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Record meteorite hits Norway. More pictures and information. (last two links in norwegian) No reports of injuries.
posted by pyramid termite at 8:00 AM - 49 comments

Three of the clever, committed terrorists in Guantanamo Bay committed an act of war against the United States on Saturday morning.
posted by Malor at 4:13 AM - 238 comments

The folks over at Biblical Child Training know that as a parent in today's complex society, it can be rough. That's why they sell a variety of biblically themed products to help you beat instill a set of Christian values in your young'n. Clearly their marquee product, the Chastening Instrument compares favorably to more traditional alternatives, and is, by all accounts biblically approved.
posted by jonson at 12:09 AM - 54 comments

Deadwood is back.
posted by JPowers at 8:06 PM - 91 comments

This year's Malinowski Memorial Lecture at the London School of Economics was presented by David Graeber, until recently an Associate Professor at Yale, entitled Beyond Power/Knowledge: an exploration of the relation of power, ignorance and stupidity. (PDF link) Although Yale declined to provide a reason for Mr. Graeber's recent dismissal, it's likely that his outspoken anarchism and activism, as well as his support for a union of graduate students, were influences in the decision. He explained some of his views on anarchism, "globalization", and, yes, hope for the future, on the Charlie Rose Show. (Youtube) Weekend reading assignment: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology. (PDF link)
posted by dinsdale at 4:56 PM - 22 comments

Flying Dude Man uses ground effect to soar down the face of a mountain. Lots of physics geeks on MeFi. Is this even possible? (ytube)
posted by vronsky at 4:18 PM - 43 comments

Seth MacFarlane's Harvard Speech (as himself, Peter, Stewie and Quagmire).
posted by zenzizi at 3:47 PM - 29 comments

It's all one's and zero's eh? The complex patterns of the natural world often turn out to be governed by relatively simple mathematical relationships. A seashell grows at a rate proportional to its size, resulting in a delicate spiral. The gossamer network of galaxies results from the simple interplay between cosmic expansion and the force of gravity over a wide range of scales. As our catalogue of natural phenomena has grown more complete, more and more scientists have begun to look for interesting patterns in human society.
posted by Unregistered User at 3:10 PM - 17 comments

LET'S DO THIS. Burning the midnight oil typing out a letter best left unsent—who hasn't done that, right? Only, I think Henry Rollins might be the type to go ahead and send this letter anyway. (.swf)
posted by emelenjr at 2:14 PM - 42 comments

Meet The Press--in Hell with Jesus, Satan, Coulter, Malkin--... Russert: We’re back with our guests, Bob Satan and Jesus Christ, and our panel Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter. Ann, I’d like to read you a statement by the Virgin Mary, Chairwoman of Mothers Against Armageddon—
Ann Coulter: Oh please. This broad is a millionaire, lionized on frescoes and in scripture about her, reveling in her status as a saint, and stalked by Madonna-parazzies. I have never seen a woman enjoying her son’s death so much. ...
posted by amberglow at 1:38 PM - 25 comments

Who killed the electric car? [flash] A documentary film (and flash website) about the mysterious demise of the electric car. The website contains a lot of information about the electric car and other alternative fuel cars in development. The film is coming to a theater near you, if you live in NY or LA. (Ok, actually a few other places.) Watch the trailer. [embedded qt]
posted by jlub at 8:30 AM - 80 comments

The 2006 winners and nominees in the first International Color Awards offers a broad sampling of work from some of the world's finest professional and amateur color photographers. View more from Erwin Olaf, Photographer of the Year in the professional category.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:58 AM - 9 comments

Princeton Salutatorian - Undocumented Immigrant. Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Princeton '06, has achieved many academic honors. He is also in the US illegally. He has now spoken out. "[A] former roommate of mine wrote that illegal immigrants constitute a drain on American resources and a threat to the jobs of native American workers; that they are intentional law-breakers who should not receive considerate treatment from the government; and that existing laws concerning illegal immigrants should be rigidly and more consistently enforced, even if this results in behavior that could be characterized as inhumane. I was taken aback by his words, but they provided me with the impetus to speak out and emphasize the inhumanity of such a perspective as well as the misinformation it is based upon."
posted by caddis at 5:11 AM - 70 comments

The Vintage Mac Museum – if there's anything you remember about working or playing on old black-and-white Macs, anything at all, there's probably an animated .gif screenshot of the program you used somewhere on this site. From MacPaint to Stuntcopter to Photoshop 1.0 to, no joke, Norton freaking Utilities, it's all been preserved on the internet. Go... internet.
posted by furiousthought at 12:13 AM - 43 comments

