MetaFilter

Once there was a band called Aqua. You probably know their song Barbie Girl. Apparently, a lot of other people know the song, and like it enough to make videos of themselves lip-synching to it. A lot of people. [a lot more and heavy youtube linkage inside]
posted by Ynoxas at 8:16 PM - 67 comments

Sex in Christ: The sex act called fisting is a source of confusion and misconceptions for many Christians. This is unfortunate, because it means that many Christian men and women are depriving themselves of what could be the most spiritual sexual experience of their lives. Like anal sex and BDSM, fisting is often mistakenly associated with the gay community or is considered a sex act too extreme to be appropriate for Christian couples. Not only are these views incorrect, but fisting actually has a scriptural precedent, as we will show.
posted by bigmusic at 7:55 PM - 81 comments

So how's the War on Drugs proceeding in Afghanistan? Barry McCaffrey, former drug czar, trumpets, "Opium production has been dramatically slashed by 48% just in the past year[2005].". Oops, actually that's the acreage of opium cultivation; production went down by only 10%, due to increased yields. In any case, that's so last year. Instead of the socially detrimental policy of poppy eradication, wouldn't it be preferable to allow licensing of poppies for legitimate medical needs? The Afghan farmers agree, but some think the idea is flawed.
posted by daksya at 7:23 PM - 17 comments

You may have known that Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA) has been a crusader for many great causes, such as HB 145, HB 180, HB 425, HB 500 and HB 637. However you may not have know that he has a second love. Which shines some light on why he has chosen to use his extensive knowledge and experience to co-sponsor H.Con.Res. 11 and H.Con.Res. 12. After listening to him explain why these two resolutions are so critical, I was almost swayed.
posted by Mr_Zero at 12:24 PM - 96 comments

Dzone is digg for programmers and web developers.
posted by boo_radley at 12:04 PM - 28 comments

Visor: Brought to you by the wonderful folks who made the incredible Quicksilver, Visor is a drop down terminal for your mac, similar to the quake terminal. Plus, you can use quartz composer movies as backgrounds!
posted by Freen at 12:00 PM - 28 comments

IraqFilter: Who is the US fighting in Iraq? A February 2006 report from the International Crisis Group which provides a detailed look at the evolution of the insurgency, and describes its four main groups: Tandhim al-Qa’ida fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (recently decapitated), Jaysh Ansar al-Sunna, al-Jaysh al-Islami fil-’Iraq, and al-Jabha al-Islamiya lil-Muqawama al-’Iraqiya. In Iraq, the U.S. fights an enemy it hardly knows. Its descriptions have relied on gross approximations and crude categories (Saddamists, Islamo-fascists and the like) that bear only passing resemblance to reality. This report, based on close analysis of the insurgents’ own discourse [particularly their websites], reveals relatively few groups, less divided between nationalists and foreign jihadis than assumed, whose strategy and tactics have evolved (in response to U.S. actions and to maximise acceptance by Sunni Arabs), and whose confidence in defeating the occupation is rising.
posted by russilwvong at 10:52 AM - 49 comments

Do you hate Uwe Boll? Did you write about it online? Here's your chance to kick his ass... In person. On film. Which will supposedly be presented in "Postal", one of his so-called movies. -Kristanna Loken
posted by loquacious at 9:22 AM - 55 comments

In the spirit of Carlson's Big Ad (the previously linked greatest spot ever filmed) comes this amazing Buzby Berkely inspired piece for Turkish financial institution Akbank.
posted by jonson at 9:19 AM - 20 comments

The Strange Case Of Gordon Lee. “It is highly unusual to have a single defendant face three arraignments in less than two years for the same alleged criminal conduct. In my fifteen years of practice, I have never seen such an occurrence.”* [more inside]
posted by grabbingsand at 8:51 AM - 19 comments

Yesterduh. [more inside]
posted by jrb223 at 8:30 AM - 20 comments

Anderson Cooper Gives me a Boner (Via).
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 6:18 AM - 190 comments

The Promise and Perils of Synthetic Biology
posted by Gyan at 4:15 AM - 14 comments

The return of astronauts to the moon by 2020? Yeah! Hurricane predictions, long-term monitoring of weather and climate change? Not so much. (related here and here)
posted by Smedleyman at 11:58 PM - 78 comments

The Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City, houses paintings by Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist, who spent most of his life on the Indian-Tibetan border, creating evocative images of night and day in the Himalayan Mountains. (more inside)
posted by nickyskye at 11:36 PM - 15 comments

Web comics are fun: Acid Zen Wonder Paint. Explore via the "Random" button or check out my favorites.
posted by JPowers at 7:41 PM - 24 comments

When Everyone Else's Party is Your Job The 24-Hour Show is a documentary project and exhibit that offers a glimpse of Las Vegas through the eyes of the people who live and work in the city. It's based on interviews with a diverse cadré of casino and entertainment workers who have made Las Vegas home.
posted by Miko at 7:24 PM - 6 comments

