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These are the voyages of the Starship Exeter, its seven year production mission: to authenticate 1960s Star Trek, to build their own props and sets, and to boldly go where no fan flick has gone before. "We were sitting around my dad's office, and I said, 'We should try to make our own episode,' " Jimm Johnson recalls. "My brother said, 'Yeah, and we should have an Andorian in it.' "
posted by Stan Chin at 10:51 PM PST - 27 comments

The Rosetta Project In Spaaaace. Agh, it's a great concept... I just wish they'd made the text something a little more secular. The aliens will probably take it all too literally.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:31 PM PST - 6 comments

AntsMarching.org, a Dave Matthews Band fan site, posted almost 500 high-quality audio files of live recordings of the band's concerts to their website after Christmas. When previously only those who were of technical-mind and knew where to look could download shows, AM dumped every fan with the ability to click a hyperlink into the mix. Today, the band updated their tape trading policy, saying that any trading actions that don't promote fan interaction, specifically posting audio and video files on websites, are strictly forbidden. While it is my assumption that AM.org is the major player in provoking this move, my question is this: Is it wise for bands who credit their success to tape trading and word of mouth, and encourage fans to record and trade shows, to essentially ban the practice from the internet? Is it fair that you either trade through the mail or don't get to have live recordings when the internet has so much potential? Is it impossible for digital music trading to foster community?
posted by tomorama at 9:01 PM PST - 19 comments

Buy some dish soap, save wildlife! Dawn dish soap's new campaign shows images of a duck (simulated?) covered in oil like something out of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, followed by images of workers washing the duck's feathers with Dawn soap, and testifying how they only use Dawn for this process. Interesting thought process, but is it too far from the point for the average shopper? (saveaduck.com is the original URL)
posted by djspicerack at 8:56 PM PST - 18 comments

attention georgia citizens. you will be pleased to know that you are now free to fornicate at will. that's right! for the first time in 120 years, it is no longer illegal in the great peach state to get to know your neighbor in that special way.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:58 PM PST - 16 comments

Walmart started a "War on Workers" ? Apparently so according to a new video released by the owners of the linked website. A Walmart workers' Union incoming ?
posted by elpapacito at 6:45 PM PST - 10 comments

I stumbled across a fairly controversial opinion piece concerning racial integration, but it's fairly mild compared to some of the writers other opinions. Never the less, his observations on this subject seem to hold up under scrutiny. With few exceptions, whites and blacks seem to prefer their own company, and as evidenced by these pictures, even young urban professionals seem happiest among their own race.
posted by Beholder at 5:54 PM PST - 114 comments

Verner Panton, a fantastic Danish architect and designer known for his wild interiors and furniture. “Most people spend their lives housing in dreary, grey-beige conformity, mortally afraid of using colours.” He definitely was not afraid. Tak skal du have, Verner!
posted by snez at 3:44 PM PST - 10 comments

Memeufacture is a url aggregating service, such as Blogdex, but with human intelligence applied to the collection & categorization, such that links aren't merely ranked by popularity, but divided into categories such as Law, Politics (broken out by left & right), Design etc. There's no Religion (unless you count Apple), nor is the burgeoning world of sex blogs taken into account, but still, intriguing.
posted by jonson at 3:38 PM PST - 3 comments

These belly buttons pictures were all taken on the streets of Brussels, with a small digital camera.
posted by hama7 at 3:17 PM PST - 22 comments

Internet advertising to be second only to TV ads in the near future? A Slate dialogist predicts that within 1,000 days (a little under 3 years) the aggregate Internet advertising spend will exceed that for each of the other media (except for television). More than radio, more than newspapers, more than magazines. Believe it?
posted by MattD at 2:32 PM PST - 7 comments

Beyond Benetton and Betty Crocker: This Boston Globe article suggests a new age of multicultural marketing is upon us, with ethnically cagey Vin Diesel at the forefront. Instead of "United Nations"-style ads in which each actor is selected to represent a different group, the new style is towards ambiguity, as in the nonspecifically "ethnic" Barbies, or more casual, offhanded reference to race, as in the "Whassup?" Budweiser ads. Does this new "color-blindness" say anything about real social change, or is it just trendy hucksterism? Meanwhile, some very tired sexist chestnuts continue to appear in ads: despite her full time job and gleaming SUV, Mom still relies on classic brands to keep house and make dinner, still solely her responsibilities in TV-land. What gives?
posted by serafinapekkala at 1:14 PM PST - 30 comments

An article at robgalbraith.com, a digital photography site, has sparked a fascinating discussion of the merits of Macs vs. those of PC's, as they apply to digital photography. Actually, the article and discussion aren't terribly interesting, but the fact that the discussion is a mutually beneficial exchange of ideas and opinions and not a take-no-prisoners flamewar, is.
posted by Mr_Spook at 1:08 PM PST - 9 comments

