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Bugaboo Daytrips is a gorgeous site featuring 22 strollable daytrips in major cities worldwide (not just US Only), all laid out on beautiful artistic (yet still helpful) maps with downloadable PDFs for taking with you on your wanderings. For those terrified of being marketed to, it should be noted that Bugaboo is a baby stroller company, although the site is by no means of restricted interest to parents only, and bugbaoo's presence on the site seems confined to the URL. Also note that unfortunately for those alergic to it, the site is designed entirely in Flash. On the other hand, the maps & art are really awesome, so you should do yourself a favor & get over it this time. Via.
posted by jonson at 10:55 PM PST - 16 comments

Ana Voog is spending the week nude online (NSFW, duh). Former leader of the long-standing Minneapolis Pop-Rock band The Blue Up? Rachel Olson reinvented herself as Ana Voog and became one of the first to put herself under near constant home surveillance online with her Anacam (wacky flash, NSFW). This August will mark her tenth anniversary online, making hers (by her own reckoning) the longest running home cam on the internet. To celebrate she's spending the week naked. Did I mention she's 35 weeks pregnant and planning to give birth online?
posted by nanojath at 10:15 PM PST - 59 comments

Anyone who has spent time browsing through Deviant Art has almost certainly run into the cartoons of a young Australian woman named Gemma Wilson. She is fond of Harry Potter, snakepeople and (occasionally) torture and hermaprodites. She has a fan club. And she has detractors. Make of this what you will.
posted by metasonix at 9:57 PM PST - 29 comments

Social Class Calculator From the NYT series on social class. What is social class in America? Little has changed in fifty years, or has it?
posted by caddis at 9:49 PM PST - 65 comments

Matthias Wandel's astounding wooding calculatory enigma. A woodworker turns his talents to binary mathematics via a cunning series of cats-eyes, clinkers and rounders. Plus many other marbled wonders. [this might be marbles]
posted by boo_radley at 5:36 PM PST - 40 comments

MIT researchers can reverse some symptoms of autism and mental retardation in mice by suppressing a specific enzyme. The research, conducted at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, is due to be posted on PNAS Online some time this week. Here is the MIT article. The specific symptoms reversed included hyperactivity, purposeless/repetitive movements, attention deficits and learning/memory challenges. The research was funded by the FRAXA Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the National Institutes of Health. According to the CDC, the genetic causes treated by this particular technique (called FXS) affects one in 4,000 males and one in 6,000 females of all races and ethnic groups. I would be interested in hearing about reactions that might be taking place in the various autism-related communities.
posted by christopherious at 5:03 PM PST - 25 comments

Puzzability is a puzzle writing company created by three former editors of Games Magazine. Start with their puzzle sampler and come back for a set of regularly updated games. Puzzability is also responsible for creating the New York Times' intricately crafted Op-Ed Puzzles. Unlike the Times' daily crosswords, these wonderfully elaborate puzzles are available in a free archive.
posted by Anonymous at 2:22 PM PST - 8 comments

Better Off Dead Camaro. Finding and fixing the 1967 Camaro SS-350 from Better Off Dead.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:50 PM PST - 74 comments

Peak Suburbia.
posted by chunking express at 1:13 PM PST - 82 comments

Photography: Young talent and older talent. The artistic photo journalist, this project is rare.
posted by Viomeda at 12:50 PM PST - 13 comments

Farms Fund Robots to Replace Migrant Fruit Pickers
posted by jason's_planet at 12:48 PM PST - 27 comments

Robert Watt, Canada's Chief Herald is retiring. He has held the office since its inception in 1988 and has developed an international reputation for practicing an old world art in a new world context. Among his more interesting designs are those for the municipality of Delta, British Columbia, an Ottawa synagogue and the personal coat of arms for our Haitian-born Governor-General, Michaëlle Jean.
posted by salishsea at 12:10 PM PST - 6 comments

Suspension is the act of hanging one’s body from hooks inserted into the flesh. It has its origins in Hindu and Native American rituals, but it’s more recently been adopted by the body modification community, in part thanks to Fakir Mustafar, a leading figure in the movement. Motivations for suspending range from thrill-seeking to spiritual enlightenment, and the possible suspension positions are similarly varied. People have suspended their bodies from electrical towers, luggage carts, and from other people; over waterfalls in the nude (nsfw); even while getting married. Read about how it’s done, or go learn for yourself.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:56 AM PST - 81 comments

London Flyers. Paris Flyers. Punk Flyers. More UK Flyers. Belgian Flyers. German Flyers. Greek flyers. Academic Flyer. Flickr Flyers.
posted by desjardins at 10:48 AM PST - 16 comments

Fifty years ago, I suspect that along with Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax, most Americans could have named, at the very least, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Arthur Miller, Thornton Wilder, Georgia O'Keeffe, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Not to mention scientists and thinkers like Linus Pauling, Jonas Salk, Rachel Carson, Margaret Mead, and especially Dr. Alfred Kinsey.

