianPoliticsFilter: Congressman John "Orleans" Hall has nothing on Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett, who quit singing political rock to start rocking politics, was elected to the Aussie Parliament in '04 and has now been named the Labor Party's "Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Reconciliation and the Arts" (whew, what a title). But it's not all "Blue Sky (His)": he's been attacked by a former environmental activist ally in the Green Party and mimicked by Treasurer Peter (no relation to Elvis) Costello. At least he's healthy, unlike some Australian singers (or singers in Australia).
posted by wendell at 7:59 PM PST - 23 comments

Ancient tsunami devastated Mediterranean possible root of flood myths and current major religious belief.
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:29 PM PST - 34 comments

"The OhMiBod vibrator is a whole new way to enjoy your iPod® or any other music player. Everyone loves music. Everyone loves sex. OhMiBod combines music and pleasure to create the ultimate acsexsory™ to your iPod." Keep in mind that if you try to use it with Damien Rice or Bread, your girlfriend will leave you.
posted by jbickers at 1:48 PM PST - 47 comments

Today is a big day for Microsoft with the launch of three key products - Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007. User groups are already up-and-running. Vista and Office have been available for some time. But maybe this is just clever viral marketing? In spite of lots of new and improved features, Vista has not been well received by reviewers. But this has been true of every Windows version since Windows 95. One thing is certain, these versions will be the last releases that focus on the desktop rather than the Internet.
posted by bobbyelliott at 1:10 PM PST - 108 comments

Looking for a spacious home in a unique, quiet and safe location? It may be a fixer-upper, but buy now before the value skyrockets.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:42 AM PST - 21 comments

Military Weaponry for Kids Is a Flickr photoset of scans from a Chinese children's coloring (and character art practice) book.
posted by jonson at 10:56 AM PST - 36 comments

"If you really wanted to poison someone, you would of course have to come up with a way to remove the invisible amount of material from the exempt sources - which is just about physically impossible and combine them together. Of course you would also need that 15,000 exempt sources." You can buy the radioactive material, Polonium-210, that killed a former Russian spy for only $69--but you'd need a lot of it to take down an enemy or two.
posted by mattbucher at 10:38 AM PST - 28 comments

Name one important idea found in the Declaration of Independence. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services unveiled a new test for citizenship today, aimed at fostering a greater understanding of the meaning of America's institutions. Some consider the questions too difficult for poorer immigrants. As a spokesman for USCIS said, 'Our goal is not to make this test harder or easier for anyone, but to make it much more meaningful." Of course, USCIS is a division of the Dept. of Homeland Security who could stand to take a look at question #8 an give it some serious thought.
posted by cal71 at 10:34 AM PST - 28 comments

Came across a sweet, sweet vlog all about vodka my favorite elixir in the world it's all about making martinis and vodka, sweet, sweet mother of all drinks.
posted by jacob hauser at 10:22 AM PST - 79 comments

YouTube vs. Google Video vs. Revver Watch three videos at the same time. Less artistic than The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, but more so than the opening sequence of The Brady Bunch. So basically, right in that cultural sweet spot. [via]
posted by ba at 10:00 AM PST - 19 comments

Baby Needs New Shoes and a $4,000 DVD Scrapbook. Too busy being a Master of the Universe to capture those special moments? First Year Films will do it for you. They'll even interview you, documentary-style. [last link quicktime, totally lifted from here]
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:45 AM PST - 11 comments

I researched and put an infopiece together after recently learning of bile bears here on Metafilter. Even as an animal professional, I was unaware of the existence of bile bears. Now I know: Bile Bears are live moon bears that are turned into living crated "bile kegs," the bear's bile being extracted by means of a surgically implanted tube and used to treat conditions as varied as gallstones, kidney disorder, and (of course) impotence. After the long-suffering bear dies, the creature's body parts are then sold off individually for further monetary gain. Indeed, it is an appalling practice, but worse I learned the practice is spreading, and in fact demand for bear products is now affecting the bear population of North America, as North American bears are being illegally hunted and harvested for their parts to be used domestically and abroadin the preparation of traditional Chinese medicine.
posted by mongonikol at 9:31 AM PST - 43 comments

PermaPuppies - they never get big. Spoof commercial biotech site is just viral advertizing for Michael Crichton's new book, but some of the ads are fun.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:49 AM PST - 27 comments

GQ interviews Al Gore. "I have a battery-powered hubris alarm on my belt. And it's set on vibrate, and it's going crazy."
posted by kirkaracha at 7:24 AM PST - 152 comments

Death of a goddess Another first for China? The yangtze dolphin may be the first cetacean to be made extinct by man. Mentioned by Douglas Adams and Mark Cawardine in 'Last Chance to See' in 1989 when there were still sightings, the mammal may now be extinct. Two weeks into an international expedition to locate the last dolphins there have been no sightings. Fresh water porpoises seem to be incompatible with modern China's economic boom and accompanying environmental destruction. Attempts at conservation seem to be coming a bit late for this 20 million year old species.
posted by asok at 5:09 AM PST - 29 comments

The End of Ingenuity (NYT OpEd by Thomas Homer-Dixon)"..cheap energy is tightening, and humankind’s enormous output of greenhouse gases is disrupting the earth’s climate. Together, these two constraints could eventually hobble global economic growth and cap the size of the global economy." See also The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization. (2006).
posted by stbalbach at 5:01 AM PST - 61 comments

Wii have a problem... documenting in pictorial form the latest trend in gaming violence. Namely, that of damaged electronics due to Wii related activities. Apparently the phenomenon is so wide spread that Nintendo has had to go and make an official safety information guide for playing with the Wiimote.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:17 AM PST - 40 comments

this body is a prison (google video link)
Go behind the scenes of media coverage of the West Bank and enter a world where terror is a daily reality. Against the backdrop of this politically tumultuous environment there emerges a deeply layered story of a nation fractured by walls both physical and internalized.

Professor of Psychology Khalil Issa discusses the existential dilemmas faced by Palestinian youth as they attempt to develop a sense of self in a land carved by war.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 12:52 AM PST - 2 comments

MTBGuru is a new site that enables bikers, hikers and runners to upload GPS info, along with photos and comments, from their routes that get mashed up with Google Maps to create an ever-expanding trail resource. Mostly Bay Area now but that is changing.
posted by fenriq at 11:13 PM PST - 9 comments

Halo meets Monty Python (youtube). Monty Python's "How not to be seen" done in Halo. Or try, The Codex for more fun with the Halo engine. Previous Halo machinima post.
posted by papakwanz at 9:15 PM PST - 8 comments

"Our dress, therefore, in order to serve its purpose effectually, should not only be expensive, but it should also make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive labor." The Piracy Paradox: why weak IP laws drive the fashion industry. Headscarves on the catwalk in Jakarta; Almaty Fashion Week draws to a close.
posted by stammer at 6:06 PM PST - 5 comments

"We are Muslims. We are American. We are patriotic," Mona Mayfield said. "We are unhappy with the current administration stripping away our rights." The federal government has agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield $2 million to settle part of a lawsuit he filed after the FBI misidentified a fingerprint and wrongly arrested him in the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings.

The FBI did not mention Mayfield's faith in its press release issued following his release, and reiterated some of an OIG report's findings on their investigation in a follow-up. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner also issued a statement praising the report, which did find that the Patriot Act was not misused. There is some controversy about what the report says about Mayfield's faith, and parts of the report were redacted before it was declassified.
posted by owhydididoit at 5:23 PM PST - 21 comments

"Gold is one of the few elements you can find just lying on the ground. This one-ounce pure gold nugget was found in Alaska around 1890 by Hogamorth Marion, while on a trip to sell shoes to Eskimoes. Seriously."

An interactive periodical table.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 4:32 PM PST - 34 comments

"If we can't take care of each other then who will. Your a disgrace to any police dept. u no ball havin piece of @#%$. I hope when your out there alone writing a ticket "joe citizen" pumps u full of lead and leaves u there to rot u fuckin @#%$ u." Welcome to Cops Writing Cops. Be sure to check out "Dick of the Month" and the forums.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:18 PM PST - 82 comments

Nutcracker suite played entirely on bicycle parts [via createdigitalmusic].
posted by subtle-t at 3:11 PM PST - 18 comments

Jewcy asks The Big Question-- Why Are Atheists So Angry? with Sam Harris and Dennis Prager. Email exchanges on the topic--and if you can get past the incredibly loaded and one-sided question, really interesting.
posted by amberglow at 2:28 PM PST - 245 comments

Journal of Visualized Experiments is an online research journal for publishing visualized (video-based) biological experiments
posted by Gyan at 1:50 PM PST - 2 comments

A Nazi Christmas Since its most ancient days, the Christmas holiday has been continually reshaped to serve commercial, social, and political ends. These Nazi-era Christmas materials, including an Advent calendar and an essay on how to turn Christian holidays into National Socialist ones, come from the German Propaganda Archive of the Calvin College library. Of course, the Allies also enlisted Christmas in both pop culture and propaganda with cards, V-Mails, and posters.
posted by Miko at 11:51 AM PST - 21 comments

Wordie: social networking... for words. Catalog your favourite (or least favourite) words — make any variety of word lists, and connect to other users using the same words. Silly, but fun!
posted by Robot Johnny at 11:50 AM PST - 12 comments

This is like, even older than the Apple ][. Scientists use high-res imaging to take a real close look at the Antikythera Mechanism [previously discussed here], and it's even more sophisticated than they first thought. It's all in this week's Nature.
posted by jtajta at 11:36 AM PST - 27 comments

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posts a message to the American people on his blog. (English Ver.).
posted by persia at 11:34 AM PST - 64 comments

Let's Say Thanks is a website that allows you a simple means of delivering a card to a member of the US Armed Forces serving overseas. While some of the pre-written sentiments will not meet with many Mefite's approval, you can just type your own. Of course, you may think that this is a bit cheesy, but maybe sharing a little kindness with someone who risks their life everyday (for whatever reason) isn't such a bad idea.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 10:26 AM PST - 75 comments

The comic "Preacher" is finally being adapted for TV. Rumors have circulated about a possible adaptation for some time, but they have now been verified by HBO. The bad news is that the director/writer behind "Daredevil" and "Ghost Rider" is writing the pilot.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 10:07 AM PST - 62 comments

Meet the TSA's newest, cuddliest employees! Sure, the TSA could spend its time and money developing a training course that won't result in a stunning 91% rate of failure in detecting weapons in carry-on luggage, but how do you make cute pictures out of that?
posted by clevershark at 9:07 AM PST - 29 comments

Is King Tut's tomb cursed? On February 16, 1923, Egyptologist Howard Carter, his financier George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and Herbert's daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert entered the just-discovered tomb of the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamen. Newspapers sensationalized the discovery, and told of a curse. Herbert dies in a Cairo hospital at 2 AM on April 5, 1923, only several months later. Supposedly, right at that moment, lights in Cairo go dark, and his dog at his estate back home in England howls and also drops dead.

However, Carter and Lady Evelyn contine living healthy lives, and examination shows that on average, everyone associated with the discovery lived normal-length lives. Herbert was not in good health even before the discovery, and died of blood poisoning from an infected mosquito bite. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others, thought it was fungus.

So now, when scientists perform a CT scan of the body, strange stuff happens: “one researcher's vehicle nearly hit a child. Then a huge storm hit. The CT machine, usually reliable, wouldn't work at first. And when researchers finally began the CT scan, one scientist came down with such a violent coughing attack he had to leave.” Discoveries made? King Tut was 5'10' an 18-20 years old when he died. He probably died of gangrene from a broken femur, not with a blow to the head as previously thought. His head is cut off, his body is cut in two, and his wrist, shoulder, and elbow joints are disconnected. Oh, and his penis is missing.
posted by bkudria at 8:21 AM PST - 52 comments

Going head-to head in the cinemas, Borat and James Bond have generated a lot of press and publicity. Recently, one insurer calculated that James Bond's car insurance would come to about £7,000. Not to be outdome, another insurance company proclaims that Bond can shove it, and that they'd much rather insure Borat, despite the Bear he's transporting around.
posted by SharQ at 7:53 AM PST - 3 comments

Where's Waldo? Reflections on Copies and Authenticity in a Digital Environment. Consider for a moment The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (JSTOR PDF here) by Douglas Davis. Alternatively, of course there is The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (alternative link) by Robert Luxemberg. Not to be outdone, Charles Alexander Moffat recently added to the discussion with The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction. I hope all of the authors mentioned were able to make it to the ATA's fundraiser last year called The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Some people are willing to admit that it's not just all about the Benjamin^.
posted by illovich at 7:20 AM PST - 12 comments

AllofMP3 gets a copyright lawyer to help with their FAQ but with Russia's entry to the WTO apparently at stake and Putin getting involved their future looks a bit perilous.
posted by rongorongo at 6:56 AM PST - 46 comments

Oh, you never would believe where those LEGO bricks come from. Well, you might. It turns out it's a pretty awesome process. BuisnessWeek gives us the behind the scenes info on LEGO bricks. Did you know LEGO is the world's largest tire manufacturer?
posted by SansPoint at 6:50 AM PST - 29 comments

Bob Harris blogs the pudu. Thank you that is all.
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:37 AM PST - 15 comments

Just don't say the n-word.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:30 AM PST - 36 comments

Remember those guys who tried to hitchhike to all 50 state capitals in 50 days? Well, yesterday they finished successfully. Alaska and Hawaii included.
posted by nitsuj at 6:09 AM PST - 19 comments

John Cramer is going to conduct an experiment in quantum retrocasuality [ppt] - sending a signal backwards through time
posted by MetaMonkey at 5:48 AM PST - 32 comments

Danny Sveinson is The Rock and Roll Kid. The 11 year old guitar prodigy from Surrey, BC, has already played the Apollo Theatre in New York, jammed with Les Paul, and opened for April Wine and Colin James. They say he's the next Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix. They say he's the next guitar god. His parents say he has to be in bed by ten. How does Danny keep himself grounded under the pressure of fame and the spotlight? He watches birds.
posted by debralee at 4:56 AM PST - 48 comments

A different perspective on the war in Iraq: herein, a small collection of juvenile yet amusing clips of bored soldiers entertaining themselves by singing, dancing, interacting with animals, engaged in sport, using a rocket launcher as a bong, and all sorts of intentional and unintentional screwing around.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 2:52 AM PST - 26 comments

Psiphon facilitates circumvention of national firewalls.
posted by Optamystic at 2:25 AM PST - 15 comments

Petroleum from Pond Scum: Dr. Isaac Berzin, founder of GreenFuel Technologies, is working on a prototype that uses algae to convert power plant emissions into biofuels. Good news: It would only take a bioreactor twice the size of new Jersey to supply the entire US with its petroleum needs.
posted by tehloki at 12:25 AM PST - 40 comments

If you're a fan of pulp fiction paperback covers, then you've probably seen the artwork of R.A. Maguire. The Gallery on his personal site comes in three flavors: Covers, Reference Photos (to aid in cover renderings) and Original Art, which are essentialy covers stripped of the Title/Author/Publisher/Price info. via
posted by jonson at 10:43 PM PST - 12 comments

To be a Sapeur in Kinshasa is to treat every trash-strewn alley or muddy street as a fashion catwalk. Inspired by Congolese rumba star Papa Wemba* and his Société des Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants* (le Sape), urban peacocks cheerfully adopted "Religion Kitembo”, literally the worship of clothes. "The Pope of the Sapes" himself appears to have undergone a conversion since his recent legal troubles. Photo gallery by Héctor Mediavilla. *sound
posted by maryh at 10:40 PM PST - 20 comments

How can one bit actor have hundreds of millions, perhaps over a billion adoring fans and yet be a virtual unknown in his native land? Ask Mark Rowswell, aka DaShan. In 1988, Rowswell won a scholarship to study Chinese at the prestigious Peking University. More than twenty years later he has one of the most recognizable faces in China. He's been awarded and investigated for his work in film, on stage, in television, in commercials and for charity. So just who the heck is he?
posted by Pollomacho at 9:29 PM PST - 57 comments

Diet trials. Is it time to reconsider changing what we eat to prevent cancer?
posted by engling at 7:15 PM PST - 25 comments

My Misio - a site for a pet crochet bear cat. Some nice pics in the diary section and a vid, too. {It be Flash}
posted by dobbs at 6:51 PM PST - 8 comments

The skyline of St. Petersburg, Russia will be radically altered for the first time in 300 years. "Gazprom City, a proposed complex of stylish modern buildings that evoke, among other things, a gas-fueled flame, a strand of DNA and a lady’s high-heeled shoe, would sit on a historic site on the Neva River." Though the designs are truly something to behold, many who live in the historic city aren't having it.
posted by bukharin at 6:36 PM PST - 25 comments

They never played this cartoon at your local theater before a Flash Gordon matinee. (NSFW!)
posted by caddis at 4:37 PM PST - 41 comments

We Are Smarter Than Me
The MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, Pearson Educational Publishing, and Pennsylvania University's SEI Center for Advanced Studies In Management at The Wharton School are collaborating on a project to write a business management book, wiki-style. Wanna help?
posted by carsonb at 4:20 PM PST - 11 comments

Jerome Murat A short video of a performance by Jerome Murat that is part Circ du Soliel and one of those human statues you see in Paris, New York and Florence and places like that. Amazing how music and pantomime can be so effective.
posted by melkozek at 3:03 PM PST - 13 comments

Plainclothes police serving a drug warrant defend killing an elderly woman in the roughest neighborhood in Atlanta. Perhaps it’s a flaw in the exclusionary rule. Or perhaps “had she been without her precious gun, she’d no doubt be alive today”
posted by Smedleyman at 2:26 PM PST - 147 comments

Save a Child, Save the World On November 29, 1944, Dr. Alfred Blalock made an incision in the chest of young Eileen Saxon. He was about to perform an operation suggested by a dyslexic, nearly deaf woman and perfected by an African American. Assisting in this madness were two men who would also become giants in their field. Cardiac Surgery has progressed to the point that having a Congenital Heart Defect isn't always fatal. In fact, there are enough adults living with heart defects that there is an organization supporting Adult Chongenital Heart Defect research and education. While there is a great movie about the operation and Thomas covers it in his book, we still don't know one important fact: Did Blalock rub the toe that morning?
posted by Wildcat3 at 12:29 PM PST - 9 comments

City in Flames Twenty Five years ago the City of Lynn Massachusetts experienced its second great fire. Devastating several downtown industrial buildings dating to the rise of the Shoe industry. All of which were undergoing redevelopment. While nowhere near as big as the Great Boston Fire of 1872, or the various Chelsea fires, the tragedy of the story is the empty wasteland that still sits after all these years. Today the Boston Globe dug up several articles from their pre Web vaults. The Lynn Museum has an exhibit, and the Lynn Library will have a slideshow.
posted by Gungho at 12:25 PM PST - 9 comments

At the beginning was the noosphere. The existence of a "sphere of ideas", beyond the "sphere of life" (biosphere) and the "sphere of matter" (geosphere) was apparently first postulated by the pioneering Russian-Ukrainian geochemist V.I. Vernadsky. Vernadsky thought not only that the biosphere had entirely reshaped the geosphere, but that the burgeoning noosphere of interconnected thought would ultimately change the biosphere just as much. French jesuit and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin took the concept and ran with it...(more inside)
posted by Skeptic at 12:24 PM PST - 24 comments

Quebecois now a nation. Arguably, this all started with Liberal Party leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff opening the Pandora's Box of Quebec nationhood earlier this fall, pondering whether the French-speaking province of Quebec should be granted some sort of special status. Canadians old enough to remember Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord feared the worst. Before you knew it, the Bloc was arguing that Quebec ought to be viewed as a "nation without conditions". Prime Minister Steven Harper then presented a motion to Parliament recognizing the Quebecois as a nation. The controversy raged, both from the Conservatives and the Liberals. Yesterday, the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted for the motion. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong has resigned. His statement. How will this change the country? How do nations operate within other nations? Who is a Quebecois anyways? How does this work? Could other groups in Canada be recognized as nations? And what about those separatists? Looks like they already want their own hockey team.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:36 AM PST - 117 comments

Meet Tavin Dillard Tevin is a fine young man,and a patriot . He owns his own business, and enjoys recounting the events of the day, for anyone who is so inclined to listen. sit a spell, but don't spook the boy, or else.
posted by nola at 11:34 AM PST - 6 comments

All Mozart, all the time. "To celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday Swedish Radio launched a new service on the Internet: SR Mozart - a channel dedicated to the music of Mozart."
posted by four panels at 11:34 AM PST - 10 comments

UbuWeb has converted all of its rare and out-of-print film & video holdings to on-demand streaming formats. via WFMU.
posted by treepour at 11:20 AM PST - 11 comments

Cthulhufilter: "Amid the sagging gables of old New England, evil lurks ... and squirms, and scuttles, and purrs." Welcome to the scary world of Pokethulhu, the free RPG where unspeakable horror meets japanese insanity. You can download it here (bonus: art by John Kovalic on the inside). More Cthulhu Cuteness.
posted by darkripper at 10:29 AM PST - 13 comments

TV Land's 100 Greatest Catchphrases
The network will air a countdown special, "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days starting Dec. 11.
posted by fenriq at 10:16 AM PST - 79 comments

University of Arizona physicists have discovered how to turn single molecules into working transistors. The research could result in much smaller, more powerful computers and other devices with the ability to process many more channels of high-resolution audio and video than current products can manage. The abstract is available in PDF.
posted by terrapin at 10:14 AM PST - 15 comments

This Film is Not Yet Rated (SFW trailer) and a hilarious (audio NSFW) version. (2:05) "How does one follow-up an Oscar-nominated documentary (2004's Twist of Faith) about sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church? If you're Kirby Dick, you deliver another exposé of institutionalized misconduct by taking direct aim at the ratings system of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)." Interviews with the director, Kirby Dick: 1,2,3. Not available on DVD until January '07, but the Amazon Reader Reviews are worth a look see.
posted by spock at 10:04 AM PST - 21 comments

"This is a major innovation...and in places that are affected by high winds and earthquakes, it looks like it's going to make a big difference." And it only adds about $15 to the cost of an average 2000 sq. ft. house - the Bostich HurriQuake nail.
posted by jaimev at 9:15 AM PST - 42 comments

Diary of a Collapsing Superpower - "Seventeen years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, and two years later the Soviet Union broke apart. More than 1,400 minutes published earlier this month in Russia from meetings that took place behind the closed doors of the Politburo in Moscow read like a thriller from the highest levels of the Kremlin. They reveal Mikhail Gorbachev as a party chief who had to fight bitterly for his reforms and ultimately lost his battle. But in doing so, he changed the course of history and helped bring an end to the Cold War."
posted by Gyan at 7:48 AM PST - 32 comments

Cocaine: Ever wonder how it's made? Matthew Bristow, a journalist working in Columbia produced two fascinating videos (1 | 2) that detail the job of several actual Columbian producers, without delving too far into the chemistry nonsense: from harmless leaf to unprocessed brick to that familiar white powder. [via]
posted by jckll at 6:36 AM PST - 30 comments

Robert Lockwood, Jr. R.I.P.
posted by EarBucket at 5:08 AM PST - 32 comments

Alan "Fluff" Freeman has died at the age of 79. Although he gave up broadcasting in 2000, due to poor health, he will always be remembered as the man who invented the chart rundown, complete with background music and jingles.