Oxford's guide to collective terms for animals is a useful and fascinating although all-too-brief resource. Collective terms for birds are some of my favourites: an unkindness of ravens; a murmuration of starlings; a richness of martens. Bees and sheep seem to have a lot of collective terms. I can't imagine why. Altogether, though, I found one of the terms for for ferrets to be the pick of the bunch.
posted by nthdegx at 1:07 PM PST - 34 comments

Our drunk-driving premier has refused to resign because it "was on personal time." What kind of standards does your state or province demand of its leaders? Do your politicians get to sleep around, drunk drive, snort coke, cheat on their taxes, and so on? (Or, rather more to the point, are they allowed to continue in office once caught?)
posted by five fresh fish at 1:04 PM PST - 48 comments

Sure, most of us have a collection of objects that contain the word "chum" gathering dust in the basement, but who has the time to put it online? Love Ablan, Multimedia Artist, that's who.
posted by staggernation at 12:54 PM PST - 5 comments

Ambient Information (NYT reg. required) Ambient information can be defined as material objects, such as computers, watches or furniture, which interact with digital information and react in certain ways such as sound, color, or light. Apple has filed an intriguing patent for a computer that could change color when you get an e-mail, for example. So, is this concept the next “new thing” or the next pet rock?
posted by jeremias at 12:35 PM PST - 15 comments

Canada's forgotten weapons of mass destruction. Shortly after the end of World War II, the Canadian navy began to dispose of its surplus chemical weapons by dumping them off the shore of Atlantic Canada. Large quantities of chemical agents, including mustard gas, were loaded onto barges and scuttled at undisclosed locations. Over 50 years later, some of these military dumpsites have become lost due to poor record keeping. With increasing offshore oil exploration and a commercially successful shellfish industry, there's a possibility that these forgotten chemical agents could return to the coasts of "Canada's Ocean Playground".
posted by Caffine_Fiend at 10:47 AM PST - 14 comments

Less advertising, more national and international news. Star Tribune editor Anders Gyllenhaal writes, "How can we improve coverage in big and small ways?"
posted by zedzebedia at 9:46 AM PST - 10 comments

"Donald looked upon violence as an artist might look on paint..." Director Donald Cammell committed suicide at home on April 24, 1996. Because of the location of the gunshot wound he inflicted on himself, he stayed alive and conscious for 45 minutes. He asked for a mirror to observe his own death. Foreshadowing this, in Cammell's underrated 1987 film White of the Eye, serial killer David Keith holds a mirror up to a victim's face as she dies. Filmmaker and author Kenneth Anger said "I predicted Donald Cammell's suicide. He was in love with death." He wrote seven films and directed six, ranging from the controversial end-of-the-psychedelic-sixties counterculture gangster film Performance (starring Mick Jagger),to the schlocky Demon Seed (based on a Dean Koontz novel), in which Julie Christie is raped by a computer, to a documentary about U2. A man of unusual talent, Cammell was an enigma even to those closest to him. "Cammell knew that nothing was as ever as it looked, that there was no single, simple truth." His body of work, as diverse as it is sparse, reflects this. Three different biographers are working on Cammell projects, and a fascinating biodocumentary Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance was released in 1998. His films are well worth seeking out, taken as a whole, they present an interesting psychological picture of their creator, and taken separately, they're thoughtful and interesting examinations of perception, reality, violence, and the nature of power.
posted by biscotti at 9:07 AM PST - 25 comments

Online people die too. It would surely be a surprise if they didn't. Alas, how do we deal with real scenarios in virtual spaces? Dana J. Robinson is exploring death as it relates to this digital space.
posted by pedantic at 8:27 AM PST - 23 comments

Kids shamed on the internet! A father of two, seeing his kids getting into endless trouble, decided to try a different kind of tough love and post about them on his local town's message board (turn the speakers down on this link).
posted by jasonspaceman at 7:23 AM PST - 8 comments

I'd like to report some suspicious behaviour...a series of recent television commercials running on Australian TV promoting a toll free phone number to call if the viewer happens to see anything suspicious. Suspicious, you say? Don't be alarmed, it's all part of the Let's Look Out For Australia Campaign, whose motto is: 'Be alert, but not alarmed'. Then it says: 'Australians are friendly, decent, democratic people, and we're going to stay that way.' I feel alarmed, but not for the same reason. I'm alarmed that everything I once valued about my country, a humane welfare system that provided free healthcare and free education (including free university study) and an admirable and enlightened approach to multiculturalism, have been substantially compromised over the past decade. I feel so betrayed that I can no longer say with confidence that I love my country. Things have reached the point where I want to move somewhere else: anyone have any suggestions?
posted by chrisgregory at 3:20 AM PST - 39 comments