Went To Kansas: Being A Thrilling Account Of An Ill-Fated Expedition To That Fairy Land, And Its Sad Results. A personal account by Mrs. Miriam Davis Colt (based on her daily diaries) about her family's move from New York to Kansas in the 1850s, and the tragic story of the Vegetarian Settlement Company, which sold cheap land to settlers (if they signed an oath swearing they would never consume alcohol, tobacco or animal flesh) along with the promise of a prairie utopia.
posted to MetaFilter by amyms at 9:37 PM on June 3, 2007 (25 comments)

78Man is a member of YouTube, who has created a collection of 378 videos of 78rpm records playing on the phonograph or gramophone. It's an amazing mix of blues, ragtime, jazz, old quirky songs of all kinds and more. Choices include: I'm tired of fattenin' frogs for snakes. She's lazy,She's lousy and she loves it. [more inside]
posted to MetaFilter by nickyskye at 9:31 PM on April 12, 2007 (34 comments)

Did the roof of the Pantheon influence Copernicus? Are the planets of the solar system aligned in accordance with a nearly-forgotten hypothesis known (unfairly) as Bode's Law? A fascinating wide-ranging discussion on BLDGBLOG with Walter Murch, the visionary editor and sound designer for such films as The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, THX1138, and many others. [Murch's film work has previously been discussed here and here.]
posted to MetaFilter by digaman at 8:21 AM on April 7, 2007 (20 comments)

For anyone with even a passing interest in Islamic history or cartography, 'The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes' site at Oxford University's Bodleian Library will provide a thoroughly interesting timesink. This recently discovered 13th/14th century copy of an 11th century Egyptian manuscript was partly based on Ptolemy and includes the oldest rectangular map of the world...not to mention the famed human-bearing Waq-Waq tree. [via]
posted to MetaFilter by peacay at 1:21 PM on April 5, 2007 (7 comments)

Keepon and Roillo are two robots designed for non-verbal interaction with children. Keepon is shaped approximately like a snowman, with two cameras for eyes and a microphone for a nose. After one bar of music, he starts getting down in his robotic-type fashion. (two videos that need flash are the attraction here)
posted to MetaFilter by mkb at 10:05 AM on March 23, 2007 (13 comments)

Ira Glass sits at a soundboard and schools us on the art of storytelling.
posted to MetaFilter by bigmusic at 3:31 AM on March 20, 2007 (74 comments)

Craig Ferguson of The Late Late Show gives Britney Spears some advice. (12:30m YouTube. It's a monologue. And it's not really about Britney all that much.)
posted to MetaFilter by Cyrano at 10:57 AM on February 21, 2007 (129 comments)

The Rålamb Costume Book. Illustrations of Turkish officials, various important occupations and just plain folks, obtained by Claes Rålamb, Swedish ambassador to the Ottoman Court, in 1657. More about Rålamb and Sultan Mehmet IV.
posted to MetaFilter by mediareport at 11:22 PM on February 4, 2007 (10 comments)

In preparation for today's announcement of the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, Sen. Barack Obama has been giving well publicized speeches on the role of religion in American political life. Though faith remains a deeply divisive force in the American political scene, Obama seems to be positioning himself at the forefront of a major political realignment, one which has his opponents more than a little uneasy.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 3:57 PM on January 16, 2007 (179 comments)

Jorge Luis Borges "excerpts from two of the six Norton Lectures that Jorge Luis Borges delivered at Harvard University in the fall of 1967 and spring of 1968. The recordings of these six lectures, only lately discovered in the Harvard University Archives, uniquely capture the cadences, candor, wit, and remarkable erudition of one of the most extraordinary and enduring literary voices of our age. Through a twist of fate that the author of Labyrinths himself would have relished, these lost lectures return to us now--in Borges's own voice." In English - mp3
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky at 6:11 PM on January 10, 2007 (46 comments)

As strange as it sounds, I need help picking out a gift for myself from my dead brother.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ekim Neems at 3:54 PM on November 20, 2006 (16 comments)

Got crabs? Well, if you're going to scratch, then do it with flare. But everyone has to start with baby steps.

Jesse Kriss has created an engaging visualization, synchronized with video of DJ Axel Foley, to illuminate the mechanics of cutting and scratching. J to the motherfucking K, homeboy.
posted to MetaFilter by e.e. coli at 7:20 AM on October 27, 2006 (12 comments)

What are the best incredibly cheesy yet persistently feel-good, over-the-top possibly-80's songs you can give me?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dorothy humbird at 8:16 PM on October 2, 2006 (101 comments)

The Royal Society Digital Archive is now on-line and free to use ... until December. Until that time, every article in its collections, going back to 1665, is freely accessible. Poke around, who knows what you might find ... [pdf]
posted to MetaFilter by Sonny Jim at 3:26 AM on September 22, 2006 (21 comments)

Web programmers take note, gotAPI is an excellent collection of searchable programming references wrapped up into a customizable interface.
posted to MetaFilter by Roger Dodger at 6:59 AM on September 21, 2006 (17 comments)

FSI Language Courses
posted to MetaFilter by anjamu at 1:35 AM on August 17, 2006 (36 comments)

Will Vinyl Survive? Is vinyl on its last legs? Or like Gloria Gaynor, will it survive? Most home listeners chucked out their turntables years ago, but are DJs finally giving in and following suit? DJs face off in a pair of articles discussing the merits of vinyl vs. digital...
posted to MetaFilter by bunglin jones at 6:00 PM on August 24, 2006 (68 comments)

Wally Wood's 22 Comics Panels That Always Work.
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 12:53 PM on August 23, 2006 (34 comments)

Why is it that Queen's "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" always plays back to back?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by sled at 2:19 PM on June 27, 2006 (26 comments)

What are your favorite wines under $20?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by callmejay at 8:20 PM on June 15, 2006 (51 comments)

We've just replaced Bob's Folger's with 5000 micrograms of LSD. Let's see if he'll notice the difference. (Quicktime video. Not safe for the reasonably sane or unmedicated.)
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 8:39 PM on June 13, 2006 (166 comments)

Are there any guides or reviews to books on Project Guttenberg? With 18,000 books there has to be some hidden gems, but how to find them? I'd also like to find other free book sites.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by afu at 9:46 PM on June 12, 2006 (14 comments)

Meet The Press--in Hell with Jesus, Satan, Coulter, Malkin--... Russert: We’re back with our guests, Bob Satan and Jesus Christ, and our panel Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter. Ann, I’d like to read you a statement by the Virgin Mary, Chairwoman of Mothers Against Armageddon—
Ann Coulter: Oh please. This broad is a millionaire, lionized on frescoes and in scripture about her, reveling in her status as a saint, and stalked by Madonna-parazzies. I have never seen a woman enjoying her son’s death so much. ...
posted to MetaFilter by amberglow at 1:38 PM on June 10, 2006 (25 comments)

The Death of Perspective. Among the greatest achievements of the renaissance artists was the perfection of the art of perspective: Giving the appearance of depth to a flat surface. Felice Varini uses perspective to do the opposite.
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 5:38 AM on June 9, 2006 (38 comments)

Any D.C.-area mefites interested in using the local opening of An Inconvenient Truth as an excuse for a meetup, say, the weekend after next?
posted to MetaTalk by gsteff at 8:48 AM on May 30, 2006 (17 comments)