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Someone May be Taking Advantage of You. In Understanding Contemporary Forms of Exploitation: Attributions of Passion Serve to Legitimize the Poor Treatment of Workers, researchers found that people consider it more legitimate to make passionate employees leave family to work on a weekend, work unpaid, and handle unrelated tasks that were not in the job description. [more inside]
posted by Little Dawn at 11:43 PM PST - 53 comments

An old word with new developments. What to Know A rising usage of furry refers to people who have a keen interest in, or even dress up as, anthropomorphic animal characters, like those often seen in comics, games, and cartoons. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 9:29 PM PST - 26 comments

Hosted by Rebecca Nagle, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, the This Land podcast provides an in depth look at how a cut and dry murder case opened an investigation into half the land in Oklahoma and the treaty rights of five tribes and how this unique case could result in the largest restoration--or the largest loss--of tribal land in US history. [more inside]
posted by flug at 7:03 PM PST - 14 comments

The next big thing in gaming could be using VR to believably inhabit non-humanoid bodies:

Virtual reality offers the unique possibility to experience a virtual representation as our own body. In contrast to previous research that predominantly studied this phenomenon for humanoid avatars, our work focuses on virtual animals. In this paper, we discuss different body tracking approaches to control creatures such as spiders or bats and the respective virtual body ownership effects.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:39 PM PST - 23 comments

DOTA, Fortnite, Overwatch, step aside for the new ruler of esports: the Farming Simulator League. Make sure you’re down with the kids by learning about the epic “rush tactic … which is when you steal away all the harvesters or bailers so that your opposing team is stranded in their field empty-handed. This hoarding strategy has apparently worked at least once already, to ‘brutal’ effect,” and watching the FSL intro video. [more inside]
posted by adrianhon at 1:08 PM PST - 28 comments

A few weeks back I decided to push back on Twitter against the idea that Freud’s work was discreditable because, as a young man, he took a lot of cocaine. I have an interest in this question because, as a young man, I took a lot of cocaine. But that wasn’t quite my point. My point was if we to discredit those theorists who have done a lot of cocaine, we will be left with the stoners, which would, moreover, be a boring monocrop to harvest.

–Coke Theory/Weed Theory, and Some Possible Alternatives by Grace Lavery.
posted by Kattullus at 12:46 PM PST - 25 comments

When ‘Going Outside Is Prison’: The World of American Hikikomori: "Luca lives with his parents outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, though he might as well live anywhere. That’s because the only times the 21-year-old leaves his room is to buy Camels, which he smokes in his garage. Mostly he spends his time in his room posting on Reddit, gaming, and watching anime. He sleeps all day, wakes up at six in the evening, and pops Benadryl around nine in the morning so he can go back to sleep. He’s been reliving the same exact day — almost every day — for close to a decade."
posted by bookman117 at 12:21 PM PST - 137 comments

This collection of photos was first printed circa 1957 at a neighborhood drugstore in North Philadelphia. The photographs capture special moments during a same-sex commitment ceremony, including the exchange of rings in front of witnesses, an officiant leading the ceremony, the first kiss, dancing, opening of gifts, cutting of the cake and more. The owner of the drugstore deemed these particular wedding photos to be inappropriate and refused to return the photos to the grooms. 60 years later, the photos were found.

Dear Gentlemen, your 60 year old wedding pics are ready. Full set of pictures at OneArchives.
posted by Rumple at 12:08 PM PST - 19 comments

Ships passing under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge generally give a horn salute that's answered in turn by the bridge operator. Get your horn on with some salute compilations: Captain's Salute 2018 Shipping Season: Part 1 | Part 2; Ship Salutes in Duluth, MN - 2009-2017; and A Decade of Captain's Salutes. For a current view of ships (with sound) heading into or out of the harbor, there's the Duluth Harbor Cam, with a live bridge view view and canal view, along with an upcoming ship schedule. [Potential volume warning for all video links] [more inside]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:53 AM PST - 13 comments

Cartoonist Lucy Knisley (previously, previously, and others) has chronicled the life, agonies, opinions, and antics of her beloved cat, Linney, for years. (many more Instagram links inside) [more inside]
posted by castlebravo at 11:18 AM PST - 26 comments