He is probably best known for Pick of the Pops, which reached a mainstream audience, but was also a champion of rock music. Along with John Peel and Tommy Vance, Fluff was the last of the three great DJ's I grew up listening to on late night radio. I'm too young to remember his Radio Luxembourg shows, but The Saturday Night Rock Show on Radio 1 was compulsory listening, part for the music and part for Fluff's unique catchphrases and jingles, particularly Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal (rm) which became his theme on all his radio shows. He was also the inspiration behind the Harry Enfield character Dave Nice. We'll miss you Fluff. Not 'arf!
posted by bap98189 at 3:48 AM PST - 29 comments

The Torontoist Cover Song Catalogue. We tried to avoid some of the more obvious cover hits (like Alien Ant Farm's recent chart-topper "Smooth Criminal") and we stuck with actual recorded covers rather than including those only played in concert. You'll notice that most of these cover versions are pretty chilled-out, which is a byproduct of looking for tracks that were eclectic, odd and often very different from the originals.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:47 AM PST - 31 comments

"We have an academic community in which people are free to explore ideas." Art student expelled after questioning a fellow classmate's belief in leprechauns. To be fair, he was actually expelled for his "aggressive, demeaning, and threatening" behavior. Oh, and he blogs.
posted by ®@ at 12:41 AM PST - 80 comments

Buy Syd Barrett's stuff! The estate of Syd Barrett is going up for auction on Wednesday. Some interesting items include several A4 note binders with Syd's handwritten notes, a pair of handpainted speaker boxes and a Pollock-esque handpainted stool.
posted by melorama at 12:12 AM PST - 21 comments

Bows and Arrows is an innovatively styled but bleak short movie. Don't make the same mistakes the Caretaker did! [via]
posted by tellurian at 11:29 PM PST - 2 comments

You are an asteroid that has seen many of your brethren decimated by the evil spaceship in the original Asteroid's game. The loss of your rock-fellows has hurt and scarred you deeply. Your rocky heart has ached for vengenance.

Your time has come.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:30 PM PST - 28 comments

The easiest breakfast you'll ever make! Fear not holiday shoppers, the horror of pouring cereal from a box is over for everyone on your shopping list.
posted by machaus at 6:22 PM PST - 98 comments

Sexual Fables. Western philosophy, literature, and thought from a distaff point of view. Full of multidisciplinary goodness, and the intertextuality is pretty neat. The art's pretty good, too.
posted by John of Michigan at 6:14 PM PST - 3 comments

Welcome to the amazing world of pop-up books! with videos showing the pop-ups in action. PingMag also featured pop-up books from the 1890s. [via]
posted by kirkaracha at 3:50 PM PST - 8 comments

But some residents have children serving in Iraq! A homeowners association in Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is anti-Iraq war. (picture of offending wreath).

Jeff Heitz, of the association board, sent a letter to Lisa Jensen saying: "Loma Linda residents are offended by the peace sign displayed on the front of your house. ...

Past peace sign overreactions include "'Peace' T-shirt gets man arrested" and "What A Girl Wants poster controversy"... so what's so wrong with peace?
posted by DougieZero1982 at 1:04 PM PST - 177 comments

Described as "the View meets the Daily Show and takes a right turn," The America Show, Episode 1 and Episode 2 are pilots that are being floated for possible TV broadcast. Weigh in on their potential. The driving force behind the show is conservative comic Julia Gorin, who also recently launched Political Mavens as "a celebrity-studded conservative answer to Arianna's Huffington Post."
posted by madamjujujive at 11:27 AM PST - 245 comments

There are a lot of gift guides for the holiday season, but Make Magazine's open source gift guide skews towards the cool, techy, but also hackable products. Lots of great things listed including: display images in your bike spokes with a POV kit, an open source media server, control your house lights with perl, and free planetarium software.
posted by mathowie at 10:57 AM PST - 19 comments

Comics creator and Alan Moore collaborator Eddie Campbell is blogging. He joins fellow UK artists Sean Phillips, Chris Weston, Colin Wilson, Frazer Irving, and Dave Taylor in offering glimpses behind the creative process.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 9:27 AM PST - 10 comments

Tversity is the swiss army knife of the media servers. Allows to stream music and videos to many devices. Do you want to listen to a podcast on your PSP? And how about browsing Flickr photos on the Xbox 360? It can even be used to stream divx movies on the Xbox 360, converting it on-the-fly to wmv. Too bad it runs only on Windows. [via]
posted by darkripper at 8:44 AM PST - 7 comments

Fight the Powah! Small-town Maine teens set off bombs at their local Wal-Mart. Maybe they were hopped up on Skowhegan Martinis. Perhaps they wouldn't have been so angry if The Revolution had happened.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:48 AM PST - 38 comments

"In the monitor booth the sound technician listens to the rehearsal through a loudspeaker, and in cooperation with maestro Ellington, brings the music to its highest sound perfection before transmitting it through the electrical circuits to the recording machine!" Record Making With Duke Ellington (1937). [YouTube]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:45 AM PST - 11 comments

Bush Goes to Indonesia. Black Magic ensues. Ki Gendeng Pamungkas, stating that he didn't "hate Americans, but [he doesn't] like Bush," added that he "believed the ritual would succeed as, 'the devil is with me today.'" Well then, mission accomplished. While his intent was to place the Secret Service agents in a trance, causing the entourage to think they were under attack, it appears the curse was far more effective. The tally so far? While landing in Vietnam, the brakes and tires malfunctioned on Air Force One.. One Bush twin had her purse snatched and a Secret Service Agent was beaten in Argentina (on the largely unreported 43rd Anniversary of JFK's assasination, no less). One White House aide assaulted in Hawaii. One motorcycle cop from Bush's Hawaiian motorcade killed, and another badly injured in a traffic accident.
posted by rzklkng at 5:59 AM PST - 49 comments

Dick Detzner's Corporate Sacrilege is a series of paintings substituting advertising icons for religious ones.
posted by jonson at 11:20 PM PST - 30 comments

Jobster is a 'web 2.0' answer to the perplexing puzzle of searching for employment or employees online. It allows you to tag yourself by skills, rank those skills and interact with other folks around the globe about where they work. Their search feature culls listings from every major job listing site on the net into one place as per your interests. It is a very clever design and offers some very intriguing features that, though they feel a bit 'beta-like', are already worth the visit if you are, like me, looking for work. I already like it a whole lot more than the many alternatives.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 9:07 PM PST - 39 comments

Top properties of the nation’s 15 largest media companies [big pdf, From AdAge]
posted by Kwantsar at 8:55 PM PST - 21 comments

David Cockrum has passed on. The cause of death was apparently complications from diabetes; he died peacefully, in his sleep. Comics fans would know him from a number of projects, amongst them Giant Size X-Men #1 where he helped introduce Colossus, Storm and Nightcrawler to the world, his run on the Legion of Super Heroes, and possibly his self-published work The Futurians. You can find some nice retrospectives on his career and what he did for Marvel and for DC Comics.
posted by mephron at 4:49 PM PST - 27 comments

Put a little commerce in your art with Lulu's Titlescorer, a widget that analyzes your book title's chances of gracing the top of the New York Time's bestseller list.
posted by Iridic at 2:04 PM PST - 69 comments

W Joseph Stroup believes we are headed to a new Cold War. It may be triggered when Russia attacks the West's Achilles' heel (part II: Russia tips the balance) and a Russian oil grab 'puts western supplies at risk'.
posted by stbalbach at 10:01 AM PST - 39 comments

What do you get when you combine the Jesus and U2? U2-charist, of course!
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:59 AM PST - 30 comments

Mr. CityMen is a series of five evocative animation/live action Quicktime shorts by Eric Lerner, including Mr. Deja Vu, Mr. Fortune, Mr. Afraid of Anything But Heights, Mr. Sunken and my fave, Mr. Dreamer, bouncing around the beautiful urban decay.
posted by mediareport at 9:56 AM PST - 13 comments

Chris Booth Sculpture: "Booth always creates his sculptures for specific sites. They are inspired by and honour each site’s local history, mythology and cultures and require intensive research, and consultation with local indigenous people. Usually gigantic in proportion, these phenomenal sculptures are amazing feats of engineering and balance ..." (via Ursi's Blog)
posted by madamjujujive at 8:55 AM PST - 17 comments

For prompt control of senile agitation... Vintage ads are all over the blogosphere today it seems. Here's a pill to cure your ill. If that won't work, put a bandage on it.
posted by caddis at 8:45 AM PST - 27 comments

If you're one of those types who could never get into so called "fine art" because it didn't feature enough images of women having sex with cephalopods & crustaceans, then Tabitha Vevers is the artist for you.
posted by jonson at 11:09 PM PST - 82 comments

Goodbye to comics. One woman's story of a busted vagina, a syzygy, rape pages and why she is no longer working in comics.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:31 PM PST - 64 comments

The BBC attaches cameras to the genitals of a man and woman. Sex ensues. NSFW Google video.
posted by four panels at 7:21 PM PST - 153 comments

Infinite Mario Brothers Did you love Mario Brother 3? Would you like to love playing it forever? With randomized maps and worlds? Oh, yes, you would.
posted by boo_radley at 7:15 PM PST - 29 comments

Stop motion animation plus Post-it notes equals pixelly goodness. (Flash, via milkandcookies)
posted by randomination at 3:57 PM PST - 14 comments

Salt: Not just a condiment, salt is a major force shaping our world. In Australia, what do you get when you combine ancient salt-pans with European farming practices? In one state alone, we're losing a football field an hour to the salinity crisis. What do you farm when all you have is salt?
posted by ninazer0 at 3:29 PM PST - 33 comments

Can you get to seven in this puzzle using clues hidden in the text, images, HTML and CSS? If you can get to the seventh page, can you get to fourteen? How about get to 28?
posted by Captaintripps at 2:28 PM PST - 15 comments

"Señores imperialistas, no les tenemos ningún miedo!" : Political billboards from Cuba
posted by champthom at 1:26 PM PST - 10 comments

Unschooling is an educational philosophy which abandons tests, curricula, and textbooks in favor of self-directed learning. Practiced by an enthusiastic community of homeschoolers, unschooling has recently attracted some media attention (MSNBC, NYT). Of course, unschooling raises some concerns: "If they are not made to do arbitrary and tedious schoolwork, children might not learn how to do difficult, uninteresting, and unpleasant work."
posted by myeviltwin at 1:13 PM PST - 147 comments

What's your favorite watering hole? Link to a real watering hole. In Africa. Live. With video and sound. And real animals. Best viewing times are dusk and dawn, Africa time (It's +8 hours from CST). Learn more about the feed here; click on "Nkorho Stream" in the upper left corner. Second link mentioned previously in a MeFi comment here. First link via; second link via.
posted by Doohickie at 1:11 PM PST - 38 comments

Youtubes of Dawkins lecturing from Lynchburg, VA, reading excerpts from 'The God Delusion' in Pt.1 & an entertaining Q&A session in Pt.2; in related news, Sam Harris elucidates the dangers of religious moderation...
posted by Rufus T. Firefly at 1:10 PM PST - 250 comments

S4 from NY to Seattle.
posted by hama7 at 6:18 AM PST - 52 comments

Astronomy 161 - an introduction to Solar System Astronomy. These are a set of lectures in progress now at Ohio State University. All materials are available on line - audio resources (direct or podcast through iTunes), movies and lecture notes. If you are interested in where you live, these beautifully delivered lectures are excellent.
posted by grahamwell at 4:29 AM PST - 7 comments

Look-in was a British TV and comics magazine that featured interviews, crosswords, etc. Of interest to those of us raised raised on 70s and 80s television, there was a wealth of gorgeously-rendered licensed comics material inside. These strips included Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Space: 1999, and Terrahawks. (Via)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 11:12 PM PST - 18 comments

Despite the occasional cheesy superimposed nude (nsfw), for the most part this photo series of images taken by Charles Bodi inside a decaying thermal generating station is quite nice; my personal favorite.
posted by jonson at 10:30 PM PST - 22 comments

Salegy is Malagasy pop music. Upbeat and lively. Sometimes dramatic. Jaojoby is the legend and Wawa are the young guns!
posted by pwedza at 9:43 PM PST - 8 comments

According to this site

• More than 700 Trillion BEEDIES or BIRI are smoked annually
• Indians smoke more than one trillion bidis every year.
• An experienced worker can roll 2,000 a day.

Step inside and learn more about these unrealistic stats!
posted by joelf at 9:20 PM PST - 63 comments

The Peacock : "We Challenge you to find a more Beautiful, Enlightening, and Inspiring Website on the Internet!! Please CLICK your Mouse HERE!"
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:58 PM PST - 58 comments

it, it, it's alive! social networking sites have a pulse. "The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him."
posted by localhuman at 6:10 PM PST - 32 comments

Photographer Clay Enos does his thing at Burning Man ....Burning Man is an event that is always going to attract interesting individuals. What better place to set up a "street studio". (some images NSFW)
posted by HuronBob at 2:31 PM PST - 37 comments

People are strange when you're a stranger.
posted by Robot Johnny at 12:51 PM PST - 60 comments

Withnail & I on the YouTube:

Drinking the Lighter Fluid
In the tearoom
Withnail and Danny argue about drugs
Withnail and the Telephone Box
Monty and I
Withnail's monologue in the rain

Withnail & I - A review, Sanjek on Withnail and I
Concerning film maker Bruce Robinson
Withnail & I - The Screenplay
Withnail & I  locations, Withnail and I  quotes and picturesand...
Kids, don't try this at home!--Regarding the Withnail & I drinking game
posted by y2karl at 11:58 AM PST - 49 comments

If you overdosed on being thankful yesterday, the Birmingham Complaints Choir or the Helsinki Complaints Choir might be an antidote. (YouTube alert) More on complaints choirs.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:28 AM PST - 24 comments

Former spy Alexander Litvinenko has died (more , more)
posted by Kwantsar at 11:18 AM PST - 64 comments

Clean water is a right: "The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published its annual report on human development. It denounces the world's complacent disregard for such unglamorous subjects as standpipes, latrines and the 1.8m children who die each year from diarrhoea because the authorities cannot keep their drinking water separate from their faeces. The study is both coldly analytical and angry..."
posted by kliuless at 11:11 AM PST - 18 comments

Blu-ray discs, video games, and a cure for cancer... Too bad PS3 owners are a bunch of "know-not" idiots... More here and here.
posted by disgustipated at 8:02 AM PST - 21 comments

Classic UK Hardcore Breakbeat videos. John Tab, a Washington DC-area Drum and Bass DJ, has been scouring you tube for classic UK hardcore and jungle videos from the early 90s and offering them up with commentary.
posted by empath at 6:34 AM PST - 52 comments

"The Conservative Party recognises, will measure, and will act on relative poverty". Following a Mail-baiting report from policy adviser Greg Clark MP which recommends that Tory poverty policy should take inspiration from Polly Toynbee instead of Winston Churchill, David Cameron weighs in. Toynbee responds.
posted by teleskiving at 4:13 AM PST - 13 comments

Not only does the Playstation 3 play Blu-Ray discs, it also knocks out the fat!
posted by melorama at 2:52 AM PST - 28 comments

Yusuf Islam has a new album . His last pop song was Peace Train. Before his conversion to Islam, he was Cat Stevens. Some ask: Is he a terrorist?
posted by growabrain at 2:37 AM PST - 66 comments

Blighted Homeland. "From 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons of uranium ore were dug and blasted from Navajo soil, nearly all of it for America's atomic arsenal. Navajos inhaled radioactive dust, drank contaminated water and built homes using rock from the mines and mills. Many of the dangers persist to this day." A series of articles and photo galleries examines the legacy of uranium mining on the Navajo (previously discussed here.) [Via Gristmill, BugMeNot.]
posted by homunculus at 1:27 AM PST - 13 comments

Lichen: The Fungus Meets the Alga. Beatrix Potter was an early proponent of this symbiotic life form. Once thought to be scabs of the gods, lichens can survive exposure in outer space and British churchyards. They can be antibiotic, hallucinogenic, reindeer food, and when steeped in urine make great dyes for tartans and tweeds. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "The beauty of lichens, with their scalloped leaves, the small attractive fields, the crinkled edge! I could study a single piece for hours. How they flourish! I sympathize with their growth."
posted by bobobox at 11:22 PM PST - 13 comments

The 100 Most Powerful Women in the world has been an education in showing me the beauty inherent in strength, particularly when a woman has embraced her own sense of power. Look at these red lips, these kohl lined eyes, this frank face full of mischief. These are Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Heads of State, powerful government officials, CEO's and more. Just reading their bios tells you so much about who they are and what they believe in. Would a similar collection of 100 men offer as much to ponder over and respect?
posted by infini at 10:12 PM PST - 95 comments

Women, know your limits.
posted by jonson at 9:26 PM PST - 59 comments

En tus brazos - a sweet tango. [flash]
posted by tellurian at 8:21 PM PST - 12 comments

BlogPulse keeps track of the most popular videos on the web, many of which have been featured in the blue recently. Are we trend setters or trend followers?
posted by leftcoastbob at 4:46 PM PST - 28 comments

Livingstones furniture for surrealist living. via Ursi's excellent blog
posted by hortense at 3:16 PM PST - 29 comments

Study turns human genetics on its head. "The genome is like an accordion that can stretch or shrink . . . so you have no idea what's normal. We have to think of genetics in an entirely different way. We're actually more like a patchwork of genetic code than bar codes that line up evenly. Everything we've been taught is different now."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:37 PM PST - 28 comments

Thankful to be alive (prematurely eulogized here), Art Buchwald presents his classic (and ever-more politically incorrect) Explaining Thanksgiving to the French column, written in the early 1950's and reprinted every year with varying introductions. Vive Le Kilometres Deboutish!
posted by wendell at 12:09 PM PST - 17 comments

How to log in from an internet café without worrying about keyloggers. (.pdf)
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:57 AM PST - 33 comments

The Night Andy Kaufman Sabotaged After Michael Richards flipped out at the Laugh Factory, some speculated that Kramer had an "Andy Kaufman moment" gone horribly wrong, but did you know that Richards was once a target of Kaufman's humor himself? On February 20, 1981, Andy Kaufman hosted ABC's late night comedy show, Fridays , but refused to stay on script during the live Broadcast. After deliberately blowing lines in several sketches, Kaufman instigated a fight during one sketch, by pouring water on Fridays cast member, Michael Richards. The next year, ratings for Fridays were so low that they asked Kaufman to host a second time to boost ratings. (More inside.)
posted by jonp72 at 10:56 AM PST - 58 comments

Another incredible cityscape drawn from memory by the amazing Stephen Wiltshire (previously featured). The same clip on YouTube for those who don't like wmv's.
posted by flabdablet at 6:58 AM PST - 41 comments

Ask yourself: Do you play banjo when you are alone? Have you played banjo first thing in the morning? Are you the butt of a million jokes? If you answered yes to any of these questions you may have a serious problem. Fortunately there's help: Banjo Players Anonymous. via
posted by Turtles all the way down at 6:52 AM PST - 52 comments

How's my niceness? Log on to... Apparently - there is not enough 'nice' in the world (not this nice, or this one) - but the generic 'nice', when someone just does something nice. These guys (shocking website - but anyway, I'm being nice), are trying to do something about it. Its fairly simple - their 'nice team' will roam around and give out tokens to people that they see being generous, polite, courteous etc and then, you'll be able to track these tokens on the web, and watch the spread of 'niceness'. I give it a week or two before someone registers nastytokens.com.
posted by mattr at 5:22 AM PST - 15 comments

