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Print out your own home with WikiHouse. [more inside]
posted by honey-barbara at 8:50 PM PST - 57 comments

[Harold] Brodkey produced fiction that was epic too, but chiefly in its elaboration of human intimacy. To read his prose is to be incarcerated in the situations of his characters; indeed, it is to be very nearly overwhelmed by them. ... Brodkey moved forward with new forms for rendering human consciousness. His protagonist was, almost always, "a mind shaped like a person." The action consisted of that mind discovering its thoughts. [more inside]
posted by Trurl at 8:34 PM PST - 11 comments

16 of France's mega-rich signed a petition urging the goverment to raise their taxes. Despite relatively high taxes and a wealth tax signatories such as the L'Oreal heir and the head of a major oil company, Total, are asking the government to raise their taxes to help solve the country's financial issues. Original petition (French).
posted by stp123 at 7:41 PM PST - 95 comments

Case History Of A Wikipedia Page: Nabokov’s 'Lolita' Since 2001, the Wikipedia entry on Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita has been edited 2,303 times. It's a popular entry, too: of approximately 750,000 Wiki articles out there, it ranks at 2,075 in traffic. In the past ten years, the entry has grown to the detailed, 6,000-plus-word monolith of today. The two Lolita films now have their own pages, while the entry on the novel has expanded to include sections on such subjects as Lolita's Russian translation and its literary allusions. An edit is made, on average, about every other day.
posted by sweetkid at 6:50 PM PST - 37 comments

Portal: No Escape (SLYT, via)
posted by zarq at 6:46 PM PST - 42 comments

Lewin was Parrish's constant companion for 55 years.

"He and Lewin must have had a magical life together out in the country. When Parrish was 90 years old and Lewin was 71, Parrish's wife finally died, leaving him free to marry Lewin. However, he declined so she packed her bags, left the estate and went back to her village where she married someone else."

Part one in an occasional series on artists and their love life. [some NSFW] [more inside]
posted by unliteral at 6:39 PM PST - 21 comments

Facebook is phasing out its Places feature as part of a sweeping new privacy-centric redesign.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:07 PM PST - 63 comments

Seoul mayor issues ultimatum in bid to limit free school lunches. 'Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wants to limit free school lunches to poor children and take students from wealthy families out of the gratis cafeteria line. And he warns that if voters don't back his agenda in a Wednesday referendum, he's going to quit his post.' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword at 5:31 PM PST - 57 comments

As everyone knows there was an earthquake in central VA today that could be felt from South Carolina to Maine and points west. Stunning pictures of the carnage are beginning to appear. This is also time to consider nuclear power plant vulnerability in the USA (interactive map). North Anna Power Station was very close to the epicenter and shut down automatically.
posted by stbalbach at 5:28 PM PST - 144 comments

University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women) has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Regardless, she plans to continue coaching the Lady Vols for the 2011-12 season.
posted by The Gooch at 5:17 PM PST - 16 comments

Why Arabic is Terrific
posted by wpenman at 4:27 PM PST - 66 comments

This comic isn't in English, but you'll get the gist of it. NOT for the easily unnerved. Scroll down slowly! Hat tip: Scott McCloud.
posted by Shepherd at 4:22 PM PST - 157 comments

"So What", by Miles Davis, as animated sheet music
posted by rollick at 4:11 PM PST - 17 comments

In 1985, just a few months before its lamentedly-unsuccessful-yet-enduringly-wonderful big screen cousin was released, the Clue VCR Mystery Game was released on an unsuspecting (and largely unwilling [some might say clueless]) public. The hugely-quotable and charmingly goofy VHS film included as part of the game is viewable in its entirety online in seven parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. (If you must see the butler, Didit, explaining the rules, please use these links in place of 1 and 2 above.) [Total video time: under one hour] Before you view [more inside] play a round of personal facts, followed by a round of cards. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 3:58 PM PST - 22 comments

Megatrends That Weren't "From "the rise of the rest" to the resource wars, pontificating on the big trends that will shape the future of global politics and economics has become a big business. But history can be awfully unkind to pundits wielding crystal balls." Many people, events, organisations and Guardian political pundits have erred in the past, but perhaps their record will be better in the future.
posted by joannemullen at 3:52 PM PST - 33 comments

HERO'S ADVENTURE!!
posted by The Devil Tesla at 2:38 PM PST - 44 comments

Can't wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic? You'd better be Jedi fast! EA wants you to pre-order its game real bad. [more inside]
posted by _paegan_ at 2:32 PM PST - 72 comments

Probably the worst video game ever made. Part two. (DLYT, probably NSFW)
posted by Toby Dammit X at 12:52 PM PST - 83 comments

"Uncle Frank" of late night TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live has died at 77
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:23 AM PST - 9 comments

Matthew James, born without a left hand, contacted Ross Brawn at Mercedes GP to sponsor a prosthetic hand (with the Mercedes logo). Brawn was contacted because he is a former student of Matthew's school, Reading. The result, Mercedes GP has worked with Touch Bionics and Matthew has a new prosthetic hand.
posted by juiceCake at 9:25 AM PST - 42 comments

Tom Waits' Private Listening Party The whole thing's gonna to have to be rethought. [SLYT]
posted by misterG at 9:06 AM PST - 37 comments

It's that time of year. Freshmen are confusedly wandering campuses around the nation in packs, searching for free food, and some good folks in Wisconsin want the kids off their lawn. [more inside]
posted by madcaptenor at 8:26 AM PST - 140 comments

Songwriter Nick Ashford died yesterday. Nickolas 'Nick' Ashford, along with his songwriting and marriage partner Valerie Simpson, wrote dozens of songs performed, covered and interpreted by artists like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Chaka Khan, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake and Amy Winehouse. [more inside]
posted by box at 8:10 AM PST - 37 comments

The Atlantic collects responses from readers on both sides of the current employment market:
part 1 - the unemployed
part 2 - the employers
part 3 - the jobless

posted by casarkos at 8:10 AM PST - 119 comments

Welcome to Exam Village, a neighborhood in Seoul where people live while studying for various professional entrance exams.
posted by reenum at 8:00 AM PST - 23 comments

Researchers at Northwestern confirm that Male Bisexuals exist ( NYT )
posted by The Whelk at 7:28 AM PST - 125 comments

It's fun! There are Muppets everywhere! I really do like the Muppets. I saw them on Top Chef the other night too!
posted by h00py at 6:49 AM PST - 30 comments

In 1989, invited to an open air theatre, late at night, I first experienced the 6 hour long screening of Peter Brook's Mahabharata, a much revered Hindu epic which includes the complete Bhagavad Gita as a central part of its narrative. Brook's multiracial casting and innovative treatment received criticism yet its impact has been acknowledged anyone who sat through the 9 hour play, the 6 hour TV serialization or only the 3 hour DVD. [more inside]
posted by infini at 3:34 AM PST - 30 comments