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Literary Flash Friday. "Life of Pi", this year's Booker Prize winner, and the sources of "inspiration" of its author were discussed here some days ago. Now you can enjoy the interactive promo of the novel (requires Flash and a fast connection I'm afraid).
posted by blogenstock at 9:50 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Muslim rioters force cancellation of Miss World beauty contest: Lagos not favourite in race for Mr.Gay Africa comp.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:33 PM PST - 34 comments

Lusty Linens! "Inspiring lovemaking and pleasure with our beautifully designed, finely crafted erotic bed linen and other home accessories." Perfect holiday gifts for your favorite pervert!
posted by adrober at 5:14 PM PST - 4 comments

The Burden of Profit. Two Texas energy companies, both closely tied to the Bush White House, are lining up administration support for nearly $900 million in public financing for a Peruvian natural gas project that will cut through one of the world's most pristine tropical rain forests. (via homunculus)
posted by four panels at 4:46 PM PST - 9 comments

Are tonnes of strange quark matter zipping through the Earth?

One event occurred on 22 October, 1993, when, according to the researchers, something entered the Earth off Antarctica and left it south of India 0.73 of a second later.

But we may never know the answer:

In 1993 the US Geological Survey stopped collecting data...

posted by anser at 4:01 PM PST - 18 comments

War With Iraq - As Predictable As Chess There is still a good chance we can avoid war with Iraq. Saddam Hussein has never won a war, and his military forces surely foresee their own destruction. Numerous assassination attempts by them (some involving the Republican Guard) have failed. They are likely trying again, even now. Therein lies our best hope. What if they fail again? Then invasion by the U.S. is inevitable.
posted by daHIFI at 2:33 PM PST - 20 comments

Counting in base-14. "Just because we use a decimal system doesn't mean everyone does. "The teseradecimal lifestyle is thus not just a way of life. It is not only a method of regulating marriage, birth, succession, and other aspects of village life. It is also a theory of history where genesis, finality, and apocalypse are laid out on the space between the pinky and the nose."
Alex Golub illuminates the counting system of the Ipili tribe of Papua New Guinea, in response to much discussion of the ethnomathmatics at Leuschke.org. [more inside]
posted by me3dia at 2:27 PM PST - 21 comments

Loosening clean air rules... This from the guy hailing from the smoggiest state around. Is this really who should be making such a decision? Things don't look so good now, so why loosen the rules? Do we want one of these?
posted by Espoo2 at 1:45 PM PST - 22 comments

World's smallest book. How does one read a book that is .9 by .9 millimeters? Chekov's "Chameleon" has just been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records (though the website hasn't been updated yet.) The hobby is apparently addictive, with societies at major universities and international groups as well. There's even a yearly Conclave. Personally, I'd be afraid that I'd lose something that small. Palkovic mentions it in the article, but says they always show up. File under slightly obsessive hobby.
posted by valval22 at 12:26 PM PST - 5 comments

My laptop gets pretty hot but I never imagined it could cause burns! In fact this is probably the only injury that can be caused by a computer, apart from electrocution?
posted by chrid at 12:17 PM PST - 30 comments

Misinterpreting Osama's Message: Erring on the Side of Danger (via AlterNet) Bin Laden's messages are mistaken for unconditional threats and vows to attack. They are really conditional warnings that whatever we do, they will respond in kind. Some new insights from reading between the lines of OBL's communiques without lapsing into left wing apologia (More inside)
posted by BentPenguin at 12:00 PM PST - 17 comments

Aiee!!    Pelorosaurus by god knows who, Corythosaurus illustrated by Zdenek Burian, Ornitholestes by Charles Knight--Dinosaur Illustrations has led me to two wonderful sites: Early Image and Paper Dinosaurs, 1824-1969 - An Exhibition of Original Publications From the Collections of the Linda Hall Library, as well as many other little treasures.
posted by y2karl at 11:17 AM PST - 3 comments

G.I. Joe is a Real American Hero. Now you can get some new guys for him to fight against.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 10:36 AM PST - 32 comments

Rachel Marsden Back in the News: A few years back, a Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) swimming coach was fired after it was found that he had sexually harassed a student. But then the coach was "later reinstated when an external mediator found procedural errors in the university's investigation of the case." The student later became a right-wing journalist. Now she herself is being charged with harassment. By the way, her own site is down from all the traffic today.
posted by 314/ at 10:02 AM PST - 14 comments

JFK Assassination: Up close and personal After years of silence, they're finally talking. Here's a first-hand account from my family who were about 10 yards away from the shot that killed JFK. They are clearly visible in the Zapruder film. Spooky.
posted by sparky at 9:24 AM PST - 38 comments

TV night or a drag show? Gay retirement homes are starting to open as the Stonewall Generation grows old. A study by the Brookdale Centre on Ageing at Hunter College in New York found that fewer than one in five elderly gays have a life partner and only one in ten has children. By contrast, nearly half the overall general senior population has a spouse and four in five have children. America’s first, of course, was in Florida.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:10 AM PST - 13 comments

More Evidance that Cannabis can lead to Mental Illness. The link between regular cannabis use and later depression and schizophrenia has been significantly strengthened by three new studies. One of the key conclusions of the research is that people who start smoking cannabis as adolescents are at the greatest risk of later developing mental health problems. Studying 1600 Australian school pupils aged 14 to 15 for seven years, daily cannabis use was associated with a five-fold increased risk of depression at the age of 20.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 8:40 AM PST - 83 comments

They're Nippiting it in the bud. I suppose you can't blame them. A director or costumer puts an actor in a tight wet shirt on a chilly nippy set on purpose, right? Well, no need to poke, err, put up with it anymore. But should you so desire, you can still achieve the exact opposite effect as well. (I'm fresh out of Flash, so thought I'd post this sad development as part of LowBrowFriday. Sorry...)
posted by Shane at 7:13 AM PST - 27 comments

Gently strain your brain this Friday morning with some pop quizzes. Besides today's test, there are more in the archives. Sort of an educational way to pass the time (or your employer's time).
posted by Oriole Adams at 6:38 AM PST - 6 comments

Dildo's illegal in Texas? Apparently so. Let me get this straight... in a state where you can carry loaded firearms on your hip, if you get caught with more than 6 dildos or other "pleasure devices", it's a FELONY? Absolutely amazing. Texas is like a whole other country. It also helps explain a lot. (via obscurestore)
posted by Ynoxas at 6:04 AM PST - 78 comments

"I don't want anyone saying, ‘I'll give you two firefighters for an airline pilot.' " The latest in a long line of trading cards? (aka Top Trumps)
posted by MintSauce at 5:49 AM PST - 2 comments

Ellen Feiss speaks! In her first-ever interview, she breaks her silence and answers the question many of you have been asking: "by the time I made it it was like 10, so I was really tired. The funny thing was, I was on drugs! I was on Benedryl, my allergy medication, so I was really out of it anyway. That's why my eyes were all red, because I have seasonal allergies. But no one believes me." (via MacRumors; see also Wired)
posted by mcwetboy at 3:01 AM PST - 49 comments

Hit the Fan! Here's a great little game that's been floating around my "to post" box for a few days just waiting for Flash Friday here at MeFi. The object is to propel a mound of fecal matter with your ping-pong paddle so that it connects with the rotary air circulation device. Once you get some practice, try springing one off the stapler or landing it in the coffee cup. Even better yet, go for a "Mac attack" and ricochette one off the iMac screen into the blades. They did a fairly good job of creating a sound effects for the moment when the caca hits the old ventilador too - so how can you lose?
posted by RevGreg at 2:41 AM PST - 16 comments