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Jerry Woodfill was an engineer with a mission control console at NASA when Apollo 13 became critically endangered by a blown oxygen tank. He shared his views on how the crew survived with Universe Today in a series of posts: 13 Things that Saved Apollo 13 written by Nancy Atkinson. [more inside]
posted by jjray at 11:02 PM PST - 10 comments

Will post-conversion done badly kill 3D movies? Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks thinks it might. Or as Michael Bay puts it "You can’t just shit out a 3D movie".
posted by Artw at 9:58 PM PST - 79 comments

Want to dump your significant other, but also want to humiliate him or her publicly? Look no further.
posted by emilyd22222 at 9:36 PM PST - 54 comments

Paul Simon, small peoples, gotta make ya smile "everybody dance...you can dance with me!"
posted by HuronBob at 8:30 PM PST - 16 comments

Max Gadney works at the BBC in London, but he also creates graphics and infographics for WWII Magazine in the US. (Flickr Photostream).
posted by zarq at 7:10 PM PST - 11 comments

"Crazy as it sounds, over the next several weeks I’m going to try to do something close to that. I’ll be writing about the elements of mathematics, from pre-school to grad school, for anyone out there who’d like to have a second chance at the subject — but this time from an adult perspective. It’s not intended to be remedial. The goal is to give you a better feeling for what math is all about and why it’s so enthralling to those who get it." Mathematics in the pages of the New York Times! [more inside]
posted by storybored at 6:57 PM PST - 21 comments

You and your loved ones are invited to survive the next earth devastating catastrophe, terrorist or nuclear attack at the Vivos underground shelter network. The 132 spaces in Barstow CA are going like hotcakes, but there are 19 other facilities planned. Check out the facilities and even the menu. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 5:52 PM PST - 78 comments

“So toss away stuff you don't need in the end; but keep what's important, and know who's your friend...” Phish, live at the Rockpalast, Wartesaal, Cologne, February 16th, 1997: Set One Beauty of my Dreams, Split Open and Melt, Bouncing Around the Room, Crosseyed and Painless, Guelah Papyrus, Ginseng Sullivan, Tweezer, part 1 / part 2, Waste, Cavern, Chalkdust Torture Set Two Sample in a Jar, Cars Trucks Buses, Free, Sparkle, Simple -> When the Circus Comes to Town, Swept Away -> Steep -> David Bowie, part 1 / part 2, Loving Cup, Tweezer Reprise Encore Theme from the Bottom, Johnny B Goode One of the greatest shows Phish have ever played, captured live on video. [Mouseover for notes.] [more inside]
posted by koeselitz at 5:31 PM PST - 117 comments

FARD is nice little animated short about a man who comes into possession of an object which shines an new light on his reality. It's in French and there are no subtitles, but the dialogue is minimal and the story is easy to follow. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 5:08 PM PST - 17 comments

Jennifer Springman has been doing oil paintings of women with almost doll like features. Just wanted to share my favorite piece as well.
posted by b2walton at 4:40 PM PST - 27 comments

'GOP hopes to go from Party of No to Party of Choice.' 'Speaker after speaker at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference rallied the faithful with stinging denunciations of Obama and the Democratic majorities controlling the Senate and House of Representatives.' Palin. Gingrich. Ron Paul. Steele. And many more. 'They know how to say no to President Barack Obama. Now, can Republicans get the rest of the country to say yes to them?' 'Obama's approval ratings remain near or below 50 percent, a dangerous position for the party in power. Also, Americans may be souring on the Democratic brand little more than a year after electing a Democratic president and adding to the Democratic majorities in Congress. A new USA Today-Gallup Poll shows that just 41 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, the lowest in the nearly two decades Gallup's asked the question. By contrast, 42 percent had a favorable opinion of Republicans.' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword at 12:45 PM PST - 119 comments

29 Semi-Productive Things I Do Online When I'm Trying to Avoid Real Work
posted by MechEng at 11:45 AM PST - 42 comments

The New Orleans blogosphere and twitterverse have been abuzz about HBO's Treme, which premieres tonight. Today's edition of the local paper features an open letter to New Orleanians from director David Simon. [more inside]
posted by muffuletta at 11:43 AM PST - 55 comments

Harry Potter and Hermione's Stalker, Harry Potter and the Magic of Puberty. (NSFW-ish)
posted by empath at 11:03 AM PST - 38 comments

Is My Thesis Hot or Not?
posted by anotherpanacea at 10:40 AM PST - 26 comments

What if our economy was not built on competition? Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom talks about her work on cooperation in economics. [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 9:41 AM PST - 34 comments

David Gelernter, professor of computer science, painter, neoconservative columnist, and unabomber victim, on rethinking the internet. The structure called a cyberstream or lifestream is better suited to the Internet than a conventional website because it shows information-in-motion, a rushing flow of fresh information instead of a stagnant pool.
posted by DZack at 8:32 AM PST - 20 comments

Top 10 Biggest and Best Jumps Ever Does what it says on the tin [slyt]
posted by mathowie at 6:50 AM PST - 73 comments

uzbl is a free and open source minimalistic web browser designed for simplicity and adherence to the Unix philosophy.
posted by vostok at 5:59 AM PST - 28 comments

Adam and Eve. Bigamist. Betty Boop. Charlie Chaplin. Execution. More. (via)
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:30 AM PST - 15 comments