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combophotos are surreal photo composites by stephen mcmennamy. combophoto on Instagram has more.
posted by readinghippo at 10:45 PM PST - 14 comments

The Many Lives of Ayn Winters: My TV Pilot With Sony PlayStation [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by sardonyx at 10:28 PM PST - 1 comments

All the Rage: What a literature that embraces female anger can achieve. Rebecca Solnit: "Instead of a theory of male anger, we have a growing literature in essays and now books about female anger, a phenomenon in transition..." [more inside]
posted by homunculus at 8:08 PM PST - 20 comments

Antique Swiss Blowtorch. 1930s German Spiral Jack. 1940's Two Speed Enclosed Breast Drill. 100+ Year Old Joseph Lucas Bicycle Carbide Lamp.
posted by carter at 6:34 PM PST - 15 comments

With legalization imminent in Canada, the RCMP has been working out procedures for a roadside pot sobriety test. [SLYT]
posted by clawsoon at 4:36 PM PST - 45 comments

After a chaotic morning of anteroom discussions, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 along party lines to recommend Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court (Roll Call). Senators Flake (R-AZ) and Murkowski (R-AK) joined Democrats in calling for a one-week delay while the FBI investigates the nominee. But would it make a difference if the FBI were to investigate Kavanaugh allegations? (NPR) What happens now? An FBI investigation lasting up to one week, but the Senate will move forward with a vote on Saturday on the Motion to Proceed. Here’s where Kavanaugh’s sworn testimony was misleading or wrong (Washington Post); every time Ford and Kavanaugh dodged a question, in one chart (Vox); every time Kavanaugh mentioned beer; the most telling moment: Kavanaugh goes after Sen. Klobuchar (Washington Post) [more inside]
posted by zachlipton at 2:39 PM PST - 2653 comments

The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has released an opinion (pdf) in Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin (which alleges that "Stairway to Heaven" contains copied portions of the instrumental song "Taurus" by the band Spirit), ordering a new copyright infringement trial. A previous jury trial denied the copyright infringement claim. Video of arguments in the appeal of that decision leading to today's appeal court decision (heard in March 2018) are available on the 9th Circuit website. [more inside]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:11 PM PST - 43 comments

Mexico’s drug cartels are moving into the gasoline industry — infiltrating the national oil company, selling stolen fuel on the black market and engaging in open war with the military.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:38 PM PST - 8 comments

Ongoing analysis of the LiDAR in the Maya Biosphere Reserve finds more than monuments. Previously.
posted by clew at 1:32 PM PST - 6 comments

and are freaked out by the shock of how amazing it. one, two, three, four, and probably even more out there.
I don't know why. for some reason, such videos really excite me.
posted by avi111 at 1:06 PM PST - 106 comments

Aged 78, Song Peilun has created a hidden utopia on a hillside in Guizhou province, where commercial endeavours are kept at bay and art and indigenous culture thrive
posted by infini at 12:33 PM PST - 3 comments

Edible water bottles (video). Ohoo are little bubbles of water enclosed in an edible seaweed and plant membrane. Pop one in your mouth. Drink the water and eat or discard (biodegradeable) the membrane.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:18 PM PST - 36 comments

Facebook annouced today that 40 million accounts were attacked through a flaw in the "View As" function, enabling the attackers to use access tokens to potentially take over accounts. Facebook has reset the access tokens for up to 90 million accounts. The full implication of this has not been made clear.
posted by MrGuilt at 10:12 AM PST - 81 comments

To understand how climate change is affecting Greenland’s polar bears, scientists turn to the hunters who know them best. [more inside]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:20 AM PST - 1 comments

In January 1973, new cable channel Home Box Office broadcast the heavyweight championship boxing match between Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Over the next 45 years, many of the most memorable ring moments of the last half-century came to American homes via HBO, including the Rumble in the Jungle, Buster Douglas's upset of Mike Tyson, and Manny Pacquiao taking the torch from Oscar De La Hoya. But as of next month, HBO will no longer regularly air boxing. HBO Executive Vice President Peter Nelson says "audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO."
posted by Etrigan at 8:43 AM PST - 18 comments

“His vision is for Amazon to become the underlying infrastructure that commerce runs on. Already, Amazon’s website is the dominant platform for online retail sales, attracting half of all online US shopping traffic and hosting thousands of third-party sellers. Its Amazon Web Services division provides 34 percent of the world’s cloud-computing capacity, handling the data of a long list of entities, from Netflix to Nordstrom, Comcast to Condé Nast to the CIA.” Amazon Doesn’t Just Want to Dominate the Market—It Wants to Become the Market (The Nation) - Amazon’s Next Frontier: Your City’s Purchasing (ILSR)- A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute looking at employment in counties that managed to land a fulfillment center in the last 15 years found no evidence that overall employment increased, and in some instances employment even fell relative to comparison counties. (Huffington Post) - Amazon is doling out raises of as little as 25 cents an hour in what employees call ‘damage control’ (Washington Post) Amazon’s aggressive anti-union tactics revealed in leaked 45 minute video (Gizmodo)
posted by The Whelk at 6:55 AM PST - 67 comments

It's been Yet Another Exhausting Day, and it's time for bed. But you're too snoozy to just stand up and walk there. You don't want to just fall asleep in the middle of the floor like a slob... but you're so tired. Maybe if you don't stand up, but just sort of slide along the floor to the bedroom.... (It's a computer game! Here's a playable demo, and here's the game's Twitter. Sadly, it's Windows only for now. Thanks to Alpha Beta Gamer and Jupiter Hadley for the find.)
posted by JHarris at 2:34 AM PST - 9 comments