MetaFilter

Ashcroft's Victory Act? I can't find any other mention of it on the mighty Web, but a handful of left-leaning sites are linking back to this article in the NY Daily News. Is this a renaming of the impending sequel to the PATRIOT Act? And if so, does anyone else find the use of the word "Victory" as creepy as I do?
comment posted at 5:21 PM on Aug-8-03

Tom Swifties! "I'm wearing my wedding ring," said Tom with abandon. Oh, the pun-ishment.
comment posted at 12:15 PM on Aug-6-03

Those of you with crazy multi-tasking skills might want to check out Arcadia, where you play four different super simple games at the same time. Extra points for the stylishly retro chunky pixels look, which brings me right back to happy afternoons spent with my 2600!
comment posted at 6:07 PM on Aug-5-03

Who's So Vain? Carly Simon will be revealing the inspiration for her pop classic, "You're So Vain." Suspects include Warren Beatty and Mick Jagger. My guess (you heard it here first, kids): Gene Simmons of Kiss. Who do YOU think she was singing about?
comment posted at 1:43 PM on Aug-5-03

Dead Man Eating is a weblog listing last meals of American prisoners put to death. Often humanizing the prisoners without belittling their crimes, it's a macabre, fascinating read no matter which side of the death penalty debate you're on.
comment posted at 6:54 AM on Aug-2-03

people are leaving san francisco in droves? craigslist published a graph that shows a huge increase in ads for new apartments for rent since jan. 1, 2001. (The recurring sharp dips correspond to the thanksgiving and christmas holidays.) (yes, via boingboing.)
comment posted at 2:54 PM on Jul-30-03

Buymusic.com may be acquiring their “300,000 song” music catalog from distributors who have no rights to the digital distribution of the songs. In other words, piracy on a massive, corporate, for profit scale.
comment posted at 6:24 AM on Jul-30-03

The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California takes the impeachment question directly to the local street and neighborhood and asks the following question on it's marquee. What is an impeachable offense? Lying to wage war? Or lying about sex? Across the country billboards and marquees have been commonly used to express political sentiment (original link from Buzzflash)
comment posted at 6:25 AM on Jul-29-03

Comics for Grown-Ups
David Hadju discusses Joe Sacco's Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde and Daniel Clowes' Ghost World. I wanted to link the Ghost World movie site but it's currently down. Whether this is permanently or not, I know not. I'll be sad if it's gone--it was so darn cool and so elegantly done.
comment posted at 9:24 PM on Jul-26-03
comment posted at 9:32 PM on Jul-26-03

You think it's moving but it's not.
comment posted at 9:37 PM on Jul-24-03

Sure, we'd like to boycott the RIAA, but how do we go about it? With the RIAA Radar, that's how. The Radar can tell you whether a particular album was released by a member of the RIAA. Not only that, it will show you the RIAA membership of the top 100 albums as well as the the top 100 non-RIAA albums on Amazon. There's even a bookmarklet. [via magnetbox]
comment posted at 10:31 AM on Jul-21-03

The White House has a new system for email from the public. Dashing off a rant, a rave or a question to president@whitehouse.gov won't cut it anymore. Now it takes a maze of forms and clicks and filters. The first question: is this a supportive message or a differing opinion? Then you have to pick your topic from various menu lists. And list a name and address and email. And reply to an automated message making sure it's really your email. White House tech guy tells the NYTimes: "When it comes to a Web site, it's a bit like a movie. Some will say it's a tour de force; some will say it fell flat." Fun Fact: all emails are saved and must be publicly disclosed in 12 years.
comment posted at 9:04 PM on Jul-17-03

Hipster Bingo is coming to your favorite rock club or coffee shop. [via boingboing]
comment posted at 6:42 PM on Jul-17-03

