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Got a (classical) tune in your head? Don't know its source? This website (as well as this one) allows you to search for that annoying snippet of classical music that's been driving you to distraction. Sure, dictionaries of musical themes exist, but they're out of print, hard to find, or both. My inner classical buff is ecstatic.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:33 PM PST - 20 comments

Have you told the powers in Washington what kind of world you want? You're busy. You don't have time to be a professional "Congress watcher." So we'll be your eyes and ears. We'll track the debates and compromises and bills that will shape the world.
posted by katy_ at 8:49 PM PST - 16 comments

"American girls are possibly the most wound-up people on the planet." Amen, brother! (more on Gwyneth v. English Men)
posted by mrhappy at 8:28 PM PST - 33 comments

"VeriSign got in trouble, VeriSign got in trouble!" ICANN serves VeriSign with a formal notice of breach of its accreditation agreement for its mishandling of WHOIS data under its control (.com addresses). VeriSign has 15 days to smarten up or it could lose the .com registry. (via Boing Boing)
posted by mcwetboy at 5:50 PM PST - 22 comments

Secretary Rumsfeld is RAISING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS. [Quote inside.] Any links to substantive material on these questions, above and beyond an individual's personal opinion?
posted by sheauga at 5:42 PM PST - 31 comments

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is still in theatres three months after its release. After seeing it last night I understand the hype and great word of mouth it continues to receive. Will Hollywood wake up and take notice?
posted by Macboy at 5:40 PM PST - 46 comments

U.S. faces bigger issues than hitting Iraq. A former Japanese diplomat--now chairman of the English-Speaking Union of Japan-- offers a quintessentially Japanese view regarding the manifest folly of a US attack on Iraq. (From The Japan Times). Mr. Hanabusa underscores the formidable difficulty of the victor's creating anything but a puppet "regime change." Since Japan has had some recent experience in this regard, his words merit contemplation by those who favor an immediate attack and damn the foreseeable consequences thereof.
posted by rdone at 3:59 PM PST - 26 comments

Bush administration urges schools to treat, not punish, student drug users. Issued Thursday [August 29, 2002] by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the guide says the aim of drug testing "is not to trap and punish students who use drugs. It is, in fact, counterproductive simply to punish them without trying to alter their behavior."
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:12 PM PST - 21 comments

The greatest thinker of our time? Will Self thinks so in this interview with Philosopher John Gray. Not everyone agrees, which suggests a question. Who are the really great thinkers of our time? Suggestions ....?.
posted by grahamwell at 2:15 PM PST - 47 comments

Skydiver falls to his death, was part of fireworks display
He went out with a bang.
posted by GernBlandston at 1:18 PM PST - 24 comments

Push a guy down the stairs - in the past we've discussed people doing it to themselves but surely it's safer (and more fun) to try it out on others? (2mb .exe)
posted by gi_wrighty at 1:16 PM PST - 22 comments

World on Fire is brought to us by the fun kids at NASA, showing satellite images of active fires around the planet on July 11, 2002. "Across the world, the widespread fires that burn each year in the savannas of Africa, Australia, and Brazil dwarf even the most significant fire season in the western United States as far as total acreage and number of fires." NOVA Online has its own set of images from 2000 as well.
posted by keli at 12:25 PM PST - 6 comments

China Blocks Google » In the highest praise yet for Google, China (as in "great firewall of China") blocks Google. Dissident search engines. It must be the future.
posted by artlung at 11:09 AM PST - 35 comments

"A court found 19 inhabitants of the same village guilty of systematically raping or sexually abusing an eleven-year-old girl who had been prostituted by her own father."

Third-world litany? Try Belgium.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:50 AM PST - 42 comments

Anti-PC investing.
Tired of all those namby-pamby "socially responsible" mutual funds out there? Me too. That's why I'm putting my money in the Vice Fund, the first socially irresponsible mutual fund. It started trading today, investing in companies that benefit from smoking, drinking, gambling and defense spending.

"It is our philosophy that although often considered politically incorrect, these and similar industries and products...will continue to experience significant capital appreciation during good and bad markets. We consider these industries to be nearly 'recession-proof.'"

posted by me3dia at 10:32 AM PST - 34 comments

Kill Willy? The headline of this CNN story is a bit of hyperbole, since it's just one guy advocating euthenasia. But it's depressing enough that Keiko, the orca from the "Free Willy" films who was later released into the wild, has recently appeared on the Norwegian coast, apparently looking for human contact after getting dissed by his killer-whale brethren. God ...
posted by risenc at 10:30 AM PST - 13 comments

Rev. Jackson rallies West Coast dock workers. I'm proud of Jesse for this action. The workers are only averaging $80K per annum and foreman are averaging only $167K per. I'm surprised he didn't try to do the same for the MLBPA.
posted by flatlander at 10:17 AM PST - 19 comments

Friends and family help a dying boy celebrate Halloween a bit early. His costume? The Grim Reaper.
posted by o2b at 9:33 AM PST - 39 comments

Fading Ads (click thumbnails in lower right grid). If you look closely, you can probably find these all over the older parts of your town. Some border on the weird, most are nearly gone, while some are still going strong (about the project).
posted by mathowie at 8:39 AM PST - 23 comments

No such thing as ecosystems? That's the hypothesis of the White House's newly chosen wildfire prevention head honcho, Allan Fitzsimmons. Seeing that some members of the MeFi community in a previous discussion stated that fires are a normal part of forest ecosystem, does this negate this view? Mr. Fitzsimmons also has some interesting opinions on why "it would not be a crisis if the nation's threatened and endangered species became extinct." (editorial quote from the article)
posted by tittergrrl at 8:18 AM PST - 35 comments

Baby, Bye, Bye, Bye! NSYNC = NSPACE. Not anymore! Looks like Lance doesn't have the money, and the Russians got tired of waiting.
posted by wsfinkel at 7:52 AM PST - 27 comments

Sims Survivor: Season Two 8 Sims left to their own devices in a Survivor/Big Brother parody. The original was posted back in March.
posted by juicyraoul at 7:29 AM PST - 2 comments

World Summit Has Official Toilet Paper
Let the jokes roll...
posted by Shane at 6:44 AM PST - 6 comments

Remember that MeFi post on earthquake prediction? They did it again. There was a 4.6 quake yesterday near Santa Barbara that hit the bullseye. Compare the map of where the quake hit to the prediction map. That's at least five accurate predictions since the scientific paper (pdf) was released earlier this year.
posted by insomnia_lj at 6:13 AM PST - 10 comments

I Leave You With These Words: If you've ever thought about making a will, why not devote some time to composing your epitaph? It'll probably be the last people will hear from you. The Epitaph Browser is full of good and famous examples and might give you the push you need to get cracking. There are far too many to read and I just looked for writers I liked, but my favourite is from a gentleman resting in peace in Nova Scotia:
Here lies Ezekiel Aikle, Age 102, The Good Die Young.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:56 AM PST - 62 comments

As the day after Labor Day is traditionally the first day of School for many of us in the USA, I offer you froguts.com - virtual online frog dissection. All the educational parts of biology class without the nauseating smell of formaldehyde.
posted by anastasiav at 4:39 AM PST - 10 comments

God is just a mouse click away folks What next? Instant message confessions, blog baptisms?
posted by zimbobzim at 2:13 AM PST - 15 comments