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Favrd is a list of the best Twitter posts, based on a few simple principles, the most interesting of which is probably "by any means necessary, web-strategy, social-media, online-marketing webcocks - unaware as they are of how toxic their presence is in the arenas they cannot shut up about - must and shall be filtered out of view." That filter results in a surprisingly entertaining subsection of Twitter, a sort of super-short story collection. Original announcement from creator Dean Allen.
posted by scottreynen at 4:11 PM - 47 comments

BREAKING NEWS: Kasparov assailed by flying dong. Possible inspiration
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:07 PM - 82 comments

Guide 25 Strangest Collections on the Web includes items such as a collection of navel fluff, 700 artistically decorated toilet seats, a scratchcard collection, 2,500 unique aol disks and cds, and much more. [more inside]
posted by msaleem at 2:31 PM - 8 comments

Google Health launched today.. [more inside]
posted by pearlybob at 2:04 PM - 71 comments

Gyminee is a truly excellent web app that lets you track workouts, nutrition and fitness goals. Prints grocery lists, lets you find workout buddies, etc. Very aesthetically pleasing, too. Considerably easier to use than Fitday, which a lot of people swear by.
posted by jbickers at 1:49 PM - 15 comments

Canadian freelance writer and comic-book vandal Chris "MGK" Bird surveys the field of Obama's potential running mates.
posted by camcgee at 1:31 PM - 36 comments

"We want to be in clean country with like-minded people with access to clean food. . . . The question is, Do I have Internet access in the woods?" The New York Times has the story of an Austin family that has decided to give away almost all of their worldly possessions in exchange for a simpler more sustainable life. Could you do it? [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan at 12:02 PM - 83 comments

Superstitious bloggers explain the recent earthquake in China by suggesting that the official Olympic Mascots of the Beijing Olympics foretold of disaster. [more inside]
posted by NikitaNikita at 11:38 AM - 26 comments

If you've ever wanted to peel back the corners of your browser window again and again to reveal different colors, then colorflip is for you.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:31 AM - 29 comments

The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats - Online Exhibition. [Via]
posted by homunculus at 11:30 AM - 10 comments

Wolf William Eisenberg died this past Thursday, May 14. Comics fans may know him better as Will Elder, one of the original MAD artists who, along with Wally Wood and Jack Davis, et al, worked with Harvey Kurtzman to make "furshlugginer" and "potrezebie" household words in the 1950s. No one could pack a cartoon panel with more gags than Elder, the exemplar of the "chicken fat" school of art. [more inside]
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 11:28 AM - 17 comments

Too pissed to drive? ("An interactive urinary experience - not to be mistaken with the Wii.") Those naughty but practical Germans have come up with a way to discourage men from driving drunk using a video game embedded in a urinal. I don't know how successful it's been in the real world, but it did win a silver Clio award for Innovative Use of Technology. If you don't plan to be in a Frankfurt bar any time soon, or if you lack the necessary equipment to play, you can try the wee-free simulation here.
posted by maudlin at 10:55 AM - 11 comments

Three of the giants of Brazilian guitar were Laurindo Almeida (1917-1995; wiki here), Luiz Bonfa (1922-2001; wiki here), and Baden Powell (1937-2000; wiki here). Here is Laurindo Almeida w/the MJQ playing One Note Samba; here is Luiz Bonfa playing the theme from Black Orpheus (which he composed); and here is Baden Powell playing Samba Triste. [more inside]
posted by ornate insect at 10:54 AM - 17 comments

The Ediwina Church of God in Jesus Christ Name. Pastor Jimmy Morrow's spelling is often non-standard and this isn't the world's best designed web page. But it's remarkable for what it is: an insider account of the history and practice of a serpent-handling sect by a current practitioner. [more inside]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:36 AM - 59 comments

Chinese Poems is a simple, no frills site with over 200 classical Chinese poems, mostly from the Tang period. The poems are presented in traditional and simplified chinese characters, pinyin and English translation, both literal and literary. Here's Du Mu's Drinking Alone:
Outside the window, wind and snow blow straight,
I clutch the stove and open a flask of wine.
Just like a fishing boat in the rain,
Sail down, asleep on the autumn river.
Among other poets featured are Li Bai (a.k.a. Li Po), Du Fu and Wang Wei. As a bonus, here's the entire text of Ezra Pound's Cathay, most of whom are from Li Bai originals.
posted by Kattullus at 9:16 AM - 15 comments

Think you can guess HIV status just by looking? Via NYTimes article
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:13 AM - 62 comments

This summer in Denver, at the 2008 Democratic National Convention fried foods will be forbidden at the committee's 22 or so events, as is liquid served in individual plastic containers. Plates must be reusable, like china, recyclable or compostable. The food should be local, organic or both. It's all part of Greening 2008 Convention. [more inside]
posted by mattbucher at 9:01 AM - 70 comments

