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Alzheimer’s vaccine looks promising? Yes, this is another news item. I could say I posted this to discuss the ethics of research on animals, or humans for that matter. Or whether pharmaceuticals should be leading the way when it comes to developing vaccines and cures. But honestly, I just wanted an excuse to ask if you think Dale Schenk, the head researcher for the Alzheimer's vaccine, looks more like John Denver or Tim Allen.
posted by EatenByAGrue at 11:42 PM PST - 11 comments

Pentagon fraud $9,000,000,000. I hope this is a misprint. More inside.
posted by rdr at 9:35 PM PST - 35 comments

Oh my god, the internet has porn on it! (Again.) The U.S. Congress makes their annual re-discovery that not everything on the internet is child-friendly. This time they noticed the Gnutella network. (Yes, I got the link from Slashdot - but I like discussing things here rather than there.)
posted by RylandDotNet at 8:09 PM PST - 31 comments

It's like a paycheck advance, not a rebate. You thought the great tax relief of 2001 was a rebate on those huge surpluses the US gov't didn't know what to do with right? Nope, it's merely an advance on the refund of taxes you'll file next year, and here's the kicker: you may or may not be getting any refund at all next year. Tax relief? Tax rebate? Simply owing the $300 back next April? Who came up with this stupid idea? (truth courtesy of Megnut)
posted by mathowie at 6:50 PM PST - 44 comments

Mighty Ducks train with the Sopranos in an effort to sell more tickets to their games. You would think that Anaheim Sports Inc. would spend more time recruiting better players than scaring bakers....
posted by poorhouse at 6:30 PM PST - 2 comments

Stolen shamelessly from Tom: a charming clock, reminding us once again that "time" is an intellectual concept meaningless without human participation... (Don't miss the webserver, either.) Considering the depth and breadth - and apparent copious free time - of the MeFi community one would hope we'd be able to help fill in some of the still unphotographed minutes.
posted by m.polo at 6:29 PM PST - 3 comments

As a followup to the earlier Brasseye (Chris Morris) thread you can now download the show in two 45meg chunks.
posted by holloway at 6:21 PM PST - 1 comments

For fans of the pixelicious design scheme featured on the lomo photography website they now offer downloads of their pixel font/graphics system for free. Anyone have similar web treasures to share?
posted by ooklah at 3:38 PM PST - 13 comments

Bush Eager to Go on Vacation, Commune with Cows
I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist this headline.
"I love to go walking out there, seeing the cows. Occasionally they talk to me, being the good listener that I am," Bush said.
posted by mapalm at 3:31 PM PST - 25 comments

400ml Graffiti - great graffiti art from some of the best taggers the world has ever known. how on earth did they do that with spraypaint? absolutely incredible.
posted by mcsweetie at 3:13 PM PST - 6 comments

San Diego Opensource Convention Ends With "Positive Feelings"
The conference included a debate (documented in real time!) between Microsoft open source---what's the opposite of evangelist?---Craig Mundie and the CTO of RedHat Michael Tiemann entitled "shared source versus open source." Tiemann was feisty and "baited" Mundie, who remained cool as a cucumber. I thought we could all benefit from some postgame analysis here... (1, 2, 3)
posted by rschram at 3:01 PM PST - 4 comments

Reassembled. Assembler is back -- at least, in its latest, frozen form. Score one for indie content makers. (thanks to Zeldman; his exit page notes the new URL.)
posted by moz at 1:27 PM PST - 4 comments

She escaped by slashing him with a fork she happened to be carrying for protection. 14-year old girl is caught in her own lies. I wonder what tipped them off? I'm sure any kid could fend off an attacker with a piece of silverware...
posted by starduck at 1:23 PM PST - 5 comments

Dueling Covers in Seattle The Dan Savage-edited Stranger strikes again, with a well exected parody or The Seattle Weekly's "Best of Seattle" issue.
posted by ph00dz at 1:13 PM PST - 3 comments

Tim Burton is going ape! (their headline, not mine) He blasts the entire internet for giving away the ending to his movie. (don't worry, no spoilers). My favorite quote? "This is why the earth is doomed." said Tim. Should we all be chastised because Matt Drudge spilled the beans?
posted by ColdChef at 12:28 PM PST - 41 comments

"Paul Morgan is a man who desperately wants to lead a normal life again. When the accident first happened, the technology was not available for that to happen. While the technology is now available for Paul to lead a better life, the financial burden would be much more than he could afford. That is why Paul has come up with the idea to chop off his feet live on the internet". This is the first time reading a web page has actually made me nauseous.
posted by Hjorth at 12:25 PM PST - 7 comments

higher IQ = longer life span
A study in the British Medical Journal shows a link between IQ and longevity. 2200 children were tracked from childhood to the age of 76. A 15-point disadvantage in IQ meant the child was only 79% as likely to be alive at 76. A 30-point disadvantage reduced the odds to 63%. *link found at darwin awards
posted by bwg at 12:18 PM PST - 12 comments

rest in peace, tove jansson...creator of the moomins. thanks for making childhood a fantastic place to be.
posted by patricking at 12:01 PM PST - 9 comments

13-year-old girl admits to killing some 50 people. Probably video games or MTV or rap music
posted by Postroad at 11:22 AM PST - 13 comments