The prepared text of the speech delivered by Dana Gioia at Stanford University Commencement on June 17, 2007.
posted by cgc373 at 10:38 AM PST - 153 comments

In 1973 CIA director James Schlesinger asked "employees to report activities they thought might be inconsistent with the Agency’s charter." You know, illegal stuff, black ops, the works. The resulting top secret documents are called the "Family Jewels." Today they were released. Press release with link to documents.
posted by MarshallPoe at 10:20 AM PST - 34 comments

"In this film, director Shanker wanted to change Rajini's wheatish complexion to a white European complexion. It has taken 25 dedicated CG technicians almost a year to achieve this 6 ½ min. feat."
posted by tighttrousers at 10:06 AM PST - 42 comments

Classic Car Restorations - I was particularly taken by the Model A and the parade ground car of Stalin.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:38 AM PST - 24 comments

LOOK UP! (or down, if you happen to be reading from one of these. The annual "Amazing Roswell UFO Festival" happens this weekend, and it looks like people - er, visitors - are coming from all over! Who knew back in 1947 that this little incident would be the start of an entire sub-culture? Well, for me the fascination started with two of the the greatest UFO movies ever. For my grandparents, it started with one of the greatest radio broadcasts ever. But hey, there's no need to rely on fiction when we have one of the most insanely great UFO videos of all time provided by none other than the Mexican Government! Seen anything strange in the sky yourself lately? If so, you'd better report it here.
posted by janetplanet at 8:22 AM PST - 18 comments

Perfect Stars is pretty damn beautiful
posted by es_de_bah at 8:08 AM PST - 15 comments

The Record Industry's Decline. "The record companies have created this situation themselves," says Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group, which operates Virgin Megastores. Rosen and others see that 2001-03 period as disastrous for the business. "That's when we lost the users," Rosen says. "Peer-to-peer took hold. That's when we went from music having real value in people's minds to music having no economic value, just emotional value."
posted by geoff. at 6:47 AM PST - 281 comments

Bored of her (award-nominated) years as the glamourpuss of "Family Affairs", thanks to a chance encounter with Rat Scabies, Ebony's found her new calling as the Grace Jones of nu clash, a figurehead for blavers, M.I.A.-meets-Lil Kim-meets-Peaches, "Harry Potter with a vagina". For all those reared on Esg, Bow Wow Wow, Nina Hagen and Delta 5 who weren't able to catch her headlining the Flaming Love Palace at Glastonbury this past weekend: have a read, a look and a listen to the as-yet unsigned Ebony Bones (no, not these). Personal favorites: Don't Fart On My Heart (video) - I'm Ur Future X Wife remix - No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs at 3:08 of Don't Dance So Fast.
posted by progosk at 6:45 AM PST - 31 comments

Oh mah tailbone! Classic episodes of Deputy Dawg. Hen House Hassle; Seize You Later, Alligator; Dog-Gone Catfish; and Aig Plant. Oh, mah cotton-pickin' tailbone!
posted by John of Michigan at 5:08 AM PST - 12 comments

Who was Garry Owens? That’s right, he's an American radio announcer, but kids all over the world grew up with his distinctive voice He probably better known for his work as the voice of this great American cold war warrior, and grist to this gratuitous youtube post. Roger Ramjet and his Eagles Fighting for our freedom
posted by mattoxic at 4:15 AM PST - 25 comments

Sellaband launched in August of 2006. You get the chance to buy $10 shares in a band and when they reach $50,000 they get to record an album - it was met with cynicism in some quarters. Ten months later six bands have reached the $50,000 mark and the first two albums are available [Dutch nu-metallers Nemesea & Hawaiian singer-songwriter Cubworld] with four other artists about to enter the studio - Second Person from the UK, Clemence from France, Lily from the US and Maitreya from New Zealand.
posted by meech at 3:24 AM PST - 10 comments

Möbius Transformations Revealed [yöutube alert] See also: Stereographic Projection Demo.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:13 AM PST - 17 comments