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"Progressive societies cared for their children by emphasising play and schooling; parents were expected to shelter and protect their children’s innocence by keeping them from paid work and the wrong kinds of knowledge ... adolescence soon became a vision of normal development that was applicable to all youth – its bridging character (connecting childhood and adulthood) giving young Americans a structured way to prepare for mating and work. In the 21st century, the bridge is sagging at both ends as the innocence of childhood has become more difficult to protect, and adulthood is long delayed." [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:39 PM PST - 12 comments

A profile of the artist by Taffy Brodesser-Akner [content warning: sexual assault]
posted by thetortoise at 11:06 PM PST - 10 comments

To celebrate "20 years of preserving the web", the Internet Archive has unveiled GifCities – The Geocities Animated GIF Search Engine. [more inside]
posted by zarq at 9:56 PM PST - 20 comments

Iceland's Pirate Party looks likely to take the country's election next weekend - "If you're worn out and depressed with the US election campaign, ponder what's going on in Iceland for a moment. The country's Pirate Party, founded less than four years ago by a group of activists, anarchists, and hackers, is poised to upend Icelandic politics with an Oct. 29 general-election victory."
posted by kliuless at 9:41 PM PST - 99 comments

Photographer captures what kittens look like mid-pounce
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:08 PM PST - 30 comments

Submitted for your consideration: Google Sheep View. [more inside]
posted by MoonOrb at 6:59 PM PST - 13 comments

Why is Tom Hanks, as SNL one-off David S. Pumpkins, setting the Hallowe'en world on fire?
posted by Shepherd at 5:53 PM PST - 104 comments

Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
posted by bq at 5:39 PM PST - 1 comments

Female Doctors Speak Out About Racism and Sexism During Airplane Emergencies
posted by Evilspork at 5:27 PM PST - 34 comments

An Attempt to 3D Model Jorge Luis Borges’s Library of Babel [Hyperallergic] Programmer Jamie Zawinski has created a digital rendering of the infinite, hexagonal library that is the subject and setting of Jorge Luis Borges’s short story “The Library of Babel.”
posted by Fizz at 5:16 PM PST - 14 comments

Peter Thiel[readme] (Paypal inventor, venture capitalist, libertarian, vampire, techno-optimist, futurist, tranhumanist, lawsuit-machine finanicier and inflation-predicting billionaire) is supporting Donald Trump for President of the United States, and thinks America made a (one of many) wrong turn granting women the vote. Why?
This has made some of his compatriots in Silicon Valley (and New York, but not Chicago) anxious. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:09 PM PST - 112 comments

There are a couple of other things you should know. When you’re reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, you are now required by law to say “one nation, under a groove.” Also, after careful deliberation, we’ve decided to change the National Anthem to something a little less militaristic: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Standing while the anthem is playing will be optional, but bobbing your head during the acoustic guitar breaks will be strictly enforced. By the way, America is now gluten-free.
posted by listen, lady at 2:39 PM PST - 45 comments

The colorful rise and fall of "Crazy Eddie" Antar, who built an New York City electronics store empire and then ended up in prison. (Bonus: more Crazy Eddie at the New Yorker).
posted by Chrysostom at 11:23 AM PST - 33 comments

The police show up, they do some canvassing, they try to find some fingerprints, then that’s it. They leave her to deal with her suddenly broken life. They’re gone and Josh is gone and there’s not even any sign of the guy who broke into her home. All she knows is that when she went to bed her son was at home safe with her and when she woke up he was gone and a man was standing in her kitchen wearing Josh’s underwear. That’s where she is.

‘Big’ Is Secretly a Horror Movie — Just ask Tom Hanks’s terrified mom
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:55 AM PST - 73 comments

Recognition is an artificial intelligence program that compares up-to-the-minute photojournalism with British art from the Tate collection.
posted by obscurator at 10:46 AM PST - 3 comments

More than thirty years after his death, Canadian flight attendant Gaetan Dugas — who has been dubbed “Patient Zero” of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, has been exonerated by medical evidence, a new study published in Nature today.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:41 AM PST - 26 comments

The Google Maps Streetview Player • Input either a starting point and end point, or a provide a file of a route, and Brian Folts's app will provide you with a Google Streetview maps-lapse. (Tips: Check the Advanced Options box, and tweak the FPS or mode of transportation; and mess about with the progress bar in case the app gets ahead of itself.) — Routeview is a very similar app, with a few more more ways to configure your ride. [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 10:22 AM PST - 3 comments

SAG-AFTRA, an actors’ union, represents a number of voice actors in video games. And on October 21st, they went on strike against video game employers: Activision, Take 2, Electronic Arts, WB Games, and several talent agencies, including Blindlight, Disney, and VoiceWorks. They've been tweeting with #PerformanceMatters since before the strike started. [more inside]
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:06 AM PST - 29 comments

The Interactive Fiction Competition 2016 is open for judging, and invites us all to play and rate this year's entrants. Browse the games individually to play in your browser or download, or grab the 222MB zip archive containing all the entrants. [more inside]
posted by metaBugs at 8:30 AM PST - 10 comments

The Oxford University Press, upon the recommendation of a panel of 23 international scholars and extensive data analysis, has decided to give co-author credit of the three Henry VI plays to Christopher Marlowe. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 7:20 AM PST - 46 comments

So this is basically [MLYT]....
Steven Universe - Gravity Falls - Adventure Time - Miraculous Ladybug - Cowboy Bebop - Overwatch - Pokemon [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 6:52 AM PST - 35 comments

While speculation continues on how Pokemon GO will handle the coming winter, the game has begun its first global event with a Halloween treat. [more inside]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:24 AM PST - 255 comments

In 2010, science fiction and fantasy author (and MeFi's own) Tim Pratt wrote "Scientific Romance", a Valentine's Day love poem for his wife.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:08 AM PST - 2 comments

With Halloween right around the corner, and Horrors Weeks in full swing, The A.V. Club is counting down the scariest, creepiest, and most nerve-shredding opening scenes in horror-movie history. Bonus: Karin Slaughter recommends 7 thrilling, disturbing mysteries written by women.
posted by valkane at 4:10 AM PST - 37 comments

A mesmerising video of industrial robots working together to create a variety of springs. [more inside]
posted by Stark at 3:52 AM PST - 30 comments

The 337 justifiably most despised and detested songs in the world, as determined through a Twitter thread started by Edward Mund.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:41 AM PST - 265 comments