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Looking for Yama.
Help me find a shrine for Yama in Tokyo.
Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon?
Two and a half years ago, we explored the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game.
As a matter of fact, Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's truly venerable forerunner: Nickelodeon.
Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire.
Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is looking back with a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and All That.
To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon. (warning: monster post inside)
Call him John
"After Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, the White House released a photo of President Barack Obama and his Cabinet inside the Situation Room, watching the daring raid unfold. Hidden from view, standing just outside the frame of that now-famous photograph was a career CIA analyst" - The man who hunted Osama bin Laden
There is no number 63
OSHA's 1984 Fatal Facts report comes illustrated with surprisingly sangfroid cartoons of workplace accidents.
The car that goes woosh
Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten somehow talked his way into reviewing a Chevy Volt (GM's new electric vehicle) for 7 hours over 4 days. That's about 6:30 more than most reviewers get to spend with the vehicle. What resulted is a auto review unlike any other you've read before.
Previously on Metafilter.
Previously on Metafilter.
Borromean Rings and Quantum Mechanics
Borromean rings consist of three circles linked as a group, with no two circles interlinked; removal of one ring results in the separation of all three. Named for the Borromeo family of 15th century Italy which featured the rings on its coat of arms, the symbol has had a long and varied history. The rings have appeared everywhere from medieval Christian iconography to Norse rune stones to the pillars of Hindu temples. In more recent times, Borromean rings have attracted formal study in the fields of topology, chemistry and (strangely enough) quantum mechanics.
Just add dice
List of Libre Games. Open Game Systems. Compendium of Free Role Playing Games. Free RPGs at 1000 Monkeys, 1000 Typewriters. Tired of role-playing game books the size and price of textbooks? You've got a lot of alternatives.
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Wikileaks Cablegate scandal is the most exciting and interesting hacker scandal ever. I rather commonly write about such things, and I’m surrounded by online acquaintances who take a burning interest in every little jot and tittle of this ongoing saga. So it’s going to take me a while to explain why this highly newsworthy event fills me with such a chilly, deadening sense of Edgar Allen Poe melancholia.
But it sure does.
Bruce Sterling on the world of post-Wikileaks diplomacy.
But it sure does.
Bruce Sterling on the world of post-Wikileaks diplomacy.
Interdisciplinary PhD including philosophy
Suggestions on interdisciplinary PhD programs?
Old School Color Cycling with HTML5
Old School Color Cycling with HTML5
This was a technology often used in 8-bit video games of the era, to achieve interesting visual effects by cycling (shifting) the color palette. Back then video cards could only render 256 colors at a time, so a palette of selected colors was used. But the programmer could change this palette at will, and all the onscreen colors would instantly change to match. It was fast, and took virtually no memory.
This was a technology often used in 8-bit video games of the era, to achieve interesting visual effects by cycling (shifting) the color palette. Back then video cards could only render 256 colors at a time, so a palette of selected colors was used. But the programmer could change this palette at will, and all the onscreen colors would instantly change to match. It was fast, and took virtually no memory.
Optomist Deductions: Skip To Line 6
Single Link NYT Post: A Tax-Form For The Marginally Employed.
Pho U.
Overthinking a plate of bean sprouts: help me eat pho like a pro.
How do I win an election?
How do I win an election?
I know all about the basics - but I would particularly like more in-depth, advanced information tailored to professionals on how to win.
Games are Art
Pathologic sucked. Everyone said so. That doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile, of course; some art is flawed. (Games are art, right?)
The last few links in the chain.
Tell me about chain restaurants still operating near you that had been successful in the distant past, but where there's now only a few remaining restaurants nationwide.
Look at this f**king MetaFilter thread
Not content to sit by and watch other single-topic blogs ink book deals, Look At This F**king Idea For A Blog-To-Book Deal goes wide where others have gone narrow. (Actual site and URL not censored. Adjust your NetNanny expectations accordingly)
Losing the War
Losing the War
"From the beginning, the actual circumstances of World War II were smothered in countless lies...People all along have preferred the movie version: the tense border crossing where the flint-eyed SS guards check the forged papers; the despondent high-level briefing where the junior staff officer pipes up with the crazy plan that just might work...The truth behind these cliches was never forgotten -- because nobody except the soldiers ever learned it in the first place."
