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Riots in London
Riots have broken out in the Tottenham area of London Saturday night after a protest over a fatal police shooting on Thursday. A double-decker bus and several police cars have been set on fire, and one policeman is said to be in hospital. Shops have been looted, and several buildings have been set on fire.
BBC and Sky News camera crews have moved away from the scene for safety reasons, but LBC Radio is reporting live.
BBC and Sky News camera crews have moved away from the scene for safety reasons, but LBC Radio is reporting live.
Math interview podcast
Strongly Connected Components
is a podcast of interviews with mathematicians. Hear complexity theorist Scott Aaronson (of Shtetl-Optimized), Tom Henderson (of Punk Mathematics) algebraist Olga Holtz of UC-Berkeley, master combinatorist Richard Stanley of MIT, and many more.
Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories.
The winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
have been announced for 2011. The contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels.
The Rape of Men
"I don't want to tell him," says Jean Paul. "I fear he will say: 'Now, my brother is not a man.'"
A report on a harrowing but little known tool of war - Male rape.
NOTW: 0 - Guardian: 1
After spending years and millions of pounds settling civil lawsuits, seeing their royal editor and an investigator jailed, and insisting that only a few rotten apples knew about the phone hacking, the 168 year old News of the World is to publish its last issue and close this Sunday.
What happens when you give poor people health insurance?
The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year
(or, What Happens When You Give Poor People Health Insurance?) "We find that in this first year, the treatment group had substantively and statistically significantly higher health care utilization (including primary and preventive care as well as hospitalizations), lower out-of-pocket medical expenditures and medical debt (including fewer bills sent to collection), and better self-reported physical and mental health than the control group."
How News of the World interfered with hunt for 13-year-old's killer
Thirteen-year-old Milly Dowler was kidnapped and murdered on her way home from school in 2002. During the six-month hunt before her body was found, her parents gave exclusive interviews to the News of the World, saying they believed she would be found alive.
That hope was based partly on the fact that her voicemails were still being listened to and deleted. Today, it was revealed that the deleting was being done by the News of the World.
What are the 'classics' of the blogging era?
Influential blog posts anyone? What are the 'classics' of the blogging era?
Editing a resume when WYSIWYG doesn't work
I can't see my computer screen, and I want to be able to edit my resume. What Windows-based software would let me control the layout of text on a page without having to look at it?
The REAL Queen of the Internet
She was just an average thirteen-year-old girl, until overnight her awkward dancing in the background of Rebecca Black's "Friday" video (Previously on MeFi) made her a target of near-universal derision on the Internet. GIFs of "that girl in pink" dancing proliferated (many of which threw in an accordion for good measure). When Benni Cinkle finally responded to the attention and began answering questions, the hordes anticipating more lulz at her expense did a 180, surprised to themselves interacting with a gracious, humble person with a sense of humor about herself. In the months since, Cinkle's website, That Girl in Pink, has become a launchpad for her charitable works.
How Modern Spam Works
Through purchasing Viagra, herbal remedies, and replica watches, computer scientists explain how modern spam works. The spam business model consists of three components: advertising, click support (i.e., delivering the customer to an actual website), and realization (i.e., receiving payment and delivering the product to the customer). Different firms located across the globe carry out the various tasks. For example, the website domains are registered in Russia, the credit card payments are handled by banks in Azerbaijan, and the pills are sent from manufacturers in India. The spam business infrastructure appears to be organized around a small number of affiliate programs that coordinate the activities among the different firms. Click Trajectories: End-to-End Analysis of the Spam Value Chain (A 16 page PDF). [via]
War Pigs. Live. Heavy.
War Pigs, live in Paris 1970. Slightly different lyrics, still heavier than the gods.
Chorizocracia?
What does the mocking expression "chorizocracia" mean in Castillian Spanish? I get the literal meaning: "Sausage-ocracy" but I think there's a slangy connotation that I, as a non-native, am missing here. What does the term "chorizo" imply in a political context? Thanks!
"Americans maximize their... [happiness] by working, and Europeans maximize their [happiness] through leisure,"
Why America is the 'no vacation nation'.
