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"This realistic simulator of a 4-function Texas Instruments calculator from 1974 runs the calculator's source code instruction by instruction by simulating the processor. The unusual processor has 11-bit opcodes, 44-bit BCD registers, and a 9-bit address bus. To use the simulator, slowly click keys on the calculator image and you can watch how the calculator performs operations step by step. Since the processor doesn't do multiplication or division, it does these operations by repeated addition or subtraction."
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:41 PM PST - 51 comments

boy genuis in Nevada At age 14, Taylor Wilson built his own nuclear fusion reactor and now he aspires to change the world with inventions like mini nuclear power plants.
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:58 PM PST - 67 comments

While we've discussed it before, the link was removed but YouTube's new content guidelines have allowed it to be re-uploaded. In 2001, photographer and filmmaker David LaChapelle directed a video to be shown before Heatherette's first runway show and MAC cosmetics in-store video. Starring Amanda Lepore, the 6 minute video is a bizarre gunshot of pink lipstick, gay cowboys, 80s pop music, and constant full frontal nudity. YouTube (sign-in required) Vimeo. (NSFW)
posted by The Whelk at 7:53 PM PST - 63 comments

The Janoskians are a group of five YouTube comedians from Melbourne, Australia renowned for their cringeworthy pranks on unsuspecting members of the public. Formed in 2010, the group now attracts rock-star welcomes from hordes of screaming fans when it tours across the world and has signed deals with Sony and MTV. [more inside]
posted by dontjumplarry at 7:24 PM PST - 31 comments

Caught this guy playing with himself
posted by nadawi at 7:10 PM PST - 43 comments

It all started with a mirror in the Casbah. Well, it re-started with that mirror, when Safinez Bousbia, who is of Algerian descent but had never visited the country, went to visit with a friend from Ireland. Bousbia commented on the artistry of a mirror. Mohamed Ferkioui, the shopkeeper and artist, told her that he also made music, but had lost contact with his former friends and band-mates, but he had so many memories and items from that past period of his life. As he showed them to Bousbia, she decided she wanted to get the band back together. Her short stay extended into a few years, and she documented the reunion of friends and the playing of a traditional Algerian music style called chaabi, which is a mix of North African polyrhythms, Andalusian classical music, jazz, flamenco and French cabaret. The result was El Gusto (auto-playing music). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 6:58 PM PST - 5 comments

The 10 Best Music Moments In Danny Boyle's Movies
posted by Artw at 6:39 PM PST - 14 comments

How the Internet Ecosystem Works. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 6:34 PM PST - 11 comments

Last year, Rhea Ewing started asking questions like "What is gender? How do we relate to it? How do we talk about it? Does it mean the same thing for everyone?" In trying to answer them, she interviewed people and turned their responses into a zine, only to find that those answers sparked more questions. [more inside]
posted by Athanassiel at 6:30 PM PST - 10 comments

I Left My Camera Bag on a Train We surveyed the area and figured out which direction to take for about 2 seconds, but as soon as we were about to move out along the platform, it hit me…“Where is my camera bag?”
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:42 PM PST - 19 comments

40 years ago today, on August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc, father of hip hop, innovator and inventor of the "merry go round" technique of dj-ing, threw a back to school party in order to raise some money for school clothes and supplies and changed the course of music history. [more inside]
posted by elmer benson at 4:33 PM PST - 18 comments

Frisk Frugt is "flipping brilliant" [more inside]
posted by J0 at 3:49 PM PST - 11 comments

The Sound of the Earth is sound artist Yuri Suzuki's spherical record project, modeled after a topographic globe of the Earth. The grooves represent the outlines of each geographic landmass. Each country on the disc is engraved with a different sound. As the needle passes over, it plays field recordings collected by Suzuki from around the world over the course of four years: traditional folk music, national anthems, popular music and spoken word broadcasts. [more inside]
posted by mykescipark at 2:57 PM PST - 2 comments

Old records wear out, and sheet can't really describe the swing of jazz, ragtime and blues—but a good player piano roll captures the style and rhythm of a live performance and preserves it for generations to come. [more inside]
posted by overeducated_alligator at 1:13 PM PST - 20 comments

Chris Sims' amazing pitch for the Superman/Batman movie: "A dang BOOM TUBE opens up, and who comes out? Every Superman and Batman we’ve seen in mass media for the past thirty years." (previously)
posted by kittensofthenight at 12:42 PM PST - 78 comments

Some making-of footage from Jerry Lewis's infamous film The Day The Clown Cried has turned up on YouTube. (previously)
posted by mintcake! at 12:31 PM PST - 30 comments

Norway's Prime Minister, facing a leadership challenge, has taken a somewhat unique approach to reconnect with voters.
posted by MuffinMan at 10:57 AM PST - 41 comments

I could tell you all about Piqua, Ohio's own very favorite sons, the Mills Brothers. I could mention how they made more than 2,000 recordings in their nearly 40 year career and sold more than 50 million copies. I could emphasize how they were the first African American performing group to attract a wide white audience. Most of all, I could explain how downright fun the Mills Brothers were, but I'd rather just show you. [more inside]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 10:37 AM PST - 22 comments

Dave Bowman meets Papa Lazarou. (slyt)
posted by MartinWisse at 9:43 AM PST - 36 comments

WICKED LEAKED PAGES FROM THE UPCOMING ENTOURAGE MOVIE [COPYWRITE WERNER BROS.]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:52 AM PST - 22 comments

Yahoo! is getting a new logo—in a month. Until then, it's showing off a new logo every day. You can see the first five days' photos on their blog.
posted by Rory Marinich at 2:48 AM PST - 116 comments

What Batman can learn from Mad Men and The Sopranos
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 2:16 AM PST - 33 comments

NPR's Fresh Air interviews Elizabeth Rosenthal about her year spent investigating the high cost of health care.
"Every part of the system needs to rethink the way it's working. Or maybe what I'm really saying is we need a system instead of 20, 40 components, each one having its own financial model, and each one making a profit." [more inside]
posted by arcticseal at 12:55 AM PST - 107 comments