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Francis Crick was high as a kite on LSD when he figured out the double helix structure of DNA. Later, his role in the drug legalization movement inspired biochemist Richard Kemp to supply Britain with massive amounts of cheap LSD, until he was stopped in one of the largest drug busts in history. When asked about his drug use, Crick replied, "Print a word of it and I'll sue."
comment posted at 4:13 PM on Jan-30-07

The Independent has some anticipations on the soon to be released first volume of IPCC's 4Th Assesment Report , concerning matters such as climate change and global warming. Quoting the article : It is virtually certain (there is more than a 99 per cent probability) that carbon dioxide levels and global warming is far above the range of natural variability over the past 650,000 years. It is virtually certain that human activity has played the dominant role in causing the increase of greenhouse gases over the past 250 years.
comment posted at 9:17 AM on Jan-29-07

The grinning mugs of students at Tarleton State University in Texas and the University of Connecticut School of Law are gracing the pages of The Smoking Gun, where they stand accused of racial insensitivity. Is this passive-aggressive racial stereotyping? Simple stupidity? Or can we call this parody and laugh it off?
comment posted at 9:20 PM on Jan-25-07

iPhoneMania, Catch It When Steve Jobs answered his iPhone at this year's MacWorld, he ignited a frenzy months before the gizmo will even hit stores. Now sneakmove, who first presented the "diy: cut and fold paper iphone" is back with a contest that challenges musicians to make the best song they can using the a sample of the phone's distinctive ring.
comment posted at 1:09 PM on Jan-25-07

Designing With Microsoft? Evidently this is Microsoft's attempt at competition with 'Macrodobe', the strange, hybrid beast (lumbering?) that is the combined Macromedia/Adobe merger. Microsoft has launched a full suite of products taking aim at Dreamweaver, (is it better?) Illustrator-Photoshop and Flash. For many designers who pretend to be developers (or vica versa) Microsoft's new "Expression" will be 3 or 4 orders of magnitude less relevant than that old Corel Suite. The central issue seems to be one of credibility: Can Microsoft escape the seemingly permanent "FrontPage" stigma, not to mention even more recent design community letdowns?
comment posted at 6:48 AM on Jan-23-07

The Clock is ticking again.
comment posted at 12:06 PM on Jan-18-07
comment posted at 12:10 PM on Jan-18-07

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.
comment posted at 4:24 PM on Jan-16-07

Global warming skeptic Ronald Bailey--Reason's science correspondent, adjunct scholar at CATO and CEI, and editor of the 2002 book Global Warming and Other Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses False Science to Scare Us to Death--has changed his mind.
comment posted at 10:49 AM on Jan-16-07

A message from Barack Obama
comment posted at 10:33 AM on Jan-16-07

2 children that disappeared 4 1/2 years and 40 miles apart have been found, alive and TOGETHER. What makes the story even better is that one of the boys was predicted dead by a television psychic. Whoops.
comment posted at 9:47 AM on Jan-13-07

"...People do have an attitude of curiosity toward me. They say, 'This guy looks funny, he looks too young, he looks like a woman, but I can't be sure.'"

Jimmy Scott's unforgettable voice has inspired generations of singers-- both male and female-- from the 1940's to present day (he worked with David Lynch on a song for "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," and is still making recordings). Read his bittersweet story on his official website. Born with Kallman Syndrome [Wikipedia], his voice has remained the undiluted, soaring soprano that he's had since childhood. A couple of mp3's here, as well as the inevitable YouTubery.
comment posted at 6:50 PM on Jan-12-07

"We're offering a fan amenity. Fans can elect to choose it or not choose it. We are offering basic ballpark fare that most fans enjoy." An all-you-can eat section at the Dodger stadium for the coming baseball season. Quintessentially American.
comment posted at 1:08 PM on Jan-12-07

The San Francisco Armory, was built in 1914 and its 200,000 square feet spans an entire city block. For 30 years empty, abandoned, defunct, its imposing architecture, modeled on a Moorish castle, has long been an unsettling and intriguing curiosity for local residents. But new life will at least be breathed into this historic monument: the Armory has been purchased by Kink.com [nsfw], a fetish porn studio that will soon begin filming within its walls.
comment posted at 7:07 PM on Jan-11-07

Netflix is dead. ...or so claims Robert Scoble (others disagree). Wal-Mart couldn't do it, Amazon couldn't do it; has Verisign produced a Netflix killer?
comment posted at 4:30 PM on Jan-11-07
comment posted at 10:31 AM on Jan-16-07

Oops...
comment posted at 8:58 AM on Jan-11-07

Breaking News: Apple Announces Touchscreen iPhone. In this morning's MacWorld keynote, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, a touchscreen smartphone with only one button. Two years in the making, it runs OS X, works as an iPod, displays video on a 3.5" screen, and has the usual bells and whistles (Bluetooth, e-mail, Google Maps, WiFi, etc.), plus some other slick features like: a proximity sensor that turns the screen off when it's near your ear, an accelerometer that detects whether it's in portrait or landscape, and an ambient light sensor to dim the screen accordingly. I'm not usually a gadget person, but this thing seems pretty damn cool. Now let's just see how much it costs...
More live MacWorld coverage available at: Engadget , MacRumors.
comment posted at 3:56 PM on Jan-9-07
comment posted at 10:18 PM on Jan-9-07

