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The History of the Sims [YouTube] [33:12] “Very few games can say they presented something truly original to medium like The Sims did, and even fewer can boast the kind of cultural significance it has. Released in 2000, The Sims allowed players to puppeteer the lives of virtual people, micromanaging every aspect of their existence with no real goal other than whatever they set for themselves. For some, The Sims provided unparalleled escapism, letting them live out a fantasy life through in-game characters. For others it was an invitation to indulge their creative whims by crafting ideal homes and, of course, there's also those that indulged their sadistic side by toying with the lives of Sims in cruel but often amusing ways.” [via: Gamespot] [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 9:14 PM PST - 31 comments

The Most Entertaining Police Recruitment Video
posted by Sebmojo at 8:26 PM PST - 23 comments

"People are still drawing amazing graphics on a 35 year old microcomputer, the Commodore 64. A thread, starting with this one by Duce/Extend:" [Twitter][threadreader] [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:27 PM PST - 17 comments

The articles behind the movies:
Coyote Ugly trailer
The Bling Ring trailer
Adaptation trailer
Saturday Night Fever trailer
The Fast and the Furious trailer
Blue Crush trailer
The Insider trailer
The Perfect Storm trailer
Shattered Glass trailer
Argo trailer
Fast Times at Ridgemont High trailer [more inside]
posted by Grandysaur at 3:25 PM PST - 33 comments

Sudarsan Raghavan and Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post report from Agadez, Niger on a US drone base under construction nearby, that local residents fear will become a target for Islamist extremists. [more inside]
posted by J.K. Seazer at 2:59 PM PST - 2 comments

Tucked under the east wing of the UA football stadium is the University of Arizona's Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory. Since 2005, they've been casting and polishing the giant mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile: each one's 8.4 m / 27′ in diameter. So, how do you build a mirror for one of the world's largest telescopes? Seemingly very slowly, while spinning.
posted by scruss at 2:36 PM PST - 17 comments

“Last Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission, led by deregulation zealot Ajit Pai, presented a plan to dismantle net neutrality in America. Not only must we fight to prevent that from happening, we must ensure it can never happen again.“ Nationalize The Internet - Brendan Gallagher, Daily Dot.
posted by The Whelk at 12:22 PM PST - 89 comments

A few things you might not know about the javelin.

- Discontinued Olympic javelin events include two-handed javelin and freestyle javelin.
- The "Spanish style" of free-style javelin which included a spin, was banned swiftly.
- Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the first female javelin medalist when women were allowed to participate in 1932.
- As record-setting javelin throws approach the maximum distance attainable within a stadium infield, the javelin has been redesigned to be less aerodynamic.
- Javelin accidents are rare but do happen occasionally.
- Javelinas are cute, but unrelated.
posted by jessamyn at 7:56 AM PST - 53 comments

This week in 2019, the Prado Museum in Madrid will turn 200. This VR reconstruction takes you back 140 years, to the room that still exists but is completely different. Gaming technology was used to allow anyone, anywhere to walk through a view assembled from a 19th-century glass plate negative. A different approach from the apps that other museums have been using for augmented reality.
posted by JJ86 at 7:53 AM PST - 3 comments

Reviewer #2. Reviewer #2. Reviewer #2. Reviewer #2. Reviewer #2? Reviewer #2. Reviewer #3. [more inside]
posted by metaquarry at 4:29 AM PST - 10 comments

On Saturday, a limousine driver plans to launch himself on a mile-long flight over the Mojave Desert in a rocket of his own making. His name is "Mad" Mike Hughes, his steam-powered rocket is built of salvaged metals, his launch pad is repurposed from a used mobile home — and he is confident this will mark the first step toward proving the Earth is flat, after all.

'I Don't Believe In Science,' Says Flat-Earther Set To Launch Himself In Own Rocket [more inside]
posted by peeedro at 4:13 AM PST - 130 comments

How many holes does a straw have?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:26 AM PST - 110 comments