July 17, 2009

Yet another reason to get a laser-cutter

Build your own strandbeest (laser-cutter required) [via] [more inside]
posted by mhjb at 9:24 PM PST - 9 comments

Social Skydiving

Social Skydiving. An introverted programmer and student decides to overcome his social inhibitions by attempting a conversation with a stranger everyday for thirty days and (obligatorily) blogging the results.
posted by norabarnacl3 at 8:43 PM PST - 29 comments

The Best Phallic Image You Will See in the News Today

A week ago, when Oscar F. Mayer, retired chairman of the Oscar Mayer meats company and grandson of the Original Oscar, passed away at 95, he left instructions that the Wienermobile NOT appear at his funeral because "it would be too much of a spectacle." Well, today, there was a bit of a spectacle as one of the iconic vehicles crashed into the side of a house in Racine, Wisconsin. There is a Wienermobile Blog written by the team of drivers but they have no statement there on this incident (yet).
Previ-ously
posted by wendell at 8:17 PM PST - 30 comments

Walter Cronkite, RIP

Walter Cronkite is dead.
posted by the dief at 5:34 PM PST - 269 comments

We are all sinners.

Masturbation in the animal kingdom.
posted by gman at 4:49 PM PST - 54 comments

The Lunar Orbiter's Kodak moment

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned its first images of the Apollo moon landing sites. The spacecraft’s onboard camera photographed Lunar Module descent stages at five of the six Apollo sites—11, 14, 15, 16, and 17. The Apollo 12 site will be photographed in coming weeks. [more inside]
posted by prinado at 4:16 PM PST - 38 comments

“N****r rigs” should now be called “presidential solutions”

"I don't see where there's a story, I'm not the only one that does it." Such is the excuse of patriotic Atwater City (CA) Councilman (and Mayor Pre Tem) Gary Frago for sending out "at least a half-dozen e-mails to city staff and other prominent community members containing racist jokes aimed at President Barack Obama, his wife and black people in general." Frago received some of the e-mail jokes from ex-city worker Bob Rieger and forwarded them on "to various community leaders, 'including a county supervisor, a former police chief, a city manager, a former city council member, a former president of a veterans group, a former grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, among others.'" Rieger said the jokes he sent had no racial meaning. "As far as I'm concerned the e-mails need no explanation," he said. "I sent them out, I'm not concerned with it," he said. [more inside]
posted by ericb at 4:10 PM PST - 90 comments

The Case of Tony Stancl

"Immediately, Ike's rumor mill went into a frenzy. Wired magazine posted the criminal complaint against Stancl on its Web site, and kids downloaded the document, which identified the victims by their initials and dates of birth. Then the kids went to Facebook and searched the Eisenhower network by plugging in birth dates. Within minutes they had a full list of the names of the alleged victims, which made the story even more incredible. These were not wayward, damaged boys. They were athletes. Leaders. Popular, college-bound, bright-futured kids. Boys so unimpeachably straight that there was no way you could imagine them doing the things they were supposed to have done with Tony Stancl."
posted by Saucy Intruder at 1:15 PM PST - 116 comments

1984

Kindle goes all 1984 on Orwell Unbelievably, amazon.com has deleted all copies of 1984 and Animal Farm from the Kindle and other ebook platforms.. How could they not see the irony?
posted by batboy at 1:02 PM PST - 187 comments

Janey Thomson's Marathon.

Janey Thomson's Marathon Any longtime fan of 80s arcade game Track & Field and fan of old gaming lore around Desert Bus will no doubt fall in love with this new classic game written in the perfect style of early 80s Konami combined with brutally long punishment games. I gave up after a few minutes but damn did I want to keep going and see the finish. [via mefi projects]
posted by mathowie at 11:33 AM PST - 56 comments

Blowing up the Rocca Malatestiana

Tetragram for Enlargement is an architectural video installation by Apparati Effimeri that decorates, distorts, and eventually explodes the fortress Rocca Malatestiana. [Italian] [more inside]
posted by carsonb at 11:29 AM PST - 4 comments

What do you want, an armed guard to follow your kid around?

