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What's more fun than a Tiger Woods/Britney Spears duet at a charity event? Canuck radio DJs impersonating Celine Dion to invite the pop 'star' to sing at the bogus gala, that's what! Oh, but it gets even better. The song the diva was to sing? 'Let's Make a Hole in One". Maybe they should have called Courtney, too.
posted by runthegamut at 9:29 PM PST - 9 comments

Watch those Waterway in Florida says the U.S. Coast Guard. Possible terrorist threats include drawing or taking photographs of the shore, being near the shore for a long time, and under no circumstances would any law abiding citizen be doing something as daring and thoroughly terrorist-like as renting a boat.
posted by benjh at 6:18 PM PST - 37 comments

What did kids play with before this came along? Beautiful metal ray-guns like these. This site has a lot of history, and here are some books about these fantastic toys from a long-gone age. Want to start a collection? Be prepared to pay.
posted by interrobang at 2:48 PM PST - 11 comments

Secret Court Rebuffs Ashcroft: A May 17 opinion by the court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) alleges that Justice Department and FBI officials supplied erroneous information to the court in more than 75 applications for search warrants and wiretaps, including one signed by then-FBI Director Louis J. Freeh.

Maybe the system actually works.

Thanks to Dack for the link.
posted by mark13 at 2:43 PM PST - 10 comments

Pimp Anthropology (RealAudio file) is the title of a 1999 episode (description) of This American Life. It chronicles the rise and fall of a man that, with three friends in the '70s, became a pimp, didn't follow the rules, and lost everything. It's amazingly honest, interesting and heartbreaking, and doesn't fall into the trap of glorifying pimping and prostitution. This is the best thing I've heard in a while.
posted by The Michael The at 2:12 PM PST - 8 comments

Today is still Friday, right? So bring on the flash! (better with broadband)
posted by DenOfSizer at 2:03 PM PST - 6 comments

Can't think of a name for your new album? Then don't give it one. Apparently none of the songs on the forthcoming Sigur Ros album will have names, either. Taking the "black album" concept a little too far?
posted by gottabefunky at 1:43 PM PST - 50 comments

Bored at the office? Put some of that paper to good use: make some paper airplanes. Those two links should keep you busy for a few days (be sure to try out Nick's Plane. Possibly the best paper plane there is. Thank you Nick, who ever you are..), but if you're looking for something a little flash, you could try folding one of these.
posted by slipperywhenwet at 12:44 PM PST - 18 comments

My buddy and I are in a pub, and I mention this website called Gone and Forgotten, which is all about superheroes who were so ill-conceived that they were quickly abandoned. And my buddy says "What about the Metal Men -- do they talk about the Metal Men?" And I say "The Metal who?" And my buddy says "They were these robots, and they had each had the powers associated with the metal they were made of. Like, Lead could block x-rays, and Mercury could, I dunno, take your temperature or something." And I tell my buddy that, although I don't know if the Metal Men appear on the virtual pages of G.A.F., I am certain that someone out there on the Internet has created a Unofficial Metal Man Fan Page. And I am right.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 11:30 AM PST - 26 comments

It worked for fur; perhaps for SUVs? This article warms my heart. And that of my 19lb road bike.
posted by ParisParamus at 11:12 AM PST - 217 comments

The Mars Exploration Program Landing Sites has kept me enthralled for most of the day. Explore the surface with a beautiful scalable map or argue over a landing site. Personally, I'm leaving a geocache here. (Warning: circa 1994 web design combined with possible browser crashing applets)
posted by Stan Chin at 10:19 AM PST - 2 comments

The Google Quiz tests your knowledge of art, film, and music, general trivia, or (ugh) their stuff for sale. It's only open to US residents, but it otherwise an interesting testament to their product. Armed with just a google search window, you are given five questions that test your research limits. Someone here with l33t search skillz has got to win something.
posted by mathowie at 9:58 AM PST - 24 comments