This land is your land, this land is our land, it belongs to you and me. We’re here, we’re not going back, we’re raising our kids here. It’s our country now…. We’re not letting the bastards take it back. It’s our America now.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 11:12 AM PST - 7 comments

The Oakland A's are trying to solve baseball's attendance issues,a year in it looks like a large success, having doubled the number of plan holders. With the new season plan you get access to every home game, even if you sold your ticket to a seat, as well at 50% off concessions. [more inside]
posted by Carillon at 10:03 AM PST - 15 comments

Marianne Williamson Isn’t Anti-Science As Much As She’s Pro-Feelings. Also, she shouldn’t be president.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:59 AM PST - 30 comments

In the fall of 2018, 26-year-old American missionary John Allen Chau traveled to a remote speck of sand and jungle in the Indian Ocean, attempting to convert one of the planet's last uncontacted tribes to Christianity. The islanders killed him, and Chau was pilloried around the world as a deluded Christian supremacist who deserved to die. Alex Perry of Outside Magazine pieces together the life and death of a young adventurer driven to extremes by unshakable faith. [more inside]
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:58 AM PST - 17 comments

Carmen Papalia is a blind artist whose medium is social interactions, particularly surrounding accessibility. As part of thinking about accessibility and how our public spaces prioritize the needs of certain people over others, Papalia has variously replaced his long cane with a 15-ft long version, a high school marching band, a set of red cords, and a loudspeaker. Lately, he has been working on Open Access, in which he suggests thinking of accessibility as a creative, long-term process[...] not just about the built environment, but about ideas of agency and power. [more inside]
posted by sciatrix at 9:50 AM PST - 6 comments

WinRed is a Trump-endorsed GOP competitor to ActBlue that launched in June. Republican candidates were not rushing to use it until the GOP 'strong-armed' them with a cease-and-desist letter to shut down the venerable fundraising platform give.gop--one consultant calls it a 'travesty'--and remove its domain registry (it has since been relaunched as right.us). [more inside]
posted by box at 9:22 AM PST - 29 comments

A look at overnight stays at US National Parks: When should you pitch your tent? Or when is it better to opt for lodging? When should you visit to avoid the crowds? Let’s have a look! (Source)
posted by holmesian at 9:17 AM PST - 6 comments

For some, grocery shopping can be sensory overload — there's music playing, machines whirring, cashiers and customers chatting. To remedy that, a grocery store in Nelson, B.C. has implemented sensory-friendly shopping on Sunday nights to create a safe environment for customers who require calm surroundings. "I think we underestimate sometimes how many people would appreciate a little bit more quiet in their lives," said David Reid, marketing and communications manager at the Kootenay Co-op. Grocery stores across Canada are taking guidance from provincial Autism Societies, turning down lights and reducing noise to create a less stressful and overwhelming experience for adults and children with autism or other conditions that require low sensory environments.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:35 AM PST - 44 comments

What It’s Like to Live in a California Ghost Town -- To be an off-season caretaker of Bodie, California (winter population: 5), you need a high tolerance for cold, solitude, and two-hour grocery runs. (Citylab) // Braving 42 winters in Yellowstone -- Stephen Fuller revels in winter’s relative peace, and the balance it brings to Yellowstone’s hectic summer season. “I think solitude – or quietude – is an increasingly rare commodity.” (BBC) // Grunge has a collection of other solitary jobs around the world. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:14 AM PST - 10 comments

"And then suddenly the door to hell opens, and Garcin has an opportunity to leave... only, he doesn't." (YouTube link) Philosophy Tube himself, aka Oliver Thorn, created this stunning work of YouTube, in which he discusses Sartre, Descartes, Shakespeare, and himself. [more inside]
posted by Kybard at 5:56 AM PST - 20 comments

with Billy P, the Bilateral Amputee. [more inside]
posted by carter at 5:52 AM PST - 10 comments

We often hear words like “burden” and “strain” attached to conversations about refugees, but what if we replaced those words with “potential”, “opportunity” and “service”? [more inside]
posted by smoke at 4:14 AM PST - 21 comments