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Ever been to a good old fashioned Pig Roast? (This one's different)
posted by BentPenguin at 8:50 PM PST - 37 comments

A man who was expected to plead guilty yesterday to having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral will have to answer to a higher authority. Brian Florence, 38, died of a heart attack Thursday in Alexandria, Va., his lawyer announced yesterday in court - surprising the judge and prosecutors.
posted by tpoh.org at 8:36 PM PST - 11 comments

Inside the House : A virtual tour of the Sydney Opera House. [Note: Flash]
posted by crunchland at 8:13 PM PST - 6 comments

Play that funky music Gameboy : An interesting little article on the lo-fi music scene. A synth made from an old dot matrix printer is certainly lo-fi! (via msnbc)
posted by starscream at 4:08 PM PST - 22 comments

While the tragedy of the bombing in Bali was bad enough, evidence has surfaced that the bomb was incorrectly assembled, resulting in less than 1/3 of the device exploding (bare-bones link). Experts using computer modelling have worked out the net explosive quantity of the vehicle bomb outside the Sari Club was between 150kg and 300kg – as opposed to a potential 1150kg and that the toll could have been in the thousands had the bomb exploded as planned.
posted by dg at 4:00 PM PST - 12 comments

Planned Migration? Followup: "Q. Why don't we try 'taking over' a city, a county, a group of counties, or a foreign country?" (previously discussed here about a year ago) Hey, who needs possible sedition charges when you have the governor of New Hampshire welcoming you to move on up! Should residents of New Hampshire be at all concerned or is this just a wacky and carefree group of folks?
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:28 PM PST - 33 comments

Schrödinger's famous theoretical kitty is one step closer to being/not being validated, revisiting some old conundrums and bright ideas.
posted by moonbird at 2:10 PM PST - 9 comments

Take Action: Iranian woman to be executed for killing a rapist who happened to be the Head of Police Intelligence unit in a southern city of Iran.
Afsaneh Nouroozi was arrested in 1997 after she killed the in Kish, Southern Iran. She allegedly acted in self-defense in order to protect herself from being raped. Afsaneh Nouroozi is now at imminent risk of execution after the death sentence against her was upheld by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, is the only authority able to grant clemency at this stage. Amnesty International has more detail.
posted by hoder at 1:57 PM PST - 17 comments

"Bad taste science fiction?" In hopes of stirring debate and milking emotion on genetically-modified food, Mothers Against Genetic Engineering in Food and the Environment have placed seven billboards in New Zealand featuring a "modified" nude woman on a milking machine. A protest was also held in front of Fonterra's office, who own ViaLactia, a dairy subsidiary rumoured to have purchased patent rights for human DNA.
posted by myopicman at 1:22 PM PST - 37 comments

Wisconsin has picked its quarter design! Gov. Jim Doyle Tuesday overruled an advisory panel and told the U.S. Mint to put a cow, wheel of cheese and ear of corn on Wisconsin's commemorative quarter, despite fears that it won't reflect the state's cities or its rich ethnic heritage
posted by Durwood at 1:20 PM PST - 34 comments

Here's A Really Neat "Ask Slashdot" feature on how much we rely on the good 'ol Net for our daily dose of news and knowledge.
I've gradually abandoned almost all other sources of news, to the point where TV, magazines and news papers have pretty much disappeared from my life, but unlike the Slashdot guy, I still get a fair amount of "Information" from books.
He's got a good question, and there are some really Good Answers at Slashdot, but I'm curious about the mefites... "Is the Internet Your Source of Knowledge?" From his post:"...but if I'm trying to look up something and can't find it online in a couple minutes I generally just blow it off, as if there's no other place to look. This realization seems sort of stunning. I'm very curious if other Slashdot readers have become dependent on the Internet to that level, and what their thoughts are on the subject." "
According to a study Teens and young adults spend more time online than watching TV, and looking at Other Studies, they all seem to point the same way.
Is print dead?
posted by Blake at 12:47 PM PST - 15 comments

Pick A Lock, Any Lock: Why do Selfdefenseproducts.com's products seem so ill-related to self-defense and so suited to, er, crime and violence? Got your PayPal ready? File under "Only in America". (Via Bifurcated Rivets.)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:13 PM PST - 31 comments