"This is my happening, and it freaks me out!" A sequel far removed from its namesake, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, the 1970 sex-drugs-rock-violence classic by Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert, gets a special-edition DVD release this week. Also, at retroCRUSH, a trio of interviews with Casey, Roxanne and the ultra-eccentric Z-Man.
posted by LinusMines at 6:25 PM - 14 comments

"I am copying you on this crap since I honestly believe the competitive procurement will never happen." --a multi-billion-dollar no-bid contract to KBR/Halliburton announced only after the fact, Cheney's extensive involvement, the attempted coverup of that involvement, lies, and you. Embarrassment is not sufficient cause for exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, no matter how much some may wish. ...Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press in September 2003 Cheney stated, “I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government.”
posted by amberglow at 6:20 PM - 38 comments

The "Bird flu dance" is "sweeping" Africa. Or at least the Ivory Coast. DJ Lewis created the dance (youtube warning) which was described in the BBC article as being "like a chicken with Parkinson's disease trying to dance to hip-hop". There are examples all over youtube (warning: here be lofi youtube videos).
posted by casconed at 4:30 PM - 17 comments

Hail Cannons look awesome. They've apparently been around for along time, but they occasionally annoy the neighbors. Can we wipe out hail in our lifetimes?
posted by mattbucher at 3:56 PM - 19 comments

Long. Awkward. Poses. People secretly filmed while holding poses for photographs.
posted by liam at 3:41 PM - 37 comments

They're all clowns, I tell you! Clowns!
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:17 PM - 8 comments

Youtubefilter: Gnarls Barkley performs "Crazy," unites Rebellion and Empire.
posted by bardic at 2:53 PM - 50 comments

Gates to Leave Day-to-Day Role at Microsoft in 2008. Following the tradition of previous capitalists-turned-philanthropists such as J.P. Getty and Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates has announced that in 2008 he will quit his full-time role as head of Microsoft to focus his attention on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (whose website seems to be having issues at the moment). [NewsFilter]
posted by justkevin at 2:51 PM - 86 comments

Suzanne Swift, a Eugene soldier, has been arrested for refusing to return to Iraq after leave. She reports that she was sexually harassed by superiors. She was picked up at home by Homeland Security agents (according to local heresay) and held in Lane County Jail overnight, before being transferred to Fort Lewis in Washington. More local news here.
(Disclaimer: I attempted to link a Military.com story on it, for balance, but was unable to.)
posted by Danf at 2:01 PM - 72 comments

Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher Not quite as politically charged as Real Time or Politically Incorrect, it's Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher. Previous guests include: Jon Favreau, Dean Koontz, The Dixie Chicks and Josh Ritter.
posted by matkline at 1:47 PM - 24 comments

Googoosh! In the 70s, there was a pop star in (pre-revolutionary) Iran named Googoosh. She recorded a handful of covers of Motown songs, and lots of Farsi pop that fuses Motown and Persian music. Check it out if you like world music and Motown. There are lo-fi MP3s under the link above, and there are CDs:Best of Googoosh, Vol. 4: Doe Panjereh. She performed in the US in 2000, after a 20-year hiatus, in LA and DC. The concert in DC was something else, both audience and performance.
posted by lw at 12:41 PM - 8 comments

Do you know what to do with a stick and a clutch? Only 15% of new car buyers in the US say they'll consider buying a car with manual transmission, and by 2012, only 6% of cars will be offered with a stick. Is it because it's a difficult skill to learn? Or is it really because it's too hard to shift when you have a cell phone in one hand and a Starbucks coffee in the other? Or is a manual transmission simply an outdated system with new fangled technology like CVT, DSG, SMG, and super-fast, 100 msec shifting automatic transmissions available?
posted by jaimev at 11:16 AM - 266 comments

In the name of God - Humanoid robot [PDF]. Apparently Iran "is the strongest represented foreign nation, with 50 teams at the world championships [RoboCup 2006]. Six of these teams are made up solely of women." Also participating in the humanoid league: the arabot [PDF, scroll down], [avi-video] from the United Arab Emirates.
posted by vertriebskonzept at 10:13 AM - 6 comments

In BC, Canada, you can buy the mining rights to your neighbors' land for a $25 permit and 17 cents an acre, and you can do it all from the comfort of your office chair.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:05 AM - 20 comments

Samuel R. Delany has become known for his Silent Interviews, where he responds to questions in writing. But many other interviews are available online: The Onion AV Club; Nerve; Science Fiction Studies; SF Site; K. Leslie Steiner [Delany's pseudonym]; Science Fiction Weekly. Some are not-so-silent: Blackbird; Smithsonian. He also writes fiction. [More Inside]
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:29 AM - 24 comments

Excellent photoset documenting the sinking of the Oriskany aircraft carrier to create an artificial reef.
posted by jonson at 9:05 AM - 24 comments

Helix is a new Science Fiction magazine on the Internet. Run by managing editor Lawrence Watt-Evans and senior editor William Sanders, Helix is free, with no advertisements or registration. They do accept donations. This follows Watt-Evans's success last year with his Spriggan Experiment, in which he substituted reader donations for the traditional advance from a publisher. The result of that experiment, The Spriggan Mirror will be available from Wild-side Press in September 2006.
posted by notbuddha at 8:59 AM - 15 comments