(CNN) -- Let's be blunt: If you like to take lots of vacation, the United States is not the place to work.
"The Book of Mormon" on Broadway
From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and Robert Lopez, of Avenue Q, comes the new Broadway show "The Book of Mormon." The show "tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent off to spread the word in a dangerous part of Uganda" while gently (and no so gently) lampooning organized religion and traditional musical theatre. The entire show is now streaming on NPR. Songs are extremely Not Safe For Work.
The nonexistent epidemic
The Guardian speaks to suffers of Morgellons, a disorder that, depending on whom you ask,is a delusional psychosis, an epidemic that's whitewashed out of medical research, or for conspiracists, alien nanotechnology. (Previously.)
Criticise my coworkers, how do I do it right?
How do I get better at providing constructive criticism to design colleagues? Especially ones that don’t ask?
Metafilter Diaper Delivery
Dear Metafilter, way to make a pregnant woman having a bad day cry.
Help me find Dennis Waterman
I'm looking for cds or mp3s of Dennis Waterman music, but I can't find him anywhere except YouTube! I'm particularly interested in the theme song to New Tricks, but I'd love anything he's done.
archive.org
archive.org
recently launched films, audio, software, and text in addition to the wayback machine. The comic goldmine and best find of the new archive has to be the public domain sex ed films from the 1950s, part of the Prelinger Archives.
Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew
Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew.
Described by Weird Al Yankovic as "one of the few children's recording artists
I can listen to without wanting to stab myself in the eyes," you don't have to have kids to appreciate the silly subject matter and exquisitely crafted pop sensibility, but it probably helps. It should come as no surprise that, as front man for The Presidents of the United States, the man who wrote songs like Kitty, Boll Weevil, and Dune Buggy grew up to write offbeat children's music. I would especially like to call your attention to these wonderful and clever low tech videos, including several worthy fan videos.
Small differences in the U.S.A (international people)
What are some small differences you've noticed about the US?
Examples:
My Japanese friend says that in Japan, large buildings have multiple public entrance/exits.
My Dutch friend says that in the Netherlands, women shower in the gym showers.
Specifically, I'm interested in things that could imply some theory (elaborate or not) of US culture, of some region of the US.
best salad dressing?
What is your most delicious salad dressing recipe?
Trolling the head of the TSA
Trolling the Head of the TSA: Bruce Schneier [previously], consummate voice of sanity on all issues of security, co-authors an article in The Atlantic [previously] demonstrating how weak and ultimately pointless most of the new security practices put in place at airports since 9/11 are by, among other things, boarding airplanes with large amounts of liquid, using fake boarding passes he printed off his computer, and wearing an "I <3 Hezbollah" t-shirt. TSA head Kip Hawley then responds on the TSA's blog. Schneier then responds to the response on his blog. Hawley then leaves a comment to that post. Schneier fires back again in his monthly newsletter. Quite an interesting and intelligent debate, despite both men humorously falling victim to the idioms of the medium and getting increasingly snarky with each passing post. [via this month's crypto-gram, a good read all the way around.]
A New Name For Corn Syrup
The Corn Refiners Association, which represents firms that make corn syrup, has been trying to improve the image of the much maligned sweetener with ad campaigns, and web sites, (Previously) promoting it as a natural ingredient made from corn. Now, the group has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to start calling the ingredient "corn sugar," arguing that a name change is the only way to clear up consumer "confusion" about the product. (VIA)
Give me bread.
I love to bake bread and need more recipes. EXOTIC recipes.
The Pope and the Vatican are angry. Over police raids.
'No Belgian church escaped sex abuse', finds investigation.
It reveals that abuse was so extensive that it was going on in almost every diocese and at every Church-run boarding school: "We can say that no congregation escapes sexual abuse of minors by one or several of its members," the commission concluded." 'Hundreds of sex abuse victims have come forward in Belgium with harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides and affected children as young as two, an independent Belgian commission said Friday.' 'Friday's report lists 507 witnesses who came forward with stories of molestation at the hands of clergy over the past decades. It says those abused included children who were two, four, five and six years old.'