What does the true anime otaku do when cosplay just isn't enough? It's called animegao or kigurumi and it crosses the ridge into the uncanny valley. Some examples: Belldandy, Mahoro and Minawa, Lum, another Mahoro, Naru. Sometimes they wear lingerie, or swimsuits, or vinyl, or do bondage. They pose, and put their pictures online. Some of the sites are quite sophisticated. They create different costumes for themselves. They go on location and try to freak the mundanes. A lot of the people inside are men. And aficionados get together at conventions and party. All of which proves that I'm not nearly afraid enough of the Japanese. (As if that needed proving again.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:54 PM - 80 comments

An interview with John Updike on Terrorist, his most recent novel. Some reviews: Kakutani, Donohue (USAToday), and fellow novelist Amitav Gosh (Wapo).
posted by bardic at 5:09 PM - 31 comments

New York City's oldest fireboat rides again. Built in 1931, the John J. Harvey served for decades, then was retired by the city in 1994. Local boat-lovers rescued it from the scrap-yard and restored it to new glory. Good thing, because the ancient JJH wound up being called back into service one last time, to save New Yorkers during their darkest hour...

The city has showed its gratitude with grant money, and the JJH's story has now become an award-winning children's book praised as a healthy way to discuss the events of September 11th with kids. Come to Pier 63 for a visit or a free ride sometime this summer!
posted by hermitosis at 3:44 PM - 13 comments

Give us all your money
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:11 PM - 46 comments

Daniel Gross, economics columnist for Slate, wrote on April 7 : "...if (Bush appoints) an A-list Wall Street CEO (for Treasury Secretary), I'll buy a copy of Dow 36,000 and eat the first chapter." Bush appointed Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson on May 30. Today, Gross makes good on the promise.
posted by suckerpunch at 2:42 PM - 14 comments

Sex with your mom is pretty good.
posted by Nelson at 2:26 PM - 66 comments

The always interesting sidenote of beer in ancient history
posted by cdcello at 2:25 PM - 6 comments

The Archaic Medical Terms Dictionary. This was intended as a tool for genealogists and historians, but it is fun to browse. If you're suffering from Rag-Picker's Disease you are in trouble and Haematemesis looks pretty serious too. If you know what "Black Tongue" or "Painter's colic" are, you can contribute to the author's unsolved page.
posted by marxchivist at 2:24 PM - 8 comments

Thailand's King marks his Diamond Jubilee. Just be careful what you say.
posted by the cuban at 2:20 PM - 12 comments

I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a dog with a horse mask on its head.
posted by boo_radley at 2:03 PM - 41 comments

Recipes of the Damned. Whet your appetite with Fruit Cocktail-SPAM Buffet Party Loaf or perhaps a nice cold, thick meat-milk shake.
posted by ozomatli at 11:54 AM - 8 comments

Ask Greg allows fans of Disney's first dramatic animated series, Gargoyles, to submit questions to series co-creator and producer Greg Weisman. It's been around since 1996 and has become a treasure trove of information and insight into not just the show, but the animation industry in general. Ask Greg and a fan-run annual gathering has kept the flame of the Gargoyles Universe alive and their efforts are paying off. Recently Disney began releasing the show on DVD and now it's set to return in the form of a comic published by Slave Labor Graphics and written by Greg Weisman.
posted by ruthsarian at 11:33 AM - 12 comments

Danger Doom "The Occult Hymn" EP available free from Adultswim.com [More Inside] but that is pretty much it.
posted by ND¢ at 10:16 AM - 40 comments

I would have thought that these charges could fairly be represented as terrorism, yet in 108 links in Google News, there is no mention of "terror" or any of its derivations. Has the word been hijacked?
posted by Neiltupper at 10:08 AM - 104 comments

I just heard some sad news on talk radio. Net Neutrality was found dead in Congress this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the community will miss it. Even if you didn't enjoy its work, there's no denying its contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
posted by brownpau at 10:03 AM - 96 comments

Despite its success as a book [NPR] and early cinematic success, China has banned the Da Vinci Code movie [NYT] after protests from Catholics. Are you living in China and want to see it? Try the black market.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:24 AM - 25 comments

Randy Cunningham, Jerry Lewis... Duncan Hunter?
Is Duncan Hunter - the California Congressman who staged the cynical pull out of iraq vote/stunt last spring, the next powerful washington insider to be implicated in the growing list of corrupt or questionable California Congressmen?
posted by specialk420 at 9:24 AM - 13 comments

17 Million Words / 155 Volumes / One bedridden hypochondriac (?) : Arthur Crew Inman wrote one of the strangest diaries of the 20th century. Listen to his voice (WMA), or see an excerpt from the documentary being made about him (WMV) by the man who wrote a play based on his life.
posted by OmieWise at 8:30 AM - 14 comments

