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"How To Do The Asian Squat" is a 1950’s style mockumentary by Daniel Hsia which explores the mystery and wonder of the Asian Squat. [Quicktime.]
posted by homunculus at 10:57 PM PST - 9 comments

Happy Birthday, Speccie! Your 175th, actually. There's a special issue out - only five free articles on the web, of which the Graham Greene competition is probably the funniest - but The Spectator itself (my favourite comic in the whole wide world, I have to say) is still in fine fettle. Among the more interesting articles in today's issue, Paul Robinson's delirious defense of West Point and its highly questionable Code of Honour (whereby you're compelled to rat on your fellow cadets if they lie, cheat or steal, or be expelled if you're found out covering up for them) and Melanie Phillip's firm opinion that the evidence of the Hutton Inquiry shows that Blair - Shock! Horror! - spoke the truth about Iraq are probably the most provocative. Damien McCrystal's tirade against fat nannies is the most predictably outrageous and typical. But the whole issue (I am particularly fond of Jeremy Clarke's column) is a cracker. No other weekly (or even monthly) conservative magazine is anywhere near as good. Congratulations, old fruit!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:18 PM PST - 12 comments

Amazon as search engine. Is it just me, or does every search on Amazon.com result in 90% results for discontinued items or stuff they don't bother to sell? I'm not very confident.
posted by troybob at 9:10 PM PST - 11 comments

Ted Rall has a theory as to why some people hate George W. Bush. Some of us got beyond the hate and just plan to support Frickles the Mudcat in 2004. A Frickles regine benefits you!
posted by clango at 9:04 PM PST - 38 comments

27 Israeli Pilots have been grounded by the military after refusing to take part in airstrikes carried out in the occupied territories. Some active, some retired, they were accused of "making cynical use of the Israeli air force to express a civilian view," but in a joint letter to their command, they spoke out against "air force attacks in civilian population centers." Either way, Edward Said may be resting a little easier, at least tonight.
posted by scarabic at 8:02 PM PST - 10 comments

Biggest cruise ship ever, the Queen Mary II, launches. Thousands watched as the giant 500 million pound cruise liner, which stretches the length of four football fields, left Saint Nazaire in western France on Thursday for a three-day test run. "We will push it to its maximum power to check that it can achieve 30 knots," said a spokesman for Alstom-Marine. "After that, we'll stop it brutally, and we will go in zigzags to check its stability." Thousands, and not one thought to take a picture.
posted by Poagao at 7:46 PM PST - 23 comments

Tucker Carlson's phone number is 703-519-6456.
posted by angry modem at 7:36 PM PST - 37 comments

8.0 Earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. Holy crap. The Kobe quake in 1994 was a 6.9 - am I right to think that an 8.0 is about ten times worse than that one? Any mefites in Japan who can give us more information?
posted by majcher at 1:57 PM PST - 61 comments

Deep Fried Live! with your host, Tako the Octopus.
posted by me3dia at 1:15 PM PST - 11 comments

The worst jobs in Science. Brought to you by Popular Science. Everything from Flatus Odor Judge to Metric System Advocate.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:48 PM PST - 18 comments

This made me spit Yoo-Hoo on my PDA. Humor for 3D graphics nerds.
posted by jpburns at 11:43 AM PST - 17 comments

Chinese Manned Spaceflight as early as October. After years of preparation, China appears poised to join America and Russia in manned space efforts. Tons of details at spacedaily.com. Rumor has it that the goal of the Chinese is a permanent lunar base and a visit to Mars. Will it take international competition to get the US moving in manned space flight outside of Earth orbit? The Space Exploration Act of 2003 sits as a bill in Congress, awaiting support. Will children dream of being a Yuhangyuan (Chinese term for space explorer) instead of an astronaut or cosmonaut?
posted by Argyle at 11:35 AM PST - 49 comments

DVDRHelp. Ever wondered about the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R? Want the best tool for ripping VHS to DVD? All things video are revealed at DVDRHelp. Discover freeware tools like Tsunami MPeg Encoder. Compare the latest DVD burners. Be overwhelmed at the learning curve of making your own DVD videos. AKA VCDHelp.
posted by Wulfgar! at 11:28 AM PST - 29 comments

Dyson telescope game. Fiendishly addictive. Don't ask me what it has to do with industrial vacuum cleaners. (Via Bifurcated Rivets)
posted by gottabefunky at 9:10 AM PST - 29 comments

Things That Have Been Sold In Vending Machines. Also, Skybox, the world's first vending machine for home use.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:10 AM PST - 10 comments

Galvanic Experiments on the Dead Body of a Criminal : The macabre electrical reanimation of Matthew Clydesdale`s hung body. Excerpts from The Young Man's Book of Amusement (1854). Just one of the fascinating "weird science" entries at Lateral Science.
posted by crunchland at 6:41 AM PST - 9 comments

Quicksilver Metaweb is the companion wiki to Neal Stephenson's much anticipated new book. If you've found his home page a bit on the off-putting side, but you still had things you wanted to know, or maybe chitchat about, this is the place for you.
posted by jessamyn at 5:20 AM PST - 11 comments

"My symbiotic relationship with squirrels is rather complex and multi-leveled, but I think I can sum it up in two main points: 1. I give them food; 2. They like food" says Jon, at his World o' Squirrels. Some people think squirrels are cute, others think there is more to them, while others still deem them ruthless killers.
posted by nthdegx at 5:05 AM PST - 29 comments

Need more hits? Try adding some of these 'spook words' to your meta tags if you'd like more traffic from your friends at the NSA. first link via Reality Carnival
posted by moonbird at 3:49 AM PST - 22 comments

Michael Moore's comprehensive response to criticisms of Bowling for Columbine. An interesting read, should make up for some interesting comments. Unfortunately, I do not have one of my own, yet. I wish Michael Moore himself would post here. [via BoingBoing]
posted by zerofoks at 1:50 AM PST - 126 comments