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April 25

Lunar Lander 3D in 5k
posted by gwint at 2:10 PM - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Bea Arthur has died. She is best known for her portrayal of Maude Findlay, Edith Bunker's cousin on All in the Family. Her character spawned a CBS spin-off -- Maude. In 1985 Arthur was cast as Dorothy Zbornak in the hit sitcom the Golden Girls. Bea -- thank you for being a friend.
posted by ericb at 1:03 PM - 47 comments

Homophobia is still a bully's deadliest weapon.
posted by hermitosis at 11:42 AM - 71 comments

Keynes & Marx thought "that productivity would grow sufficiently to allow our needs to be met with very little labour," and that humankind's biggest preoccupation in the future would be leading lives of comfortable (or comparative) leisure. Obviously, that has not yet come to pass. But why?** Yochai Benkler (previously), for one, is working on it... [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 11:42 AM - 12 comments

Experts at WHO and elsewhere believe that the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968. WHO uses a series of six phases of pandemic alert... The world is presently in phase 3: a new influenza virus subtype is causing disease in humans, but is not yet spreading efficiently and sustainably among humans. The outbreak of a variant of swine flu led federal officials to close Mexico City-area schools indefinitely - the first such shutdown since a devastating 1985 earthquake. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu at 9:32 AM - 90 comments

Sunday at Big Rec Field in Golden Gate Park, the hometown San Francisco Pacifics trounced the Aces 15-5.
posted by william_boot at 9:15 AM - 9 comments

Zoom in to brush-stroke level detail of the masters at the World's First HD Online Art Exhibition. At SXSW 2009, France's Zoomorama showed off its latest collaboration with Bridgeman Art Library. So far the collection features the work of only three artists, but for those of us who like to make museum security nervous by getting really close, the results are pretty amazing, and the implications for future exhibitions are exciting. [Flash]
posted by Rykey at 8:26 AM - 3 comments

Worth1000 arguably the best place for photoshops on the web, has released their newest creative effort...an online set of image (and eventually audio and video) tools called Aviary (a review here). And look at what it can do (when I looked, there was a three-mouthed monkey - that's definitely awesome)!
posted by Kickstart70 at 7:14 AM - 6 comments

Episode 4 - Problems "Okay, sometimes I almost want to give up everything." A fascinating insight into the Large Hadron Collider (loving the soundtracks too). YTL
posted by tellurian at 6:13 AM - 12 comments

April 24

Did you guess wrong about which format would win the high-density disk war? Buy a lot of HD-DVDs? Warner Brothers has a special program now where they'll swap your WB HD-DVDs for Blu-Rays of the same titles for $5 each. [more inside]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:47 PM - 44 comments

Like crossbows? Like assault rifles? Got some spare AR-15 parts lying around begging to be crossbowed up? Then the PSE TAC 15 crossbow upper is for you! (video). Or how about this Swiss crossbow that can be cocked in 3 seconds? Alternatively build your own, or even build a repeating crossbow!
posted by Artw at 10:39 PM - 24 comments

Everybody knows about the Tax Day Tea Parties held earlier this month. Now, thanks in part to the FBI's arrest of a man calling himself Citizen Quazar, we have news of related events called Oath Keeper Rallies. Who are the Oath Keepers and what is their Oath? Will their next rally & oath taking (June 13 in Washington DC as part of the Gathering of Eagles Victory in Iraq ceremony) get any coverage from Fox? (via)
posted by scalefree at 10:26 PM - 59 comments

The Sunlight Foundation's open source development team, Sunlight Labs, have announced the winners of the first annual Apps for America contest. Over 40 entries were judged, with Filibusted (Hold senators accountable for blocking legislation) getting top marks. Legistalker (The latest online activity of Congress Members) got second, and there was a 4-way tie for 3rd. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 10:17 PM - 8 comments

bio-bak is a little Monty Python, a little Hunter S. Thompson, and a whole lotta Katamari Damacy rolled up into an absurd little flash world. Updated from the version released in 2006.
posted by anthropoid at 9:53 PM - 13 comments