Iraq: The War of the Imagination. "Anyone seeking to understand what has become the central conundrum of the Iraq war—how it is that so many highly accomplished, experienced, and intelligent officials came together to make such monumental, consequential, and, above all, obvious mistakes, mistakes that much of the government knew very well at the time were mistakes—must see beyond what seems to be a simple rhetoric of self-justification and follow it where it leads: toward the War of Imagination that senior officials decided to fight in the spring and summer of 2002 and to whose image they clung long after reality had taken a sharply separate turn." By Mark Danner. [Via Tomdispatch.]
posted by homunculus at 12:26 AM PST - 83 comments

Wee Planets. 360° panoramas warped to look like small planets. The perfect vacation destinations for the Little Prince.
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:54 PM PST - 20 comments

Igor Falecki is a pretty rockin' four-year-old drummer. But his legacy may one day be undone by this little one. (First two links = YouTube)
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:42 PM PST - 11 comments

Good day (again), Mr. Kubrick. Internet/YouTube sensation Brian Atene (previously) finally surfaces to share his story. As an added bonus, he wants to use his newfound fame to encourage fans to donate to the Christopher Reeve Foundation. (Main link YouTube, obviously)
posted by thatweirdguy2 at 8:53 PM PST - 35 comments

Maybe it's not really news because no one was killed, but you'd think that more people would notice when a massive explosion in suburban Boston totals 60 buildings, knocks out windows for a half mile around, knocks people out of bed in the middle of the night, and registers on the Richter scale 30 miles away.
posted by alms at 7:41 PM PST - 44 comments

Israel recognizes same-sex marriages^wn performed abroad. But even heterosexual Israelis are still often forced to marry abroad by Orthodox rabbis. Israel has partialy recognized same sex civil unions since 1994.^wp The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, and South Africa are the only other nations to legalize same sex marriage; however, most European nations recognize some form of civil union.^wp

Gay Palestinians often seek refuge in Israel since they may be tortured or killed by the Palestinian Authority; this continues dispite the fact that Jordanian law, as would be applied in the west bank, does not criminalize homosexuality. Israel sadly does not often grant gay Palestinians refugee status, forcing them to remain hidden within Israel.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:18 PM PST - 37 comments

The Last Flight of Scott Crossfield. Esquire imagines Scott Crossfield's last flight. (previous discussion; more inside)
posted by kirkaracha at 5:10 PM PST - 11 comments

How excellent is your animal? Animal Reviews may hold the answer. Light-hearted smileyness. via pharyngula of all places
posted by Sparx at 4:03 PM PST - 30 comments

This just in... FOX is reportedly shooting a two and a half hour pilot for a show whose working title is This Just In, which is described as being The Daily Show for conservatives. Joel Surnow, co-creator of "24" is behind the show and has been quoted as saying " [t]he way I look at it, almost every comedy show or satire show I see uses the same talking points against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The other side hasn't been skewered in a fair and balanced way." Oh really?
posted by Effigy2000 at 1:14 PM PST - 139 comments

"Sit down, shut up, and listen to Ragtime!" Ragtime at the Library of Congress.
posted by trip and a half at 12:38 PM PST - 8 comments

To go along with all these turkey posts, Cranberries are good for you. And the people who sell them aren't your usual agribusiness(pdf). (As for that canned cranberry sauce... we've discussed it before.) And they've got a blog! Ooops... I mean bog. Hey, this ain't Pepsi Blue.
posted by wendell at 11:44 AM PST - 16 comments

The Forbes Fictional 15 has been updated for 2006, witnessing energy and defense tycoons like Tony Stark and Oliver Warbucks high on the list and notable perennials like Lex Luthor sliding off. In new additions, Mr. Monopoly has done very well with recent real estate prices rising, and Prince Abikaliki of Nigeria pops up to #10 despite recent legal troubles.
(Metafilter covered the Fictional 15 in 2005 and 2002.)
posted by blacklite at 11:42 AM PST - 19 comments

The best job in the world... Jebus let it be true!
posted by xmattxfx at 11:19 AM PST - 25 comments

The King's Kunstkammer - en vogue in Renaissance Europe, kunstkammers were status symbols of kings, vast collections of art, curiosities, and scientific and natural objects. This is a partial reconstruction of the Royal Danish Kunstkammer, established by King Frederik III in the mid-1600s. Exploring the collection's 250 objects offers insight into princely preoccupations of the era.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:03 AM PST - 13 comments

Karolina Sobecka has made animations of a running tiger (Wildlife) and violent cartoon hijinks (Chase), which she projects onto city landscapes from a moving car. (Embedded Quicktime.) She's got a site full of her other projects, including a ton of nifty commercial work.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:08 AM PST - 16 comments

Hundreds of hand-drawn turkeys. Teaching assistant for a Psych class is on copier duty: multiple-page midterm for a class of over 700. Appends "Draw a turkey" to the last page of the test. Here are the results. Gobble. [via mefi projects]
posted by brownpau at 9:46 AM PST - 61 comments

People walking in. The downside of recording yourself dancing or playing the air guitar or wrestling with a teddy bear or impersonating your relatives is that your parents might walk in during the recording. [Youtube, Safe]
posted by fstutzman at 8:30 AM PST - 24 comments

In the Womb: Animals is an upcoming National Geographic special that does for animals what the 1983 broadcast of NOVA's Miracle of Life (and the 2001 update, Life's Greatest Miracles) did for our appreciation of fetal development. Lennart Nilsson would be proud.
posted by scblackman at 7:52 AM PST - 11 comments

Don't pull out!!! Screwed by Bush (NSFW).
posted by landis at 7:40 AM PST - 24 comments

Dog Police.
posted by empath at 6:39 AM PST - 32 comments

Let's Go To the Mall!! Could Robin Sparkles be the patron saint of Black Friday? Ok, so maybe her myspace page is just marketing for a CBS sitcom, but her video is one of the funniest, most accurate (and too damned catchy for its own good!) 80's video parodies in recent memory. The show's not bad, either. Probably the best comedy not on NBC right now.
posted by ericbop at 5:55 AM PST - 41 comments

Talking Turkey Thanksgiving for those in the $1.5 billion turkey business is as insane as Black Friday for retailers and Christmas for ministers. Ever wonder what a day in the life of getting your favorite bird is like? By the way, your average run-of-the-mill Butterball ain't the only game in town anymore. Do you prefer free-range or antibiotic-free turkey? Fine. How about the Heritage Turkey: a behemoth that boasts the ability to actually fly, looks like a B-1 Bomber on the wing, and has darker, more succulent gourmet meat. It never hurts to have any pictures, either. Happy Thanksgiving!
posted by PreacherTom at 5:09 AM PST - 26 comments

How to harvest a turkey. [via Make]
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 4:28 AM PST - 8 comments

Sid Meier's 1990 DOS game Railroad Tycoon has been released as a free download. There's no need to worry if you don't actually have a vintage DOS machine available, as it's packaged with an Windows installer that includes the full game, PDF manual, and DOSBox emulator. [via]
posted by Rhomboid at 4:25 AM PST - 28 comments

Two Atriplex albums finally released! [via mefi projects] If, like me, you're a Fripp and Eno fanboy - give our very own Jimbob a listen. Lovely work.
posted by flabdablet at 3:00 AM PST - 11 comments

Boris Weisfeiler disappeared in Chile. The authorities claim that the experienced outdoorsman had drowned trying to ford a four-foot river. Uncovered documents tell a different story - that Pinochet's military had mistaken the vacationing mathematics professor for a "Jewish spy" and sent him as a political prisoner to the 37,000 acre German expatriate Nazi apocalyptic cult enclave of Colonia Dignidad. There, he was kept alive for at least two years before Paul Schaefer, the founder of the enclave, a Luftwaffe nurse and a serial child molester, most likely had him killed.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:53 AM PST - 20 comments

1962 Fallout Shelter handbook. (more about nuclear survival and shelters, if that kind of thing worries you).
posted by IronLizard at 12:00 AM PST - 18 comments

Babyfrutz is just one of many cute and funny baby videos on youtube.
posted by delmoi at 9:29 PM PST - 52 comments

A blog dedicated to American sports uniforms may not sound that enthralling but when you discover it was conceived and written by Paul Lukas of Inconspicious Consumption fame it suddenly becomes a hell of a lot more attractive. For easy access into this world of minutiae try starting here.
posted by meech at 8:45 PM PST - 12 comments

Steam Train Maury caught the Westbound home. The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind and you won't find no policemen there.
posted by orthogonality at 5:24 PM PST - 38 comments

The Trash Princess: Why Americans love to hate Paris Hilton. "You don’t need to share Osama bin Laden’s view of America to see that Paris mirrors us at our contemporary worst. But something still doesn’t compute: Why, if Paris says so much about us, do Americans—not just college professors and the commentariat but celebrity watchers and tabloid junkies—hate her so much? And why, if she is so offensive, is she so ubiquitous?"
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 5:21 PM PST - 140 comments

Teen goes nuclear (but in a good way).

Thiago's mom, Natalice Olson, initially was leery of the project, even though the only real danger from the fusion machine is the high voltage and small amount of X-rays emitted through a glass window in the vacuum chamber -- through which Olson videotapes the fusion in action.

posted by spock at 5:14 PM PST - 31 comments

Why does Bill O'Reilly hate black people nerds?
posted by bardic at 4:41 PM PST - 63 comments

Magic Butter produce NSFW flash cartoons. Don't believe me? Have a look at Miss Muffy and the Muff Mob - Lubin' Da Hole Wit 'Sco or Porkchops - Approaching Pork Horizon (Part Two).
posted by tellurian at 4:04 PM PST - 14 comments

U.S. Soldiers Taunting Iraqi Children with Bottled Water youtube
posted by lazaruslong at 3:10 PM PST - 128 comments

Stan Meyer invented a water powered car that estimates showed could travel from one US coast to the other on 22 gallons of water. He shows the in car in operation in this old news clip. So what ever happened to him? He died after eating at a restaurant on March 21, 1998. An autopsy report showed the cause of death to be poisoning.
posted by banished at 2:40 PM PST - 163 comments

Do not cuddle with the Giant Amazonian Centipede, no matter how strong the temptation may be. Fully grown they are as long as an adult human's forearm, and gleefully feed on small critters (youtube), going so far as to snag bats out of the air (google video) & devour them on the spot.
posted by jonson at 2:09 PM PST - 131 comments

Recombinant Activated Factor VII --the Food and Drug Administration said that giving it to patients with normal blood could cause strokes and heart attacks... the Army's faith in the $6,000-a-dose drug is based almost entirely on anecdotal evidence and persists despite public warnings and published research suggesting that Factor VII is not as effective or as safe as military officials say. ...
posted by amberglow at 2:08 PM PST - 17 comments

Buzzfeed. Aggregating hot topics on the web.
posted by liam at 11:42 AM PST - 38 comments

Murder Update: "Syria's Lebanese allies are trying to undermine the Hariri investigation from within, and are expected to escalate their efforts very soon, maybe even this week."
posted by kliuless at 11:19 AM PST - 8 comments

Robert Altman, RIP. The Director of Nashville, Mash, and A Prarie Home Companion has passed on.
posted by mattbucher at 9:00 AM PST - 126 comments

The Power of PowerPoint The US Army loves it and posts a lot of PPT material online. It has some odd uses: A few weeks after Jeffrey's Nov. 14 burial....soldiers arrived at her home and presented an hourlong PowerPoint presentation on the details. Sometimes it doesn't work: Flaws Cited in Effort To Train Iraqi Forces As previously noted here, design guru Edward Tufte has issues with the wisdom and effects of using PowerPoint. Of course, others disagree.
posted by etaoin at 8:00 AM PST - 63 comments

Autodidactic goodies on a budget: Free computer books and online lectures, seminars and instructional materials from a variety of renowned institutions.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:05 AM PST - 19 comments

E is for Engage. Captain Jean Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise sings the Alphabet Song.
posted by four panels at 5:46 AM PST - 32 comments

Fritz Haber's story is the story of the double edged sword of science. He won the Nobel prize in 1918 for his groundbreaking work in breaking the nitrogen cycle for Germany's WWI efforts, but it's been estimated that two out of every five people now living would not have been born if it weren't for artificial fertilizers created using his process. He also spent much of the war developing poison gases; first chlorine (after watching its first use, Haber's wife committed suicide) and later Zyklon B (the cyanide insecticide later used against his fellow Jews in concentration camps). He died alone and in poverty in Switzerland. But the lessons of his life haven't quite been forgotten.
posted by Plutor at 5:07 AM PST - 17 comments

Crime and Punishment, Online Style Long a bastion of metaverse fantasies, avatars competing for style, and commercial dreams, Second Life has become a phenomenon. Lately, though, things are going a bit awry. Hacking attempts have been common, with the latest shutting things down only a few days ago. To address this crime, the SL crew is looking into creating a virtual FBI. Dibs on the Scully avatar.
posted by PreacherTom at 5:05 AM PST - 8 comments

Ottobib does what it sets out to do very well: take a list of ISBN numbers, the international standard book number system, and generates citations for you. It's as if it is automatically making bibliographies. (ha! get it!) Currently supporting the MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style citation formats.
posted by ztdavis at 4:19 AM PST - 28 comments

Wierd tanks: Tank design has pretty much come to the point where all tanks are alike. They are mostly 60 ton machines with single turret with a 120-125 mm main gun. A number of different approaches has been tried through history, tough. One is the the heavy multiturreted Soviet T-35 from the 30s. Another take is the Swedish S-tank from the 60s, which did away with the turret altogether. A bit more conventional, but pretty much a one-nation tailor-made design is the Israeli Merkava, which is balanced heavily in favour of crew survivability with the engine in front and the ability to carry along a few infantrymen. The strangest of the bunch is the Russian WWI Czar tank, but just a tad impractical, standing 9 meters tall.
posted by Harald74 at 3:36 AM PST - 39 comments

Sick, scum, bloodstained trash [see more tags] . . . . Now that O.J.'s book has been cancelled, the book's Amazon page has become a virtual spitoon memorial wall for this "ill-considered project." One thing's for sure: O.J. did it! Or he didn't. Well, you can discuss it on over 320 forums. Or here, for that matter.
posted by spitbull at 8:00 PM PST - 71 comments

WhichBudget.com: a site that helps you find a low cost airline flight for your destination
posted by champthom at 6:24 PM PST - 40 comments

"I was in Dallas when we got the son of a bitch and I was in Los Angeles when we got the little bastard."

Film-maker Shane O'Sullivan has spent the last three years investigating the assassination of Bobby Kennedy in 1968. He has uncovered new evidence that at least three CIA agents were in the hotel the night he died. Tonight we [BBC's Newsnight programme] show the findings and ask could CIA agents have had something to do with the murder of RFK?

posted by orthogonality at 4:30 PM PST - 75 comments

Roger Eagle is one of the great, unsung heroes of the British music scene. Over a period of twenty five years or so, he was responsible for not one, not two, but three legendary music venues, each of which defined their particular era. Still fondly remembered.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:57 PM PST - 4 comments

The Harvard University Worklife Wizard , created by an international team of journalists, economists, and statisticians, is Barbara Ehrenreich's wet dream. It's also a fantastic resource that has flown pretty much under everyone's radar. The Worklife Survey drives the constantly-revised, constantly-refined Salary Comparison Tool, which is always hungry for more data about employment from around the world. And when they say they want data from everyone, they mean it-- there's even a VIP Salary Checker that pits the wages of the Yankees against those of the Red Sox. (Plus if you take the survey, you can apparently earn a chance to win a trip to South Africa). Personally, I love the Workplace Horror Stories (and there's a competition there too). I can't look at a nail clipper the same way now.
posted by yellowcandy at 12:22 PM PST - 26 comments

Sites that know what you want before you do The web is transforming from a paradigm of self-orchestrated searching to a world in which your shopping cart is full before you login.
posted by AVandalay at 11:15 AM PST - 43 comments

What Makes a Muslim Radical? Gallup polls 9000 Muslims in 9 countries and separates the Moderates from the Radicals. Most of the results are counter to "Conventional Wisdom". The most important stuff is on the last page of 5, including the methodology for deciding who was radical and who was moderate (in small print). Let's all get out our copies of How to Lie With Statistics and see if this survey is fatally flawed, shall we?
posted by wendell at 11:00 AM PST - 41 comments

According to CNN, the US Mint is coming out with a new dollar. Apparently collectors just hung onto the Sacagawea dollar coin. Let's also not forget what happened to the Susan B. Anthony (Wikipedia) which many thought was a quarter. Speaking of, not only is the Mint making the dollar over again, they're taking the idea that worked with the Quarter. They're going to put different presidents on the new dollar. More coins, if you thought I didn't say "dollar" enough.
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 9:52 AM PST - 85 comments

I Know I'm Not Alone: 10 minute embedded video interview of Michael Franti regarding his jaunt to Iraq (and Palestine/Israel), originally broadcast on CBC's The Hour.
posted by edgeways at 9:30 AM PST - 16 comments

Michael ("Cosmo Kramer") Richards loses his mind. On stage at the Laugh Factory in L.A. last Friday, Richards flipped out at heckler and launched into a stream of racist taunts, all caught on video. The Seinfeld Curse strikes again.
posted by jonson at 9:05 AM PST - 449 comments

Galactus is Coming! Galactus is coming to eat your planet, and nothing can be done to stop him! There is only one way to be saved!
posted by brownpau at 8:42 AM PST - 28 comments

Wikipedia Brown - a minimystery for the internet generation.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:59 AM PST - 37 comments

Dekotora photo galleries. They're big. They're bad. They're dekotora ("decoration trucks"). [via Bifurcated Rivets]
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:53 AM PST - 12 comments

It's the season once again for the annual dolphin drives in Japan, the appallingly cruel (see "Les massacres" video) practice of herding into shallow waters and brutally slaughtering these highly intelligent, self-aware and emotional creatures. There are those trying to stop it, and should you be so inclined, you can sign their petition.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:33 AM PST - 62 comments

Where are you going? Where we came from. Where have we come from? Every place and no place, so come, let’s go.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:20 AM PST - 12 comments

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Belshaw Donut Robot (Model 42.)
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:16 AM PST - 48 comments

Winners of an international poster competition to raise awareness about prostitution (probably NSFW). Quanto "wants to arouse new reflections to bring forward a topic that tends more and more to hide and become unconspicuous," by "attempting to explore the meaning of the word "prostitution" both from a moral and a sexual standpoint." 200 more entrants. the via is also teh NSFW .
posted by Rumple at 12:13 AM PST - 26 comments

How much is a penny worth today? Oh, about $0.0105465. Of course, it costs more than that to produce them. Is the penny worth keeping? The old copper penny had bactericidal qualities. You could drop a copper penny in a glass of wine to discern its nature. They were the subject of various high-school chemistry experiments. According to some, they were excellent conductors of luck. And the new zinc pennies? Their melting point is lower, and they don't have the same ring to them. Some people like them, others like to eat them. What are they good for? Not much. The time has come to abolish the penny.
posted by sfenders at 9:26 PM PST - 75 comments

What will be the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the next 50 years? As part of their 50th anniversary celebration, the New Scientist asked 70 prominent minds for ideas on the subject. You can read the thoughts of scientists like Freeman Dyson, Benoit Mandelbrot and Jane Goodall individually, or browse by topic. For example, eight thinkers have something to say about alien life. The links to browse by topic can be found at the beginning of the main link. Also, compare with this thread about similar predictions from 1950.
posted by jeffmshaw at 4:52 PM PST - 89 comments

The Death of the Upper East Side by Jay McInerney.
posted by four panels at 4:27 PM PST - 66 comments

SUNN O))).
posted by hama7 at 2:37 PM PST - 107 comments

Roger Corman's Fantastic Four movie had been lambasted by many as the absolute worst in superhero moviedom, at least until Elektra and Catwoman came along. Shelved after production, it's hard for the casually-interested nerd to find without having to deal with bootleg video dealers at cons. Thankfully, somebody put it up on the internet in handy Flash video: Part One | Part Two.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 2:29 PM PST - 45 comments

Kissinger declares Iraq can't be won. Rep. Hangel, incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means, proposes to reinstate the draft.
posted by bukharin at 1:30 PM PST - 91 comments

The Rhythm & Blues Review is a one+ hour Google video clip of a 1955 Apollo show featuring Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway -- and at 1.05, Miss Rhythm herself, blues diva Ruth Brown singing her signature song, Teardrops From My Eyes. Ruth Brown sadly passed away on Friday. [More on Ruth Brown]
posted by madamjujujive at 10:30 AM PST - 15 comments

The largest archive of Nazi prison camp records, which has been closed for 50 years, is going public in May 2007. The International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany consists of 16 miles of files in six nondescript buildings in the German spa town and contains the fullest record of Nazi persecutions in existence. This past April Germany finally agreed to open access to the archive, ending a nasty diplomatic dispute between the United States and Germany.
posted by ericb at 10:14 AM PST - 19 comments

Freesledding looks a lot easier than snowboarding. Some short video clips:

• Finding a line through the woods
• Obligatory big air shot
• Mastering the face plant

posted by mecran01 at 7:04 AM PST - 39 comments

Missing presumed tortured More than 7,000 prisoners have been captured in America's war on terror. Just 700 ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Between extraordinary rendition to foreign jails and disappearance into the CIA's "black sites", what happened to the rest?
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 6:59 AM PST - 22 comments

Carusobot. Warren Ellis on the semiotics of shades.
posted by srboisvert at 2:49 AM PST - 34 comments

"I'm not a Christian, and I have my doubts about being Jesus' descendant,' says garlic farmer Toyoji Sawaguchi. "Somehow I just can't picture Jesus, a great man, as my ancestor.' Bucolic Shingo, formerly Herai, a tiny village in northeast Japan, is believed by some to be the final resting place of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Photos of His grave can be found here.
posted by maryh at 12:34 AM PST - 37 comments

Monkey glands. More monkey glands. Monkey glands ahoy. More glands than you can shake a monkey at. More fun than a barrel of monkey glands.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:00 PM PST - 17 comments

With hundreds of die hard PS3 fans camped outside Metreon, site of the San Francisco Playstation store and home of the official US launch for the Playstation 3, PC Gamer magazine showed up and presented one die-hard PS3 fan with arguably the hardest choice he'll ever have to make; to give up the right to own (or be gifted) a Playstation 3 for the next three years in exchange for a free $7,500 custom-built Falcon PC and "a better gaming experience." Here's what happened and here's the signed contract.
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:30 PM PST - 39 comments

To celebrate Tom Cruise's wedding, ABC News reprints the 1992 Ted Koppel interview with Cruise's best man, and spiritual leader, Religious Technology Center chairman David Miscavige. It was his first and last significant interview, and you can see why.
posted by Arcaz Ino at 7:47 PM PST - 81 comments

Your real name and all ten of your aliases are on the AOL mailing list. Or you’re an extreme computer geek and your mother is getting quite irate about the hundreds of used CDs cluttering up her basement. (And your non-payment of rent. And the smell…) Or your alternative-punk-Celtic-rap band’s release was tragically unappreciated by the public. Whatever, you have piles of CDs sitting around. You’ve followed this advice on how to minimize CD use and know that recycling CDs is not as easy as it should be, and maybe isn’t even possible in your country. What options do you have? Well, these people are collecting a million AOL CDs and intend to dump them off at AOL’s corporate headquarters. These people make clocks from them, and you could too. Or you could use them to make an ambient floor or table lamp, a throne, a photo frame, a really huge mobile, a disco ball, shingles for your tree house, or quite a few other things, ranging from postcards to bowls to spinning tops. Or you could play a quick game of disk hockey with a friend (that is, if you have time before your mum gets home).
posted by orange swan at 6:57 PM PST - 11 comments

This Israeli process could turn the gigantic oil shale deposits of the US into the largest energy production in the world, outstripping the Middle East's role and dramatically altering the world economy to be even MORE US-centric.
posted by Kickstart70 at 6:55 PM PST - 39 comments

Bagger 288 eats bulldozers. The largest land vehicle in the world (yes, bigger than the NASA crawler-transporter, with its storied history) looks like it escaped from a post apocalyptic thriller, featuring an excavating blade 22 meters in diameter. The world's biggest vehicle overall, meanwhile, is delivering Christmas presents, which seems less macho than strip mining 76,000 cubic meters of coal a day.
posted by blahblahblah at 3:02 PM PST - 49 comments

"I feel guilty because I have friends that are working really hard to get into television or acting and I'm just sitting here having not done anything more than enjoy playing with gadgets."