Why I won't be at my high school reunion. A math geek reminisces about the joys of high school. As another who has much-less-than-pleasant memories of those years, this struck a nerve.
posted by bitmage at 11:24 AM PST - 242 comments

Utinni!

Dancing with the Star Wars Stars. It's Vadertime.
posted by verb at 11:00 AM PST - 42 comments

The Crack-Up Continues

The conservative movement continues to suffer problems, within the Republican Party, without, and, well...
posted by StrikeTheViol at 10:55 AM PST - 125 comments

"This is dog manure in the shape of a bicycle." Hal grades your locking.

"This is the lock you got from your parents when you were 8." "I could chew through this lock." Hal Grades Your Bike Locking (2003). Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking (2008). Hal Grades Your Bike Locking 3: The Final Warning! (2009) Skip to the last one unless if you're not truly dedicated to locking minutiae. (via)
posted by maudlin at 10:41 AM PST - 59 comments

Is That a Guitar In Your Hand Or Are You Just Here to BLOW SOME SHIT UP

Want a new guitar, but don't want a boring ole Fender or Gibson? Then Johnson Guitars U.S.A may be the guitar maker for you. Keep your audiences wondering if you're here to rock out or gun them all down, sacrifice them to Apophis, feed them to a shark (or dragon), or simply take off into the stratosphere fueled by the power of your rock.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:15 AM PST - 28 comments

Le Earworme.

Emily Loizeau's Je Suis Jalouse was for me the kind of song that immediately makes you want more. Emily's debut album L'autre bout du monde (The Other Side of the World) was released in 2006. She began studying piano at the age of 5, and cites Georges Brassens, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles as her primary influences. Listen to more wonderfulness with Sister, Je Ne Sais Pas Choisir, or the title track from her debut album. More listening if you are at last.fm
posted by lazaruslong at 10:06 AM PST - 5 comments

Fatima Bhutto explains what the US is doing wrong in Pakistan

A thought provoking interview on the state of Pakistan in Guernica. [more inside]
posted by Lame_username at 8:56 AM PST - 4 comments

Hullo, I'm the Doctor.

Tom Baker returns to Doctor Who. [more inside]
posted by permafrost at 8:35 AM PST - 75 comments

The People v. Eric Frimpong

The story of prisoner F95488.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 7:50 AM PST - 75 comments

Don't Talk to Robots

PSA's from the Future
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:02 AM PST - 48 comments

Darkfall NERDRAGE

The gaming website Eurogamer posted a scathing review of the MMO Darkfall, yet the developers claim that the reviewer only played the game for two hours. Eurogamer refused to take down the review and became hated by the Darkfall community. This lead to what might be the most sublime nerdrage in the history of mankind. To Eurogamer's credit, they commissioned a second review of the game by Kieron Gillen. [more inside]
posted by The Devil Tesla at 5:52 AM PST - 86 comments

Smile for the camera

North American Insects and Spiders - 7000+ close-ups of wolf spiders, black widows, honeybees, a ladybug eating an aphid, gulf fritillary butterflies, praying mantises, and much, much more
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:53 AM PST - 44 comments

Where's David Icke when you need him?

The Great Google Doodle Triforce Conspiracy
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar at 1:45 AM PST - 30 comments

Crocs shoes face bankruptcy

Crocs face bankruptcy! They sold over 100 million pairs of their practical, stylish yet affordable shoes to George W Bush, Steven Tyler and my overweight aunt amongst others, so where did it all go wrong? One bright note: boxed, early models are already selling on Ebay for big money.
posted by johnny novak at 1:05 AM PST - 226 comments

Meeting Ticker

Meeting Ticker -- if this helps shorten even one meeting by one minute, it'll have been worth it.
posted by nthdegx at 12:34 AM PST - 20 comments

« Previous day | Next day »