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A handsome, though humble, little game for Flash Friday: Sprout. The clear winner, in my mind, in this game design competition. (Though the sequel to Gateway is as eerie as the first.)
comment posted at 7:56 PM on Mar-8-07

People wondered how something as blatant as this got in Billy Martin's 1989 baseball card. President Bush and Mickey Mantle want to know too.
comment posted at 6:34 AM on Mar-2-07
comment posted at 6:34 AM on Mar-2-07

The New Yorker appends a correction (scroll to bottom)... It seems that Essjay, an inner-circle Wikipedian favored by Jimbo Wales, has been lying about his "credentials " to everyone for years, including to The New Yorker (covered previously prior to correction.)
comment posted at 6:38 AM on Mar-2-07
comment posted at 9:01 AM on Mar-2-07

Let's not do that again, okay? Little Miles gets hung up in a cat door. [Quicktime requiring ActiveX] via
comment posted at 5:21 PM on Feb-27-07
comment posted at 6:30 PM on Feb-27-07
comment posted at 6:52 AM on Feb-28-07

Cheney unharmed. (The closest he ever came to seeing action in battle though)
comment posted at 7:38 AM on Feb-27-07

Awesome: Gore "emphasizing the nonpartisan nature of the climate change threat," and his movie, An Inconvenient Truth netting a Best Documentary Oscar. Not so awesome.
comment posted at 4:49 PM on Feb-26-07
comment posted at 7:30 PM on Feb-26-07

Sorority Evictions Raise Issue of Looks and Bias

"Delta Zeta’s national officers....judged 23 of the [DePauw University] women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house. The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit."

Many at the university are not happy.
comment posted at 5:09 PM on Feb-24-07

The Prisoners of YouTube is a pretty good longish article on all the reluctant internet video celebs, including Star Wars Kid, Afroninja, the Numa Numa Kid, and more. It's an interesting look at the downside of unwarranted attention and how a few people have turned these embarrassing moments in the sun to their advantage.
comment posted at 7:29 PM on Feb-19-07

Are Africans Black? The population of African immigrants in the United States is rapidly growing. Since 1990, about 50,000 Africans have come to the United States annually, more than in any of the peak years of the international slave trade, which was abolished in 1807. They add to the steady influx of black immigrants from other continents and the Caribbean, and those who have been in the United States for generations but who don't racially and culturally define themselves as African American. These blacks feel cramped by the narrowness of American racial politics, in which "blackness" has not just defined one's skin color but has served as a code word for African American.
Maybe Not. After all, Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock. His father is a black Kenyan. Other than color, Obama did not - does not - share a heritage with the majority of black Americans, who are descendants of plantation slaves.... when black Americans refer to Obama as "one of us," I do not know what they are talking about. In his new book, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama makes it clear that, while he has experienced some light versions of typical racial stereotypes, he cannot claim those problems as his own - nor has he lived the life of a black American.
comment posted at 8:15 AM on Feb-18-07

Randy Newman has "A Few Words To Say In Defense Of Our Country" Lyrics here
comment posted at 3:10 AM on Feb-5-07

TPM's David Kurtz: I've gone from being open to the idea of an Imperial Vice Presidency to being convinced that historians will debate whether something approaching a Cheney-led coup d'etat has occurred, in which some of the powers of the Executive were extra-constitutionally usurped by the Office of the Vice President. More about the Vice President, Richard "Dick" Cheney.
comment posted at 3:05 AM on Feb-5-07

Sadly, the good professor is putting his project on hold for a while, but he's keeping the old stuff around. Well, there's always Latin. The Finns have been mentioned before, the Bremens not. But for sheer opulence, this site takes the prize.
comment posted at 3:08 AM on Feb-5-07

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else."
comment posted at 8:43 PM on Feb-3-07

A hefty chunk of Boston was paralyzed today in reaction to the discovery of numerous devices consisting of circuit boards attached to girders. The ones that have been found have been disabled. The subway is crippled; numerous lines have been shut down and been replaced by emergency bus service as authorities root out the remaining instances of what could be bombs! Here is a photo one of these nefarious devices in action.
comment posted at 1:30 PM on Jan-31-07
comment posted at 1:45 PM on Jan-31-07
comment posted at 2:07 PM on Jan-31-07

They Don't Know I'm speechless right now.
comment posted at 5:50 PM on Jan-29-07

Can someone wipe my butt? [more inside]
comment posted at 6:54 AM on Jan-24-07

"Why do they hate us?" was a fairly common question asked by Americans in the wake of 9/11. In his new book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, Dinesh D'souza gives us the answer: "the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the nonprofit sector, and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world." Some reviews: WaPo, The American Conservative, Esquire. D'souza previously on mefi: [1] [2] [3]
comment posted at 6:39 PM on Jan-18-07

Making Fiends Cartoon is an online cartoon, via BoingBoing of course, that features a good little girl named Charlotte from Vermont who tries to make friends and a bad little girl named Vendetta who makes fiends, which result in monsters. Apparently its been picked up by Nickelodeon. Features hilarious kitties and classmates.
comment posted at 8:34 PM on Jan-15-07

Coprophilia Link titled "coprophilia" leads to random Chuck Berry video.
comment posted at 3:21 PM on Jan-14-07

Brawn not Brain. The other evening when visiting distant rels and enduring a live broadcast UK television programme Big Brother produced by Channel 4, a young person on the programme, Jade Goody said to another, Shilpa Shetti, ... "I'm the 4th most infulential, er inflentual, um inflentlial person in the world (sic). I made my name on big brother a few years ago ..."