"The Day The Clown Cried." Even unfinished, the breathtaking scope of it's...awfulness has for thirty years both attracted and repelled would-be producers and distributors. (script, zipped Word doc) Just the concept is startling, like some kind of hellish Sad Lib -- Jerry Lewis plays a clown in Auschwitz who leads children to the gas chambers. Harry Shearer, one of the few to see the film: "You are rarely in the presence of a perfect object. This was a perfect object. This movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is. 'Oh my God!' -- that's all you can say." Can this movie ever be made?
comment posted at 3:07 PM on Jul-16-03

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players have been lauded by The New Yorker ("arguably the best-known local act of the new millennium"), Entertainment Weekly ("Okay, maybe it is a joke, but it's a very good one") and David Cross ("When I first saw them, I felt something that reminded me of the feeling you have when you’re, like, 11 or 12, and a not-unattractive girl tells another girl to tell you that she might think you’re cute.") This mom, dad and daughter play punk-rock anthems to slide show pictures they purchase at garage sales. And they're playing L.A. tomorrow!
comment posted at 5:08 PM on Jul-15-03

Amusing/interesting transcript of Bill Moyer's recent interview with Jon Stewart concerning the Daily Show & the state of media's involvement in political discourse in America.
comment posted at 11:45 AM on Jul-14-03

Chucks News of Nike's buyout of Converse got me thinking about the oldest sneakers around. I don't mean that crusty pair buried in your closet, unless it's (likely for some of us) the Chuck Taylor All-Star basketball shoe. Sure, some of us wouldn't be caught in a pair, but as the choice of legends, the uniform footwear of baby-boomer youth (knock-offs were worn at risk of mild derision) and as a cultural mission statement, this 80-year-old low-tech affair is still chuck-full of game, and still as affordable as that other guy's shoe isn't. Fortunately for the shoe's many adoring fans, the word is that the Star won't be replaced by a Swoosh.
comment posted at 10:44 PM on Jul-11-03
comment posted at 10:54 PM on Jul-11-03

A movie theater in Kansas City, MO now prohibits children under 6, and requires children between 6 and 16 to be accompanied by an adult. They no longer show movies rated G or PG, instead deciding to go with "adult films, independent films and films geared toward adult audiences." There's even a VIP lounge where adults can sit in recliners and drink alcohol while watching the film. Speaking as someone who actually goes to movies to see the movie, not use it as a place to park brats for two hours, this is a revolution, but I can understand why parents would feel discriminated against.
comment posted at 2:40 PM on Jul-7-03

Katharine Hepburn dies
comment posted at 7:39 PM on Jun-29-03

hearts of space: since 1983, stephen hill has been producing hearts of space, an hour long show for public radio devoted to ambient music. occasionally new agey but mostly culling brilliantly moody instrumental pieces from traditional, global and cutting edge backgrounds, hearts of space brings brian eno's idea of aural wallpaper into a world that forgets about subtlety.

unfortunately, the entire programme archive requires a subscription, but the playlists are complete and have links where appropriate. otherwise, american listeners can find a local broadcast (or via satellite radio).
comment posted at 3:44 PM on Jun-28-03
comment posted at 11:39 AM on Jun-29-03

Hulking out. I don't know what is more overwhelming, the sheer number of products tied in with the new Hulk movie, or the amount of detail kokogiak collected on the subject. I'm trying to remember another movie that had this variety of marketing tie ins (Slim Jim? Shot glasses? Jello?)
comment posted at 4:37 PM on Jun-17-03

The Atari 2600 redux This time Jakks TV Games has put 10 old Atari games into the old Atari joystick form factor fo $20US. That's $2 a game. Sure, they're not all terrific games, but hey it's easier than trying to do this yourself. Don't like the 2600? It's OK, they also make Activision and Namco versions.
comment posted at 12:07 PM on Jun-7-03

Play MASH. Relive the game that made you completely ignore most of your elementary education. Warning: Not safe for getting work done any time soon.
comment posted at 10:00 PM on Jun-4-03

fotolog Protest pics are flooding fotolog.net. is this the "titanic struggle" gothamist was talking about? or a simple tax revolt ?
comment posted at 9:32 PM on Jun-3-03
comment posted at 9:59 PM on Jun-3-03

