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Kim Jong Ill.
posted by Artw at 8:17 PM PST - 89 comments

The Early Television Foundation and Museum Website covers the nascent days of the nation's pastime, with interesting items like mechanical TVs and programming schedules from 1939.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 7:36 PM PST - 13 comments

Muslim Massacre. Satire or just for shock value? You decide. Windows only.
posted by pancreas at 5:02 PM PST - 57 comments

Despite his carefully cultivated “maverick” image, McCain is playing it traditional and conservative by using HTML 4.01, the W3C spec from 1999.
posted by finite at 4:49 PM PST - 58 comments

Sure, you're sad that Astroland at Coney Island has closed for good. But buck up, l'il Astro-nut! You can buy the rides and build your own! (Astroland's website is still active for now.)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 4:36 PM PST - 23 comments

Why aren't men and women becoming more alike? A husband and a stay-at-home wife in a patriarchal Botswanan clan seem to be more alike than a working couple in Denmark or France. The more Venus and Mars have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their personalities seem to diverge. International Sexuality Description Project findings.
posted by desjardins at 4:20 PM PST - 45 comments

Thirty-seven year old Lance Armstrong has announced that he will end his 3-year retirement from professional racing to try for a record eighth victory in the Tour de France.
posted by Bluecoat93 at 4:04 PM PST - 70 comments

Ambien Somnambulants. New works by Camille Rose Garcia. [Via] [more inside]
posted by homunculus at 3:30 PM PST - 5 comments

You may have never heard of Kane Kramer, but it's likely you use the product and online store he patented. In 1979.
posted by mattholomew at 2:45 PM PST - 47 comments

Sculptor Nemo Gould makes robots out of found objects.
posted by lee at 2:04 PM PST - 28 comments

Is life possible even in the coldest depths of space? If so, this tough little guy has long been thought to be a good candidate. Now, finally, analysis of the Tardigrades (a.k.a. "water bears") exposed to open space as part of the TARDIS project is finally complete. So what's the verdict? [more inside]
posted by saulgoodman at 1:45 PM PST - 39 comments

Up to now, no black cyclist has ever competed in the Tour de France. One man hopes to to change that. Last month Nicholas Leong, a Singaporean photographer and supporter of the Major Taylor Association (previously: 1, 2), travelled to Eldoret in Kenya, a place better known for producing world-class distance runners. There, he found two Kenyan cyclists and took them to France to tackle one of the Tour's most iconic climbs: Alpe d'Huez. [more inside]
posted by afx237vi at 1:18 PM PST - 30 comments

The Alliance Defense Fund is organizing Pulpit Freedom Sunday, urging Pastors to explicitly endorse Presidential candidates in violation of IRS rules governing the non-profit status of religious organizations.
posted by god hates math at 1:06 PM PST - 37 comments

The Corn Refiners Association would like you to know two things. One: High Fructose Corn Syrup is just fine. And two: anyone who says differently is an ignorant jerk. [more inside]
posted by lunasol at 12:16 PM PST - 166 comments

While millions are flowing into California on both sides of the gay marriage battle, California's anti-gay leaders are raking it in through their nonprofit orgs.
posted by nospecialfx at 11:39 AM PST - 80 comments

Vintage 3-D stereoviews of old Japan, Meiji and Taisho era swimsuit girls, working people, geisha, and kids, old Japan salt prints, dozens of T. Enami glass slides, and strange or offbeat images: all part of a vast and superb collection of Japanese photos from 1862 to 1930 by flickr user Okinawa Soba. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive at 10:30 AM PST - 17 comments

North Korea: A rare photographic insight into a very foreign country
posted by dawson at 9:36 AM PST - 34 comments

History of the browser user-agent string
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:31 AM PST - 29 comments

The victims told deputies they awoke Saturday morning to the stranger applying spices to one of them and striking the other with an 8-inch sausage. Bill McEwen gives us the skinny on the pun fallout from such an event, along with an historical analysis of other sausage related assaults. Don't forget your Pappy's!
posted by thanotopsis at 9:07 AM PST - 39 comments

Peter Bradshaw pwns the new Guy Ritchie film. I mean, doing yet anotha stinka of a drama about the mee-lee-a of the ersatz London gangsta?
posted by mippy at 8:45 AM PST - 68 comments

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is an exhibit by Swoon composed of seven floating sculptures made from discarded materials. Following a performance tour down the Hudson River, it is docked at Deitch Studios in NYC until October 18th.
posted by lunit at 8:27 AM PST - 4 comments

Despite not being physically attracted to other people, Paul Cox, 24, explains how he and his wife found love and happiness as an asexual couple.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:12 AM PST - 190 comments

It's a trap.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:32 AM PST - 45 comments

When reality bites, it leaves deep scars... behind the scenes of The Jeremy Kyle Show. 'One-Night Stand On CCTV!' 1, 2, 3 - the episode mentioned in the article. Brooker on Kyle. Dead Ringers sketch.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:56 AM PST - 14 comments

I’ve never wanted to be that guy that just talked about going out and doing things. So last year I decided to leave my home and my job and I set out to accomplish some of those things I had never done but kept telling myself it would be cool to do someday. Amtrekker has spent the past 433 days doing just that. He only has two rules: he can't go home until he does all 50, and he can't spend any money on lodging. To date, he has crossed 44 off his list. (via PodCacher) [more inside]
posted by genefinder at 6:27 AM PST - 22 comments

For 150 years or more, the locomotive engineer has held a special place in American history. [more inside]
posted by pjern at 5:42 AM PST - 5 comments

Hector Zazou
posted by thrakintosh at 4:03 AM PST - 24 comments

A bottom for banking? Buying or selling shares in a company one manages - insider trading - is legal in The United States, provided the relevant forms are filed with The SEC. This information is then made available to the general public via EDGAR, Sec Form 4, or high level aggregators. Investors scour web sites for such filings, as purchases or sales of a companies shares by insiders are public evidence of managements private opinions regarding the future prospects of the firm they are running.

Even before yesterdays relief rally insider buying in banking shares hit a two decade high. So does this surge in buying indicate the worst is over in banking? When trading its best to pay close attention to a broad range of signals, because sometimes even the insiders get it wrong.
posted by Mutant at 3:39 AM PST - 23 comments

In a scant few hours, scientists will make the first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider. Terrified of nothing, a few deeply misguided morons have sent death threats to the CERN team, probably because of Faith-Based Science. [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:51 AM PST - 213 comments

"Political content aside, the discussion provided a lovely example of how a term from literary theory has established itself in American political discourse." via Language Log

"We may expect the following. Language will be carefully crafted. Advertisements will focus on personal narratives. The campaign will employ “attack” advertisements that emotionally sway voters. Policy will be sketchy with vague descriptions that emotionally satisfy Americans while offering scant details. The emphasis will be on creating narratives that resonate with the values, beliefs, and identities of prospective voters."
– Literary Gulag, on Lakoff, Nunberg, Westen, and the narrative of the 2008 presidential election. [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam at 12:08 AM PST - 27 comments