You couldn't help notice the grace with which the startling revelation was received by 'Shilpa' and a couple of us thought to look up the oik who delivered the information. The former in her 20s was in valuable work as a dental nurse until four years ago when she was hijacked by the UK media; the latter in her 30s, a bollywood actor for 13 years.

"4th most infuentlial" .. ? Let's check google - hmm, maybe .. not. How about yahoo - maybe ... not.

Outstanding PR and personal management is afoot. Young Jade has an extraordinary recent career from which she earns gazillions and there can be no finer evidence of an egg that comes before a chicken. The moral of the story is two-fold - representation and positioning is everything and business overcomes reality; personal characteristics that appeal to a mass audience is paramount and the mass audience is C₂D (gulp - I hope.)

Grab this girl's manager while you can. Whilst one of the projects went awry it does imply there was at least a sense of humour.

Truth be known, I for one was gobsmacked to learn this hapless, innocent, good natured, hopeless mouthy girl generates such financial clout for her backers. I'm tempted to say 'good show!' but I despair for the quality of life to come.

Tell me, if you know of the young woman I'm talking about, am I alone in thinking this? Some young people in the family tell me I'm a dinosaur. Perhaps I should despair of them, instead.
comment posted at 6:37 AM on Jan-10-07

Why is the US bombing Somalia? Salim Lone is the former spokesperson for the UN mission in Iraq, and a journalist in Kenya. In an interview he discusses possible reasons for the attacks. The recent history of the country is bloody and the country is beset with poverty, and our own history of involvement there is quite ugly.
comment posted at 9:35 PM on Jan-9-07

The story began quietly enough on May 18, 2002, when an angler caught an 18 inch fish in a Crofton, Maryland pond. In 2005 a fisherman is reported saying "We would throw one in the cooler, two others would jump out and we'd have to chase them through the woods." Frankenfish, timeline of the snakehead story in the USA. The snakehead is a voracious, predatorial fish, capable of walking, attacking men, living up to 4 days out of water and now spreading from state to state. Video of snakeheads eating (disturbing). Another kind of snakehead, the smuggler of humans. Mentioned previously on MetaFilter. [via]
comment posted at 6:14 PM on Jan-6-07

Someone might be reading your mail.
comment posted at 9:33 AM on Jan-4-07

A number of articles are being published regarding a Washington family's controversial decision to administer a series of medical procedures that will prevent their developmentally disabled daughter from growing. The family has now created a blog to discuss their side of the issue regarding an ongoing debate in bioethics circles.
comment posted at 6:00 PM on Jan-3-07
comment posted at 6:42 PM on Jan-3-07
comment posted at 9:07 PM on Jan-3-07
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comment posted at 11:09 AM on Jan-5-07
comment posted at 11:10 AM on Jan-6-07

A second career? The President pens an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. For extra credit compare and contrast attitudes towards bipartisanship in the op-ed to this speech or this one. Gold star for the best answer.
comment posted at 4:28 PM on Jan-3-07

Two stories of personal heroism, with 2 sadly different results.
comment posted at 10:54 AM on Jan-3-07

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 9:03 AM on Jan-2-07

Cold Ground for a Summer Love. A 19 year old visits the grave of her dead 19 year old boyfriend every day. Every day at Arlington Cemetery, she cries. The weekends are crowded there at Arlington, with so many families wishing 3000 dead soldiers goodbye.
comment posted at 12:49 PM on Jan-1-07
comment posted at 12:06 AM on Jan-2-07
comment posted at 8:48 AM on Jan-2-07

So you say you want to know the name of the new Harry Potter book?
comment posted at 10:30 AM on Dec-21-06

Questions to ask before marrying.
comment posted at 3:49 PM on Dec-20-06

Senator John McCain (R. - AZ) has introduced legislation [PDF] that would hold blogs responsible for all activity in their comments sections and user profiles. Provisions of the proposed bill include: (1) commercial websites and personal blogs "would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000," (2) bloggers with comment sections may face "even stiffer penalties" than ISPs, and (3) any social-networking site must take "effective measures" to remove any Web page that's "associated" with a sex offender. "Because 'social-networking site' isn't defined, it could encompass far more than just MySpace.com, Friendster and similar sites." The list could include any site that allows comments, authot and personal profiles. Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes that this proposal may be based more "on fear or political considerations rather than on the facts." "McCain’s legislation could deal a serious blow to the blogosphere. Lacking resources to police their sites, many individual blogs may have to shut down open discussion."^*
comment posted at 10:20 AM on Dec-14-06