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Later that very same year, on International Bring A Shit-Ton Of Bees To Work Day... DR. BEES (Harry Partridge, YouTube, 02:11) [more inside]
posted by flabdablet at 10:04 PM PST - 16 comments

Why don't Americans know their own Dutch history?
What's left of New Amsterdam in Lower Manhattan
A forgotten American founding father: Adriaan van der Donck
How New Amsterdam influenced America
Author Russell Shorto, of The Island At The Center Of The World [Guardian, NY Times, Bookslut] also gives a lecture on Dutch-American relations and history, drawing heavily on the New Netherland Project Translations at the New York State Library and Archives, part of the New Netherland Institute, where Dr. Charles Gehring is busy at work Decoding the Dutch for over the past 40 years
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:58 PM PST - 17 comments

Man is very upset after mistaking squash for cheese
posted by AFABulous at 5:23 PM PST - 200 comments

While there are parts of the world where intelligent robots are drowning themselves, it’s good to see technology being used for good elsewhere. In New Hampshire, a group of eighth graders designed and created a 3D-printed wheelchair for a six-month-old kitten named Ray who is unable to use his rear legs due to a spinal condition. On top of that, he was born with abnormally tiny eyes, leaving him blind.

The little charmer (full name: Ray Catdashian) also has an Instagram account.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:01 PM PST - 9 comments

The cautionary tale of the Harlem hoarders, the Collyer brothers. I've known about this story since 1954, when Marcia Davenport wrote the novel My Brother's Keeper, a romanticized portrait of this sad story. I'd never seen these pictures.
posted by MovableBookLady at 4:51 PM PST - 16 comments

"A forgotten Eden, belonging only to albatrosses, penguins and seals, South Georgia is one of the most remote islands on the planet....We were there for a simple purpose – to free South Georgia from the rats that had plagued the island for almost two hundred years." [more inside]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:05 PM PST - 21 comments

For years, summer camp has been known as a technology- and parent-involvement -free zone. But cell phones are making that harder and harder to do. Are Helicopter Parents Ruining Summer Camp?
posted by Mchelly at 2:00 PM PST - 55 comments

An Oral History of the Funniest Podcast Ever
posted by kittensofthenight at 12:50 PM PST - 31 comments

Let's play a mathematical game I call Swine in a Line. [YouTube, about 3 minutes]. The video is broken into short parts so you have time to think; here are Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. If you prefer text (and spoilers), here is the blog post with detailed explanation.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:12 PM PST - 9 comments

Microsoft has killed Paint after 32 years of faithful service.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 9:40 AM PST - 119 comments

Chef and cat owner (or cat owner and chef, if you prefer) Jun Yoshizuki (previously) likes to prepare lavish birthday meals for his cats. His YouTube channel, Jun's Kitchen, has lots of great human food, as well as knife techniques, but his chill cats figure prominently in most of them. (Also previously as one half of Rachel and Jun.) [h/t]
posted by Room 641-A at 9:18 AM PST - 9 comments

Growing your own purple crystals. A fun, simple and educational diy project With a little potassium, some aluminium sulphate, water, a glass container, an airing cupboard (or similar space), and a little patience you can cultivate your own decorative purple crystals. This video explains how. [more inside]
posted by Faintdreams at 7:53 AM PST - 8 comments

On 16 October 1913, two Frenchmen landed in the port of Durrës, or as it was then called, Durazzo, in the recently created Albania. They opened an elongated lacquered trunk, and took out a folding camera mounted on a tripod. They inserted a glass plate, and made photographs of the port, a curious kid in the gate of the former Venetian fortress, two Muslim boys at the base of the wall – one of them also separately –, a man with an attractive face with three or four chickens in his hand, a master who offered his services on the square with a huge-wheeled oxcart and a Ferris wheel pieced together from raw beams. Then they removed the glass plates, and repacked the camera into the trunk. These were the first color photos ever created on today’s Albania. [more inside]
posted by kmt at 7:48 AM PST - 13 comments

Kate Kato is a designer who creates recycled paper models of the natural world. My favourites are her enhanced 3D books.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:10 AM PST - 4 comments

In February 1338, the English Parliament approved a forced loan from Edward III's English subjects in support of his war against King Philip VI of France: 20,000 sacks of wool, which were to arrive in friendly Antwerp just before Edward landed with his troops in July. English wool, then the best in the world, could easily be converted into the gold needed to pay for troops and supplies. When Edward landed in Antwerp, his allies were there to greet him: The Duke of Brabant, the Count of Hainault, the Duke of Guelders, the Margrave of Juliers, and a host of lesser princes. But the wool wasn't. [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 6:13 AM PST - 18 comments

Most kids who grow up speaking English learn the "I before E" rule, complete with its subparts "except after C" and "or when sounding like A". And some people learn some of the major exceptions, like "weird" and "height" and "caffeine" (so many exceptions, in fact, that as Stephen Fry and QI point out, the rule is essentially useless). But not many people go as far as Nathan Cunningham and use their programming skills to see whether C is really the letter that should be cited as the main exception. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 5:56 AM PST - 46 comments

In the summer of 2015 Massimo Bottura, the acclaimed chef behind the three-Michelin-star restaurant Osteria Francescana, began a new project. Located in an abandoned theater in Milan, he invited artists and designers to transform the space into a welcoming place to share a meal. He also invited other world-class chefs like Rene Redzepi, Viviana Varese, Alex Atala, Ana Ros, Joan Roca and Daniel Humm to come create menus that changed daily. The result: Refettorio Ambrosiano. The mission: feed the hungry using food that would otherwise go to waste. [more inside]
posted by noneuclidean at 5:30 AM PST - 2 comments

Follow Bejla and Tristan as they explore their world after recently mastering walking. [more inside]
posted by Stark at 5:21 AM PST - 9 comments

NPR offers a list of 150 albums by women that make up a new music canon. And they elucidate on the matter.
posted by hippybear at 3:24 AM PST - 125 comments