Can you reccommend a good, in-depth primer on grammar?
Can you reccommend a good, in-depth primer on grammar? I don't mean where to use a comma, but rather a clear definition of, for example, nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases. What exactly are tense, mood, person, number, and voice. That kind of thing.
Trains Of Thought
The A-Train For Armchair Travellers
The Man in Seat 61, a train-mad Brit called Mark Smith, provides a wonderful guide, with lots of useful information, to train travel in Europe - though obviously catering mostly to British passengers. Choo Choo!
Cigars within cigars
Inception (WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW) (trailer) (prequel comic) (cast interviews), the new film about shared dreaming by Christopher Nolan, has shocked audiences into gasps of delight and confusion. Two days in, the film, having impressed critics, is already inspiring elaborate debates about its complex and surreal plotline, with theories and heated discussions here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Dentist in Portland?
I need recommendations for a dentist in Portland, Oregon.
Slouching Toward Mediocrity
Let the best fruit win, and when it does, we'll know how to ask for it.
'The European Community requires that grapes, oranges, apples and pears be identified by variety at the point of sale, and the practice is common there for other fruits too.' 'Until 2006, the California Tree Fruit Agreement, the organization that sets standards for the state's shippers of peaches, nectarines and plums, required the specific variety to be identified on the carton. But some growers and shippers found that they could not readily market certain varieties perceived by buyers as inferior, and so the CTFA now allows fruit to be shipped under generic designations such as "yellow peach."''When inferior varieties are marketed generically, producers of inferior varieties piggyback on producers of better varieties. In a pomological version of Gresham's law, bad fruit drives out good.''All too often today, new varieties are bred to appeal to the lowest common denominator, to be inoffensive to the greatest number of people, so it suits the industrial distribution system when fruit is marketed anonymously. When fruit quality is homogenized, variety is less significant; in turn, anonymity deprives consumers of their main weapon to resist homogenization.'
Van Halen's "No brown M&Ms" concert rider found.
The stuff of legend, Van Halen's "No brown M&Ms" concert rider (most recently mentioned on MetaFilter here) has made the rounds by word of mouth, and word of internet, for years. Now, the Van Halen 1982 World Tour backstage rider has been found. It consists of 53 typewritten pages and contains the M&Ms prohibition - which actually says M & M's (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES) - as well as other interesting demands, excerpted at The Smoking Gun. Via.
The past? She's critical.
Critical Past
Claiming 57k historic videos and 7MM photos free to browse (pay to download). Single-link-dig-through-it-yourself-and-let-us-know-if-you-find-anything-great, okay?
Fascists in color
Nazi's
propaganda. My Granddad once told me that I didn't understand Nazi's, because the black and white film always made it look unreal. He said if the films were color, I'd see.
Knowing who you're writing for and why you're writing might be the most crucial factor of all
Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn't a school assignment.
— Clive Thompson describes the results of the Stanford Study of Writing, mainly that young people today write far more than any generation before them.
Just a small verification:
Matt, cortex, jessamyn: did my comment get deleted from the flapjax thread?
London Meet-up Round 2
Let's try this again... London meet-up, late January?
PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME FROM THIS LIST!!!!!!!!
This week, American diplomats took down the State Department's email system by using reply-to-all. They're not the only ones to make this gaffe. Spirit Airlines' CEO hit reply-to-all in response to a customer complaint. A corporate attorney sent a note intended for a client to a NY Times reporter. A Minnesota judicial candidate replies to an email claiming Barack Obama is a Muslim. Maybe they should read this guide to knowing when not to reply-to-all. Or their admins should prevent them from using reply-to-all or forward in Outlook. Also, don't put everyone's addresses in the TO: field - Seagate Software, AT&T, and Nissan found this out the hard way.
BNP members 'outed'
British media goes mental when someone leaks a list of British National Party online. The list is here as news outlets are wary of quoting directly. Given that membership of the BNP is forbidden for those in the Police force amongst other organisations, it's interesting reading. Their leader is interviewed on this morning's Five Live breakfast (about 2hrs in) on the matter, pointing out that as a party standing for election they are as legitimate as any other.