Colin Powell in cabaret performance in Viet Nam. "As Powell acted out his death throes at the end of the song, [Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko] Tanaka - in traditional Vietnamese dress - flung her arms around his prostrate body and kissed him on the cheek." Apparently these kinds of performances are regular occurences at these things.
posted by donkeymon at 11:20 AM PST - 16 comments

As much as I enjoyed the Blair Witch Project, one had to wonder why those silly kids didn't have a single mobile phone among them. A number of standard plot devices are becoming obsolete as a result of current technologies, while filmmakers are finding new ways to incorporate technology into their stories.
posted by tranquileye at 10:47 AM PST - 20 comments

Staten Island postal people prevent posting of posterior postcards. Um, I mean, they wouldn't allow postcards of guys' butts to be sent. The cards were advertising short films to be shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (NYT. Login: imaguest; password: imaguest)
posted by mudbug at 10:33 AM PST - 3 comments

Finally, a Republican sex scandal for a change. This guy was Joe Liberman's Republican opponent for the CT Senate seat when Liberman was running for both the Senate and the VP. On the bright side, no one's missing...
posted by Rastafari at 10:26 AM PST - 13 comments

Conclusive evidence that cell phones distract drivers What did this say? I was busy chatting on my cell and missed some of this. Could it be? What should we do? Ah, I am aa good driver; it is the other person who can't drive and talk.
posted by Postroad at 10:24 AM PST - 26 comments

Who did it? Probably the only reality show with a bit of a brain, Murder in Small Town X has a group of "investigators" who must find a murderer by way of searching for clues and interviewing the townspeople. The first episode comes on again Sunday.
posted by owillis at 10:23 AM PST - 8 comments

What? The sky isn't falling! It's just an acorn! John Kelso, Austin's foremost professional Texan, writes today about the Austin-California grudge match. (In Austin, it's de rigeur to blame the Cal-dot-commers-cum-Texans for the city's growing pains. It's also a tad accurate.) He also gripes about a silly SF gate Flash site where you can turn the lights out on Austin. The guy's a crank -- and he can't write a column without mentioning Bubbas, chili, or vegetarians -- but this is a perfect example of Texas' head-in-the-sand attitude towards a possible energy crisis. And the rest of the country's, maybe.
posted by mudbug at 9:53 AM PST - 23 comments

Another stupid parent story, without which your day just wouldn't be complete. Mother and Stepfather, who lobbied for a stricter definition of 'rape' in Ohio, are charged with raping their daughter (via artificial insemination). I hate people.
posted by mudbug at 9:40 AM PST - 22 comments

Pro-Anorexic websites are flourishing on the Internet. These horrific sites teach girls how to avoid eating, "purge" their food, and become terribly sick. A startling and horrific companion to MeFi's recent discussions about weight.
posted by Marquis at 8:33 AM PST - 51 comments

paris is a mess this year and anyhow, everyone goes there, and all you meet are more americans. I recently discovered the Allier region, and it's got wine, castles, beautiful scenery and hardly any tourists. What is your favorite "hidden" travel spot?
posted by christina at 8:16 AM PST - 15 comments

"A Matter of Choice? Gay Life in America," was announced to show on Nightline, and dozens of gays have contacted the program to complain about the title.
posted by christina at 8:02 AM PST - 23 comments

The Day My Car Ratted Me Out.
Dear Winston Smith,
Your 1984 Corvette has informed us that over the past month, you have failed to obey the speed limit 36 times, at times reaching speeds exceeding 130 MPH. As A result, we feel that we can no longer provide you with coverage. We have also supplied this information to the proper authorities, their jackbooted thugs should be in your driveway momentarily. Thank you.
INGSOC Insurance

First it was the rental car companies, now it is GM and the Insurance companies. This is the top of a very slippery slope of privacy issues and technology, specifically GPS.

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 7:45 AM PST - 45 comments

Turn your webwasher off for this link.

I hate banner ads, which is why I use webwasher, they're annoyingly large, wasteful, and don't work. The reason they are dying and taking the rest of the dot-com industry along with them.

I don't know much about Hondas or cars all entirely, but prius seems like a good idea, better fuel efficiency saves on money and doesn't pollute as much. The reason I like the ad though, is it's not intrusive, it doesn't have a 200k gif of a windows alert box telling you 'your connected is too slow. CLICK HERE to make it faster OK', it doesn't blink or use flash. It is tailored to a specific audience, people that look up directions and drive their cars, the product that the company sells.

I hope this is the future of advertising on the web, but then again, how exactly are you suppose to fish out people to buy your 'ultra small hidden bathroom cameras'?
posted by tiaka at 7:08 AM PST - 21 comments

What's that you're wearing, Fidel? Nike's?
posted by dagny at 6:10 AM PST - 22 comments

Earth springs a leak.
Mount Etna's cloud of ash from space. This pic really adds a perspective of size and power.
posted by monkeyJuice at 2:23 AM PST - 15 comments

M.I.T. Physicist Says Pentagon Is Trying To Silence Him. (NYTimes, registration required) So, it appears that the Pentagon commissions a panel to "review" ("refute"?) a contrary assessment of antimissile technology, but when an unintended byproduct of that review is more criticism of said technology, they pull this little snow job? I guess we've heard this song before, but it's still laughable. Interesting comment from the Brass: "just because it is made public doesn't mean it's declassified." I guess he must mean "authorized", because for my money, that's exactly what it means.
posted by topolino at 1:06 AM PST - 13 comments