A little late for Flash Fun Friday but it's the thought that counts right? . Like Zelda... but with large squid monsters.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 9:08 PM - 7 comments

KISS Burger. Our Meat... Your Mouth.(via)
posted by Joe Beese at 8:57 PM - 26 comments

Following the recent uproar over Texas and the possibility of its secession (previously), Fivethirtyeight.com puts forward a theoretical division of Texas into five states: Plainland, Trinity, Gulfland, New Texas, and El Norte.
posted by aerotive at 8:00 PM - 49 comments

...the Department of Transportation will not keep secret the data we collect on birds striking airplanes. - Ray LaHood, United States Secretary of Transportation
From the dreaded mourning dove to the nefarious Canada goose to the humble armadillo, the FAA's recently released National Wildlife Strike Database ON-LINE contains information on aircraft/wildlife strikes from over 100,000 reported incidents between 1990 and 2008. [more inside]
posted by shoesfullofdust at 7:57 PM - 10 comments

Rasmussen Reports published a poll recently which showed that 20% of respondants believe socialism is better than capitalism. Among those under 30, the percentage goes up to 33%. And apparently, some Republicans believe that percentage is actually much higher, as the Republican National Committee has called upon RNC chairman Mike Steele to start calling Democrats "Democrat Socialists". Steele, for his part, told Fox News, "We don't see this president so much as a socialist as we see him as a collectivist".
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:34 PM - 104 comments

Tarkovsky's Mirror Set to Arvo Pärt's Mirror in the Mirror. [previously] [more inside]
posted by MaryDellamorte at 5:02 PM - 30 comments

Scrabble put these out for their 60th anniversary. [more inside]
posted by gman at 4:28 PM - 32 comments

Did "Auto-Tune the News" guy accidentally write Coldplay's Viva La Vida? Michael Gregory, aka Auto-Tune the News guy (previously) talks about how his shower singing was turned into something eerily similar to Viva La Vida. [more inside]
posted by spaceboy86 at 2:28 PM - 44 comments

Artist and musician Gen Obata photographs unique places around the US, inserts his cat Lilly into them, and sells them as greeting cards. Lilly can be spotted doing everything from zooming on a trolley car in San Francisco to attacking the St. Louis Arch.
posted by wundermint at 1:09 PM - 20 comments

And when it's done there's one more thing
A simple little task, it's:
 Put the fucking lotion in the basket!
A lego-animated number from "Silence! The Musical". Music and Lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan.
posted by dersins at 11:45 AM - 26 comments

Planning on partying hard this weekend? Here are some yummy (non-scientific) ways to treat your hangover. Canada, England, and the US tend towards piles of greasy foods. Try poutine, fish and chips, or a greasy hamburger. For a Mexican hangover experience, look for menudo (previously) or chilaquiles. Peru lauds ceviche as a cure, while Ecuador turns to encebollado and churrasco. Bulgaria uses sauerkraut brine, Turkey has turnip juice, Korea looks for haejangguk, and Scotland has a soft drink called Irn-Bru. [more inside]
posted by specialagentwebb at 11:30 AM - 63 comments

This is what cheerleaders and jello look like at 1000 frames per second. (For comparison, standard film is shot at 24 fps, and animation at 30 fps.)
posted by ocherdraco at 11:11 AM - 116 comments

Col. Steven Kleinman, interrogation specialist, was interviewed yesterday on NPR about the use of torture in Iraq: NPR: And these harsh interrogation methods had been used by the Soviets and the Chinese to get people to say things that weren't true? Kleinman:That's true. And it's not just harsh physically, but I think the element that was more persuasive was their ability to induce what is known as debility, depression and dread through emotional and psychological techniques that profoundly altered somebody's ability to answer questions truthfully even if they wanted to. It truly undermined their ability to recall, so therefore it would call into question its efficacy in an intelligence-based interrogation. [link] . [more inside]
posted by mecran01 at 10:55 AM - 116 comments