Susi Weaser (24) makes little one-minute gadget reviews and posts them on YouTube . The BBC must have liked them - because they hired her.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:38 PM PST - 18 comments

All I wanted was a pepsi.
posted by RTQP at 9:20 AM PST - 101 comments

A concession e-mail to returning House Rep Satveer Chaudhary from loser Rae Hart Anderson. [via]
posted by bardic at 8:20 AM PST - 186 comments

Peter Dench is a London photojournalist whose portfolio features work on some fun and quirky themes. He won the 2004 World Press Photo for his series called drinking of england. Some other series, like nudestock, are NSFW.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:09 AM PST - 19 comments

Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz , Witkacy for short. Artist, photographer, absurdist playwright, surrealist novelist, philosopher, witness to the Russian revolution, art theoretician and critic, the Great Malinowski's closest friend, drug fiend, and by most accounts a raving maniac and self-involved pain in the ass. His greatest novel was sadly prophetic: fleeing east to escape the invading Nazis, and then hearing the news that the Communists were also on the way, he slit his wrists on September 18, 1939 in the village of Jeziory, a martyr and victim to his obstinate belief in the freedom and independence of man against the bankruptcy of ideology and the coming wave of totalitarianism.
Previously here, but this guy's work is just too bizarrely compelling, and his legacy too obscure, to not get a little bit more attention.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:21 AM PST - 16 comments

Jamiel Terry, the gay son of charismatic anti-gay activist and Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, wrote an article for Out magazine about growing up in a fundamentalist household. Randall Terry responded to his son's article. Interviews with Randall and Jamiel about the exchange.
posted by Falconetti at 10:18 PM PST - 106 comments

Poop-Freeze™ is a specially formulated aerosol freeze spray that, upon contact, forms a frosty film on dog poop (or cat poop) to harden the surface for easy pick-up.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:24 PM PST - 45 comments

The guy who does the xkcd webcomic is looking for the Best Thing (Evah!), The Fairest (of them all... may contain boobies but it's mostly scenery) and The Funniest (for MeFites suffering 'img tag' withdrawl).
His as-of-the-moment Top 20 Best, Prettiest and Funniest. YMMV (I'm counting on it).
posted by wendell at 8:16 PM PST - 24 comments

PC World's 13 Most Embarrassing Web Moments I don't agree with them all but they did make me laugh and they kicked off the list with a winnah!
PS, your favorite embarrassing web moment sucks.
posted by fenriq at 6:48 PM PST - 48 comments

Lost has started to attract criticism lately over its tendancy to offer more questions than answers to its viewers. With that in mind, IGN has this week produced a lost of its Top 50 Lost Loose Ends.
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:22 PM PST - 96 comments

They call it "Speed Flying" but it may be better described as Paraskiing. Take a rugged and rocky mountain in the alps, say Mount Eiger or Mont Blanc, hike to the top or have your chopper take you there, then strap on your skis, your parachute, and half-ski, half-fly down [.mov] that [.mov] mofo [.wmv].
posted by jckll at 3:00 PM PST - 18 comments

Sonic Invaders - videogaming without the video. [Windows]
posted by Arcaz Ino at 2:50 PM PST - 6 comments

Emerging from the Mist: The Museum of the Haar. (being Friday, requires Flash)
posted by Rumple at 2:28 PM PST - 2 comments

Dick Meyer, editorial director of CBSNews.com, calls a duck a duck.

The men who ran the Republican Party in the House of Representatives for the past 12 years were a group of weirdos. Together, they comprised one of the oddest legislative power cliques in our history. And for 12 years, the media didn't call a duck a duck, because that's not something we're supposed to do.

posted by orthogonality at 1:41 PM PST - 64 comments

Ballmer: Linux Users Owe Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Seattle yesterday, that Linux infringes upon his company's intellectual property. Does this signal preparations for all out war against the open source community? Microsoft's recent acquisition of Novell was seen as an ominous sign. Or perhaps it's a sign that user friendly versions of linux such as Ubuntu threaten sales of Microsoft's problematic new VISTA OS, scheduled for release Nov. 30th for businesses and Jan. 30, 2007 for consumers?
posted by Skygazer at 12:00 PM PST - 79 comments

Bo Knew Football. On the eve of one of the most anticipated college football matchups in decades, Bo Schembechler, the storied ex coach of the Michigan Wolverines passes away. The Michigan/OSU game is one of the longest and most storied rivalries in the history of sports. His battles with Woody Hayes are the stuff of Wolverine and Buckeye legend. Hail to the Victors, Bo.
posted by spicynuts at 11:32 AM PST - 39 comments

Your new pet. A new species? Dogs and cats are old news.
posted by SilverTail at 11:21 AM PST - 77 comments

Owl Multimedia Use your music to find new (Creative Commons licensed) music. OWL analyzes MP3s you feed it, from the specific part of the song you want to match, and will give you similar music to listen to. Requires a painless registration.
posted by livii at 10:39 AM PST - 4 comments

The UBS Bank calculated how long it takes an average worker around the world to earn enough to buy a Big Mac. Workers in Tokyo were the fastest: Tokyo 10 minutes, New York 13 minutes, London 16 minutes, Hong Kong 17 minutes, Paris 21 minutes, Moscow 25 minutes, Rome 39 minutes, Beijing 44 minutes, Manila 81 minutes, Jakarta 86 minutes. Is this a fair comparison? Is it something that will change people's perspective about the rest of the world?
posted by PetBoogaloo at 9:24 AM PST - 53 comments

Sheep dash How quick are your reactions? (FFF)
posted by Turtles all the way down at 9:24 AM PST - 28 comments

One-button helicopter game for FFF.
posted by Mister_A at 9:04 AM PST - 37 comments

FridayFlashFun Test your skill with the mouse wheel. Instructions in French, but roll your mouse wheel forwards and back to climb the ladder, then post your best time. Sorry, but doesn't seem to work on a Mac with mousewheel for some stupid reason
posted by derbs at 8:36 AM PST - 25 comments

Is the web fuelling a crisis in politics? Matthew Taylor, Blair's chief strategy advisor has commented "as a citizen" that the "net-head" culture of political criticism is fuelling a crisis in politics where the populace is "increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government." One of his chief targets is the blogosphere, because he says bloggers are like teenagers - demanding, but "conflicted" about what they actually want.
posted by talitha at 8:09 AM PST - 37 comments

"A Console To Make You Wiip: How the Nintendo Wii will get you emotionally invested in video games." Exploring the Wii from the aspect of William James' essay, "What is an emotion?" James contends that all emotions are rooted in one's physical state, e.g. goosebumps when spooked, and blushing while embarassed. Can the overt physicality of playing the Wii make it a more emotional experience?
posted by frecklefaerie at 7:42 AM PST - 31 comments

Stalin's death camps killed more people than Hitler's. America's army in 1939 was smaller than Poland's. The casualties of the 1944 Warsaw uprising were the equivalent of the September 11th, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre, every day for two months.

Whatever you think about the second world war is wrong.
posted by four panels at 7:15 AM PST - 122 comments

Flash friday fun for those who dislike seasonable vegetables. From the great bloggorrah.
posted by tiny crocodile at 6:07 AM PST - 9 comments

Michael Hughes takes cheap souvenirs, and then takes photographs with them superimposed over the real thing. A Flickr photo set.
via Wired's Table of Malcontents
posted by Bugbread at 5:47 AM PST - 30 comments

New "Hi - tech" passport cracked. Standards for the new passports were set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 2003 and adopted by the waiver countries and the US. The UK Home Office has adopted a very high encryption technology called 3DES - that is, to a military-level data-encryption standard times three. However they used non-secret information actually published in the passport to create a 'secret key'. That is the equivalent of installing a solid steel front door to your house and then putting the key under the mat.
posted by adamvasco at 3:49 AM PST - 51 comments

"I don't have any more babes." After offering fans $75 each to show up, Martin Scorsese's film crew prettifies the front row [Coral Cache] of NY's Beacon Theatre for the Rolling Stones' 2007 documentary. Are the boys — not to mention their audience [PDF] — getting a little long in the teeth, or can they rock for ages?
posted by cenoxo at 7:55 PM PST - 71 comments

Ban of all Bans? is this really all about health?
posted by brandz at 7:36 PM PST - 186 comments

Animusic! (youtube) Animusic! Neat animation.
posted by disclaimer at 7:36 PM PST - 11 comments

OOBLECK!
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:35 PM PST - 17 comments

121 years ago today Louis Riel was hanged. A lost poem he wrote for his jailer has a new home at the University of Saskatchewan.
posted by arse_hat at 5:38 PM PST - 17 comments

WARNING: They will resize your browser. (Clever HTML/Javascript. Firefox recommended)
posted by lemonfridge at 3:52 PM PST - 62 comments

Not just for longevists anymore. In addition to prolonging lifespan by 30 percent, resveratrol apparently doubles endurance, giving you the reduced heart rate and energy-charged muscles of a trained athlete... if you're a rat. It's contained in red wine, and the health-food industry is claiming that resveratrol is the wine component responsible for the "French Paradox." If so, it'll be because of sirtuins, "the anti-aging enzymes." Are all these doctors quacks? (previously)
posted by anotherpanacea at 3:25 PM PST - 33 comments

Mattingly Global, by Mary Mattingly, and Greetings From the Salton Sea, by Kim Stringfellow -- two web projects featured in the International Center of Photography's Ecotopia exhibit.
posted by jrb223 at 3:19 PM PST - 4 comments

Avalanche transceivers have become an essential piece of technology for people who spend time in avalanche terrain. Beacons, as they're also known, operate on an international standard frequency and can be used to find other transceivers (hopefully still attached to people) buried under snow, giving rescuers a chance to find victims before they suffocate. [more inside]
posted by mistermoore at 3:08 PM PST - 19 comments

Animator vs. Animation II [Previously]
posted by econous at 2:35 PM PST - 13 comments

A Good Night's Rest inside a Work of Art!
posted by Lotto at 2:18 PM PST - 3 comments

The People You Meet When You Walk Down the Street...
A small slice of Atlanta street culture...
via Peachtree Screed.
posted by jpburns at 12:39 PM PST - 22 comments

Milton Friedman has died. One of the most famous economists to come out of the Chicago school, his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom was a straightforward challenge to the predominant Keynesian model that government intervention was frequently necessary to prevent market failures, arguing instead that the way to true political freedom was through economic freedom. He was a devout monetarist and although conventional wisdom conflates conservatism with laissez-faire economics, he described his own philosophy as liberal in the Enlightenment sense of the word. His 1980 book Free to Choose, written with his wife Rose in conjunction with the PBS series of the same name, explained in layman's term his philosophy of how a truly free market works for the benefit of society.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 11:02 AM PST - 122 comments

Only 35 days left until the Global Orgasm. Remember that you're doing it for Peace On Earth or Purity Of Essence or Projection Of Energy or whatever. Don't forget to visit the GlobalO Blog for more information.
posted by forrest at 11:01 AM PST - 51 comments

When Everybody Called Me Gah-bay-bi-nayss - an ethnographic biography of Paul Peter Buffalo, son of Ojibwa medicine woman and grandson of the great chief Pezeke. Buffalo died in 1977, but spent his last dozen years chronicling his heritage and the things the elders told him. Be sure to check out the entry on John Smith, a wonderful character more popularly known as Wrinkle Meat.
posted by madamjujujive at 10:48 AM PST - 8 comments

CNN's Glenn Beck to the United State's first-ever Muslim congressman: "[W]hat I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies'"
posted by chunking express at 8:56 AM PST - 164 comments

Muslim UCLA student tasered for not having ID
"It was beyond grotesque," said UCLA graduate David Remesnitsky of Los Angeles, who witnessed the incident. "By the end they took him over the stairs, lifted him up and Tasered him on his rear end. It seemed like it was inappropriately placed. The Tasering was so unnecessary and they just kept doing it."

Some additional coverage. Patriot act craziness or simple police overreaction?
posted by cgs at 8:28 AM PST - 358 comments

Jazz Pour Tous vous a presente Charles Mingus (via google video) Today I viewed the Time Magazine "allTIME 100 Recordings" (Nov13). I rarely spend much time with such lists because they rarely are more than fanlists, and this one is no exception. The Holy Three Albums of jazz were included, but no room for Charles Mingus or Eric Dolphy. So here, via a circuitous route that included this PopMatters review of a new release of Mingus material, I offer this video of the Mingus Sextet in Paris (Johnny Coles is absent). (more inside)
posted by beelzbubba at 7:44 AM PST - 19 comments

On the Eve of the Big Release Just in case you haven't drowned in the flood of stories about the new consoles, Businessweek is offering a few more. For the PS3, we have a summary article giving information on Sony's current situation, along with a 4 (out of 5) star review. In the Wii's corner, we have an interview with two of Nintendo's developers, who discuss the rationale behind the controller redesign, pricing, and keeping their gamers happy. Call it a little light reading before you hit the lines tonight.
posted by PreacherTom at 7:21 AM PST - 42 comments

In a rare interview out of character, Sacha Baron Cohen discusses his reaction to the controversy over Borat:

And the reason we chose Kazakhstan was because it was a country that no one had heard anything about, so we could essentially play on stereotypes they might have about this ex-Soviet backwater. The joke is not on Kazakhstan. I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist -- who believe that there's a country where homosexuals wear blue hats and the women live in cages and they drink fermented horse urine and the age of consent has been raised to nine years old."

Maybe this Kazakhstan doesn't exist--but Borat's antics sometimes aren't far off the mark from other parts of the world where gang-rape and stoning are meted out as punishment. Is it so silly to appreciate Borat as a comical icon from these dark corners of the world? Who is ignorant of what is really happening in the world--Cohen or his unwitting interviewees?
posted by Brian James at 1:37 AM PST - 148 comments

Mukthar Mai's blog has been making waves in the news. A young pakistani woman from a remote village, she was gang raped. Her attackers were meting out justice. In a patriarchal conservative culture like hers a woman's honor or izzat is her sole possession. Once lost, there is little left to live for. A BBC reporter transcribes her story into an Urdu language blog. Here are the first, second and the most recent excerpts of her story. To truly comprehend what her action means, consider this story of young Afghan women committing suicide by setting themselves on fire to escape from lives of sexual, physical and other abuse.
posted by infini at 11:18 PM PST - 32 comments

Al Jazeera English, the English-language sister network to Al Jazeera, launched worldwide this week. Familiar faces include Lt. Josh Rushing, who figured prominently in the documentary Control Room. Unfortunately, no cable system or satellite broadcaster in the U.S. is carrying the channel, but you can watch it online.
posted by homunculus at 7:43 PM PST - 80 comments

Interested in some explications of Emily Dickinson poems? Check this out. Biographical information on the Belle of Amherst.
posted by John of Michigan at 6:47 PM PST - 8 comments

Horns Inc.
posted by hama7 at 6:47 PM PST - 13 comments

The Art of Edgar Lissel " Lissel works with bacteria, using their photo-tactical characteristics for his images."
posted by dhruva at 6:14 PM PST - 2 comments

£10,000 in coins, arranged as dominoes, set into motion, filmed and posted to Google video.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:30 PM PST - 31 comments

How to make a crooked knife via mo-co-ta-gan. The Museum of Woodworking Tools has a very fine example.
posted by tellurian at 4:13 PM PST - 21 comments

"you belong in Hell" --that's the message being taught in Kearny, NJ, History teacher David Paszkiewicz's classes. ... At first Paszkiewicz denied he mixed in religion with his history lesson and the adults in the room appeared to be buying it, LaClair said. But then LaClair reached into his backpack and produced the CDs. At that point Paszkiewicz remarked, according to LaClair, "Maybe you're an atheist. ... (more here, including a link to some audio of it all)
posted by amberglow at 3:47 PM PST - 84 comments

The Corduroy Appreciation Club meets annually in New York on November 11, "because 11/11 is the date that most resembles corduroy." Pictures, as well as an interview with a corduroy fan who came all the way from the UK to the meeting.
posted by greatgefilte at 3:21 PM PST - 23 comments

In the grand Village Voice tradition of slagging off musicians for being white and/or harmless, VV scribe Chris Ott writes an irrationally antagonistic critique of Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, in an ostensbile concert review. Oh snap! Meloy's girlfriend Carson Ellis sticks up for him in the comments section!
posted by Bizurke at 2:16 PM PST - 98 comments

Macaca... or whatever my name is... S.R. Sidarth writes post-election column about his role in the Jim Webb/George Allen Virginia Senate race. In case you were interested... "The hairstyle inflicted upon me by two friends late one night also became newsworthy; for the record, it was intended to be a mullet and has since grown out to nearly the appropriate length."
posted by jonp72 at 1:19 PM PST - 25 comments

Hannes Kater is the drawing generator. Order now for a drawing of your choice, drawn to your text specifications. No charge!
posted by signal at 10:56 AM PST - 10 comments

"Please Stay Tuned For A Message From Your Savior." If yesterday's discussion of the Apocalypse was just not enough for you, consider Stephen Buell's Video. Video was originally published in 2004 as a five-issue mini-series from Lost in the Dark Press. The premise is simple. How might the modern world deal with an actual Second Coming? The trade collection, including improved artwork and concept sketches, will arrive in shops next Wednesday. For your further consideration, a 22-page preview has been provided.
posted by grabbingsand at 9:26 AM PST - 48 comments

My half year in hell... Foreign exchange students are often deceived and economically abused by their hosts, with incidents on the rise across the US. The CSFES reports often on these horror stories. Sadly, students are also treated horribly by the US government, even though academic experts say they are more essential than ever.
posted by yonation at 6:35 AM PST - 56 comments

wireless electricity is said to be possible by some researchers. the only question is: what will become of this industry?
posted by localhuman at 5:35 AM PST - 45 comments

"O.J. Simpson, in his own words, tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes," the network said in a statement. "In the two-part event, Simpson describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade."
posted by ®@ at 5:22 AM PST - 141 comments

Tip-Tip-Top of the Line It's pretty sad when $255,000 and 3.7 seconds for 0 to 62 is the bottom of the heap. That's the Ferrari Fiorano, joined in its exclusive club by such beauties as the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 ($319K, 3.4 sec). The group is led by the amazing Bugatti Beyron, which clocks the 0 to 62 in an astonishing 2.5 seconds and hits 188 mph in only 17 seconds; the damage: only $1.4 million. Here are more pix and models, just in case you haven't drooled enough.
posted by PreacherTom at 5:07 AM PST - 43 comments

"The watch shown could not exist." Would Neiman Marcus spend $200,000 to advertise an expensive watch that doesn't, and couldnt, exist? Magician James Randi thinks so. I am skeptical.
posted by The Deej at 9:00 PM PST - 132 comments