Canadian writer Craig Davidson is pretty intense (read mad) when it comes to research and promoting his work, entering into an officially sanctioned boxing match to promote The Fighter. But even he thinks he went a bit too far when he went on a full 'steroid cycle'.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:05 AM - 55 comments

Tens of millions of brittlestars have been discovered inhabiting the peak of a sea mount in the Macquarie Ridge south of New Zealand. Strong currents are believed to be responsible for sweeping their predators away, more or less recreating their home 300 million years gone....
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 5:58 AM - 21 comments

Casual fans of Irish folk-punk bands like The Pogues, Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys rarely take the time to investigate the sources of their inspiration. Those who do, cannot avoid coming across the The Dubliners. [more inside]
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:16 AM - 39 comments

Wealth creation, economic growth and rising employment and salaries are among the factors changing some of India's most ancient social and cultural practices, writes Jason Overdoff for Newsweek. [more inside]
posted by infini at 11:21 PM - 36 comments

15x15 is viewable artwork consisting of 15 individual screens displaying a random video clip stored within the database for 15 seconds. Anyone can contribute, from the banal to the bizarre.
posted by netbros at 10:47 PM - 13 comments

National Geographic has a really neat photo gallery of nudibranchs. These are very colorful, very cute sea slugs. Enjoy.
posted by phunniemee at 10:06 PM - 43 comments

Original Rush drummer is John Rutsey dead at 55. Rush was one of the most successful prog rock acts of the 70s and 80s. Much of this success can be attributed to Neil Peart, whose airy, transcendent lyrics and virtuoso drumming in large part defined the band. But there was another drummer--more in the heavy style of John Bonham--who gripped the rhythmic helm on their first album: one John Rutsey. Mr Rutsey left the band early after a diagnosis of diabetes. This month he succumbed to a heart attack, a common complication. Unfortunately, a discursive look at youtube revealed no live footage of Mr Rutsey in action. Here is a pic from his heyday.
posted by zorro astor at 9:17 PM - 22 comments

The Archive of the Planet was the brainchild of the millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn.

BBC Book
BBC Documentary
A Little Part of the BBC Documentary on Youtube
Some of the Autochromes
Some Words on the Kahn Foundation Travelling Fellowship
See also: Autochromatica on Flickr
posted by Taksi Putra at 8:38 PM - 3 comments

The Doll Games emerged in Berkeley, California, at a time when race, gender, politics, and sexuality were fiercely and publicly debated... The Doll Games held up a funhouse mirror to their times, and what survives of them are historical documents of a wobbly, comical sort. But the Doll Games transcend their epoch. Intricate, obsessional, moral, violent and sexual, funny and tragic... Obedient to no rules except those its practitioners invented for themselves, completely collaborative, the Doll Games defined a truly interactive art form. In this theater of two, every audience member was a co-creator. [some text and pics NSFW]
posted by amyms at 8:26 PM - 21 comments

The Prevalence of Humbug. Essay (first link) by Max Black.
posted by owhydididoit at 7:32 PM - 16 comments

We've all seen scary mugshots on The Smoking Gun, but who cares about the famous and infamous when we can celebrate mugshots of the average joe? As the author of 21 Best Mugshots Evar wrote:

"When you go to jail, remember that your mugshot belongs to the ages. And in today's world, once you get it taken, it belongs to the Internets. Be sure to make it one worth remembering."

I'll keep that in mind should I ever be arrested. So sit back, ignore the screwed-up numbering layout, titles and comments (though a few are amusing), and <>enjoy the mugshots as is. [more inside]
posted by bwg at 4:07 PM - 62 comments

Portland artist R. J. Travis Pond sculpts recycled steel into animals. Daniel Wiancko documents and shrinks the process using time-lapse photography. A Wolf = 9:11, Three Birds = 9:35. [more inside]
posted by not_on_display at 3:22 PM - 5 comments

Some of the most insane journeys in recent time include Harry Lee 'The Hawk' McGinnis' walk around the world, Helen Thayer's 4,000-mile trek across the Sahara, Andrew Thompson's speedwalk across the Appalachian Trail (2000 miles), and others. [more inside]
posted by msaleem at 11:26 AM - 24 comments

A story in three parts from a volunteer in Sierra Leone about the begins of a small homegrown biodiesel industry: getting their vehicle, making fuel for it, and scaling it up. For those curious how it's done, they got their recipes online here.
posted by Upton O'Good at 9:46 AM - 13 comments

Tips for getting ahead in the increasingly competitive low cost small laptop market: When you go to Getty Images, grab some stock photography of smiling kids in a classroom and photoshop in your product, you better make sure your competitor hasn't used the exact same image.
posted by Artw at 9:36 AM - 49 comments

They Chose China is a documentary about the 22 western POWs who chose to defect to China after the Korean War armistice.
posted by bunnytricks at 8:32 AM - 13 comments