What's a Coastie?
What's a Coastie?
Two University of Wisconsin undergrads record and post to YouTube an ode to "Coasties," out-of-state students who live in expensive off-campus apartments, wear Spandex tights with Uggs, spend their parents' money on designer handbags and Starbucks, and -- oh yeah, like 15% of their classmates but only 1 in 200 Wisconsin natives, are Jews. Controversy ensues.
Hey Numa Numa Make My Dreams Come True
"When will there be a MetaFilter lipdub to put these punks to shame?"
Learning to empathize
How can I understand, and empathize, with my fiancee's psychological issues? And other difficult-to-articulate questions.
Stuck in the dreaded “friend zone”!
So as fate would have it, I am sharing an apartment with a girl that I am very attracted to. And now it seems as if I've been perma-friended. (For the sake of discussion, lets forgo the “dating roommates is a bad idea” discussion.)
How can I prove to my parents that I'm "mature" enough?
I'm 16 years old. I have (though somewhat borderline) Asperger's and I'm highly intellectually (verbal, not quite visual-spatial) gifted. I don't do well in school, you could say I'm an "underachiever". I graduate high school this year. I will most likely not get into either of my top universities in the city (I'm Canadian, btw). I don't mind taking next year (from graduation until I'm 17.5) to "mature a bit" but eventually I want to go to school overseas. I need to prove to my parents I can live alone... without actually living alone.
What does a man with pie want? More pie.
Imagine an alternate world, where the idea for "The Matrix" had been pitched to Charlie Chaplin. Behold.
I love you, fresh egg
What cooking secrets take your food to the almost-pro level?
Deionized Essence of Dan Brown
"Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow." Dan Brown's 20 Worst Sentences
Corporate Brand Identity Avoidance Consultant
Aunt Feminina Boots's Char-Broiled Book Club
— Feminina Boots has been experiencing a lot of difficulty lately trying to find a book club where she can say things that aren’t just going to upset people.
Whats it like to be a cow?
An Armadillo running and sniffing
The Mole-Cam
Cow Staring at Cow.
These and many more at the Museum of Animal Perspectives, a site run and curated by Sam Easterson.
The Mole-Cam
Cow Staring at Cow.
These and many more at the Museum of Animal Perspectives, a site run and curated by Sam Easterson.
Old Time Radio Revival Round-up
Old-time radio (often abbreviated as "OTR," also known as the Golden Age of Radio) refers to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the dominant home entertainment medium in the 1950s, with some programs continuing into the early 1960s. The origin of radio dramas in the United States is hard to pin down, but there is evidence of a remote broadcast of a play in 1914 at Normal College (now California State University at San José), and the first serial radio drama was an adaptation of a play by Eugene Walter, entitled "The Wolf," which aired in September 1922. Given the age of the programs and the fact that home reel-to-reel recording started in the 1950s (followed by Philips "compact cassettes" in 1963), it might be surprising that quite a few of these old shows have survived. Thanks in part to original radio station-sourced recordings made on aluminum discs, acetates, and glass recordings and other unnamed sources, many radio dramas and newscasts from decades past are available online, and more are being digitized and restored to this day.
"A mental and visual release for New Yorkers, who may find it exhausting to live in the most identifiable city in the world."
The Last Parcels of Nowhere Remaining in Manhattan.
Photographs.
This game is made by a man who hates videogames
Takeshi no Chōsenjō: it came before the endurance test that is Desert Bus, and served as an inspiration for Janey Thompson's Marathon. In English it is known as Takeshi's Challenge. Released in December 1986 for the Famicom system, the game mechanisms include use of the Famicom microphone to sing karaoke for an hour. And that's after you drink to the point of blacking out, divorce your wife, quit your job, and learn to hang glide AND learn the Hintoba language, amongst other things. All of this takes place in lands populated with nothing but people that want to beat you to death. Of course, you can skip that all and complete the game in a mere 4 minutes by simply walking off the edge of existence, and magically ending at the final treasure room.