Girl-Wonder.org is a new site tackling the portrayal of women in comics, written in the same vein as Women in Refrigerators and sequential tart.
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:34 AM - 18 comments

The staff of The Impulsive Buy are not experts, but they do like to try anything that has any of the following words on the product: new, improved, new and improved, better tasting, reconditioned, less fat, fat-free, best-selling, less calories, reduced for quick sale, limited edition, free toy, 50% off, or now with Olestra!
posted by naomi at 8:16 AM - 8 comments

[NewsFilter] "Beginning of the End." The death of al Zarqawi, in itself, may have been a bit of a pyrrhic victory, but the latest news is a "treasure trove" of intelligence from al Qa'ida in Iraq. Of course, al Qa'ida in Iraq is largely an open source movement, so they never kept this exactly secret--but now, it's being widely reported that al Qa'ida "sought war between US and Iran." With speculation that al Zaraqwi's death may lead to a drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq, might his death now also defuse tensions with Iran, as well? Did we end two wars in one blow?
posted by jefgodesky at 5:35 AM - 104 comments

"the silly old buggers gone bloody missing" A yobbo cane toad learns the dangers of being one of the less adored icons of the Aussie landscape.
posted by dg at 3:10 AM - 11 comments

SupaFormula Destrukt using vvv*. via dataisnature
* a toolkit for real time video synthesis.
posted by signal at 9:36 PM - 10 comments

This video shows how to navigate Google maps by simply tilting your thinkpad. The code is here, a blog post about it is here. I knew the first wave of goofy accelerometer hacks would be followed with better stuff and I can't wait to see what else people do with the sensors. Hopefully someone ports this to the newer macs as well. [via dj]
posted by mathowie at 8:45 PM - 32 comments

Brian Dilg Photography Long after Jamie Lee Curtis bared all to show the world she's no longer Perfect are we still being fooled by the seeming perfection of photos being presented to us in the media? [note: Feron and Apodaca featured previously on Mefi]
posted by FlamingBore at 8:12 PM - 41 comments

$20,000 and you can choose the gender of your next kid. You'd think you'd have to go to the Caribbean or someplace to do it but the practice of gender selective preimplantation genetic diagnosis is alive and well in the United States. (Note how the medical link DOES NOT have an indication for using the procedure for gender selection). Some have already been concerned about a slippery slope. And, it seems regulatory agencies would rather not say anything about the issue so as to let the technology improve and see what we can and can't select in our embryos. Could this be the next big issue in the culture v. science v. religion wars?
posted by skepticallypleased at 7:31 PM - 53 comments

The New Yorker suggests that Bush is being pushed by his advisors to fight against gay marriage when he really has no strong feelings either way. According to Bush's close unnamed friend, "I don't think he gives a shit about it." An inspired take on strategic political distraction.
posted by JPowers at 6:42 PM - 39 comments

Carnegie Mellon researchers have created a program that can automatically generate a 3-D model from a single photograph, using machine learning. Take a look at this high-res comparison of original and generated images, also demonstration animations and downloadable videos (with executables). [via /. see also: a little on human 3d perception at everything2, groovy dragon illusion]
posted by MetaMonkey at 4:38 PM - 42 comments

Google's Flickr Killer?
posted by bigmusic at 2:37 PM - 70 comments

Entertainment NewsFilter: the surviving Beach Boys, including Mike Love and Brian Wilson, appeared together in public today, for the first time in ten years, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Pet Sounds. Mike Love recently sued Brian Wilson for royalties and co-writing credits, again, after Brian released SMiLE, a mere 38 years after originally starting on it. The strife between the two has been ongoing for decades. As Brian grew more musically ambitious in the Pet Sounds and SMiLE era, Mike legendarily admonished Brian not to "fuck with the formula." [m.i.]
posted by ibmcginty at 12:23 PM - 54 comments

What is this Sketchzilla thing?! It is whatever you want it to be. It's a community art project. It's a funhouse. It's an art gallery. It's a madlib. It's a mad house. It's an html monster. It's a butteryfly ballot. It's the 10 most wanted. It's a flip book. It's noisy. It's the flag of the internet. Oh and it's occasionally NSFW. It is always changing and morphing and mutating in to something new, by you. I can't believe that Sketchzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible that another Sketchzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.
posted by Sir Mildred Pierce at 10:56 AM - 250 comments

Radio streams on the net. A huge compendium of radio stations around the globe which have internet feeds.
posted by caddis at 10:08 AM - 21 comments

An audio illusion called the tritone paradox is based on Shepard Tones, a finite self-similar sequence of tones that seem to contiually rise or fall in pitch. Diana Deutch has found that how you percieve these illusions can be strikingly different from person to person and that most people have some form of pefect pitch.
posted by ozomatli at 9:30 AM - 42 comments

Superman marries Lois Lane. Superman dies. Batman's back is broken. Robin dies. Spider-Man gets married. But one storyline taboo, revealing one's secret identity, has never been broken with a major comic book character. Until now (big-time spoiler alert).
posted by solid-one-love at 9:21 AM - 124 comments