When your research subjects notice you watching.... The fine folks over at Little Green Footballs discovered "a pile of results and code" from an observation of their on-line discourse on a server at Carnegie Mellon. That led to a heated thread of sometimes paranoid speculation that eventually calmed down (somewhat) when the researcher's academic advisors posted a good-natured mea-culpa (wea-culpa?) and explanation.
posted by mmahaffie at 6:28 AM - 92 comments

Cubecraft - Stormtrooper, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Iron Man, Mario etc. More (Sonic, Ninja Turtles etc) here.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:46 AM - 13 comments

Warhammer 40K meets Hello Kitty
posted by nthdegx at 11:55 PM - 28 comments

The Most Civilized Country. Fascinating article challenging conventional notions of how best to have a society. [more inside]
posted by five fresh fish at 10:55 PM - 77 comments

Paper Critters is an online application for creating and sharing paper toys. Make your own, or view an interactive gallery of the competition. Uses the open source Papervision3D engine.
posted by netbros at 10:19 PM - 1 comment

The Museum of Corporate Neckties. Corporations and neckties: two great tastes that &c.
posted by staggernation at 10:19 PM - 5 comments

The CatBib Will Stop Your Cat From Catching Birds! video. Scientific proof. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu at 9:59 PM - 31 comments

As previously mentioned on Metafilter, in 2006, the Kersal Massive, 3 English chavs from Kersal near Manchester made a 44 second rap video on a cell phone (click this one first).
Once it hit YouTube, it inspired parodies and mashups ranging from heavy metal to alternative to dancefloor, an acoustic cover version, a conspiracy theory video, a Kevin Powder interview , and best of all this version. But this one is my favourite. [more inside]
posted by w0mbat at 8:59 PM - 36 comments

It's that time of year again, folks... don't forget to put in your vote for the World's Ugliest Dog. [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster at 7:03 PM - 21 comments

In 1993, we said goodbye to Frank Zappa, fallen victim to prostate cancer. A 1993 Today Show interview with Frank. A 1993 BBC documentary about Frank. {Parts 2, 3, 4.} "Outrage at Valdez," from 1993's The Yellow Shark. [Zappa mega-post previously on MeFi]
posted by not_on_display at 1:18 PM - 43 comments

Feeling nostalgic for cheap gas and and a "poke-through air cleaner that jumps when the engine cries"? The Mustang Mach I was the way to swing in '69! But 9 years later, the Cougar XR-7 was the 1978 choice of Cheryl Tiegs for her midnight driving. Speaking of women, what if your wife has to drive alone? It's a shocking concept, sure, but when a woman's at the wheel, you need Polyglas tires. Yep, crazy things used to happen. Heck, Pontiac even sold this thing for a few years. All that and more at Jalopnik's classic ad watch.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 12:33 PM - 20 comments

Exercising your brain makes you smarter, and there is no better gym for it than the MentatWiki. [more inside]
posted by splice at 11:47 AM - 16 comments

PTSD: The War Within. A Marine writes about his PTSD experience. This article from the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette was written by USMC Staff Sergeant Travis N. Twiggs. Twiggs killed himself and his brother after a long police chase in Arizona earlier this week.
posted by homunculus at 11:40 AM - 64 comments

Mercedes Allen looks at who's in charge of deciding the fate of Gender Identity Disorder in the DSM-IV. The APA (American Psychological Association) has announced it's intention to revise the DSMV (Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The expert they've named to chair revisions on sexuality and gender is Kenneth Zucker. Zucker is the major remaining proponent of Reparative Therapy for LGBT folks. [more inside]
posted by FunkyHelix at 10:40 AM - 85 comments

The year is 1989, the world of hip hop in mainstream America is dominated by the street hard, in your face West Coast Gangsta Rap genre headed by NWA. And an army of increasingly forgettable imitators as well as genuine ingenuity coming from the opposite coast The pop music market is dominated by the sugary sweet vaguely hip-hopish pop of The New Kids On The Block. And on the corner Crendshaw and Exposition in South Central Los Angeles a group of kids at a health food store called The Good Life Health Food And Resource Center take a weekly Open Mike and turn it into an ongoing hip hop workshop where lyrical prowess, performance, and positivity instead of battling and trash talking was encouraged. In fact, swearing was strictly disallowed at The Good Life. [more inside]
posted by mediocre at 9:05 AM - 35 comments

Well, young folk, there was a time, y'know, when bands would put their band name on the kick drum head, so the audience could see the name of the band, y'see? Why, best as I can recall, the The Yardbirds did it, and The Zombies, too. And The Hollies. Oh, and did I mention The Yardbirds? Well, my memory's not what it used to be... oh, and there was those boys from Liverpool, used to sing about Kansas Cty so well, why, you'd think they'd actually been there! Now, there was this one band called themselves the Spencer Davis Group, but I never could figure out why, cause it was that little Winwood fella just outta knee pants who was the star of that show! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:08 AM - 18 comments

Reportret: What did they really look like? Charlemagne "..was a large man, with light coloured hair, a long nose, a thick neck, and a quite prominent belly."
posted by stbalbach at 7:28 AM - 8 comments