April 14, 2008

28 hours in 16 minutes

28 Hours in Jyväskylä Filmed at locations in and around Jyväskylä, a city in Central Finland. The idea was to show city life in a way that no-one normally experiences it - in time-lapse, often shot from roofs and masts. [Shorter version on youtube]
posted by gomichild at 11:12 PM PST - 27 comments

Brickmate!

Cool. Cooler. Awesome! Using Lego bricks as a medium to design chess sets seems absolutely logical to anybody that grew up playing with them. Fans have gone low-tech, the inevitable Star Wars, and a few more. Lego offers a virtual cowboys-and-indians version as well. [more inside]
posted by jabberjaw at 11:08 PM PST - 11 comments

Inflation is a Good Thing

An Airdancer is an advertising gimmick that consists of a fabric tube inflated by a high power fan. Airdancers come in a huge variety of shapes and styles, and lend themselves to parody. Taking the concept more seriously though is the Tubie, and innovative ironing system whose website includes unique instructional videos.
posted by Tube at 9:38 PM PST - 34 comments

New Security Blanket, Stat!

New Security Blanket, Stat! What do you do if you're a parent and your darling child's favorite toy has been worn down to nothing? Or perhaps you're thinking ahead and want a "backup binky?" You start a "Lost Lovies" thread, of course. Think of it as a hive mind for real desperate housewives looking for something better than a creative explanation as to why Sprinkles the Cow is suddenly MIA.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:27 PM PST - 20 comments

Read about 2063 as imagined in 1963

In 1963, General Dynamics Astronautics asked politicians, scientists, and military commanders to speculate on the potential state of the world in 2063, recording all these speculations in a book, and sealing it in a time capsule that was lost during the demolition of the General Dynamics Astronautics building. Thankfully, the entirety of the book is available as a download thanks to the fine folks at Paleo-Future. Found Via.
posted by jonson at 9:24 PM PST - 10 comments

The Straight Line Flâneur

London Cross: "If you walk across a great city such as London in two straight lines, south to north and east to west - a cross-section - what do you find?"
posted by Falconetti at 9:10 PM PST - 35 comments

Think SCA, only more specific

Hurstwic is a loosely affiliated group based in New England with an interest in the societies and peoples who lived in Northern Europe during the Viking age. While no longer formally organized, they still have events, frequently at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester MA. [more inside]
posted by owhydididoit at 8:22 PM PST - 12 comments

Ad Blast from the Past

Duke University has three image collections of old U.S. and Canadian advertisements. Ad*Access a database of over 7000 print ads from 1911 to 1956. Emergence of Advertising in America has 9000 images of ads from 1850-1920. Medicine and Madison Avenue has 600 medical ads and documents from 1911 to 1958. You can browse the collections by product, company, subject, year and categories or you can use the search function. Here are some of my favorites: Miss Clairol, They're Both in the Swim Today, Fancy Goods and Toy Bazaar, Sky Blue Pink, SAS Makes Airline History, A Montgomery Ward Hat that Becomes Nearly Every Woman, Radiant Peony and Hitler's Death Warrant.
posted by Kattullus at 7:57 PM PST - 11 comments

Tunnel town - Whittier, Alaska

Imagine living in a town, total population 182, further imagine that you and just about all of your neighbors live in just one building. [more inside]
posted by Rafaelloello at 7:06 PM PST - 24 comments

April 14, 1912

96 years ago today, the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the northern Atlantic, taking 1,500 souls with her. Now, they're blaming the rivets.
posted by Dave Faris at 5:45 PM PST - 56 comments

Tapes of Dalston

Once a week high quality digital recordings of cassette tapes purchased at the Dalston Oxfam Shop in East London.
posted by klangklangston at 4:38 PM PST - 14 comments

The World's Smallest Cell Phone!

The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone! The world's smallest cell phone!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 4:32 PM PST - 36 comments

To Nudge or Not to Nudge

Richard Posner, Gary Becker and Cass Sunstein debate "Libertarian Paternalism", a fancy and ugly term used to describe how some behavior economists think recent findings about human fallibility might bear on law and public policy. (previously)
posted by AceRock at 3:33 PM PST - 31 comments

Brain Cake.

How to Make an Anatomically Correct Brain Cake.
posted by unSane at 2:33 PM PST - 29 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen: The iPhone!

The wonders of technology! Browse the web, access your email, telephone your clients - all with the aid of a 7 inch touch screen. It's the iPhone!
posted by Neiltupper at 2:25 PM PST - 24 comments

I can see clearly now, McCain is gone.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is. McCain Girls revealed to be a hoax by 23/6.com. [Previously]
posted by patr1ck at 2:21 PM PST - 39 comments

Bridging the Green Divide

"It used to be that the more radical you were on environmental issues, the farther you were from working-class people, poor people, and people of color, because you were making individual lifestyle changes that alienated you from the majority. You looked different; you ate different foods; you wore different clothes. Working-class people were shopping at Wal-Mart and eating at McDonald’s, and you were mad at them for it. With this new environmentalism, the more radical you are on environmental solutions, the closer you are to the working class." [more inside]
posted by lunit at 2:12 PM PST - 18 comments

An Untitled Story

An Untitled Story. (apologies, pc download only). An action-platformer by Matt Thorson in the tradition of Seiklus, Knytt (previously 1 2), & Metroid It is full of awesome. [more inside]
posted by juv3nal at 12:53 PM PST - 14 comments

In tribute to Charlton Heston, Russia has begun a real-life Planet of the Apes.

