February 18, 2009
Taking "the road less traveled" in treating ADHD
If you don't see any patterns in your data, yet day-to-day fluctuations persist, he is reacting to something you aren't tracking. Look elsewhere. A heartrending (and long) online log of one father's 10-year struggle to make sense of his child's ADHD and find a way to treat it without medication.
getting down, all over town
100 days. 100 places. 100 dances.
How to run up an A$96m debt for a mere A$50,000 purchase
This may be one of the worst (or best) investments, per dollar, of all time: Meet BrisConnections, a toll road development corporation based in Brisbane, Australia. Normally a toll road is a very nice sort of investment, it being basically the government making people give you money, for something people have to do. Some say it's likely to return 28% or more. So why is it trading for $0.001 per share? [more inside]
And Away We Go...
There is a remarkable collection of books partially exhibited online at the Richter Library at the University of Miami. The library's physical exhibit includes a sample display of books on spiritual photography, clairvoyance, and a nice run of FATE Magazine. The collection contains over 1700 books and there is a full bibliography. You might ask, what's so special about this collection? Well, the books are all From the Library of Jackie Gleason. [more inside]
Homework Helper
World of Science contains budding encyclopedias of astronomy, scientific biography, chemistry, and physics. This resource has been assembled over more than a decade by internet encyclopedist Eric Weisstein with assistance from the internet community. MeFi visited Weisstein's Mathworld a couple years ago.
Homo Evolutis
Juan Enriquez: Tech evolution will eclipse the financial crisis. "Even as mega-banks topple, Juan Enriquez says the big reboot is yet to come. But don't look for it on your ballot -- or in the stock exchange. It'll come from science labs, and it promises keener bodies and minds. Our kids are going to be ... different."
govt stimulus website is a stimulus
In the name of transparency, all the Fed’s stimulus-spending data will be posted at a new government site, Recovery.gov - more than a minor victory for the democracy, it could be a stimulus in and of itself - databases released in machine-readable formats - like RSS, XML, and KML—spawn new business and grease the wheels of the economy.
What if...
The Signtific Lab invites people to develop cutting-edge ideas through experiments of imagination and discussion. Experiment One: what would happen if outer space becomes as accessible as the Web today?
Chimps will attack your face and genitals
Chimpanzees don't make good pets. Really, they can be aggressive. Even Save the Chimps says so. [more inside]
The complete works of Peter Paul Rubens
Signs.
SIGNS A very cute "simple short film about communication". (SLYT)
Friends Help Friends Who are Under the Weather.
Boom!
Tennessee Williams said it was the best film version of any of his plays. Roger Ebert called it "awkward and hopeless on its most fundamental level". John Waters calls it a major influence on the development of his taste. [more inside]
Andy Smith draws real good
Brother can you spare a jet?
With orders for new aircraft down, the private jet industry is launching a PR onslaught and a website to counter all the bad press surrounding greedy executives flying private jets. Lo and behold, two financial columnists expressed strikingly similar views on the subject. Members of Congress, who love to catch a ride home on a contributor's private plane, are helping out too.
If you like modern music, you'll probably like Nardwuar.
Nardwuar the Human Serviette is an interesting, abrasive and knowledgeable music journalist. Many of his interviews are on film and posted to youtube. Previously on metafilter. Warning: single link to a youtube user. [more inside]
Snooks' Soul Train pulls out of Nawlins
Snooks Eaglin has died. One of New Orleans' most authentic and underrated guitar players won't be making his jazz fest gig this year. Next time you have some red beans & rice, take a moment to remember the guy who some called the human jukebox.
ACPO: We're Private, You're Public?
What is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)? It is a private company, financed by UK taxpayers, immune from freedom of information requests. It dictates police operations and sells police national computer data. It may also be engaged in covert domestic surveillance of what it deems as extremists: antiwar protesters, strikers, and others. According to an ACPO spokesperson ""there doesn't seem to be a single, commonly agreed definition."
Hype Fructose Corn Syrup
High-fructose corn syrup is a corn-based sweetener that has been blamed for being partially responsible for the obesity epidemic in the United States. Some producers of HFCS products have responded in the PR war over its health effects. Others may finally be giving anti-HFCS consumers what they want.
Just how often has Morrissey gone unclothed?
Just how often has Morrissey gone unclothed? [Note: naked Morrissey.]
Science and the "Obama Restoration"
The Essential Parallel Between Science and Democracy. "[T]he restorative steps Obama has taken vis-à-vis science are praiseworthy not so much because they respect science as because they respect the grand institutions of democracy. This is no accident, because the very virtues that make democracy work are also those that make science work: a commitment to reason and transparency, an openness to critical scrutiny, a skepticism toward claims that too neatly support reigning values, a willingness to listen to countervailing opinions, a readiness to admit uncertainty and ignorance, and a respect for evidence gathered according to the sanctioned best practices of the moment."
