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Strongly Disagree: It bothers you a long time when someone is unfair to you. Other people's feelings are their own business. When people make mistakes, you correct them. You are a fairly private person. You don't believe a lot of what people say.
Strongly Agree: Any trouble you have is your own fault. It is maddening when the court lets guilty criminals go free. When someone treats you badly, you ignore it. You agree with people more often than you argue. You are careful not to offend people. You can wait patiently for a long time. You finish your work no matter what. You know when someone is in a bad mood, even if they don't show it. Your friends and family approve of the things you do. Your moods are steady from day to day.
....the expected answers... are always "Strongly Agree" or "Strongly Disagree." You actually have four options to choose from, when asked whether a statement applies to you or not... [but] "Disagree" or "Agree" are NEVER the right answer to any question, even though any sensible person will have mixed feelings about all these questions. [more inside]
posted by orthogonality at 11:39 PM PST - 147 comments

Matthew Weigman, a fat, blind kid, started phone swatting when he was 15. Three years later, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. His exploits include trying to initiate phone sex with Lindsey Lohan, sending swat teams to people's homes and gathering confidential information from Verizon and AT&T. [more inside]
posted by kylej at 11:08 PM PST - 63 comments

Korean cell phone ads blur the line between music videos and ads. "Lollipop" from popular idol group Big Bang and newcomers 2NE1 was created to advertise LG cell phones and topped various Korean music charts in the process, even while government-owned broadcaster KBS refused to feature the song in its music countdown show because it was a jingle and not an actual single or album release. "Amoled", from Son Dambi and After School, was created to advertise Samsung's Amoled touchscreen phone. [more inside]
posted by needled at 8:49 PM PST - 31 comments

Two pens for sticks, table for a drum, listen to Lyric bang out Let the Beat Ride. [via] [more inside]
posted by cashman at 7:48 PM PST - 13 comments

Previously, we saw Darkseid rant to the empty air. Now the nightmarish lord of evil -- reduced to selling old Kiss cassette tapes to support his drinking habit, and living in a dumpster behind the Baby Gap -- rants to Twitter as HOBODARKSEID. Along the way, he shares his views on the ending of "Moonlighting," sings Dio's "Holy Diver," and confesses a love for "Mad Men." He also intends to destroy us all. Shudder/enjoy.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:42 PM PST - 14 comments

The Polar Bear/Grizzly Hybrid: The Ursid Hybrid cross has been attested since a hunter (with a Polar Bear license, and yes, they can be had) shot one in 2006 on Banks Island in Canada's Northwest Territories. Climate change may also play a role, causing an increasing overlap in range and mating season. Polar Bears do show a surprising resilience despite the overwhelming, increasing threats to their survival. Hunting policy itself may play a role, reducing the number of males and driving the females to mate out of season and range. The Native Inuit hunters who are permitted to hunt Polar Bears for subsistence (enabling the sport hunt, which may or may not benefit the Native economy, leading many Natives to support sport hunting) have come into sharp conflict with outside environmentalists. Welcome to the new Far North.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:04 PM PST - 38 comments

Now there's a 1000$ worth cups of coffee. Beautifully done by the very talented Mike Harding.
posted by lipsum at 4:44 PM PST - 48 comments

French musical comedies 1918-1940 [French]. Non-French can still appreciate the programmes, photographs, music and videos.
posted by tellurian at 4:03 PM PST - 12 comments

RC Soles, the longest serving NC state legislator, aged 75, shot a young man who was allegedly trying to kick in the front door of his home in Tabor City. According to his 97 year old father,“It's a bunch of drunk heads and drug heads trying to force him to keep giving them money. That's my personal opinion.” But this is not the “younger” Soles first brush with scandal.
posted by Huplescat at 3:23 PM PST - 41 comments

Many of you have probably eaten a pluot, and you're probably aware that it's a cross between a plum and an apricot. But were you aware that there are also apriums , plumcots, and even a peacotum? Pluots, apriums, and the peacotum are all developed by Zaiger's Genetics, a family fruit breeder that is also responsible for the white nectarine (the plumcot is a much older cross, developed by Luther Burbank). [more inside]
posted by pombe at 3:09 PM PST - 36 comments