Peruse public pedestrian photos that portray private ponderings. Phenomenal portraits, I might add.
posted by pedantic at 9:57 AM PST - 55 comments

A new twist on the Nigerian Money Laundering Scam Spam? Everybody has a little cash-flow problem now and then...
posted by TCMITS at 9:42 AM PST - 9 comments

Longtime Friendly's waitress resigns over corporate policy This lady got screwed - want to do something about it? Send your comments to corporate creeps at: http://www.friendlys.com/cgi-bin/comment.cgi
posted by Pressed Rat at 8:38 AM PST - 48 comments

Will the results of this scientific research explain your feelings about your family?
posted by semmi at 8:29 AM PST - 10 comments

So you want a pet monkey? Owning a monkey is a big commitment. Do your research before taking in a primate. For example, consider famous monkeys in history. Don't forget you'll need to learn how to diaper your monkey. If you live with someone, be considerate and discuss your desire for a pet monkey with them or just send them a card. Decide what kind of monkey you want. Perhaps a little red monkey like this or this? If all else fails, try a sock monkey instead. You can buy one or make it yourself. Not into sock monkeys you say? Adopt an out of work dotcommer. Rumor has it there's even a chimp in the White House.
posted by VelvetHellvis at 8:14 AM PST - 60 comments

The emerging internet operating system. Tim O'Reilly has seen the future. "It's just not evenly distributed yet." Alpha Geeks know things we'll all be learning soon: the Internet is an operating system. And they're busy building applications for it. Bonus:the article is heavily annotated for further reading!
Yes, he's talking to Apple developers, and applauds OS X, but this is not an Apple post. If you prefer, he makes the same points and applauds Sun in a speech to their developers.
posted by putzface_dickman at 7:22 AM PST - 5 comments

In the midst of all the talk of possible terrorist deployments of Weapons of Mass-Destruction, this seems like a somewhat dramatic, if effective, approach to pre-empting the threat of blackmarket nuclear proliferation. The co-operative approach adopted by the U.S and Russia - and presumably the Yugoslav Government itself - also seems encouraging. Should this 'surprise-attack' approach now be used to negate the threat posed as nuclear facilities are decommissioned worldwide??
posted by Doozer at 7:19 AM PST - 3 comments

US demands information on long forgotten downed pilot while insisting they not release the names or allow legal counsel to "enemy combatants" held within the US?
posted by specialk420 at 6:55 AM PST - 15 comments

Holidays cut into UK growth... Wow, so much for National Slacker Day being a good thing! Although honestly, I cannot see where they have more National Holidays than the US does... Must be all our 40 plus hour work weeks.
posted by gloege at 6:50 AM PST - 10 comments

British Telecom patent does not cover the Internet. Yea, another overreaching patent holder has gone down in defeat. BT has a patent for a remote terminal/mainframe/modem combination which they asserted covered linking over the Internet. In a recent opinion the US District Court for the Southern District of New York held that BT's patent was not so broad as to cover the Internet. Thank God. Are some people just too greedy?
posted by caddis at 6:47 AM PST - 5 comments

Global Warming with Regional Variations: Antarctic Ice Growing over the last 20 years.
posted by Irontom at 5:58 AM PST - 5 comments

Half a billion Americans? The Economist crunches census data from both sides of the Atlantic and figures that the US will hit the 500 million mark sometime in the next few decades, surpassing the combined population of even the expanded EU. In typical style, the Economist looks at the economic and political reprecussions of this, but skips another interesting question: how will a doubling of the population change America itself? will it make the US more environmentally friendly? reduce urban sprawl? will the shifting population balance change the culture itself?
posted by costas at 4:23 AM PST - 48 comments

National Slacker Day... Friday August 23rd. Kick back, relax, take the day off, do nothing... it's time to slack. Though I fear this only applies to UK metafilterians. The rest of you, hop to it! Work won't wait all day. It was slacker day back in February, too, and last year, and... *yawn... stretch*
posted by humuhumu at 2:25 AM PST - 27 comments