Body Laws
North Dakota's House of Reps has passed a bill granting personhood to fetuses, making abortion murder and creating a challenge to Roe vs. Wade.
A glorious morning
You know that they are models, right? She doesn't really work there.
This site examines the cross-cultural trend of headset-wearing customer support representatives on corporate websites! [more inside]
Is it time to move beyond grades?
There's a growing sense that the current system of college grading is broken beyond repair. With grade inflation and student entitlement running rampant, is it time to explore some creative alternatives? Or is grade inflation just a myth?
The capitvating and deadly pyroclastic flow
An erupting stratovolcano poses numerous hazards for nearby habitation, but none nearly so terrifying and deadly as the pyroclastic flow. Pyroclastic flows, comprised of tons of superheated sulfuric gases, particulate rock materials and ash, can reach temperatures of 1,830 °F and travel at alarming speeds up to 450mph. Convection of materials within the clouds causes them to become a suspension, fluidizing and thundering noxiously across the surrounding landscape for miles, in some cases even uphill or across open water. Wherever these clouds come in contact with humans the result is catastrophe, as the residents of Herculaneum and St. Pierre, Martinique learned within minutes of the eruptions of Vesuvius in 79AD and Pelee in 1902-- both towns were overwhelmed by pyroclastic clouds, igniting all flammable materials and incinerating and suffocating the inhabitants. None survived Herculaneum, while just two of St. Pierre's 26,000 survived, one of whom was a prisoner condemned to death and awaiting his execution in a dungeon cell. Despite their incredible capacity for violence, pyroclastic flows are also capable of producing mesmerizing, awe-inspiring beauty.
American Landscape Artist George Inness
Touched and Went.
Touch and Go Records, distributor for Drag City, Merge, and Kill Rock Stars (among others) has announced they will be cutting their distribution service and scale back to being a record label only.
The Visual Telling of Stories
The Visual Telling of Stories
A lyrical encyclopedia of visual propositions;
a visually orientated taxonomy of the ways in which pictures are used to tell stories. [more inside]
A lyrical encyclopedia of visual propositions;
a visually orientated taxonomy of the ways in which pictures are used to tell stories. [more inside]
The Uncler...
Funny Or Die seemed to be one of those start-up websites that might not have legs; a flash in the pan. Heck, it was started by two actual stars (will ferrell and adam mckay) and sometimes that spells "lack of creative interest" doom in regards to their participation. Today it's one of the best launching platforms for young comics looking to make a distinction from the dysfunctionally democratic haze of youtube(s). It's success is also noted by hollywood.
What might be most encouraging it that it has become home to a litany of non-obvious tone projects and... well... some strange, interesting stuff. Witness: the surprisingly absorbing trailer for The Uncler.
B'dum B'dum
Part 1 of a What's On documentary by Granada TV about the Buzzcocks and Magazine (Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley), broadcast on July 27, 1978 and presented by Tony Wilson.
2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l Permafrost
Real mathematics is (or at least should be) algorithmic. The axiomatic method is like machine language or a Turing machine or a Tuxedo. It is very stifling.
One night, very late, I was browsing the internet, using my current computer, Shalosh B. Ekhad, III. I was searching for "Ekhad". All of a sudden, to my amazement, I chanced on a website whose last update was Sept. 30, 2050, and found this little Elementary Geometry textbook.
This text may seem a bit strange to 2001 humans. It appears that there are no proofs, only statements, in Maple, using English-based names for the definitions and theorems. But THE STATEMENT IS THE PROOF, ready to be run on Maple, that will output "true" if the proof-statement is correct, and "false" otherwise. [more inside]
Eames, Charles Eames
Not only do villains get the best lines, they get the best interior design too.
Witness history as it's never been told before: Drunk.
Accidents on Long Island.
Accidents on Long Island, a photogallery.
Where the Wild Things Aren't
It's Been a Long Time Since Nu Pogodi
WiiVR
Build your own low-cost Virtual Reality system with only two Wiimotes and a bunch of LEDs. This article on Coding4Fun shows you how. And no, this is not another Johnny Chung Lee post.
Slowly Gathering Moss
They call this “Sanctuary Wood” – for me it fulfils a dream. I’m sorry I trespass but if I had my dream somewhere like this would be my home and sanctuary. An urban-explorer and his girlfriend come across an abandoned caravan in the woods of Essex, then find they are not the only visitors... [more inside]
RIP HotU
Home of the Underdogs is no more. Although in decline since 2006 or so, it was once *the* place for abandonware.
HotU hosted 5000+ game reviews (by contrast, the "next-best-thing-still-around", abandonia has around 1000), the majority of them with the games available for download, including some titles that are now incredibly difficult to find. [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »