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The Magdaline Laundries (Joni Mitchell) An interview with a survivor - "Why are you here, you're only a child?" The last Laundry closed in 1996 (the wiki).
posted by tomswift at 9:03 PM PST - 34 comments

When a cowboy says 'women,' he means two different kinds: There's the real kind and then there's the kind in his mind.
A song by Dan Reeder, for your edumatainment.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:37 PM PST - 15 comments

“My country should have control over Google, Skype, Yahoo, etc.,” he said by e-mail. “I’m breaking all encryption algorithms and giving power to my country to control all of them.” Is an independent Iranian hacker trying to help his government spy on its people?
posted by beisny at 8:34 PM PST - 24 comments

Trippy Sugar Rush: Munchies for your stones, by Alexandre Dubosc. More on Viemo, flickr. A bit like some of the old culinary films by PES, but slicker
posted by growabrain at 8:15 PM PST - 9 comments

In the spirit of taking things too far, here is a fully functional 5-dimensional analogue of Rubik's cube.
posted by Trurl at 6:48 PM PST - 50 comments

Japan: Six months after the tsunami. [more inside]
posted by Wyatt at 5:07 PM PST - 32 comments

"You know something very bizarre is going on in Hollywood when the movie Rise of Planet of the Apes tells more about the black experience in America than The Help." Max Gordon reflects on the truths that Hollywood can't talk about openly, and the dangers involved in sugarcoating the past.
posted by invitapriore at 4:14 PM PST - 158 comments

Have trouble figuring out who your third cousin twice removed is versus your second cousin thrice removed? Imagine if your family was Chinese. The rules for Chinese family relation names are complex and incredibly specific, though there are patterns that can help out (e.g. tang2 vs biao3). A research paper provides some cultural context. [more inside]
posted by kmz at 3:16 PM PST - 21 comments

Toyota Motorsport GmbH set a new lap record for an electric vehicle at the legendary 20.8km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany with a time of 7 mins 47 seconds. WARNING: it's basically an advert for Toyota, but a cool one. [more inside]
posted by philip-random at 2:51 PM PST - 90 comments

"Perhaps twenty or thirty people in England may be expected to read this book." G.H. Hardy's review of Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica, published in the Times Literary Supplement 100 years ago last week. "The time has passed when a philosopher can afford to be ignorant of mathematics, and a little perseverance will be well rewarded. It will be something to learn how many of the spectres that have haunted philosophers modern mathematics has finally laid to rest."
posted by escabeche at 2:37 PM PST - 29 comments

We create and sell reproductions of dust jackets for rare and collectable books

Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC is the sole funding for Mark Terry’s “Dust Jacket Archives” project. Our goal is to scan and archive images of as many vintage dust jackets as we can. We feel these dust jackets are an important part of our heritage. [more inside]
posted by zamboni at 2:02 PM PST - 26 comments

"A wonderful brain interprets something differently from what it actually is, but it doesn't mean it's made a mistake. It took the information it had and did it's best job." Those are but two tricks from Jerry Andrus (1918-2007), self-taught magician and illusionist, and one of great renown amongst other magicians. But he was more than a slight-of-hand man: he was also a poet, philosopher, inventor, humanist, agnostic, and skeptic. There are an impressive number of videos of him online, these are but a few to get you started down the rabbit hole: Jerry Andrus is visual poetry (Google video / YT, 28 minutes) :: Jerry Andrus at the Magic Castle (G.vid, 49 min), Jerry Andrus at 83 his Optical Illusions (G.vid, 41 min) :: Jerry Andrus and Ray Hyman on Uri Geller (YT, 26 min) :: James Randi on Jerry Andrus (YT, 5 min) :: James Randi - who was Jerry Andrus? :: James Randi describes Jerry Andrus. The last two clips are from Rex Young, a young illusionist who has recreated many of Andrus' illusions on his YouTube channel, and made some of his own.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:55 PM PST - 25 comments

The artists of Draw2D2 are given two "geeky things" based on a monthly theme, and then have two weeks to create mash-up illustrations. Art is posted every other Thursday at 12:00pm EST, with a poll for the public to vote for their favorites. Artists with the most votes can show their process in a spotlight post. [more inside]
posted by zarq at 12:36 PM PST - 14 comments

Don’t Come to the Dark Side: Acquisition Lessons from a Galaxy Far, Far Away [PDF] would seem like ordinary Star Wars fanfic, if it wasn't published in the military's usually sober journal for defense aquisitions. The lessons for the Department of Defense seem quite real, however, especially given the $31 septillion cost of the Death Star, compared to the much cheaper x-wing.
posted by blahblahblah at 11:27 AM PST - 66 comments

Unholy alliance of convenience: 7-11 Amazon delivery lockers (US / UK).
posted by stbalbach at 10:46 AM PST - 169 comments

Cinevault has over 1000 full length streamable movies, most from the golden age of Hollywood.
posted by crunchland at 10:26 AM PST - 32 comments

Over 35 musical saw players travel from as far away as India and Japan to play and honor the musical saw. The NYC Musical Saw Festival aims to preserve the past, honor the present, and shape the future of the musical saw through performances, workshops, and compositions created for the musical saw. Will the musical saw ever receive the recognition and respect that it deserves?
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 9:00 AM PST - 35 comments

Clarke Quay Singapore, The Cement Factory, Takasugi-an, Nobis House, Kew House, Rolex Learning Centre, Central Park, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Containers of Hope, Museum of Liverpool, Busan Opera House, The Meera House, Nakahouse

OpenBuildings is an collaboration community dedicated to architecture where you can browse buildings by collections, people/firms, city guides or their vicinity to you.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 8:29 AM PST - 2 comments

How to Make Smart Decisions in Less than 60 Seconds: For each alternative, ask "Is this really me?"
posted by shivohum at 7:22 AM PST - 168 comments

The age of Steam - Three minutes and forty one seconds of wistful fun (sylt)
posted by the noob at 7:04 AM PST - 16 comments

SNL Writer Mike O'Brien invites celebrities into the closet for 7 Minutes in Heaven. [more inside]
posted by splatta at 6:57 AM PST - 34 comments

"Driving Jersey represents and reflects the most misunderstood and misrepresented place and people in all of America." In this series of calmly paced, short documentaries featuring profiles, atmosphere, landscape, and interviews, filmmakers Steve Rogers and Ryan Bott travel 21 counties to capture some of the true character and cultural nuance of the Garden State. [more inside]
posted by Miko at 6:55 AM PST - 54 comments

Greg Kloehn - The Custom Elite Dumpster Home
posted by Meatbomb at 5:24 AM PST - 33 comments

In the year 2040, America's economic collapse is complete, the cloud has been repossessed, and Westerners are forced to take jobs that no one in the East will do. Chinese documentary program Window on the World investigates the sad state of affairs. [more inside]
posted by CharlesV42 at 4:13 AM PST - 68 comments

Slow is a short film by Darius Clark Monroe that's won best Short at the 2011 Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. You can watch it on Vimeo. [NSFW: Nudity, bad words, reefer] [more inside]
posted by artof.mulata at 12:26 AM PST - 19 comments