The Art of the Prank offers insights, information, news and discussions about pranks, hoaxes, culture jamming and reality hacking around the world. Includes topics such as The History of Pranks, The Prank As Art, and the Sociology and Psychology of Pranks. Get pranking. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 3:07 PM PST - 16 comments

Big Newsfilter: US Attorney General Holder appoints a prosecutor to investigate abusive CIA interrogations in the War on Terror. [more inside]
posted by grobstein at 2:57 PM PST - 138 comments

"My name's Duncan. I was just a lonely 13-year-old with a rapid aging disease until I met..." Cakey! The Cake from Outer Space! [ episode 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 ; each episode 4-5 minutes. Borderline NSFW. Must like talking cake. ]
posted by not_on_display at 1:34 PM PST - 17 comments

In addition to poor construction, the vehicles most likely to crash have 1) poorly secured bicycle wheels 2) a high center of gravity and 3) high occupancy. Add in alcohol, a steep down grade and spectators throwing water balloons, and you get the perfect storm for destruction.

This past weekend, the 13th Annual Adult Soapbox Derby (all slyt) was held on Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcano in Portland, Oregon. Cars built for speed can reach 40 mph, and cars built for art can be downright outrageous. [more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:33 PM PST - 14 comments

Johnny Hallyday is perhaps best known to most Americans as French President Nicolas Sarkozy's BFF and "Special American Advisor" (and to younger French kids as that actor in the Optic 2000 ads), but his career started in 1960 and has only now slowed with what has been named his farewell tour. Though he began his career with many Aznavour-penned tracks, he swiftly became a household name by covering British and American hits and adapting them into French. [more inside]
posted by nonmerci at 1:30 PM PST - 29 comments

Scientists draw squid using its 150 million-year-old fossilised ink. [more inside]
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:56 PM PST - 33 comments

In which a chimpanzee is shown reacting to sleight-of-hand on a Japanese television show. [SLYT. Overuse of sound effects.]
posted by Liver at 11:30 AM PST - 104 comments

As George Carlin once said, "it is an infinitely more interesting news story for a team to repeatedly fail at the highest level than it is for them to finally win." After ten years and over 1,500 episodes, last night's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (the US version) featured its very first Top Prize Loser. Ken Basin, of Los Angeles, incorrectly guessed that LBJ prefered Yoo-Hoo over Fresca, and walked away with $25,000 instead of $1,000,000. [more inside]
posted by Damn That Television at 11:13 AM PST - 81 comments

Introducing the blog of Tarot author Mary K. Greer. This week she posted a gentle takedown of Whoopi's psychic reading on The View. She recently initiated a discussion about the potentially exploitative practices of modern gypsy fortunetellers, based on a report by Al Jazeera. She's also begun posting examples of cartomancy in art and literature, including a wonderful interpretation of this unforgettable Gustave Doré painting (see the comments).
posted by hermitosis at 10:41 AM PST - 61 comments

Pan Am Flight 103 saw the death of David Dornstein (click for video as there's no direct link) - 25 years old, aspiring writer - and the manuscript to his unpublished novel scattered across the countryside and sea. His brother Ken set out to write the story of his life and death. [more inside]
posted by mippy at 10:01 AM PST - 25 comments

After serving a prison term for molesting an eighth-grader in Ohio, David Copeland-Jackson moved to the District to live with his mother. He e-mailed a buddy and together, federal authorities said, they came up with a plan that would fool a respected judge into issuing a $3 million defamation order against Copeland-Jackson's victim. [more inside]
posted by orrnyereg at 9:18 AM PST - 52 comments

Mouse. No, not that one… hmmm, no, not this one either… this one. He’s a part of the Ganesh Charturthi Festival that’s taking place here, and you are all welcome to watch.
posted by hadjiboy at 8:43 AM PST - 12 comments

The Social History of the MP3.
posted by chunking express at 8:03 AM PST - 75 comments

A Flapper's dictionary
posted by yegga at 1:21 AM PST - 70 comments

Anke-Eve Goldman rode BMW and MV Augusta motorcycles... fast.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:06 AM PST - 19 comments