Get the (wedding) party started.
This is how to start a wedding.
Totally and utterly SYTLy, but still the best thing I've seen this week.
WHILE YOU WERE READING THIS ... I FARTED
If you're tired of boring twee t-shirts with birds and swirly stuff and junk on them, maybe it's time you started running with the Big Dogs. From "Fart Now Loading" to "Talk Slower - I don't speak STUPID", Big Dogs brand graphic tees are a great way to communicate your hip, in-your-face, modern attitude.
The benches have been warned
At least one of these things is true, and possibly both: (a) This was the most tense game of baseball ever played; or (b) relations between Jews and the Klan have deteriorated dramatically since 1926. Bill Francis, a research librarian at the Baseball Hall of Fame, unearths a tantalizing newspaper clipping.
Waka-waka-waka
The Pac-Man Dossier
is an extremely detailed description of the game logic of arcade Pac-Man. It explains why, once in a while, monsters will harmlessly pass through Pac-Man. It explains why they won't go up through the tunnels above the monster box. It explains why occasionally, after losing a life, monsters will refuse to leave the box. It explains when and why Blinky becomes Cruise Elroy, and why sometimes Pinky gets confused and loses track of Pac-Man. It even explains, as far as the player can continue to play, what to do on the kill screen. It is awesome. Previously....
Dancing in the streets for Obama
People took to the streets to celebrate Obama's victory in New York, Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Boulder, New Brunswick, Oakland, Philadelphia, Gainesville, Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, Atlanta, Cambridge, Madison, Richmond, Baltimore, Santa Cruz, and Washinton, D.C.
I see wizardry
Attach syringes full of oil to the temples of a pair of double-lensed magic Harry Potter eyeglasses and let poor people see.
"Unenjoyably Difficult!" - Gamepro
"We're not building a themed adventure for Mega Man; just kill him!"
Where does Mega Man's nemesis get his wonderful toys? How much does it cost to construct big spikes? Can one add ice blocks to the magnet level without violating a building code? It's not easy being in the Dr. Wily business.
A few questions related to Trance Music.
A few questions related to Trance Music.
Just call 'em slabs of joy.
Bacon caramel. Candied bacon and egg ice cream. Bacon lip balm. Bacon bra (NSFW). Bacon placemants. French-fry coated bacon on a stick. An overabundance of bacon cakes. Bacon cookies. Bacon and bourbon. And fifty other ways to use MeFi's favorite food--BACON.
On Having A Black Name
On Having A Black Name
"I am a white woman, a blond, blue-eyed white woman, and I have a first name strongly associated with black women. My mother, a southerner by birth, never stopped telling me she made the name up. The fact that she truly could not remember ever hearing the name before, is a testament to the strength of southern segregation. It is likely she heard it once or twice, and simply forgot it until later. And so, even at 50 years old, I have a name that makes people do a double-take. "You're _____?" is something I have heard all my life. "Yes, that would be me," is what I say, as they look confused. I have upset the social order. Names, I have learned, are a big, big part of it."
What are the world's most useful dead-tree catalogs?
What is the iconic (or just "your favorite") dead-tree product catalog (listing of merchandise for mail-order sale) for your hobby, industry, or trade?
enough to kill a small horse
"I found these in a red photo album marked "Darlene" at a swap meet in Huntington Beach, California."
The Cocaine Photos. Images from a more innocent time.
Orson Welles - full of country goodness and green pea-ness
Get me a jury and show me how you can say "in July" and I'll… go down on you.
Orson Welles, famed for his acting and directing in such classics as Citizen Kane, also spent his later years doing occasional voiceover work for commercials -- most famously, this spot for Findus Frozen Peas.