Mr. Spock's Nudes David Bowman talks to 72-year-old Leonard Nimoy about Leonard Cohen's music, the famous Vulcan hand sign, and his movie career, but especially about his new book of female nude photographs, and how they relate to the Kabbalistic idea of Shekhinah. Nimoy comes across as more than a little flaky (but that's nothing new); turns out he can also be thoughtful, perceptive, and dryly funny.
comment posted at 1:10 AM on May-30-03

Uh, folks, this is not a documentary; it's a comedy, OK? People are actually trying to call God as seen in the Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty. Sigh.
comment posted at 2:15 PM on May-28-03

Easycinema - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of the European no-frills airline Easyjet, is planning to open Easycinema, the first of what he hopes to be a no-frills theater chain, in Britain (the London suburb of Milton Keynes) on Friday. All ticket buying will be conducted on the Internet (there will be no box office at the theater); tickets must be printed out at home; early buyers can purchase tickets for as little as $.35, while tickets purchased on the day of the screenings will cost $8.00; there will be no concession counter, no trailers, no ads. In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Easycinema claimed that movie distributors representing the majors have balked at providing new releases or even quality second-runs.
comment posted at 1:23 AM on May-27-03

80's electronica nostalgia time Phil Oakey (Human League) presents a great 2 hour BBC radio programme featuring Soft Cell, Kraftwerk, Tubeway Army, Visage, Depeche Mode and many many more. Future music that sounds strangely quaint and, well, actually rather good! (courtesy of Protein Feed).
comment posted at 2:11 PM on May-16-03

Just a reminder that the lunar eclipse occurs tonight, starting at 7:00pm Pacific Daylight Time (and lasting about three hours). Various webcasts have been set up for the darkness-impaired. Apologies for the double-post, and I am aware that I'll probably get like 5 comments that say "SpaceFilter".
comment posted at 10:51 PM on May-15-03

Once again its Bike to Work Week (now) and Day (tomorrow). There are at least 40 reasons to ride to work. Obviously, riding a bicycle is good in many ways. This isn't just for out of shape Americans, either. Will you be out there on a bike tomorrow?
comment posted at 5:32 PM on May-14-03

BanTransFats.com is the website of a non-profit corporation founded by Stephen Joseph, an attorney who is suing Nabisco to keep them from selling Oreo cookies to children. He believes that trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) are so dangerous that children shouldn't eat them. If the suit is successful, I foresee a network of underground Oreo dealers getting kids hooked on Mini Oreos as a "gateway cookie", hoping they'll move on to the harder DoubleStufs.
comment posted at 1:15 PM on May-12-03

one mans quest for a soulmate. i feel sorry for this likeable lad, can any of our pot bellied metaladies help him out ?
comment posted at 12:23 AM on May-12-03

Whatever happened to Saturday Morning Cartoons? An astonishingly intelligent article about how Cable TV, dual-family households, regulations and more eliminated what more than a few of us remember quite fondly as the magical time when suddenly TV existed for our personal entertainment purposes. Anyone else remember occasionally dragging themselves out of bed at 6AM for what was ultimately five hours of really, really cool commercials? (Link from Fark!)
comment posted at 6:48 AM on May-9-03

ipods around the world - fun to browse this is.
comment posted at 4:47 PM on May-8-03

Iraqi teen shares her diary of war In an Iraqi teenager's youthful hand, Amal wrote her war diary, committing to the pages of her orange journal the emotions of a family at Baghdad's ground zero. Amal's diary - often written by lamplight using the floor as a table - charts how some Iraqis' thinking has been transformed in a month.
comment posted at 12:42 AM on May-4-03