The Alaska Pacific River Forecast Center provides massive amounts of NWS remote weather station data on precipitation statewide. With avalanche season about to begin, these data are extremely useful to both amateur recreationists and snow professionals.
posted by mistermoore at 6:18 PM PST - 9 comments

"I" is for "Infidel" "Associated Press and New Yorker [Q&A] writer Kathy Gannon delivers an intimately observed history of Afghanistan from 1986 to the present. The longest-serving Western journalist in the region, Gannon overturns simplistic understanding of the country's politics in this eye-opening talk." [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha at 5:04 PM PST - 17 comments

Ready for '08? Survey USA is. They've done polls in all 50 states, with sixty different match ups. You can only view one paring for free, mine showed Condi Rice beating Barak Obama with something like 462 to 76. However, a large community site wouldn't have too much trouble iterating through all the options, at least that's what they figured at myDD. Of course, most of this is just name-ID at this point.
posted by delmoi at 4:26 PM PST - 52 comments

Humans are hard-wired to obsess over beauty. Being nice is, biologically, not enough.
posted by four panels at 3:27 PM PST - 60 comments

Good news for the world's forests. "...the researchers, using new analytical techniques, calculated that in the last 15 years forests had actually expanded in 22 of the 50 countries with the most forest, and that many others were poised to make the transition from deforestation to reforestation in the coming decades." Unfortunately, countries like Brazil and Indonesia aren't doing so well.....
posted by storybored at 2:42 PM PST - 31 comments

The Portraits of 42 American Presidents from Washington to Bush on a half inch strand of Black human hair is merely one of the World Art Miracles you'll find at worldartmiracle.com, the homepage of one Jin Y.H., micro artist. The site is also noticeable for some delicious Engrish phrases, such as "The length does not arrive the half-inch" and "The microscope descends to take the work."
posted by jonson at 1:56 PM PST - 20 comments

Youse is getting to old to cath mouse (disclaimer: loud southern ebonics). I love this woman - queen of the partially seen characters. Bring her back.
posted by Bravocharlie at 1:44 PM PST - 9 comments

Fly on the Wall is a collective of young creative filmmakers in Cape Town South Africa.
posted by engling at 1:34 PM PST - 3 comments

The latest on the so-called "Red Rain of Kerala." The authors of this study suggest the mysterious red biological material provides evidence of Panspermia. The BBC offers this updated look at the topic. (Previously discussed here on MeFi.)
posted by saulgoodman at 1:20 PM PST - 15 comments

A Timeline of Timelines
posted by jack_mo at 1:13 PM PST - 8 comments

Compassionate Slavery. A representative of the World Trade Organization proposes foreign corporate "stewardship" of workers in Africa from the moment they are hired until they die, describing it as "the best available solution to African poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory".
posted by Pastabagel at 12:30 PM PST - 24 comments

Tim Tagaris, a "netroots blogger", and David Sirota, a DC policy wonk turned blogger, both went to work for the Ned Lamont for Senate campign. Now they give their explanations for why Lamont lost. Regardless of your feelings about Lamont and Joementum, these fascinating inside stories provide insight into the internecine struggle for the future of the Democratic Party.
posted by orthogonality at 11:16 AM PST - 43 comments

Kant. Modern thought begins with Kant yet his work is dense and hard to understand. Perhaps this set of lectures, some 12 hours in total from the University of Glasgow will help. Titled 'Kant's Epistemology' they cover most of the subject matter of the Critique of Pure Reason - an extremely ambitious task. They are free and appear to be available only for a limited period. Perhaps worth downloading now - to savour when you have an few idle years.
posted by grahamwell at 10:13 AM PST - 91 comments

Eric Gill was a print-maker, sculptor, typographer and thinker [pdf]. An artist whose life has had quite a bit of drama associated with it. There is even a new society dedicated to parsing the impacts of his legacy.
posted by sciurus at 9:51 AM PST - 18 comments

Remember Third Voice, the controversial browser plug-in that let you add public notes to any website? Enough webmasters complained and it was shut down in 2001, after only two years in operation. Maybe attitudes have changed, because the folks at Trailfire are trying this idea again. Available for Firefox or IE.
posted by Who_Am_I at 8:25 AM PST - 42 comments

The rise and fall of the bus plunge story. [via slate] Bus plunge from Wikipedia. Bus Plunge the web site.
posted by fixedgear at 8:09 AM PST - 50 comments

From Broadband to Broadway Video bloggers are the newest phenomenon to go from online to the mainstream. For example, Amanda Congdon, former host of Rocketboom, has a new gig as an ABC contributor. In fact, major movie and TV studios are increasingly looking to the Web for new talent for both on and off-line projects. Here's a list (with pictures) of the up and comers.
posted by PreacherTom at 5:03 AM PST - 19 comments

"When you walk into a house that was sealed in the last couple of years of the plague, you can crack the door or window and it pops like a vacuum seal, and you walk in and there's surprisingly little dust..."

Among the quotes from "Ever Since the World Ended," a fake documentary about the 186 survivors left in SF following a slate-wiping pandemic. No idea if it's any good, but the documentary approach makes it creepy, because it doesn't feel far from home.
posted by cloudscratcher at 11:27 PM PST - 61 comments

Nerds Gone Wild
Bad movies. Bad TV. Bad actors. Bad blogs. LAN parties. High scores. Mixtapes. Role playing. Stalking. Pirating. We care. And we discuss.
posted by fenriq at 10:44 PM PST - 13 comments

The Spark Museum John Jenkins' collection of vintage wireless, radio, scientific and electrical equipment, including Crookes and Geissler tubes, Barlow wheels and other early electric motors, loudspeakers and many more oddball electrical devices. [via TeamDroid]
posted by mediareport at 8:35 PM PST - 9 comments

Skate Bording Girls. Disclaimers: flash clip, uncanny nudity.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:27 PM PST - 80 comments

How to regain control of a spooked camel. There really is a guide to everything on the internet, and it doesn't have to be computer-related either. How to get out of work. How to be a girl (for boys), and of course how to be a boy (for girls). How to disassemble a toilet. How to install a new toilet. How to display civic pride without sounding lame. How to set up a threesome (good luck with that one). How to kill your friend and steal his girlfriend. How to survive a long fall (presumably in case one of your friends throws you out of the window so he can get it on with your woman).
posted by clevershark at 6:42 PM PST - 27 comments

When the Earth passes through the remains of the comet Tempel-Tuttle this coming weekend, the peak of the Leonid meteor shower this year will be this coming Friday night. This year, however, "astronomers are predicting an unusual outburst of meteor activity" of 100-600 meteors per hour between 11:45 PM and 1:33 AM EST on the night of Saturday, November 18th and long before the moon rises. While not as exciting as past years, it should be a great night for a meteor shower.
posted by ztdavis at 6:00 PM PST - 48 comments

Australiafilter: The Australian High Court handed down its ruling today on the constitutionality of the Howard Government's new Industrial Relations laws, called 'Workchoices', deeming them constitutional by a vote of 5 to 2 (full text of the decision here). Two dissenters, Justices Michael Kirby and Ian Callinan, argued that upholding the laws changes the very nature of the Australian federal system and is "in contradiction of, what was intended and expressed in the constitution by the founders." Whilst bloggers and academics debate the nature of the laws and how fair or unfair they are, the simple fact now is that the laws are here to stay unless there is a change of Government at the 2007 federal election. Find out what it means for you as an employee from both the Howard Government's view and the Union's point of view so you can know your rights at work and decide for yourself.
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:19 PM PST - 24 comments

Ben takes a photo of himself every day.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:50 PM PST - 45 comments

Time Magazine has released its picks for the best inventions of 2006. Youtube beat out a vaccine that cures a STD that causes cervical cancer. Not to mention this extremely lifelike robot, this magic mirror, a wine-tasting robot and a shirt that simulates a hug!
posted by eunoia at 4:17 PM PST - 25 comments

An Otter Family Album — for over 20 years, zoologist/educator J. Scott Shannon has been observing the "Clan", five generations of ocean-going river otters living in the bay [YouTube] below the historic town of Trinidad on California's northwest coast.
posted by cenoxo at 2:40 PM PST - 25 comments

Do you hate David Blaine as much as I do? (~NSFW, auto-start, loud Flash video).
posted by JPowers at 2:13 PM PST - 71 comments

Shanty Town. An installation at The Lab 101 Gallery.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 1:30 PM PST - 6 comments

The Broker's Athletic Typewriter. Short film from 1905 showing a secretary taking revenge on her sleazy cmployer.
posted by paduasoy at 11:28 AM PST - 7 comments

Just who wrote "A Whiter Shade of Pale" will be determined in court it seems. Procol Harum's Gary Booker and Keith Reid, credited composers, are sued by organist Matthew Fischer. Lennon loved it. Perhaps you want to sing or play it?
posted by aiq at 11:03 AM PST - 60 comments

R.I.P. Doris Self, the world's oldest video game competitor. In 1983, she achieved a world record score of 1,112,300 points on the arcade game Q*Bert. Two years later, her record fell, but she was encouraged to continue playing by Pac-Man record holder Billy Mitchell, who delivered a Q*Bert arcade machine to her door. Doris would play Q*Bert five nights per week from 1-3:00 AM in the morning as an alternative to taking pills for sleeping. She continued playing Q*Bert competitively well into 2006.
posted by Otis at 9:19 AM PST - 20 comments

NobodyHere
posted by hama7 at 9:02 AM PST - 15 comments

An official reviewing absentee ballots in Florida (where else?) noticed that it looked like someone had raided an old stamp collection for the postage on one envelope. One stamp was from 1936 and another stamp had an inverted biplane. An authentic "Inverted Jenny" could be worth $150,000, but the ballot and envelope are sealed in a ballot box, which by law, can not be opened for 22 months and then must be destroyed.
posted by 445supermag at 8:03 AM PST - 43 comments

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer live, at California Jam. (Google video, approx. 53 minutes)
posted by Eideteker at 7:33 AM PST - 55 comments

The Bio Mapping tool allows the wearer to record their Galvanic Skin Response, which is a simple indicator of emotional arousal, in conjunction with their geographical location. By sharing this data we can construct maps that visualise where we as a community feel stressed and excited.
posted by jack_mo at 6:42 AM PST - 16 comments

Get your nits sucked!
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:23 AM PST - 22 comments

You got chocolate in my Google! How do you make websites better? Simple. Like Peanut Butter Cups, you just take two things that rock and mash them together. It's cheap, effective...and really gaining steam. Here's one example, along with a list of a ton of others.
posted by PreacherTom at 4:49 AM PST - 11 comments

“How could this happen to someone so good, so competent?” he said. “This war made me doubt the past. Was I wrong all those years, or was he just better back then? The Donald Rumsfeld of today is not the Donald Rumsfeld I knew, but maybe I was wrong about the old Donald Rumsfeld. It’s a terrible way to end a career. It’s hard to remember, but he was once the future.”

And for comparison, How did so many smart guys make such a mess of Vietnam?
posted by orthogonality at 2:14 AM PST - 98 comments

The invisible axe. Australian scientists build a real air guitar.
posted by bunglin jones at 10:43 PM PST - 15 comments

Bobby Fischer vs. the Union Bank of Switzerland: Chess master doesn't like his Swiss bank unilaterally closing his account. Letters go back and forth, lawyers get involved. Fischer posts all letters sent and received on his website. [Link goes to coral cache, original site is hosted at Geocities Japan. via namics weblog]
posted by slater at 10:12 PM PST - 42 comments

The Secret To Great Bread, according to Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery, is time. If you have 20 hours to spare, you can make a spectacular, no-knead loaf with the simplest of ingredients. Here's his recipe, and here's another. Of course, there are those who would decry the Staff of Life anyway you slice it, but even they can enjoy some hot gluten on yeast bread porn. via the monkies
posted by maryh at 9:57 PM PST - 47 comments

The Silent Penultimate Panel Watch Each and every day a comic strip abuses the use of the silent second-to-last panel.
posted by boo_radley at 9:33 PM PST - 24 comments

10-32 about the 10-3 of 10-codes.
posted by grytpype at 8:46 PM PST - 19 comments

Fans of Flight Simulators and Michinima might be familiar with the adventures of Bill and John. If you're not, download episode 1 along with the subtitles and and familiarize yourself with a very funny piece of machinima, even more impressive because it's not only in Lock On: Modern Air Combat, but in French to boot. Well they're back, winning Best Picture at the Machinima 2006 film festival, The Adventures of Bill Et John II. Browse the rest of the nominees and winners on the Machinima.com festival page.
posted by Lord_Pall at 7:52 PM PST - 7 comments

There's an interesting piece over at This American Life (titled "What's in number"). It touches on the previously discussed Lancet study and gives a better explanation of the methodology use. Be sure and check out Act II, where Marc Garlasco, former chief of high-value targeting at the Pentagon, visits Iraq to see some of the actual sites he helped plan to hit.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:46 PM PST - 24 comments

The flightless kiwi, in flight, finally.
posted by four panels at 6:53 PM PST - 85 comments

Cry Baby, I want you to go Tell Mama.
YouTubeFilter post. Trust me, it's worth it!
posted by Chuckles at 4:14 PM PST - 67 comments

Medianera is the spanish word for the wall that separates two buildings. When one of those buildings is knocked down, the remaining wall often carries impressions left behind by the now-demolished living space. Flickr pools: [1] [2].
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:30 PM PST - 28 comments

Delicious Arson at the Hog Rendering Plant? New York Pork, a Toronto based slaughterhouse, burned to the ground on November 6th. While the cause of the fire is still under debate, the photographs of the cleanup of more than 700 seared pig carcasses make for a disturbing Flickr slideshow.
posted by jonson at 2:13 PM PST - 37 comments

Grandma, we only need you to fill it up to this line.
Levy County, Florida, in the Good Old US of A is requiring drug tests of its library volunteers, most of whom are between 60 and 85 years of age. “It’s not like we are a high-risk group for coming in drunk or high or stoned or whatever.” This has, of course, put a dent in their volunteer pool (scroll down to "Municipalities"). Moody said that when the county signed the contract with First Lab to provide drug-testing a year ago, urine samples were the only means considered. "We didn't know that there were other options," Moody said.
posted by iurodivii at 1:58 PM PST - 57 comments

Conditions of the Working Classes in China is an essay that presents a Marxist perspective on the changes taking place in China. The author addresses the tensions between workers and employers, antagonisms between city workers and impoverished migrants from the countryside and the political fights between those who support the moves towards a market economy and those convinced that Mao had it right all along.
posted by jason's_planet at 12:45 PM PST - 31 comments

A self portrait by Lasse Gjertsen. Maybe you've also seen Hyperactive or the impressive Amateur, just some of many YouTube videos that play creatively with editing and animation. via VideoSift.
posted by dog food sugar at 10:54 AM PST - 11 comments

Panopticon : a type of prison, designed by a philosopher, that through a cunning scheme of probability, architecture and observation provides the 'sentiment of an invisible omniscience'.
posted by 31d1 at 10:01 AM PST - 51 comments

"V" makes a visit (and the Secret Service responds).
posted by moonbird at 9:34 AM PST - 44 comments

A month of the venerable, slow moving comic Mary Worth, precisely acted out by fans. Requires QT. via the equally venerable, slow moving memepool.
posted by Rumple at 9:21 AM PST - 29 comments

Did you know that some of the most famous paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, and Toulouse Lautrec were based on photographs? While some impressionists and post-impressionists publicly disparaged photography as mechanical, many others were using it as their secret weapon. The relationship between the two arts was complex and intertwined. (And turning the tables, check out this contemporary Russian woman who is recreating several famous paintings in staged photographs.)
posted by madamjujujive at 7:20 AM PST - 27 comments

Fear and Loathing in Mos Eisley. [Via MonkeyFilter.]
posted by homunculus at 1:24 AM PST - 46 comments

A year-by-year archive, from 1930 to the present, of every poignant, creepy, tacky, tragic, goofy, beautiful and, yes, kinda slutty cover of the magazine that started out as Astounding Stories of Super Science and became Analog, with lots of changes in between. [via the horse's neck]
posted by mediareport at 11:23 PM PST - 35 comments

(relatively) cheap fuel-cell cars.
posted by js003 at 8:44 PM PST - 15 comments

Donald Rumsfeld: The War Crimes Case and TIME: A lawsuit to be filed on Nov. 14th in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their alleged role in abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that one of the witnesses who will testify on their behalf is former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the one-time commander of all U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Karpinski… has issued a written statement to accompany the legal filing, which says, in part: “It was clear the knowledge and responsibility [for what happened at Abu Ghraib] goes all the way to the top of the chain of command to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ”. . . . Rumsfeld's resignation, they say, means that the former Defense Secretary will lose the legal immunity usually accorded high government officials. Previously: Chain of Command, (May 9, 2004); Interview with Abu Ghraib general, (November 8, 2005)
posted by spock at 7:09 PM PST - 67 comments

With malice towards all, Khushwant Singh has been one of the most ascerbic tongues in the English language, particularly in his editorship of the venerable yet now deceased Illustrated Weekly of India. Filled with Goan cartoonist Mario Miranda's stunning illustrations, short stories, photojournalism, scholarly articles and humor, I miss the touch of Indian society it kept for desis abroad.
posted by infini at 5:33 PM PST - 3 comments

The Google Book By V.C. Vickers, 1913. FAR! FAR away, the Google lives, in a land which only children can go to. It is a wonderful land of funny flowers, and birds, and hills of pure white heather.
posted by caddis at 5:02 PM PST - 38 comments

Boris Plotnikoff's Gasmask Collection, Heavy Rubber.
posted by hama7 at 3:15 PM PST - 11 comments

Don't let your kids use Easy Erasers or Magic Erasers...
posted by konolia at 2:14 PM PST - 122 comments

The Washington Stock Exchange. A stock exchange for political junkies.
posted by matkline at 1:46 PM PST - 22 comments

The Great War in the Air is a 69-part video project, clearly a labor of love, by one Jan Goldstein, a musician, painter, and publican. Overwhelmed? Here's a representative sample: Part 7, on the French ace Georges Guynemer. Please note: extensive use of YouTube. Many of the images seen in the film may be perused at earlyaviator.com.
posted by mwhybark at 1:16 PM PST - 11 comments

The Toriton Plus A new electronic music interface using water and light. (YouTube). Make your own. From Little-Scale, which is chock-full of cool and wonderous stuff.
posted by loquacious at 12:48 PM PST - 8 comments

The Bohlen-Pierce scale is a musical scale which has thirteen notes spread evenly across one and a half octaves, so that the highest note is three times the frequency of the lowest. Compare with the western twelve-tone scale, which has twelve notes spread evenly across one octave, where the highest note is twice the frequency of the lowest. Both are tempered scales, and both have close approximations to 'just intonations', meaning you could play the scales by plucking a string clamped at certain ratios like 1/2, 1/4, 5/3, etc. One of the independant co-inventors of the scale, John Pierce, was also a famous electrical engineer best known for inventing the communications satellite. You can listen to Pachelbel's Canon(midi link) rewritten in this scale.
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:46 PM PST - 45 comments

Genuine Home Made Brass Goggles Inspired by the brass goggles blog.
posted by delmoi at 12:28 PM PST - 18 comments

Are you tonedeaf? Take the (6-minute) test. via
posted by aberrant at 12:27 PM PST - 69 comments

Microsoft Firefox! (It's better now... like seriously!)
posted by AstroGuy at 12:08 PM PST - 24 comments

“Treating you with respect and honesty are the cornerstones of our reputation.” --unless you're gay, that is, for a Houston landscaper. Step 1: Turn down 2 gay customers. Step 2: Watch furor ensue. Step 3: Profit (to the tune of $40,000 in new business)
posted by amberglow at 9:18 AM PST - 139 comments

When Jack Williamson published his first story, Isaac Asimov was eight years old. Seventy-three years later, his novella, "The Ultimate Earth," won the Hugo and Nebula awards. Easily the longest career in science fiction, and one of the most distinguished, came to a close yesterday: Williamson died at the age of 98. (Boing Boing, Locus.)
posted by mcwetboy at 9:09 AM PST - 21 comments

Now that he's left the Ministry of Defense, he wants to warn us how very concerned he is about that huge triangular UFO police and military personnel (and hundreds of civilians) witnessed flying over RAF bases in Shropshire in 1993.
posted by Twang at 12:47 AM PST - 75 comments

was there just a second ago... Cop Watch LA, a police watchdog group, posted the video on YouTube, said organizer Joaquin Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos said the video was shot by a neighbor of Cardenas with a cell phone camera. The neighbor gave it to Cardenas' family, who then gave it to Cop Watch, according to Cienfuegos.
posted by Bravocharlie at 12:40 AM PST - 82 comments

Roger's Mushroom's Visual Key is an image map of major fungi genera that drives a gallery/field guide for a large number of species. It's fairly useful for identifying mushrooms, and the images are for sale. There's also a Mushroom Kitchen, which basically filters the database for edible and choice species, and includes a big page of recipes.