The year is 1991. When a Gozer exhibit loaded with artifacts provided by the Shandors opens at the history museum in New York, it's not long before paranormal forces escape and sweep through the city. When the supernatural strikes back, who ya gonna call? Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson reunite for the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The opening cinematic that kicks off the story has been released at GameTrailers, while the development teams working on the game discuss the project's origin and direction in a series of blog articles at IGN. [more inside]
posted by Servo5678 at 9:18 AM - 63 comments

WATIM [We Are the Image Makers] is an online publication that promotes Australian artists, illustrators, designers and photographers. Issue 19 is out this month. There have been more than 150 artist contributors in their four years online. [some art nsfw]
posted by netbros at 9:00 AM - 3 comments

the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.... This will take you back. SLYT And also your introduction to youtube's version of HULU. [more inside]
posted by HuronBob at 6:48 AM - 39 comments

The world is ending in a zombie apocalypse, and even Paris is unscathed. Battle your way around classic Parisian neighborhoods, monuments, and bars as Toxic Sonic, a real-life french rock/punk band. Happy flash friday!
posted by taumeson at 6:45 AM - 20 comments

Andy Partridge (ex-XTC frontman) and producer John Leckie (Stone Roses/Radiohead) discuss the making of The Dukes of the Stratosphear 25 o'clock EP, getting sacked by Mary Margaret O'Hara, Roy Harper kissing a sheep and recording Syd Barrett in Abbey Road in 1975 (parts I and II). [more inside]
posted by johnny novak at 5:56 AM - 24 comments

The Altmann Do-It-Yourself Turntable:

"After the success I had with my homebrew tonearm, I decided to build a turntable that is able to fathom the sonic delicacies that the tonearm is able to produce ... Depending on your local price for wood, and your ability to find some surplus parts, total cost can be as low as $50."
posted by jim in austin at 5:20 AM - 28 comments

The entirety of David Attenborough's wonderful nature series The Life of Birds is available on the new YouTube TV Shows section, which is its Hulu-clone. The old PBS Life of Birds website is also worth a visit.
posted by Kattullus at 4:43 AM - 33 comments

Who's going out in Cardiff tonight? Most everyone knows all about Hogarth and his work on Gin lane and women under the influence of good old British beer (leading to the passing of the Gin Act). Well, it would seem that nothing much changes, at least in Cardiff (unless, of course, the medical adviser gets his way).
posted by ciderwoman at 4:17 AM - 28 comments

"Hi, I'm Mrs Han Solo and I'm an alcoholic" - Carrie Fisher roasts George Lucas (SLYT) (Previously)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:31 AM - 53 comments

April 23

Soul! New York City PBS affiliate WNET have digitized 9 episodes of Soul!, a early 1970's live music program, providing a groovy video interface with chapters to break down each hour long episode. [more inside]
posted by myopicman at 11:45 PM - 20 comments

Erwin James: the real me. Erwin James has written about prison for the Guardian for a number of years, from the point of view of an insider: when his column began, he was serving a sentence for two murders. He completed his sentence a few years ago, but continued to write under that name, a pseudonym. Here, he talks about the crimes that he was originally imprisoned for, his time in the French Foreign Legion, how he became a writer during his time in prison, and gives his real name for the first time.
posted by chorltonmeateater at 11:20 PM - 19 comments

