MetaFilter

JEDI PARTY. THE FRIEND ZONE. REVENGE OF MIDDLE MANAGEMENT. LASER MOON AWAKENS. ATTACK OF THE PHANTOM PAST. And now, the creators' five year mission concludes in Auralnauts Star Wars Episode 6: THE LAST LASER MASTER. (previously) [more inside]
posted by BiggerJ at 11:52 PM PST - 29 comments

Dan Fogelberg's shimmering fourth album, Nether Lands was the number 13 album of 1977. It mixes 70s rock with folk and even classical in a very strong way. [YT album, 46m] Recommend! Side A: Nether Lands, Once Upon A Time, Dancing Shoes, Lessons Learned, Loose Ends [it's worth reading the full YT video description for this one, trust me] [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 10:42 PM PST - 18 comments

Stan Lee's blood stolen and used to sign comics.
posted by Literaryhero at 10:10 PM PST - 23 comments

Farewell to “Our Bodies, Ourselves.” A groundbreaking, powerful work for women young and old, the authors of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” have announced that they will no longer be updating their life-changing publication. (Boston Globe)
posted by Melismata at 8:08 PM PST - 17 comments

A new neural net post from Janelle Shane! This time, tomato names. [more inside]
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:26 PM PST - 9 comments

Isao Takahata, legendary animation director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has died at age 82. [more inside]
posted by Sangermaine at 5:43 PM PST - 50 comments

Is chronic pain something more people should accept? Amid the opioid crisis, the concept of “pain acceptance” is gaining credibility. [more inside]
posted by Kybard at 1:43 PM PST - 221 comments

The (Descendants Of John D.) Rockefeller vs Exxon, The (Descendant) Of Standard Oil [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:43 PM PST - 5 comments

Have you ever seen "20 Mule Team Borax" and wondered about the origin of the name? Or are you curious about how exact reproductions of the wagons were constructed, and then pulled by the requisite mules, in the 2017 Washington D.C. 4th of July parade? [more inside]
posted by maxwelton at 12:29 PM PST - 16 comments

The President Sang Amazing Grace (Joan Baez) [more inside]
posted by DigDoug at 10:51 AM PST - 17 comments

Aviva Stephens writes on cycling while woman. Excerpt: While there are several aspects of bike commuting that are unwelcoming to women, I think the largest hurdle to get over is sweat. First, women don’t sweat…but we do, so confusing... While I have yet to change the minds and hearts of American society that will allow women to sweat out loud, I have discovered a few tricks that have helped me overcome this unrealistic sweat-less standard for my daily commute.
posted by splitpeasoup at 10:33 AM PST - 65 comments

We unearthed thousands of internal documents that help explain how the Islamic State stayed in power so long. "One of the keys to their success was their diversified revenue stream. The group drew its income from so many strands of the economy that airstrikes alone were not enough to cripple it...More surprisingly, the documents provide further evidence that the tax revenue the Islamic State earned far outstripped income from oil sales. It was daily commerce and agriculture — not petroleum — that powered the economy of the caliphate." (Warning: descriptions of assault and murder, also just freaky) [more inside]
posted by Toddles at 10:24 AM PST - 18 comments

China retaliated for US tariffs, slapping duties on soybeans, planes, and autos (Reuters), after Trump escalated his trade war on Tuesday by threatening to impose new tariffs on $50 billion in imported goods ranging from bakery ovens to ball bearings (Politico). With the US trade deficit rising to a near nine-and-a-half-year high and the jobs market tightening (Reuters) – and Trump-voting states hit hard by the new Chinese tariffs (CNBC) – China's state media assured the nation will win any trade war with the US (Reuters). White House trade adviser Peter Navarro now promises Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead high-level discussions with Chinese officials to avert a trade war (Bloomberg). Today, China has just filed a complaint at the WTO over US tariffs (MarketWatch). Yesterday, Trump tweeted, "When you're already $500 Billion DOWN, you can't lose!" [more inside]
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:09 AM PST - 2577 comments

“The good news is, we are all witches! The not as good news is, looking at the legacy medieval witches left, it feels mildly unnerving to think our own histories could read something more like ‘socially awkward freaks constantly touching their lower chins’.”
Shaina Joy Machlus on body hair and witchcraft.
posted by Grandysaur at 9:42 AM PST - 3 comments

The Medievalist asks the important questions: how many medieval weapons can you identify by name?
posted by MartinWisse at 8:15 AM PST - 100 comments

Everyone Got The Pulse Massacre Story Completely Wrong "Not long after Omar Mateen opened fire inside a bustling gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the media scrambled to understand his depraved actions... Over the past two weeks in Orlando, Mateen’s widow, Noor Salman, was tried for having allegedly helped him plan his attack. The popular understanding of the Pulse shooting as a carefully targeted massacre was on trial as well. And in acquitting Salman, 31, on Friday, a jury also delivered a verdict on the story we’d told ourselves about the killings: We’d gotten it wrong."
posted by MythMaker at 8:05 AM PST - 47 comments

It's time for an RSS revival. Long before Facebook, Twitter and Instagram weaponized the newsfeed, we had a technology that let us aggregate the news without annoying, creepy algorithms. [more inside]
posted by mecran01 at 8:04 AM PST - 106 comments

The Scientific Paper Is Obsolete "This is, of course, the whole problem of scientific communication in a nutshell: Scientific results today are as often as not found with the help of computers. That’s because the ideas are complex, dynamic, hard to grab ahold of in your mind’s eye. And yet by far the most popular tool we have for communicating these results is the PDF—literally a simulation of a piece of paper. Maybe we can do better." [via]
posted by dhruva at 7:25 AM PST - 26 comments

A typical reaction to a Jimothy video will go from 'this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen' to 'this is the best thing I've ever seen', usually within the course of one song. [...] "Drugs" is an anti-Xanax anthem, while "Future Bae" is about the joy of commitment. His new video "Subway System" was filmed across the London Underground, which holds a special place in Jimothy's heart. "I always liked trains when I was young," Jimothy says. "I've always rode the lines when I was young, up and down, to the middle of nowhere and all the way back. In the video I'm just having fun in my natural environment. I'm doing my thing, I'm being me." [more inside]
posted by smcg at 7:00 AM PST - 10 comments

Decolonise science – time to end another imperial era. An article in the Conversation by Rohan Deb Roy.
posted by tavegyl at 6:42 AM PST - 17 comments

When You Can and Cannot Say ‘No’ When Someone Asks to Switch Seats With You on an Airplane "This, in a nutshell, perfectly encapsulates the fraught social dynamics of making and fielding a request. A person asked to switch seats often feels obligated to say yes for fear of being rude, even when it means a more unpleasant flying experience. But making such a request can itself be construed as rude." [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:24 AM PST - 254 comments