U.S. warns Canada against easing pot laws "David Murray, right-hand man to U.S. "drug czar" John Walters, says he doesn't want to tread on another country's sovereignty, but warned there would be consequences if Canada proceeds with a plan to decriminalize the possession of marijuana." WTF?
comment posted at 11:56 AM on May-2-03

Bookfinder has added an interesting new service: a report on the most requested out of print books, based on searches submitted to them between July and December 2002. Will publishers take note?
comment posted at 3:11 PM on Apr-30-03

It's official - Apple today launched its' music service So now that it's 'beyond hype', the rumors of Apple's buyout of Universal Music unfounded (instead, sealing deals with each of the big five music firms), what does everyone think of this rather slick, easy to use and somewhat inexpensive alternative to illegal music swapping? $.99 per song seems pretty fair to me, not to mention the very generous licensing terms provided.
comment posted at 5:37 PM on Apr-28-03

Osama Bin Laden Link To Iraq found by a Toronto Star reporter, Mitch Potter. "The documents, discovered yesterday in the bombed-out headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's most feared intelligence service, amount to the first hard evidence of a link long suspected by the United States but dismissed as fiction by many Western leaders." [more]
comment posted at 7:44 PM on Apr-27-03

Revolution is not an AOL keyword. "You will not be able to stay home, dear Netizen.
You will not be able to plug in, log on and opt out ..."
comment posted at 1:12 PM on Apr-27-03

Jules is a thief. The fact that "all the embedded reporters were doing it" does not make it right. Presumably the US soldiers who were overseeing the embedded reporters knew of this kind of cultural theft -- more than likely, many were a party to it themselves. I'm sending him an email to remind him of that fact, and I will also contact his bosses, urging disciplinary action.
comment posted at 12:22 PM on Apr-23-03

Boohbah! According to this thread it's TV turn-off week, but just imagine some aliens kidnapped a Teletubby, pumped it full of ecstasy, acid and marijuana, forced it to play Rez for eight hours straight and then sent it to bed and somehow watched its dreams. I can personally assure you the result would be absolutely nowhere near as demented as Boohbah, a new children's TV show from Anne Wood, creator of the afforementioned Teletubbies. Boohbah's quite possibly the most surreal thing I've ever seen, which had me in turns laughing out loud and almost in tears at the sheer beauty of the whole thing. It'll probably be crossing the Atlantic soon, and I'm beginning to suspect that kids' TV is a hell of a lot better than the stuff made for adults.
comment posted at 1:10 PM on Apr-22-03

Death photography Since Good Friday is pretty much all about death, how about a look at memento mori, otherwise known as postmortem photography? Some are heartrending, and many are quite artistic. Of course, there's an ugly side to this, too.
comment posted at 7:16 PM on Apr-18-03

Revoke the Oscar. Should "Bowling For Columbine" be considered non-fiction if it manipulated scenes and knowingly left out key information? Would a new category be better, like say adjusted documentary or propaganda? Or is it impossible to make a documentary without some point of view?
comment posted at 12:37 PM on Apr-18-03

Elocution lessons are helping staff working at call centres in India neutralise their accents and make their sales pitch more effective
call-center workers, computer programmers, these and other positions are being transferred to countries like India. We all know why. Only one reason, they call it Tight labor markets.

This is great news for India, but what exactly will the current call-center workers, programmers and other white collar workers in US do if their jobs will be gone to India ?
Are you worried that your position will one day be replaced by someone on the other side of the world working for 1/3 of your salary ?
comment posted at 8:42 PM on Apr-15-03

What has Wes Anderson been up to since The Royal Tenenbaums?

...a few unböring tv spots for IKEA's unböring ad campaign. There is a nice site about him which was updated March 18 announcing his fourth film starring, again, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Gwenyth Patltrow, Jason Swartzman and also Nicole Kidman and Robert Musgrave. Of course Mark Mothersbaugh has supposedly signed to do the score.
comment posted at 11:43 PM on Apr-14-03