Thoughtfully, Roger also provides information about mushroom poisoning.
posted by owhydididoit at 7:39 PM PST - 25 comments

David Lynch: "Without cows there would be no cheese in the Inland Empire" (via).
posted by JPowers at 7:34 PM PST - 54 comments

Ellen Willis was a writer and critic who wrote for the Voice, the Nation, and Dissent, among many others; her NYU homepage and Wikipedia entry link to a number of essays and reviews, all of which are worth your time. She didn't make me a feminist, but her writing gave me much of the intellectual framework of my feminism and throughout the depressing retreat of the '80s reminded me there was still humor and hope. (From her Wikiquote page: "My deepest impulses are optimistic; an attitude that seems to me as spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect.") She died yesterday, of lung cancer, at the absurdly early age of 64. I'd like to quote from her "Escape from New York" (Village Voice, July 29-Aug. 4, 1981), an account of a bus trip across the country that shows her inextricable mix of the personal, the political, and the just plain human: [more inside]
posted by languagehat at 6:43 PM PST - 15 comments

So you’re in a platoon with 30 or so guys. One of those guys is the NFL player who gave up a multi-million dollar contract to be a hero in Afghanistan. He’s all broad shouldered NFL muscle. You can’t mistake him for anyone else in the platoon, much less an Afghani. So how do you put three bullets in his forehead by mistake?
posted by Huplescat at 5:46 PM PST - 64 comments

Healing Dick
posted by jrb223 at 5:36 PM PST - 20 comments

RIP, Jack.
posted by bz at 3:37 PM PST - 78 comments

Johnny 'Guitar' Watson on the YouTube:

Ain't That a Bitch
A Real Mother For Ya
Gangster of Love
Superman Lover
I Want To Ta Ta You Baby
Special Boogie
More Inside
posted by y2karl at 2:16 PM PST - 18 comments

Such Great Heights performed by Ben Folds with a piano and unusual percussions.
Probably everyone already knows the original and the Iron&Wine's cover, but have you ever listened the live cover by the Dresden Dolls (mp3 link)?
posted by darkripper at 12:55 PM PST - 84 comments

MSNBC soft pedalled the story while others have offered their regurgitated take on the press release. But I can't find anyone asking the tough questions about the new deal between Microsoft and Vivendi/Universal wherein MS will pay Universal a flat price for every Zune player sold.
With big names like David Geffen saying, "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material. This way, on top of the material people do pay for, the record companies are getting paid on the devices storing the copied music." are we really getting to the point where everything we think we know about property and theft is going to be re-defined in terms of someone's perceived loss?
posted by I, Credulous at 12:48 PM PST - 65 comments

It's official. The raw evil of AOL has joined forces with the unbridled hubris of Web 2.0 and killed Rock and Roll. I blame BoingBoing.
posted by loquacious at 11:51 AM PST - 48 comments

Fireballs are not altogether uncommon. They are often associated with known meteor showers (and other times not). They are sometimes "earth crosser" asteroids, cometary debris, or simply man-made space junk. Sometimes they are extremely well documented. The March 7, 2003 Park Forest fireball/meteorite (pdf) was recovered and recorded by police car cameras: (AVIs: 1, 2, 3) Perhaps the most incredible is the one that got away on August 10, 1972. Recorded by many still and movie cameras as it was seen in daylight over the Grand Tetons, it was also recorded by a previously secret satellite during it's 1-1/2 minute skip off the earth's atmosphere. See also: How to observe, and report fireballs.
posted by spock at 10:25 AM PST - 28 comments

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. With just a week to launch, the PS3 and Wii are almost here and there is plenty of help out there if you want to try scoring one on launch day. For the Wii, read up on this guide, or try this one for the ps3. The Wiiseeker and PS3seeker will tell you exactly how many units your closest Target, Walmart, and Gamestop will have ready to sell. Ask MeFi also offers help: 1, 2, 3. And the latest MeFi Project helps those that are sticking it out at Console Camp.
posted by mathowie at 9:48 AM PST - 85 comments

Marie Rudisill, of "Ask the Fruitcake Lady" fame, and Truman Capote's aunt, passed away last week. (Leno's farewell.)
posted by jaimev at 9:07 AM PST - 8 comments

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
posted by thparkth at 8:55 AM PST - 98 comments

The Democrats' Sonny Bono? When George Bush used the 1970s Orleans hit, Still the One, as a campaign song in 2004, John Hall issued Bush a cease and desist order for using his song without permission. A founder of the antinuclear group, Musicians United for Safe Energy (best known for the 1979 concert film, No Nukes), Hall decided to run for Congress in upstate New York, winning upset victories this year in both the Democratic primary and the general election against GOP incumbent, Sue Kelly. Before his Congressional victory, Editor & Publisher posted From Soundchecks to Soundbites, an interesting discussion with Hall about music journalism vs. political journalism.
posted by jonp72 at 8:18 AM PST - 30 comments

A Concrete Solution to Pollution With concerns over global warming and pollution control reaching an all-time high, an Italian company has developed an interesting solution. It is called TX Active: a concrete that literally breaks down pollutants in the air. The effects are significant: 'In large cities with persistent pollution problems caused by car emissions, smoke from heating systems, and industrial activities, both the company and outside experts estimate that covering 15% of all visible urban surfaces (painting the walls, repaving the roads) with products containing TX Active could abate pollution by up to 50%.' Even more significant is that the cost is only 30% over that of normal concrete. Remarkable.
posted by PreacherTom at 8:15 AM PST - 22 comments

Htting the Jackpot A destitute post-World War II vet living in a shelter will receive $11,000, thanks to a man whose hobby it is to search old government claims' records. Tomorrow is officially Veterans' Day, formerly Armistice Day and best remembered by this poem written by this field surgeon. The line between Memorial Day and Veterans Day seems to have blurred over the years. Unfortunately, there are ever more veterans to remember, including those who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan profoundly injured.
posted by etaoin at 7:18 AM PST - 24 comments

Aries Spears channels some living rappers.
posted by swift at 7:14 AM PST - 30 comments

Broadband is exploding!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:44 AM PST - 16 comments

Everyone by now has heard the story of Oscar Schindler, but he wasn't the only one saving Jews in the dark era of WW II. This story was kept secret for many years, until the last member of the Leitz family died.
posted by pjern at 2:11 AM PST - 21 comments

Pronto!
posted by Phasuma at 1:12 AM PST - 30 comments

A yacht crew witnessed the birth of a new island and other strange consequences of volcanic activity in Tonga, and here are pictures they took.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:52 PM PST - 44 comments

Quad [flash] It's like Tetris without gravity. Rows erase vertically as well as horizontally, and what's left moves towards the center instead of down. [via The Ultimate Insult]
posted by mediareport at 9:30 PM PST - 26 comments

A PORTION OF THIS TRANSCRIPT HAS BEEN REMOVED Not only did CNN edit out a portion of the Larry King Live show from last night for the west coast and later showings, they also edited their transcripts and have sent DMCA takedown notices for the copies on youtube. What was so controversial? Just Bill Maher claiming that Ken Mehlman is gay, something Mehlman neither confirms nor denies.
posted by delmoi at 9:26 PM PST - 114 comments

On Nov. 6, 1869, Rutgers beat Princeton in the first ever college football game. 137 years later, almost to the day, Rutgers has added another standout achievement to their football history by beating #3 Louisville 28-25. Now, perhaps, the comments about a weakened Big East will stop. Me, I'm just wondering how big the headline in the Daily Targum will be.
posted by booksherpa at 8:51 PM PST - 48 comments

The Dull Men's Club
Warning: This web site contains no violence or scary scenes.
posted by fenriq at 8:34 PM PST - 22 comments

The Heart Attack Grill proclaims itself to be the "Home of the Double Bypass Burger". Its motto is "Taste worth dying for!" Its waitresses wear "naughty nurse" costumes. It's pretty clear they're trying to compete with Hooters, and who can say? They might succeed. But not if the Center for Nursing Advocacy has anything to say about it. The Center claims that 54% of British men have sexual fantasies about nurses, and therefore a restaurant in Tempe, Arizona is a threat to the nursing profession, which could lead to "killing thousands if not millions" around the world.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:26 PM PST - 85 comments

"Bush should then set out to track and kill a black bear, after which he should eat its still beating heart so he can absorb its spirit." The National Review Online's Jonah Goldberg (previously, previously) channels Stephen Colbert [youtube], or maybe he's found Hunter Thompson's lost stash. (Do we await the seminal God and Bear at Yale?)
posted by orthogonality at 6:51 PM PST - 49 comments

Finding Species is an organization that integrates science, photography, and design to create standardized methods of photo-documenting plants and animals, for use in print and web field guides, educational exhibits, and conservation campaigns.
posted by owhydididoit at 6:12 PM PST - 2 comments

reclaimyourcity.net is somewhat similar to this previously posted site. reclaim offers refuge on the web for those among us in love with street art.
posted by localhuman at 6:00 PM PST - 13 comments

The Health Care Crisis and What to Do About It. Is it time to socialize medicine in the US?
posted by homunculus at 3:51 PM PST - 128 comments

A Photosynth Tech Preview has been released from Microsoft Live Labs & University of Washington. While we discussed this project at length earlier this summer, it's now a public ( well, Win/IE only ) prototype with sample datasets, if you'd like to see it for yourself. Technical details for those interested.
posted by arialblack at 3:13 PM PST - 28 comments

Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen, The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen. On November 11th, you'll have your chance to be as cool as Steve McQueen ever was. Of course, you'll be needing of one of his motorcycles to achieve said coolness.
posted by NoMich at 2:00 PM PST - 26 comments

In Long Beach, CA on Halloween, some twenty-five young men surrounded and attacked three women on the street while yelling racial epithets. The women were hospitalized with "severe injuries." This is not a hate crime. Nor is it newsworthy?
posted by Methylviolet at 1:30 PM PST - 82 comments

Why, God, Why? We've never seen a holiday cash-in too bizarre to love. This season, please to enjoy A Very Idol Christmas.
posted by EatTheWeek at 11:47 AM PST - 38 comments

One of only ten poems published during Emily Dickinson's lifetime, the poem beginning "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers" continues to be reproduced in conflicting versions. Emily Dickinson Writing a Poem lets us leaf through images of Dickinson's original manuscripts and correspondences concerning the poem. According to the site, this documents surrounding this poem offer "the only example of Emily Dickinson responding directly to another reader's advice." At one point, Dickinson apparently struggled to decide between at least three alternatives of the much-contested second verse. Also included is a history of the poem's early printings, providing an opportunity to note how many publications have ignored Dickinson's idiosyncratic punctuation.
posted by treepour at 11:44 AM PST - 14 comments

"That's about $1 million off list price and the lowest we could find for such a jet." "Starting at 1 pm ET today, Sam's Club offers its members the Cessna Citation Mustang Light Jet for $2,734,600. Plus, you'll also get a Sam's Club Lifetime Membership with this purchase. " - from DealNews.com
posted by Tubes at 9:54 AM PST - 38 comments

Ed Bradley has passed away. We are seriously mourning his loss at NPR. He was the ultimate professional, sharp as a nail, and a damn good friend.
posted by bluedaniel at 9:51 AM PST - 82 comments

Slashdot runs out of comments
posted by forwebsites at 9:48 AM PST - 74 comments

A new documentary on the Jonestown Massacre (YouTube) raises a few key questions about The People's Temple and mass suicide; yet the most pertinent quandary at the moment (posed by New York Magazine) has little to do with tainted Kool-Aid and instead focuses on an unfortunately named rapper from Harlem. This week, it's Jim Jones versus Jim Jones.
posted by dead_ at 9:45 AM PST - 22 comments

That sure didn't take long. 2 days after the mid-term elections, Tom Vilsack announces he is running for president. And he's a video-blogger. Inspired by Amanda?
posted by cjoh at 9:29 AM PST - 14 comments

"Is this annoying? Is this annoying? Is this annoying?" 248 ways to annoy people. via digg
posted by four panels at 9:09 AM PST - 70 comments

Last Sunday was the 5th November. Often called Bonfire Night in the UK. That's the evening Brits build a bonfire and set off fireworks. Why? To celebrate the foilng of the dastardly Gun Powder Plot of 1605. Some people also drink alcohol. Maybe this soldier did before he launched a firework from his bottom. He's not well. A nomination for Darwin for 2006? Anyone got any other nominations for aforesaid award?
posted by Mister Bijou at 9:01 AM PST - 36 comments

At a certain age, young people get seemingly uncontrollable urges. But, in accordance with God's plan, these urges must be controlled.
posted by punkfloyd at 8:28 AM PST - 26 comments

De Architectura, known also as The Ten Books of Architecture, is an exposition on architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. Originally in Latin, here it is translated into English.
posted by nthdegx at 8:25 AM PST - 15 comments

Tidying up is not an art. Tidying Up Art - that's another matter altogether. Be it Niki de St.Phalle, Matisse, van Gogh, Kandinsky, or Meret Oppenheim, Magritte or others - Swiss author Ursus Wehrli's services are accurate and reliable.
posted by progosk at 7:53 AM PST - 3 comments

Quantum Encryption Scientists have created an unbreakable cypher through the use of quantum physics, where a photon is observed and used as the basis for an encryption key. "Uncertainty is the principle we exploit. It's impossible to find the key, because the photon can be measured once and only once. An eavesdropper can't measure it, and so can't get the key." Props to Heisenberg!
posted by PreacherTom at 7:25 AM PST - 49 comments

Moon flatulence...amateur astronomers have seen puffs or flashes of light coming from the moon's surface. Although most professional observers have upheld the conclusion that the moon was inactive, such sightings have kept open a window of doubt. A gas release itself would not be visible for more than a second or so, but the dust it kicked up might stay suspended for up to 30 seconds. Nature article (subscription).
posted by 445supermag at 7:24 AM PST - 9 comments

A poll that the GOP is actually winning Reagan?! What is happening to The Atlantic?
posted by papoon at 5:56 AM PST - 85 comments

Dear Fellow Flesh Slugs,
     The robots are coming, and they are hungry. This man may have helped them. Prepare yourself.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:48 AM PST - 17 comments

"Punk rock today is like Happy Days or Civil War re-enactment.” LA Weekly is sponsoring "14 and Shooting," an exhibit of west coast punk photos taken by Jennifer Finch, former bassist for L7.
posted by bardic at 2:25 AM PST - 29 comments

The music video for the song "Heart Made of Sound" (YouTube) by the California band Softlightes is remarkably captivating; every word of the lyrics is a unique stop motion animation of household (as well as less common) objects laid out to form the word. Direct QT download here. Via
posted by jonson at 12:10 AM PST - 6 comments

Sid Davis : April 1, 1916 - October 16, 2006.
posted by Tuwa at 10:18 PM PST - 28 comments

One Bank. Snarks aside, the guy does have quite a lovely singing voice. (vimeo)
posted by hypocritical ross at 10:01 PM PST - 17 comments

Adrienne Shelly was murdered.
posted by squidfartz at 9:42 PM PST - 29 comments

"Right now we're just not a safe ministry," Jesus Camp shuts down. Previously discussed here.
posted by landis at 8:30 PM PST - 78 comments

Nostril Exhale Galleries.
posted by hama7 at 6:43 PM PST - 29 comments

A detailed plan for withdrawing from Iraq, by George McGovern and William Polk. Chip Pitts provides a similar suggestion in the National Interest. And William Lind describes a nightmare scenario in case of war with Iran: encirclement. Previously.
posted by russilwvong at 5:36 PM PST - 42 comments

Turn It On Again Tour announced - Banks, Collins and Rutherford tour again! Died and gone to heaven, I have! Never thought this would happen again in my lifetime. Phil, Tony and Mike haven't toured since pre-internet days.... Gosh, this is probably the very first announced (real) Genesis tour to ever hit the web...
posted by notmtwain at 4:54 PM PST - 41 comments

Pyongyang Rocks! If you are a band playing any kind of rock, including heavy metal, then you can participate in 'ROCK FOR PEACE' in North Korea. What a blast!
posted by Yakuman at 4:39 PM PST - 30 comments

When headlines go wrong: Is a human/cow hybrid really the alternative to controversial stem cell research? Some scientists at Newcastle University apparently think so. Still, is using animal eggs with human genes a whole other ethical can of worms, or just a convenient workaround?
posted by JMOZ at 3:44 PM PST - 43 comments

A man set himself on fire in Chicago last Friday morning in protest at the war in Iraq. He left a suicide note. But you know that don't you because its been all over the media?
posted by bobbyelliott at 2:39 PM PST - 152 comments

"Typically, fast-food workers who handle drive-through calls are multitasking, wearing headsets to take orders while filling drinks or bagging food. It's a high-pressure job and employees often are more concerned about rushing through orders than trying to sell more food or being polite to customers... The call-center employees, who earn about $8.50 an hour, are trained to urge customers to add items to their order and are timed on how long each call takes."
posted by reklaw at 1:29 PM PST - 55 comments

Apes of Wrath In October, they gained similar rights to humans, now it seems monkeys are plotting to take over the earth. Their bid for global domination has been happening right before our eyes; it's just a matter of connecting the dots. Check out this ominous timeline of escalating monkey aggression, drawn from real news reports. The evolution will not be televised.
posted by P-Soque at 1:28 PM PST - 14 comments

Neanderthal Lovin’! New research from evolutionary scientist Bruce Lahn suggests that humans and the now extinct Neanderthal species mixed, and humans snatched up a valuable brain gene in the process. (The gene, MCPH1, and Lahn, discussed last year on MeFi) This comes on the tails of yet another new study providing morphological evidence that there was nontrivial interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals in Eurasia, despite the fact that Neanderthals may have been genetically closer to chimps than humans. Contrary to popular imagination, though, the Neanderthal species had bigger brains and sophisticated intellects, at least roughly on par with that of human beings. The gene regulates brain size during development, but its exact utility to humans is still unknown (and controversial). The origin of this gene and the question of Neanderthal mixing will soon be answered more definitively by the, just launched, 2 year project to map the Neanderthal genome, headed by Svante Pääbo (profiled in recent Smithsonian and Wired articles). Pääbo calls Lahn’s study "the most compelling case to date for a genetic contribution of Neandertals to modern humans."
posted by Jason Malloy at 1:13 PM PST - 26 comments

That clever Ryan North fellow has come up with a fool proof plan to solve wikipedia's vandalism problem. Trouble..
posted by es_de_bah at 12:45 PM PST - 28 comments

Ever wanted to be a little chick with a gun, knocking down hundreds of blocks? Well, now's your chance in Kumoon: a fun, free little physics-based game (for Mac and PC) in which you must knock down all the blocks in a room with limited resources. Screenshots, review + movie courtesy of this excellent list of physics-based games of all kinds. Something for everyone.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 12:29 PM PST - 17 comments

John Humphrys is a militant grammarian: "We all care about language. Your concern may be different from the young hoodie's." On the other hand, he may have a point: "The simple fact is we cannot afford to be careless with our language, because if we are careless with our language then we are careless with our world and sooner or later we will be lost for words to describe what we have allowed to happen to it." (via)
posted by anotherpanacea at 12:13 PM PST - 36 comments

Nip White Poppies in the Bud - Edmonton Journal Article The White Poppy emerged as a symbol of peace in th e1930's, and has been sold by a women's peace group and activist store in Edmonton, Canada for the past several years. This year, The Royal Canadian Legion has ordered a cease and desist, saying that the sale of the poppies is "illegal." Every year the Legion sells red poppies for Remembrance Day. This is an article from the local major daily newspaper offering views from both sides of the debate.
posted by livingsanctuary at 11:00 AM PST - 23 comments

Who is Robert M. Gates? At first glance, he seems a pretty good candidate for Donald Rumsfeld's replacement as Secretary of Defense. As a former director of the CIA, his experience and contacts in the State Department may help heal the bureaucratic rifts between State and the DoD that erupted in the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. However, there was that small matter of the Iran-Contra affair . . .
posted by xthlc at 10:31 AM PST - 51 comments

Newsfilter: RUMMY QUITS!! Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld resigns.
posted by ernie at 10:00 AM PST - 235 comments

The vote count with a death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the other election to watch right now. Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba, both of whom command large private armies say they will accept the results of the poll, though the truth of that remains to be seen. Bemba is implicated in war crimes (previously discussed here); and Kabila's inner circle controls much of the wealth of the DRC. Either way, a successful election would be better than a return to the war that killed 4 million people. And contrary to the paltry coverage the Congo receives in the news, what happens there matters to the rest of the world. But will the election results change the lives of Congolese civilians?
posted by cal71 at 8:28 AM PST - 8 comments

Please enjoy concession speeches from various people who did not win, or skip if not interested. Katherine Harris. Jim Talent. Rick Santorum. Harold Ford. Mike DeWine. Richard Nixon. Kerry Healey. Ned Lamont.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:10 AM PST - 55 comments

Mythbusters bloopers. NSFW if your employer would object to you seeing a bare-assed Adam Savage.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:35 AM PST - 40 comments

Election day 2006 - Whose side is your favourite superhero on? "The Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider is the ultimate protest voter. He always votes against the incumbent and anyone who endorses helmet laws. Vengeance is his." [via]
posted by feelinglistless at 7:15 AM PST - 18 comments

Chinese Public Health Posters from the 1930s to SARS. [via]
posted by mediareport at 12:38 AM PST - 9 comments

It's official. Democrats have taken control of the United States Congress.
posted by plexi at 12:32 AM PST - 258 comments

Traie Meangh is the name of an abandoned open-air swimming pool built directly between the ocean & the cliffs along the coast of the Isle of Man. Constructed in 1899, it operated until 1990, surviving briefly near the end as a fish hatchery. This Flickr photoset is the only collection of images I could find that do justice to the juxtaposition of sunny/nature setting & creepy/abandoned/industrial vibe that the place gives off.
posted by jonson at 12:06 AM PST - 17 comments

Circuit bending a personal computer. (Server slow? Mirror 1 Mirror 2) (more inside)
posted by loquacious at 12:05 AM PST - 18 comments