"the scale-free network modeing paradigm is largely inconsistent with the engineered nature of the Internet..." For a decade it's been conventional wisdom that the Internet has a scale-free topology, in which the number of links emanating from a site obeys a power law. In other words, the Internet has a long tail; compared with a completely random network, its structure is dominated by a few very highly connected nodes, while the rest of the web consists of a gigantic list of sites attached to hardly anything. Among its other effects, this makes the web highly vulnerable to epidemics. The power law on the internet has inspired a vast array of research by computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. According to an article in this month's Notices of the American Math Society, it's all wrong. How could so many scientists make this kind of mistake? Statistician Cosma Shalizi explains how people see power laws when they aren't there: "Abusing linear regression makes the baby Gauss cry."
posted by escabeche at 10:48 PM - 28 comments

The ultimate Eamesian (previously, twice) expression of systems and connections, Powers of Ten explores the relative size of things (previously) from the microscopic to the cosmic. The 1977 film travels from an aerial view of a man in a Chicago park to the outer limits of the universe directly above him and back down into the microscopic world contained in the man's hand. But in 1977, this view of the world in leaps and bounds was already 20 years old. Kees Boeke, Dutch educator and pacifist, wrote the essay Cosmic View, which provided the source for Powers of 10. The whole essay was put online 41 years later, and it's still online, if you can't find a physical copy around.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:02 PM - 11 comments

In the past many folk rightfully pointed out that IHOP (International House of Pancakes) didn't have a restaurant in Vermont. Times have been a changin.' Last month, Vermont became the 50th and final state to welcome an IHOP. And, being in Vermont, "old fashioned corn syrup," masquerading as true maple syrup didn't make the grade. "The IHOP here is the only one of about 1,400 in the United States, Canada and Mexico to serve real maple syrup." The managers got permission from the company "with a special dispensation" to serve the real stuff. [more inside]
posted by ericb at 9:54 PM - 97 comments

Geocities may be on its way out, but you'll be glad to know the internet of 1998 it celebrated lives on in a strange mismash of bad hypertext and video of pornographic Poser 3D models at Dad-TV.com [NSFW].
posted by sp160n at 9:25 PM - 8 comments

Are you a guy with an iPhone? Sent anyone a hot self-pic lately? You might want to check out Guys With iPhones (NSFW) to see if anyone has added you to the pool yet.
posted by hermitosis at 7:04 PM - 121 comments

Here are some galleries of amazing sand sculptures. They don't have to be monochrome. Here are some tips on making your own.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:23 PM - 9 comments

The death of SciAm. It's no secret that print media is getting hit pretty hard, but the butchering of Scientific American seems particularly brutal. [more inside]
posted by rosswald at 5:33 PM - 48 comments

1980s Australian tv talent show Pot Luck, featuring -- Todd Rixon, Piffy the bell ringer, and Wenkyshafee.
posted by vronsky at 5:15 PM - 10 comments

Scholars at odds over mysterious Indus script. The Indus script is the collection of symbols found on artifacts from the Harappan civilization, which flourished in what is now eastern Pakistan and western India between 2,600 and 1,900 B.C. A new analysis using pattern-analyzing software suggests that the script may constitute a genuine written language. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 5:05 PM - 19 comments

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Geocities, we hardly knew ye.
posted by awenner at 4:17 PM - 111 comments

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, when Australia and New Zealand remembers its fallen diggers who gave their lives (video link) in defence of our freedoms in the major conflicts of the 20th century. If you can, you really should try and attend one of the many dawn services that will be held at numerous war memorials located all around both countries tomorrow. Many of these memorials to the fallen have been documented and are now viewable online. Check out the war memorial pages for Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria (The Shrine of Rememberance in Victoria has its own web page), South Australia and the Northern Territory, Western Australia and the big one in the ACT, the Australian War Memorial. New Zealand has documented many of theirs online as well. Lest we forget, there's also a memorial at ANZAC Cove itself.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:15 PM - 32 comments

It's been only two years since the writer Jo Walton proposed a day for authors to post their writing for free online. This was in response to the resignation speech of Howard Hendrix, former V.P. of the Science Fiction Writers of America, which turned into a rant on the evil of giving away work for free on the internet. [more inside]
posted by happyroach at 2:33 PM - 42 comments

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