"Is graffiti art or vandalism? That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don't like to use the word 'art' at all.".The 'art' of my hometown boy, BANKSY.
comment posted at 4:20 PM on Jan-6-07

From the Candy Desk to the Cherokee Strip, the desks in the U.S. Senate Chamber have a long and fascinating history.
comment posted at 10:53 AM on Jan-4-07
comment posted at 11:44 AM on Jan-4-07

Newspaper reporter tells readers not to email him, because "I don't want to talk to you". Nice long rant by frustrated reporter. Sounds like MeFites should drop him a line.
comment posted at 9:17 AM on Jan-2-07

Blogger goes to Wal-Mart and finds t-shirt with Nazi SS logo. Wal-Mart apologizes and promises to pull the shirts. But have they been doing a good job? [via] the consumerist
comment posted at 9:23 AM on Jan-2-07

The world is not flat Like open source/content? Like youtube? You have a choice. According to IBM, the future is open, and according to Linux, this future is inevitable.
comment posted at 11:10 AM on Dec-30-06

i'm moving to georgia with my fiance in may. he's from augusta and wants to move there but i think i would like to be closer to atlanta. i don't want to live in the city. i want to live in a fun town with culture and be able to have about an acre of property. (and low crime rates) any ideas?
comment posted at 9:40 AM on Dec-30-06

Arabic language media outlets report Saddam Hussein is dead -- executed by hanging for killings committed 25 years ago.
comment posted at 7:20 PM on Dec-29-06

Saddam has been executed, Iraqi media reports
comment posted at 8:07 PM on Dec-29-06
comment posted at 8:15 PM on Dec-29-06

"You're all really f****d now!" Larry King just announced that the real execution could take place within the next half hour. Now we just wait and see if hell breaks loose.
comment posted at 6:37 PM on Dec-29-06
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comment posted at 7:31 PM on Dec-29-06

Hip-Hop Car Stunt Leaves 2 (Idiots) Dead... To ghost ride, frequently used in the context of "ghost riding the whip" (a "whip" being a vehicle) or simply ghostin' is when the driver and/or passengers of any given vehicle exit while it is still rolling and dance beside it or on the hood or roof. Ghost riding is one of the latest trends to be popularized by hyphy culture, which originated in the Bay Area of California. The act is one of the highest forms of "going dumb" and a representation of the style of hyphy. The term "ghost ride the whip" was given nationwide exposure in E-40's 2006 song Tell Me When to Go. However, E-40 was not the first to use this term, as it was coined much earlier by other Bay Area rappers such as Mac Dre.

Ghost Riding was also featured in an episode of The Girls Next Door When Kendra demonstrated the game for the other girls. The game ended predictably when Kendra's Escalade crashed into a stationary vehicle. anyone notice that most of the videos show, once again, white kids misappropriating black culture and making both races look stupid?
comment posted at 1:40 PM on Dec-29-06
comment posted at 1:45 PM on Dec-29-06

Hiroshima re-enacted with CGI. Done by the BBC as part of the documentary "Hiroshima". Part 2
comment posted at 11:29 PM on Dec-26-06
comment posted at 9:00 AM on Dec-27-06

MeFite John Hodgman's latest book, The Areas of My Expertise, is free through iTunes today.
comment posted at 4:42 PM on Dec-19-06
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comment posted at 9:58 AM on Dec-20-06

'You' are Time's Person of the Year. Seriously.
comment posted at 7:09 PM on Dec-16-06

Ahmet Ertegun, 1923-2006. Co-founder of Atlantic Records, 83 year-old Ertegun had been in a coma since he fell backstage at a concert by The Rolling Stones at Beacon Theatre, NYC, in October. Very comprehensive obit -- more complete than either the one in Variety or New York Times -- to be found in UK's Guardian
comment posted at 9:35 AM on Dec-15-06

The Cliff House was San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro's amazing 7-storey Victorian chateau built in 1896 and destroyed by fire in 1907. The Cliff House Project (photos) has a large and absorbing database of related material. [via the indefatigable gmtPlus9 (-15)]
comment posted at 10:07 AM on Dec-15-06

Oh, Henry! Soft spoken Henry Rollins says a few words about internet freedom. (NSFW)
comment posted at 2:22 PM on Dec-14-06

OPPERATION WAGON TRAIN!!!! The ICE just launched raids of meat packing plants in six states (Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Utah, Colorado, and Minnesota). Workers are seperated by skin color and the Hispanic looking ones scrutinized. Here in Iowa, an Infant is now without her mother. Just in time for the hollidays
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Dec-14-06
comment posted at 10:51 AM on Dec-14-06

A tribute to the 75-minute period where Tom DeLay actually received feedback from America. Tom DeLay drops unrestricted comments almost immediately on his first disastrous day as a blogger.
comment posted at 11:49 AM on Dec-11-06

The body of James Kim has been found. RIP
comment posted at 8:05 PM on Dec-6-06

Ancient tsunami devastated Mediterranean possible root of flood myths and current major religious belief.
comment posted at 7:05 PM on Nov-30-06

Today is a big day for Microsoft with the launch of three key products - Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007. User groups are already up-and-running. Vista and Office have been available for some time. But maybe this is just clever viral marketing? In spite of lots of new and improved features, Vista has not been well received by reviewers. But this has been true of every Windows version since Windows 95. One thing is certain, these versions will be the last releases that focus on the desktop rather than the Internet.
comment posted at 1:19 PM on Nov-30-06
comment posted at 3:48 PM on Nov-30-06