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures"
posted by MetaMonkey at 7:59 PM PST - 12 comments

An online gallery of Colonial American Currency. You can browse by colony. They also have images of early lottery tickets. Plus brief and informative essays on subjects such as The Value of Money in Colonial America. You can also relive the Copper Panic of 1789-1799.
posted by marxchivist at 6:49 PM PST - 7 comments

Physics for Future Presidents is a class taught at UC Berkeley by Physics professor Richard Muller. It's a class specifically for non-physics majors and teaches the real world results of the sometimes impenetrable math involved in university physics. After every lecture, you should come away with the feeling that what was just covered is important for every world leader to know. I just sat through the entire hour and 13 minute nukes lecture and was riveted.
posted by quite unimportant at 6:06 PM PST - 25 comments

The Danish Road Safety Council is a private association of authorities and national organisations in Denmark. The number of member organisations is currently 42. The Council has existed since 1935. The Council works to increase public road safety through information and traffic education. We aim for the public to gain knowledge and understanding of the aspects of road safety. The Council works to sustain road safe conduct by means of campaigns, consulting and the production of instruction blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
This movie was made by the Danish Road Safety Council and aims to draw attention to speed signs and speed limits in Denmark. (embedded movie, nsfw) (direct movie link)
posted by Wet Spot at 5:18 PM PST - 11 comments

You can keep your Skycar , your jet pack, your helium guzzler. Give me a Personal Blimp, floating on hot air and pushed by electricity.
posted by plinth at 5:00 PM PST - 30 comments

Welcom to Kushami Room.
posted by hama7 at 3:37 PM PST - 13 comments

Definite tech trouble with voting machines this year. I just attempted to vote at 3 different locations here in Denver. Lines were extra long due to voting booth malfunctions. Luckily they had a combination of old voting booths and new voting booths at most locations. Lines were terrible as a result of these tech failures.
posted by PetBoogaloo at 3:37 PM PST - 55 comments

Oodles of past and current interviews with both living and dead celebrities and interesting nobodies over at the support website for Andrew Denton's Australian television show Enough Rope. You will find video excerpts, some full interviews as audio downloads (the more recent ones), and lots of transcripts.
posted by sjvilla79 at 2:39 PM PST - 11 comments

Season on impact.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 2:03 PM PST - 34 comments

Britney Spears files for divorce from husband Kevin Federline. Spears, rocketed to fame in 1998 at the age of 16 by her debut single Hit Me Baby One More Time, married backup dancer Kevin Federline in September of 2004, scarcely nine months after her first abortive Las Vegasmarriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander. After two children (and one sculpture), Britney graciously introduced her husband at the recent Teen Choice awards where Kevin played a song from his new album. It looked like nothing could stop those two lovebirds. But after a recent Letterman appearance with a hot recently pregnant Britney showed up not wearing her rings, the truth finally came out. The dream is over.
posted by Stynxno at 1:38 PM PST - 140 comments

Physics Phun [Phlash, not Phriday]. Orbit is a game where you try to set up, well, orbits. How many levels can you finish?
posted by The Bellman at 1:30 PM PST - 23 comments

This short NPR interview with two guys that do negative campaign ad voiceovers is not to be missed. They cover buzzwords, types of delivery, and then riff on nursery rhymes. [via notmartha]
posted by mathowie at 1:15 PM PST - 28 comments

Chief Wana Dubie is the Libertarian candidate for State Representative in Missouri's 150th District. He has a marijuana leaf tattooed on his forehead and once painted bullseye on his roof so the 'government could find him.' After a 5-year sentence for growing marijuana, he's running for office and with hopes for a 2008 bid for governor: Dubie vs. Blunt.
posted by F Mackenzie at 12:46 PM PST - 17 comments

The Rolling Stones have produced a few of the Greatest Albums of All Time. Now Exile on Main Street, said by many to be The Stones their best work, has had its demo tracks and outtakes leaked on to the web. via
posted by aburd at 10:05 AM PST - 129 comments

Geek Logik is Garth Sundem's book & blog about equations for every day living, including how many cups of coffee you require to be functional, who to vote for, and others.
posted by xmutex at 9:47 AM PST - 9 comments

Nice work if you can get it. Bloggers are an increasingly important part of modern elections -- something that becomes immediately obvious when you look at FEC filings. Bloggers are increasingly starting to rake in the campaign cash. Initially inspired by this feature from The Hotline, Bill Beutler combed through the FEC records and broke down what candidates were paying what bloggers how much in the current election.
posted by Heminator at 7:52 AM PST - 26 comments

Yes, another one. Best Rest of the Web. There are lots of questions sites now. Amazon opened Askville. And now Windows Live has "QnA". I'm all for competition and innovation, but really, why does the question-and-answer site format attract so much "me too" behaviour?
posted by GuyZero at 7:12 AM PST - 26 comments

Transit of Mercury again. here Transit of Mercury again. Today -- and not for another seven years or so -- Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, shwoing up a speck-like black circle. But don't look. Starting times, real-time visual, ways to see it and another caution are here. rotoman
posted by rotoman at 6:17 AM PST - 40 comments

Italian police impound the Bolzano Museum of Modern Art's toilet that flushes to Fratelli d'Italia. Prosecutors said the anthem "should never be open to ridicule."
posted by jeffburdges at 4:54 AM PST - 25 comments

Walk It is a website for planning walking journeys. It gives you a map and directions for the best route, and info on distance, walking time, calorie burn and even CO₂ potentially saved by avoiding the car, taxi or bus. London only, at present, alas.
posted by nthdegx at 3:34 AM PST - 20 comments

Malaysian bookstore Silverfish Books recently pubhlished a list of books restricted by the Malaysian Home Ministry (confiscated at the border by Customs) - a list that includes Chinese teapots, children's prayers, and Dora the Explorer. Banned books & magazines aren't exactly news in Malaysia; indeed, possession of said books can lead to severe penalties, even jail time.The Opposition has made a statement before, but that hasn't led anywhere. However, since Silverfish's list, Malaysian bloggers have had enough with the arbitrary and Kafka-esque bans and restrictions, and have come together to form Manuscripts Don't Burn, to protest and talk about banned books and the larger issue of freedom of speech in Malaysia.
posted by divabat at 2:32 AM PST - 19 comments

Guiness World Record for most T-Shirts worn at one time. (YouTube)
posted by Phasuma at 2:19 AM PST - 34 comments

Su Blackwell, Thomas Allen & Abelardo Morell are artists who cut up books and then photograph the interesting, whimsical & gorgeous results.
posted by jonson at 11:58 PM PST - 19 comments

Sizeasy. A handy visual tool for comparing all manner of different rectangular-shaped things.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 10:43 PM PST - 10 comments

The Orchestra: A User's Manual is one element of 'The Sound Exchange' by the Philharmonia Orchestra. It was conceived and written by Andrew Hugill who has also developed this online Random Round [flash] based on the work of Percy Grainger.
posted by tellurian at 7:42 PM PST - 6 comments

I find my interest piqued by some of Dr Satoshi Kanazawa's ideas. Especially regarding The conformist culture of Asia. But also: The Myth of Racial Discrimination in Pay in the United States[pdf]. He works hard thinking.
posted by econous at 6:44 PM PST - 27 comments

Aleister Crowley, grandfather of George W. Bush? Well, obviously.
In late 1924, Pauline Pierce, Frank Harris, Nellie O'Hara, and Aleister Crowley get together in France and experience "Eroto-Comotose Lucidity." Afterwards Pauline Pierce returns to the states. In June 1925, Pauline Pierce gives birth to a daughter, Barbara.
Also, and again.
posted by anticlock at 6:40 PM PST - 56 comments

Meet the real people from the movie Borat, including sculptor Linda Stein, who comment on their screen debuts. [Warning: spoilers contained within]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:12 PM PST - 80 comments

Strange maps: the start of a collection of curious cartography found online, be they historic, quirky, practical or fictional.
posted by myopicman at 3:42 PM PST - 19 comments

Russian Anthems Museum.
posted by hama7 at 3:25 PM PST - 11 comments

my3cents.com is an addictive read. It's for people to air their grief about various retail stores (Walmart is the clear favorite). This particular complaint is a riot.
posted by DougieZero1982 at 2:48 PM PST - 66 comments

The Monumental is My Sickness: a newly translated 1979 interview with German sculptor Arno Breker. Extremely revealing about art, memory, Nazism, and the troubling life story of "Hitler's Favourite Sculptor". For context, read this critical review of a recent exhibition of Breker's work. More Arno Breker resources, including many photos: (in French); the museum of Arno Breker (in German); Wikipedia entry. via
posted by Rumple at 1:02 PM PST - 5 comments

This video about the history of petroleum industry propaganda used old archived footage found on the WayBackMachine. It shows some ridiculous propaganda videos from the past and leads us to the campaigns that the oily, slick PR-types and marketers are using today. It's hard to believe that companies like Ford Motor Company and ExxonMobil still get away with funding these industry front groups.
posted by jacob hauser at 12:50 PM PST - 9 comments

Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie [via]
posted by mediareport at 12:20 PM PST - 16 comments

Twenty years of Macintosh - a well done retrospect about the Apple Macintosh presented in a series of posters, annotated with excellent topical links for further reading.
posted by loquacious at 11:42 AM PST - 32 comments

Awake, My Soul is a new documentary on Sacred Harp singing, an American musical tradition that's strange, beautiful, and very much alive. Previously discussed and beautifully explicated in this post.
posted by Miko at 11:12 AM PST - 13 comments

Starting January 1st, the so-called 'Godfather' of avant-garde cinema, Jonas Mekas will podcast one short film per day, for a full year. If you can't wait till January here are 2 of Mekas's films to tide you over: Zefiro Torna and Hare Krishna. Or see the 40 short films being shown at a gallery in New York. [Via this NPR report, which, if you're already familiar with Mekas and his work, is likely the most interesting link here.]
posted by jrb223 at 11:06 AM PST - 2 comments

What to do once your beer is all gone All right, so you’ve finished your beverage. You’ve discreetly released the gas from your digestive tract via your mouth. And now you want to dispose of the empty can. You consider your options. Public-spirited as you are, you are too savvy to believe that you can redeem the pull tab for a wheelchair or a dialysis machine, or that an aluminum beanie will protect your brain from alien forces, and you are far too civilized to smash the can against your forehead. As a responsible, ecologically minded person you could recycle, but you’re also creative, and recycling would leave that artistic urge unsatisfied. So, perhaps you whip up a morning glory wreath for the front door. Or an airplane. Or a honeybee. Or the Starship Enterprise, a shark, a knight in shining aluminum armour, a piano, a hot rod, a Christmas tree, roses for your beloved, or Easter lilies for your mother. Or whatever else strikes your fancy. Then you have twin epiphanies: that you’ve entered the wonderful world of aluminum crafting, and that after emptying all those cans you urgently need to pee.
posted by orange swan at 6:39 AM PST - 22 comments

Planet of the Arabs (youtube, sound, violence)
posted by prost at 5:10 AM PST - 77 comments

Raft to the Future: An article about the weirdness of physical models of the universe, how that weirdness correlates to the inherent incompleteness of mathematical systems, and how time itself can emerge at the fringes of these incomplete models.
posted by knave at 4:32 AM PST - 46 comments

Christ of the Deep.
posted by jonson at 11:53 PM PST - 44 comments

A new type of synth. Straight from Barcelona.
posted by pwedza at 10:13 PM PST - 40 comments

A giant flotilla of 100 icebergs is passing just 260km off the coast of the South Island (of New Zealand) - the closest the glacial masses have been to this country for 70 years. Maybe all that water could be used for something else?
posted by strawberryviagra at 7:52 PM PST - 24 comments

It seems that Utah's #1 enemy has been captured. He looks ridiculous baby.
posted by snsranch at 5:46 PM PST - 123 comments

Amar Chitra Katha were the comics of my youth. Illustrated painstakingly with loving details, the immortal epics and stories of India going back over 5000 years were crystallized in these thin graphic novels. I will always remember Mirabai, for the romance between her and the god of love and war, Krishna. And Chanakya, aka Kautilya, author of the Arthashastra but better known to me for his Nitishastra - niti means political ethics. But other nitishastras include the famous Panchantra [pdf], the equivalent of Aesop's Fables for India, a textbook of 'niti' or the wise conduct of life.
posted by infini at 5:42 PM PST - 20 comments

Afterlife marriages in remote China "To ensure a son’s contentment in the afterlife, some grieving parents will search for a dead woman to be his bride and, once a corpse is obtained, bury the pair together as a married couple." (NYT article)
posted by dhruva at 4:43 PM PST - 22 comments

The philosophy of sex. Observations on the world's oldest pastime by its foremost current visionaries.
posted by clevershark at 4:33 PM PST - 16 comments

Fingerprinting school kids for lunch. Several schools in California will require students to scan their fingerprints before getting their school lunch to help speed up cafeteria lines. Don't worry about it, it's already being done in Georgia while Florida has a similar system which also lets parents check to see what their kids bought for lunch. Arizona doesn't do fingerprints, it just has the kids enter a number for their meals. New Jersey has Iris Scanning.

Hopefully all of this information was gained through parental consent.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:11 PM PST - 37 comments

Hacking Democracy. A frightening and well-made full-length HBO documentary.
posted by Espoo2 at 4:01 PM PST - 40 comments

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)
posted by hama7 at 3:16 PM PST - 15 comments

On November 7th, Americans have much to decide. While the two major parties joust for control of the Senate and House, many a ballot initiative does not recieve the scutiny required. Consider Oregon's Rainy Day Amendment, Arizona's HOPE Amendment, California's Protect Our Homes Initiative or Idaho's Proposition 2. Examine the Taxpayer Bill of Rights in Maine and Proposal 6 in Michigan - weigh them against three bills in Montana. [more inside]
posted by EatTheWeek at 2:54 PM PST - 20 comments

It being the 5th of November and that… here's a bit of fireworks nostalgia.
posted by tellurian at 2:49 PM PST - 19 comments

US Military Papers open fire on Rummy. Tomorrow, the Army Times -- and all other Military Times papers, including Navy and Air Force Times -- will run an editorial calling for Donald Rumsfeld to tender his resignation or be fired, due to his gross incompetence in handling the Iraq quagmire.
posted by lazaruslong at 2:01 PM PST - 70 comments

Charming game featuring a rather sad little three legged spider.
posted by econous at 1:27 PM PST - 14 comments

Climate change denial gets a sort of semi-mainstream platform in the UK. The author, Christopher Monckton, seems to be a colourful figure. Now that all the major political parties accept that it's time to do something about climate change, is this a last ditch effort by 1980s right wing relics to stave off the inevitable? Or are we going to be hearing a lot more of this kind of stuff, post-Stern Review (previous)?
posted by Mocata at 12:58 PM PST - 17 comments

Let's make speakers out of hard drives!
posted by boo_radley at 12:26 PM PST - 8 comments

Boredom begone! There exist a preponderance of games which (mostly) require nothing but pen and paper, ranging from the relatively mild Fictionary and Word Association, to the more artistic Exquisite Corpse and Eat Poop You Cat (seen previously as an online game), and finally the downright nutty Dvorak and 1000 blank white cards. My favorite, by far: the elusive other foot.
posted by duffell at 11:52 AM PST - 26 comments

Minotauromaquia - a stop motion animated short set to Stravinsky's in which Picasso confronts the minotaur and some other painted characters come to life. The image of the Minotaur is a recurring symbol of self in Picasso's works. (main link via Milinkito [more])
posted by madamjujujive at 11:14 AM PST - 12 comments

The Perfume of Garbage: an archaeology of the world trade centers (pdf). What do the the godfather of garbology, a leading post-modern archaeological theorist (blog), and a "space archaeologist"(cf. space junk) think about the WTC? Obviously as a ruin and as an archaeological site - but much more. An intriguing analysis placing the WTC ruins into archaeological context, and, most particularly, responding to the Smithsonian's exhibition of artifacts from the events of September 11, 2001. Also, a commentary (pdf) responding to garbage, space and the WTC. And yes, garbology goes well beyond Mick Jagger ephemera.
posted by Rumple at 9:40 AM PST - 7 comments

Nikos Salingaros is a mathematics professor and architecture theorist. His career has crossed disciplines: after starting out as a painter, Salingaros earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and published work in mathematics and physics. In 1983 Salingaros helped edit Christopher Alexander's book The Nature of Order (here are Salingaros' notes on the book), and thereafter began a career as a noted architecture theorist in his own right. Salingaros is an advocate for "new urbanism" in architecture, and he champions the ideas of architect Léon Krier (the "godfather of new urbanism") with the "pattern language" theory of Christopher Alexander ^(wiki). The excellent arts blog 2Blowhards conducted a fascinating five-part interview with Salingaros: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Salingaros just published a new book, A Theory of Architecture (2Blowhards discusses it here) with a preface written by HRH the Prince of Wales ^(wiki).
posted by jayder at 9:38 AM PST - 12 comments

Ethical Realism. Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman (formerly of the Heritage Foundation) make a bipartisan attempt at a more realistic foreign policy, based on prudence and an understanding of others' interests, instead of a utopian belief in democratization. "It seemed to us that in [foreign policy] at least, the United States was almost coming to resemble some Latin American countries of the past, where rival hereditary political clans of 'Conservatives' and 'Liberals' clashed bitterly and even launched savage civil wars with each other - but in terms of real policy were virtually indistinguishable and equally wrong." [more inside]
posted by russilwvong at 9:22 AM PST - 13 comments

On a less serious note, 12 signs you drank too much. (May be NSFW--some partial male nudity)
posted by Turtles all the way down at 8:44 AM PST - 45 comments

Saddam sentenced to death by hanging.
posted by Guerilla at 1:10 AM PST - 177 comments

Lori Nix is an artist who makes miniature landscapes with distressing details & then photographs the scene. Her two collections I've found online are "Accidentally Kansas" and "Lost". Lori's work previously partially linked via this post
posted by jonson at 11:36 PM PST - 26 comments

Should a politician's "artistic endeavors" come into play when voters go to the polls? George Allen thinks that parts of his opponent, Jim Webb's, novels are demeaning to women and contain depictions of incest. Also, Republican candidate for Texas Comptroller, Susan Combs, is being accused of writing porngraphy because of excerpts like these from a romance novel she wrote 15 years ago. And they're not the only politicians who've written naughty things.
posted by eunoia at 7:26 PM PST - 40 comments

AirTorture - Your Premiere "Whisked Away" Airline
Book your flight from **Undisclosed location** to sunny **Undisclosed location** today! Or you may just have a flight booked for you. Enjoy the waterboarding sports!

It's a no brainer (NSFW background)!
posted by fenriq at 6:36 PM PST - 13 comments

Our Man at Yale: 2 versions one link via Linkfilter.com but worth the reading
posted by Postroad at 3:43 PM PST - 18 comments

The Exploring 20th century London project draws on some 8000 items from the Museum of London, Transport Museum, Jewish Museum and the Museum of Croydon. Material includes photos, drawings, posters, artefacts, sound files etc. Browse/search by theme, timeline and location. [sitemap]
posted by peacay at 2:49 PM PST - 3 comments

The 50 Worst Video Game Names Of All Time. This is no joke, there are some real stinkers here which show that people who market games never, never realise that people might actually have to ask for them in shops. Some of these are actually unpronounceable. [via]
posted by feelinglistless at 1:51 PM PST - 80 comments

Finally, you can test the 'blondes have more fun' theory completely. Hair color for your "betty".
posted by graventy at 10:44 AM PST - 70 comments

Blacklisted! The bankruptcy of the liberal Air America Radio Network is old news. What's new is a leaked ABC memo to affiliates (.pdf original) listing 90 corporations and major advertisers that stipulated that their ads not be aired during the broadcast of Air America content. Is there any hope that radio or television news in the United States can report stories that do not uniformly support the goals and viewpoints of the S&P 500? There are of course, alternative models. Is it time for a PBS Newschanel?
posted by washburn at 9:59 AM PST - 58 comments

US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud View the most popular words in presidential speeches, from 1776 to 2006. Simply sliding the bar from year to year makes it easy to see trends over time. (via Crooked Timber)
posted by afu at 9:57 AM PST - 27 comments

Newsfilter: U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons
"The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods that their captors used to get them to talk...the government, in trying to block lawyers' access to the 14 detainees, effectively asserts that the detainees' experiences are a secret that should never be shared with the public."