By 2020, Mars may have monkeys, adding to the impressive roster of primates in space.
posted by myopicman at 12:50 PM PST - 24 comments

A Guide To Armageddon

A Guide To Armageddon: 1, 2, 3 (YouTube) This 1982 documentary morbidly simulates the effects of a nuclear attack on a city the size of London. [more inside]
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 12:47 PM PST - 28 comments

Portishead in Portishead

Portishead in Portishead (your favorite band sucks), but after 10 years, fans are a little excited.
posted by hypersloth at 11:55 AM PST - 72 comments

Marathon a day for 100 days

Running a marathon a day for the next 100 days, across Africa. [more inside]
posted by joelf at 11:47 AM PST - 22 comments

A peek behind Philip M. Parker's curtain

Remember Philip M. Parker, the much-reviled "author" whose system churns out ultra-long-tail books on ultra-niche topics? Well, here's video of his software, in action. (Via)
posted by jbickers at 11:09 AM PST - 37 comments

The White Crap Talks Back

"A lot of people have lumped us in with punk, but I've never aligned myself with it. I didn't want to be part of a scene, never have. And I knew it wasn't going to last. Once that quick statement was over, most of the main players couldn't handle the fall-out: they were like a bunch of shell-shocked army majors stuck in time, endlessly repeating their once-successful war cries. When you're dealing in slogans like the Clash and the Pistols, it's hard to keep that shit fresh." An extract from Mark E. Smith's new autobiography. Bonus: long, rambling, exceedingly pointless 4-part interview with Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses).(previously)
posted by nasreddin at 11:05 AM PST - 31 comments

warholed!

The Warholizer Your picture. Warholed.
posted by konolia at 11:05 AM PST - 18 comments

...robbed us of our souls and minds...

3d renderings of the zodiac signs.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:59 AM PST - 43 comments

28 Days Later...more stem cells!

Scientists have discovered that "endometrial regenerative cells" (ERC's) -- in other words, human menstrual blood -- contains stem cells. ERC-derived stem cells seem to have a number of superior traits to both bone marrow derived and umbilical cord derived stem cells, the previous gold standards: they can give rise to a variety of different cell lines without differentiation, they multiply more quickly than other stem cells, they are able to replicate more times without adversely mutating, and they apparently do not need to be closely genetically matched to the recipient. Now some women have even begun banking their menstrual blood to preserve their stem cells through a company called "C'Elle: Your Monthly Miracle" -- check out their FAQ and online video. This follows last May's announcement that menstrual blood derived cells can pretty much cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in mice, a disease for which there is no current therapeutic treatment available.
posted by Asparagirl at 9:32 AM PST - 59 comments

How Do I Deal With The Bullies? "I Carry on Singing."

13-year-old Andrew Johnston, bullied at school for his singing and taste in music, brings audience members and a judge to tears with his rendition of Pie Jesu [video | 4:43] at his first audition for Britain's Got Talent. [more inside]
posted by ericb at 8:15 AM PST - 88 comments

Easy money

Who said anything about a recession? Sometime between the government bailout of Bear Stearns and the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that America lost 80,000 jobs in March, Lee Tachman, a Wall Street banker, spent roughly $50,000 last month on a four-day jaunt to Miami for himself and three close friends.

“It was just all out — it was insane,” said Mr. Tachman. “I’m not afraid to spend money like that.”
posted by The Jesse Helms at 7:37 AM PST - 269 comments

"It is easy to take parts of any holy book and make it sound like the most inhuman book ever written"

A Saudi national has made a short film intended to illustrate how all religions can be depicted as preaching violence. The Daily Telegraph reports that "Schism" is Raed al-Saeed's answer to Geert Wilder's "Fitna".
posted by Flackjack47 at 7:04 AM PST - 102 comments

Know Your Cuts of Font

The Rather Difficult Font Quiz Do you know your Birch from your Bembo from your Bauer Bodini (Hey! Where's Bookman?) At the moment, 34 fonts to identify with more coming soon. A fun way to spend 2-3 minutes and learn just how much a font nerd you really are. (I only got 25 out of 34? I'm ashamed!) [more inside]
posted by wendell at 5:09 AM PST - 39 comments

The Everywhere Girl is Everywhere

A couple years ago, The Inquirer noticed that the same college student was endorsing competitors Dell and Gateway. Readers started mailing examples of her selling UPS, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens, Ford, Siemens, CNN, Greyhound, and quite a few others. After being dubbed The Dell Girl, she was promoted to The Everywhere Girl. People critized her shallow commitments to the universities she endorsed. Nonstop appearances across most of the western world must have been fatiguing. She's even in high demand among Christian and textbook publishers. [more inside]
posted by ardgedee at 4:00 AM PST - 34 comments

"There really are no accidents"

Absolutely horrifying, not for the squeamish, you've been warned Canadian public service announcements. Also, the only slightly less gory German educational film "Forklift driver Klaus". An unaired and disturbingly violent Canadian PSA on domestic violence. Graphically violent Irish PSAs warning against speeding, terrorism and Harry Chapin. A French Canadian worker slowly and gruesomely loses his arm. An Australian PSA featuring a blood-covered baby. Finally, an essay (with linked video examples) by a marketing consultant on "Turn-off Tactics" in public service advertisements.
posted by orthogonality at 2:05 AM PST - 66 comments

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