Lifecase. Briefcase to Bullet Proof Vest in Seconds!
posted by gottabefunky at 11:58 AM PST - 8 comments

Iraq: What Went Wrong By General Wesley K. Clark. I appreciate this article. It is simple, easy to read, and represents what I've been feeling for quite some time now. (NY Review of Books)
posted by y2karl at 11:46 AM PST - 21 comments

Beeman's
Brillo
Cream of Wheat
Classic American consumer products in 3-D
posted by putzface_dickman at 10:28 AM PST - 16 comments

From Berkeley to Wai'anae, Bruddah Iz is home. (via Ukulelia)
posted by xowie at 10:18 AM PST - 2 comments

Lick Me, I'm A Mackintosh. One columnist's ode/rant re: Apple's design ethos.
posted by serafinapekkala at 8:54 AM PST - 122 comments

Tea. More than a beverage served hot or cold, for some it is a way of life. The British are renowned for their love of tea, so it comes as no surprise that The Tea Home Page is a vast compendium of tea knowledge, games, quizzes and leaf reading. Not so trite is the Japanese tea ceremony. This site is beautiful in its calm approach to not only tea, but the digital world itself. Be sure to read A Brief History of Chanoyu. You've heard of green and black teas, but what about white tea? Lastly, I introduce you to Yogi Tea, a company that is more than a tea seller. Do yourself a favour and have a cup today.
posted by ashbury at 6:21 AM PST - 66 comments

The story of Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls is the story of the civilization of the American West. From 1896 to 1945, Harvey House Restaurants and Hotels along the route of the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe represented first-rate food served in clean, stylish surroundings at reasonable cost. His corps of well-trained waitresses, wearing their distinctive uniforms and bound by a code of hard work and good conduct, provided both adventure and independence to generations of young women. Today, all that is left of the Harvey empire is the remembrances of former employees, beautiful buildings which dot the southwest, some vintage recipes, a 1946 Judy Garland film, and (possibly) the enduring term "Blue-Plate Special".
posted by anastasiav at 5:35 AM PST - 8 comments

U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Privacy & Piracy: The Paradox of Illegal File Sharing on Peer-to-Peer Networks and the Impact of Technology on the Entertainment Industry. View the hearing of September 29. [Real Media].
posted by nthdegx at 5:25 AM PST - 3 comments

A Visual Dictionary of Famous Plane Curves
posted by wobh at 5:21 AM PST - 6 comments

Two women have just lost their right to use frozen embryos from IVF treatment while they were in previous relationships because UK law states that both parties must give consent before embryos can be emplanted.

The women are claiming it's a breach of thier human rights. The men claim that they shouldn't be forced to have children. The London Fertility Centre claims double standards because they would have the right if it was naturally conceived. But what's your opinon?
posted by twine42 at 5:11 AM PST - 60 comments

The Cali candidates, Adam to Zellhoefer, are all listed at California-Recall.com...and each gets their own page to tell you about themselves. Interesting lesser-known candidates include: Angelyne ("I'm EXTRA large on top, I have a TINY waist, and my hips are JUST RIGHT!"), Joel Britton, "retired meat packer," Art Brown - "I started for publicity, but now that I'm running, I kind of want to run" (such enthusiasm!), William Chambers, "railroad switchman/brakeman," Mary Cook, an "adult film actress" who wants to tax breast implants and wire the Governor’s Mansion with live web cams ("We've had Brown, we've tried Gray, now it's time for some blonde").

Then there's Michael Jackson (no, not that one; this guy's a Satellite Payload Project Manager), Trek Thunder Kelly, "Business Executive/Artist," Paul "Chip" Mailander, "Golf Professional," and Paul Mariano - "I am the only candidate who will appoint Davis as Chief of Staff in charge of the day-to-day governance of California, the job he was duly elected to do." And many more...
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:57 AM PST - 11 comments

Chickenhawk Down The Daily Kos challenges readers to come up with a new name for the CIA-Wilson-Plame business that doesn't include the term "gate." Many amusing suggestions have been logged in comments. Entries include The Plame Game, Intimigate, FrogMarch, Novack-aine, and Karl's Bad. Whatever your political persuasion, the name game can be fun. Surely MeFi wags can come up with a few witty ideas.
posted by madamjujujive at 12:43 AM PST - 35 comments