Previously: (1) (2)
posted by StopMakingSense at 9:45 AM PST - 50 comments

The true spirit of radio. It is hard to do Geddy Lee justice, but nothing is going to stop kids from trying. Some results better than others. [Youtube]
posted by fstutzman at 7:41 AM PST - 50 comments

Choose Different: A couple of mac ad parodies for voting season.
posted by ®@ at 7:02 AM PST - 17 comments

I couldn't have said it better.
(single link, youtube, political, beautifully done)
posted by Lord_Pall at 6:22 AM PST - 52 comments

Who needs a fence when you have webcams? The state of Texas now has a virtual border watch online and is asking for your help spotting illegals crossing the border. It looks like Arizona has a similar program as well with pimped out ATV's. Let the hunt begin. Warning: The Texas site seems to require IE, an ActiveX plugin and registration.
posted by itchylick at 5:17 AM PST - 16 comments

The Goon Bible Project Presents: The Book of Job (YouTube)
posted by Space Coyote at 4:16 AM PST - 37 comments

I'm sorry. But if print-and-cut decorations for your penis don't qualify as best of the web, then what does? I'm serious. Where else would this even be possible?
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 12:52 AM PST - 31 comments

Doogie comes out of the closet. While this probably falls under the category "yeah, like we didn't know that already," it's nice to see younger male celebrities finally admit publicly what everyone gossips about privately.
posted by WolfDaddy at 7:35 PM PST - 75 comments

Not everyone enjoys watching men belly dance. But if you have a problem with them doing it, Tarik Sultan has something to say to you. [YouTube]
posted by owhydididoit at 6:50 PM PST - 11 comments

[NSFW] People are always trying to find completeness in something outside of themselves. For some, it’s money that makes them feel whole. Others find it in relationships, in wooing and winning an “other half.” And for some unfortunate people, that feeling of wholeness is a much more elusive goal. That’s because they don’t feel complete until they succeed in convincing someone to amputate one of their own perfectly healthy limbs.
posted by jason's_planet at 4:35 PM PST - 28 comments

Now they tell us. Neocon hindsight is 20/20. War architect Richard Perle on invading Iraq, 2002: "We have no time to lose, and I think the president understands that and it's probably taken too long already, but I don't think it'll be much longer... Support for Saddam, including within his military organization, will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder.... Now, it isn't going to be over in 24 hours, but it isn't going to be months either." Four years later: "If I had been delphic, and had seen where we are today, and people had said, 'Should we go into Iraq?,' I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies'... Could we have managed that threat by means other than a direct military intervention? Well, maybe we could have."
posted by digaman at 3:27 PM PST - 105 comments

Youtube video of Philly cops vandalizing Philly cop car. Can you say 'disciplinary action?'
posted by fixedgear at 3:11 PM PST - 26 comments

Gotta Love Amazon's Product Tags. Another milepost for the K-Fed meme.
posted by ambulance blues at 1:33 PM PST - 46 comments

Pizza in Three Dimensions "Every few years, a product comes along that completely changes its category. As the iPod has revolutionized the way people interact with music; as cell phones and wireless internet access has altered the way they communicate, so, too, will the way they approach eating change with the introduction of Pizzacono, the first dramatically new way to consume pizza in recent memory."
posted by sportbucket at 1:30 PM PST - 92 comments

Issac Asimov's first Law of Robotics has been broken.
posted by icosahedral at 12:53 PM PST - 80 comments

100+ authoritative research sources that are available online. Various topics, real info. Think of it as a kind of do-it-yourself AskMe, or you know, a research library.(via Making Light)
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:17 PM PST - 19 comments

Bag Of Prayer Letters Plucked From N.J. Surf. One man wrote from prison, saying he was innocent and wanted to be back home with his family. A woman wrote that her boyfriend was now closing the door to her daughter's bedroom each night when it used to stay open, and wondered why. One unwed mother wrote that her baby was due in four weeks, and asked God to make the father fall in love with her and marry her so the child would have a father. The minister died two years ago at 79. How the letters, some dating to 1973, wound up bobbing in the surf is a mystery.
posted by 445supermag at 11:43 AM PST - 27 comments

"Can I ask you what your favorite commandment is?" Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham. Part 2. YouTube single-link FPP.
posted by ibmcginty at 11:08 AM PST - 24 comments

ObitFilter: Adrienne Shelly, New York film and theatre actress and director, died on 1 November 2006 of unknown causes. A longtime "next-big-thing", Shelly's early performances in Hal Hartley's films (most notably Trust) are cherished by fans of 1990s independent films. She is survived by her husband and three-year-old daughter.
posted by pxe2000 at 10:33 AM PST - 30 comments

Newsfilter: Bush and America are now perceived to be more dangerous than Kim Jong-il according to an international opinion poll published by the Guardian Newspaper. Perhaps more interesting than that, it shows that only 1 in 4 people in Israel think that Bush has made the world safer - a fairly small percentage for a country that is traditionally one of America's staunchest allies when it comes to national security...
posted by Mave_80 at 9:41 AM PST - 90 comments

Before Al Franken started calling Rush Limbaugh a big fat idiot, he did a big fat Mick Jagger impression. Enjoy.
posted by punkfloyd at 9:13 AM PST - 27 comments

Fisher Poets You've heard of cowboy poetry, sure, but how about the verse of modern-day fishermen and women? Taking the Cowboy Poetry Gathering as their model, fisher poets have plunged into the celebration of occupational culture with their own annual festival in Astoria, Oregon. Get a glimpse into this difficult, dangerous, and unpredictable way of making a living through the work of Erin Frestad, Geno Leech, Toby Sullivan, and others. Listen to the sounds of the gathering on this piece from PRI's Here & Now, too.
posted by Miko at 8:21 AM PST - 8 comments

A recent article recently came out in the Wall Street Journal, which cited new study from Stanford about animal consciousness. Elephants grieve, bees create mental maps, dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors. Snakes have more brain cells than humans, and chickens worry about the future. What are your thoughts? Does this change the way we treat animals?
posted by PetBoogaloo at 8:16 AM PST - 86 comments

1. Everyone thinks insurance is impenetrable and boring.
2. Everyone is wrong.

The Insurance Transparency Project blog is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Dean Starkman, who is currently a Katrina Media Fellow sponsored by the Open Society Institute, funded and chaired by George Soros.
posted by ba at 8:03 AM PST - 14 comments

50s and 60s Album Covers. Archive volunteer and resident video guru, Eric Graf has amassed an amazing collection of novelty and children's records from the 50s and 60s. He brought a stack by the other day to be scanned. Check out how these covers make you want to rush to your phonograph to play the record. [via Bedazzled]
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:21 AM PST - 7 comments

Odeo. Listen to lots and lots of podcasts. Like Alan Richman's culinary assualt on New Orleans.
posted by four panels at 7:12 AM PST - 15 comments

What goes together more than geeks and hawt (ok... some scary), comic-book costumed girls?
(mildly NSFW??)
posted by jpburns at 5:47 AM PST - 35 comments

Ortho-Evra Birth Control Patch Has Inconvenient Death Side Effect Ortho-Evra is a faddish, convenient birth control option in transdermal patch form, which has lured women by promising no-worries birth control, not to mention nice manageable periods or even no periods at all. In my local newspaper, I noticed a tiny news brief about the class-action lawsuit going on right now, and thought it was worth posting. It's not really new news--the first cases came out about a year ago. A year ago Ortho-Evra added to the list of side effects. Previously healthy women are suffering strokes--and it is well-known that doctors don't always report problems as patch-related when in fact they are. No surprises...the FDA estimated that 118/100,000 of users would experience blood clots and circulation problems related to the drug (this was double Johnson & Johnson's rate) before they approved the patch anyway back in 2001! They also estimated that the risk would increase drastically for women whose first birth control experience was with the patch See page 43 of the second Medical Review in the FDA report. Many apologies if I'm the last to know.
posted by Fisherkitty at 2:58 AM PST - 61 comments

The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), an advanced telescope onboard the Hinode satellite, was launched into space by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency on September 22, 2006. On October 23, the SOT opened its protective doors and began taking pictures
posted by Drunken_munky at 10:28 PM PST - 11 comments

The Mapmaker's Wife tells the extraordinary story of Isabel Godin, the first woman to travel down the length of the Amazon. Her journey brought an end to the first scientific expedition to the New World, which was led by Charles Marie de La Condamine.
posted by dhruva at 6:23 PM PST - 12 comments

Arrest in real-time abuse case. "An undercover police officer in Toronto's child exploitation unit, who says he's seldom surprised what he sees any more, was shaken to the core Sunday when a suspected pedophile he was chatting with on-line allegedly began sexually assaulting a preschooler and sending images of the attack over the internet to him in real time." Detective Constable Paul Krawczyk: "My heart just started going, sweating, and I felt like throwing up." Police tracked down and arrested the man within an hour and a half.
posted by russilwvong at 6:09 PM PST - 71 comments

Will It Blend? [Warning: Pepsi Blend]
posted by rxrfrx at 4:05 PM PST - 60 comments

Ted Haggard, one of the most prominent evangelical pastors in the nation, resigned today as president of the National Association of Evangelicals amid allegations that he carried on a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute. He also steps down as pastor of of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."
posted by ericb at 3:43 PM PST - 1823 comments

Cicada Mania.
posted by hama7 at 3:12 PM PST - 19 comments

The election isn't until next Tuesday, but already problems are being reported. It's not just in Texas, and not just in relation to everyone's favorite electronic-voting whipping boy, either; it's becoming clear that every vendor has its own unsolved security issues. In fact it seems that an increasing number of voices are warning that the US is in for an awful lot of contention from all parties involved after next week's vote, and that can't be good. Others are taking a non-disinterested rose-colored view of things and loudly proclaiming that there's nothing wrong with the system, or at least that no one should imply or infer or investigate the matter. Still others are quick to point out that there's nothing wrong with electronic voting, except when they're linked to a foreign government that doesn't get along particularly well with them. Whatever is true about the state of electronic voting in 2006, you can't deny that it has led to a certain plurality of opinions...
posted by clevershark at 12:25 PM PST - 129 comments

"I couldn't face the prospect of my child growing up and asking me, years later, what I had done, and having to say: 'Nothing.'" Last spring Leslie Thomas, a Chicago-based architect, read a story detailing the fallout of hostilities between the Sudanese government and the rebels -- more than 200,000 dead, 2.5 million made homeless -- and decided to put together DARFUR/DARFUR: a traveling exhibit of digitally-projected changing images. The goal: to raise $1m with at least 24 venues in 24 months. The photographs have been taken in Darfur by photojournalists Lynsey Addario, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, VII's Ron Haviv, Magnum Photos's Paolo Pellegrin, Ryan Spencer Reed, Michal Safdie, and former U.S. Marine Brian Steidle. On a sidenote, Pellegrin has just been awarded the W. Eugene Smith Grant.
posted by matteo at 11:40 AM PST - 13 comments

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study. What IS our planet going to look like in 50 years? Can there really be no more fish by then? I can't even begin to imagine this.
posted by jfwlucy at 11:22 AM PST - 86 comments

Dandelife. Q: "Why would I want to keep my biography on the Internet?" A: "Stories are best shared, don't you think?" [from the about page]
Dandelife.com describes itself as a "social biography network." It allows you to construct an annotated timeline of your life, add photographs (it works with Flickr, with which is shares design elements) and links. Example here; via anh-minh.com.
posted by jokeefe at 11:15 AM PST - 12 comments

Sanjay Kumar gets 12 year setence, eight million dollar fine. Meanwhile, his old boss seems to have gotten away scot free.
posted by timeistight at 10:48 AM PST - 6 comments

William Styron, R.I.P The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis. One of the true 20th century American masters, is gone from pneumonia, at the age of 81. A writer of some the most fluent prose I have ever had the privilege to read, he also wrote one of the best first-person accounts of clinical depression ever written.
posted by psmealey at 9:23 AM PST - 27 comments

First official goatse payment card. In which a guy gets a goatse image put on his credit/debit/payment card. Yes, it links to an image of the card, no it's not as bad as you think, yes it's PSFW (probably safe for work).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:54 AM PST - 71 comments

She would rather die than become a torturer.
posted by empath at 7:51 AM PST - 132 comments

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of how the language of Odysseus and his people found a home on the web. Of how the newest mass medium came to house a library of Ancient Greek literature. Of how the sounds of a dead language could find a new life online.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:22 AM PST - 19 comments

Breaking the Chain: The antitrust case against Wal-Mart. Barry C. Lynn argues Wal-Mart is a monopsony, and should be dealt with the same way A&P and Standard Oil were many years ago.
posted by chunking express at 6:55 AM PST - 32 comments

Mexican Day of the Dead, only with a twist: in Pomuch, in the Mayan area in Southeastern Mexico, Mayans celebrate their dead by digging out their remains, and cleaning them. Photos here. The regular Day of the Dead of the dead festivities have been discussed previously on MetaFilter here, here, and here. For those of you who may want to practice, this is a story en español. The link to the pictures might be NSFW.
posted by micayetoca at 5:09 AM PST - 21 comments

The Polling Place Photo Project is an experiment in citizen journalism that intends to collect photographs of every polling place in America next Tuesday.
posted by coudal at 3:51 AM PST - 19 comments

The Holocaust Cartoon Contest results are in and the winner is Moroccan cartoonist Abdellah Derkaoui, who won $12 000 for his effort, "depicting an Israeli crane piling large cement blocks on Israel's security wall and gradually obscuring Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem." The contest was launched in response to the Danish cartoon controversy (previously discussed), with the intent of testing the limits of freedom of expression, so please resist the urge to riot - YHBT. 204 of the entries are now on display.
posted by mek at 1:46 AM PST - 69 comments

Can the Marketing Universe be saved from the expanding event horizon of the ravenous black hole that is Google?
posted by XMLicious at 12:30 AM PST - 14 comments

It's amazing what you can get onto two wheels.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:32 PM PST - 41 comments

Cut and Run Capitalism. Bechtel leaves Iraq after "heartbreaking" failures. Who's next?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:38 PM PST - 49 comments

Sketch Furniture, aka Furniture Made With Frickin' Lasers. Swedish designers use motion capture technology to draw chairs and tables with light in mid-air. Their sketches are then built out of plastic by a laser into real pieces of furniture. Honestly, either one of these things would amaze me. I'm starting to like living in the future. (via bb)
posted by Riovanes at 9:09 PM PST - 23 comments

The Diary of John Cam Hobhouse. Hobhouse ^(Wiki) (1786-1869) was a close friend of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, and "Hobby-O's" diary contains a vivid account of Hobhouse's friendship and travels with Byron. As editor Peter Cochran writes: "Educated at Westminster and Trinity College Cambridge, [Hobhouse] travelled east with Byron in 1809, was Best Man at Byron’s wedding in 1815, travelled across Switzerland in Byron’s company in 1816 after the separation, around Rome with Byron in 1817, and lived with Byron in Venice in the same year. He met Byron at Pisa again in 1822, after Byron’s facetious poem on his imprisonment in Newgate, My Boy Hobby-O, had almost terminated their friendship. As a member of the London Greek Committee he encouraged Byron on his last journey in 1823; and had he insisted, Byron’s memoirs would almost certainly not have been destroyed in 1824." (Memoirs which, in hindsight, are considered a "missing masterpiece.") Also read Hobhouse's account of Byron's funeral.
posted by jayder at 8:44 PM PST - 6 comments

African dust storms [pic] have been suspected of causing fish-killing red tide in the Caribbean, but also of mitigating the effect of hurricanes. Now analysis of images from NASA's MODIS satellite have revealed the Bodélé, a region of the Sahara not far from Lake Chad, as the source of more than half the material that fertilises the Amazon rainforest.
posted by ernie at 8:39 PM PST - 10 comments

Lieberman appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs Has the Israeli government has served notice on the White House that it must take pre-emptive action against Iran's sites of nuclear weapons development - or Israel will go it alone and do the job itself. Israel has apparently given Bush a deadline of six months. The Arms control wonk has this about the next set of Uranium 164 centrifuge cascade
posted by rough ashlar at 8:24 PM PST - 25 comments

Paintball Paint a path. Get the red ball to the red block. Warning: Addictive, devilishly simple.
posted by loquacious at 7:42 PM PST - 27 comments

Andras Schiff's lecture-recitals on Beethoven's piano sonatas
posted by Gyan at 6:30 PM PST - 16 comments

Enjoy former Rep. Mark Foley's cinematic debut in the stunning film "Strike Force" (a.k.a. "The Librarians"). via HuffPo
posted by moonbird at 6:04 PM PST - 22 comments

Pacman related charts are useful, previously.
posted by |n$eCur3 at 4:18 PM PST - 24 comments

The lefty party handled the issue by cutting taxes on dividends. And Canada's party on the right decided to tackle the thorny issue of income trusts^ by... taxing them. A response to a "clear and present danger" or the destruction of retirement savings? Issues involving corporate structure and tax law rarely appear make the front page, but Canadians just can't get enough of them.
posted by GuyZero at 3:13 PM PST - 41 comments

Revisionista monitors news websites and detects when articles change. The versions are viewable and the changes are highlighted. Some edits are miniscule, others are quite interesting. A Recommended Revisions list yields all manner of edits. Also on the News Sniffer site, Watch Your Mouth monitors the BBC's 'Have Your Say' website and detects when comments get censored.
posted by thisisdrew at 3:08 PM PST - 11 comments

who's blogging next door? via
posted by localhuman at 1:38 PM PST - 19 comments

Awakenings. Conservative (Pajamas Media) Blogger John Cole (NOT Juan Cole) writes as if awoken from a trance:

In short, it really sucks looking around at the wreckage that is my party and realizing that the only decent thing to do is to pull the plug on them (or help). I am not really having any fun attacking my old friends- but I don’t know how else to respond when people call decent men like Jim Webb a pervert for no other reason than to win an election. I don’t know how to deal with people who think savaging a man with Parkinson’s for electoral gain is appropriate election-year discourse. I don’t know how to react to people who think that calling anyone who disagrees with them on Iraq a “terrorist-enabler” than to swing back. I don’t know how to react to people who think that media reports of party hacks in the administration overruling scientists on issues like global warming, endangered species, intelligent design, prescription drugs, etc., are signs of… liberal media bias.

Some of the comments give me hope for our future...
posted by rzklkng at 12:57 PM PST - 49 comments

Next week in red and blue. Majority Watch uses a new, automated polling technology to track the 60 most competitive House races, displaying them in an interactive map of all the House districts. They are currently predicting 240 Democratic seats, and a solid Democratic trend. Political junkies should also consider Congressional Quarterly's excellent flash-based predictions (211 D, 207 R, 17 too close) and Electoral Vote, which compiles hundreds of House and Senate polls. The Senate is considered a toss-up by both of these sites.
posted by blahblahblah at 10:49 AM PST - 43 comments

I pity the 'do! Would Mr. T really be as powerful a force if he were wearing a construction helmet, raver sunglasses, and a handlebar mustache? Now the world can know.
posted by Alt F4 at 9:59 AM PST - 17 comments

41 lbs in 90 days
Man discovers that World of Warcraft makes him oblivious to everything in the outside world.
Man puts keyboard stand over his exercise bike.
Man loses forty pounds in three months.
Whether or not that's a healthy rate to lose weight, we'll find out later.
posted by talldean at 8:54 AM PST - 41 comments

Endangered Ugly Things. Sure, they're not cute. But they're at least as important as your fuzzy thing.
posted by owhydididoit at 8:43 AM PST - 15 comments

Save Studio 60! They did it with Arrested Development and they did it with Firefly. They did it with Freaks and Geeks and they did it with Sports Night. They're working to preemptively stop them from doing it again to Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
posted by cjoh at 8:18 AM PST - 142 comments

Moral Minds, a new book by Marc Hauser, is based on research by Hauser and colleagues such Josh Greene and John Mikhail. In it, he posits that an innate moral sense is analogous to "universal grammar"^[Wiki] from Chomskyan linguistics. As reviewed by a Science Times staff member. ...And a philosopher.
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 8:03 AM PST - 23 comments

The McDonogh library has no books. The stalls in a girls’ restroom have no doors. Fights break out daily. About 50 students have been suspended; 20 have been recommended for expulsion. Several weeks ago, a teacher was “beaten unmercifully” by a ninth grader enraged at being barred from class because he was late.

The principal, Donald Jackson, estimated that up to a fifth of the 775 students live without parents. “Basically, they are raising themselves, because there is no authority figure in the home,” Mr. Jackson said. “If I call for a parent because I’m having an issue, I may be getting an aunt, who may be at the oldest 20, 21. What type of governance, what type of structure is in the home, if this is the living conditions?”

This is John McDonogh High School in New Orleans.
posted by four panels at 7:44 AM PST - 56 comments

"At freeway speeds, the Toyota [Prius] is a near silent and comfortable cruiser, whereas the Audi [RS4] sounds and feels like a volcano making love to an avalanche." ... "you would swear the Audi is being launched from a trebuchet." ... "Let's say you're cruising at 80mph in sixth-gear and the engine is doing 3,000rpm, the mechanical equivalent of sipping a latte." ... "RS4 can blast sideways with such force that you will swear you are piloting violence."

Whether you are into cars or not, TTAC's Lieberman entertains. Not entirely unlike Jeremy Clarkson, but without the formulaic, wishy-washy introductions. Read the whole thing here.
posted by SharQ at 5:10 AM PST - 53 comments

Video the Vote. "Starting this election... people like you and I... will document problems as they occur. We'll play them online, spread word through blogs and partner websites, doing our part to make sure the full story of our elections is told." via Rushkoff.
posted by gsb at 4:38 AM PST - 14 comments

It's movember again at last. As well as being National Novel Writing Month this month is the month to let your mo grow and express your inner 70s self to the world. An Australian tradition since, well, 1999 that is going global. The official site has more about this year's event. There results tend to look like this.
posted by sien at 3:14 AM PST - 38 comments

Long rumoured , after 35 years on the show, Bob Barker is leaving the Price is Right. His first ever show was September 4th, 1972 (note how much less spazzy the audience is on that intro?). No longer will we hear his reminder to have your pets spayed or neutered, but there's still the DJ&T Foundation that he started to help distribute vouchers and help support low cost spaying and neutering of pets.
posted by antifuse at 2:29 AM PST - 24 comments

"Misunderstood" joke gets Kerry into trouble (youtube): "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Kerry insists that he was referring to Bush, not the troops, in Monday's speech at a Pasadena, CA university, and that he won't apologize for his remarks. Some Democrats are distancing themselves after his remarks, in fear that public backlash might affect the upcoming elections.
posted by aberrant at 1:19 AM PST - 138 comments