Grandiose Survey of Chinese Alcoholic Drinks and Beverages. Includes a section on the Chinese culture of drinking etiquette. Also available in Chinese.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:35 AM - 16 comments

The virtual flute - courtesy of the music acoustics group at University of New South Wales. If exploring the fourth octave or pondering multiphonic possibilities isn't for you, you may still enjoy a wander through the long and technical history of the instrument.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:45 AM - 6 comments

Wolfmother's White Unicorn. Somebody else's White Unicorn (defaced). (first QT, second youtube)
posted by fungible at 6:39 AM - 18 comments

The Death of Perspective. Among the greatest achievements of the renaissance artists was the perfection of the art of perspective: Giving the appearance of depth to a flat surface. Felice Varini uses perspective to do the opposite.
posted by empath at 5:38 AM - 38 comments

Shifting between motion and stasis, he shows a man on a horse, a scarecrow, a dog, another dog seen closer, then even closer as it faces the still camera in the last shot. Superimposed over this still photo is the orange red blast of an atomic bomb and its mushroom cloud—the first appearance of color in the film. The photo catches fire, and the image of the dog is slowly devoured by flames. As the photo turns into ashes, a prayer from the Shiite text Nahjulbalagha appears alongside it in English: “Dear Lord, give us rain from tame, obedient clouds and not from dense and fiery clouds which summon death. Amen.”
In "The Roads of Kiarostami", his latest short film (.pdf), Iranian maestro Abbas Kiarostami begins with his landscape photographs and ends with apocalypse. more inside
posted by matteo at 3:33 AM - 16 comments

The bats and frogs and Montane voles,
The squirrels, bugs and garden moles,
The creepers, flyers and the swimmers,
All hope that they will be the winners.
 
When we are gone, through choice or fate
'Twill be a cause to celebrate.
Will old return or new arrive,
When Gaia once again can thrive?
posted by missbossy at 2:47 AM - 23 comments

A long time ago, way back before the internet brought us gaming news virtually at the click of a button, gamers had to get their gaming news via magazines. For console owners living in the United Kingdom and Australia, the magazine of choice would almost certainly have been Mean Machines. Combining gaming news with classic British humor* with a great layout, Mean Machines made for a great read every issue. Though now (sadly) long dead, nostalgic fans of Mean Machines will undoubtedly be happy to learn that you can now read every one of their reviews online in both HTML and scanned pdf formats at The Mean Machines Archive. With an issue by issue examination of this classic publication, the site is well worth a look if you were a fan of the magazine or just to see what gaming news was like before the likes of IGN (which, interestingly enough, lead editor of Mean Machines Julian Rignall would one day join).

* not an oxymoron
posted by Effigy2000 at 1:08 AM - 21 comments

Pentagon sets its sights on social networking websites From the fine folks that brought you the Total Terrorism Information Awareness program, another wickedly-named branch of the NSA, the Disruptive Technologies Office (formerly ARDA), is funding research into the usefulness of the Semantic Web for combing through and profiling the 80 million members of MySpace.
posted by bukharin at 1:04 AM - 44 comments

When McDonald's Interactive recently gave a presentation at the International Serious Games 2006 conference, they made a startling announcement: "we can no longer stand by while McDonald's corporate policies help lead the planet to ruin. [...] So our team has decided to break away from McDonald's and do something about it." (more inside)
posted by whir at 12:14 AM - 19 comments

Cayetano Ferrer is a Chicago based artist whose work involves (among other styles) painting street signs with the images of the items immediately behind them, to give the illusion of transparency (depending on what angle you're viewing from). The latest campaign by Amnesty International seems inspired by his work.
posted by jonson at 11:31 PM - 14 comments

New Scientist reports on German project to create a Semantic MediaWiki (MediaWiki is the software behind Wikipedia, Semantic is hidden/encoded meta-data). A sample page markup using the relations annotation. What do the Wikipedia (Wikimedia) folks think of implementing it? "Some members are keen, but some are dubious about additional complexity."
posted by stbalbach at 9:02 PM - 11 comments

FDA approves HPV vaccine. It prevents infection from 70% of the cancer-causing strains of human papillomavirus, an STD that will affect nearly 80% of the population at some point in their lives. The vaccine has been approved for use in women ages 9 to 26. Controversy surrounding the vaccine (discussed earlier) has thankfully not stopped its progress. That just leaves a few questions: How long will it last? Who's paying for it? What are the side-effects? Oh, screw all that, where do I get in line?
posted by Anonymous at 8:46 PM - 44 comments

Congrats, Tsarfan Tony Pierce, blogger extraordinare, owner of the world famous Busblog, known to MeFites as Tsarfan, has got a hot new gig. Recently (and unfairly) released from his starting third base spot at Buzznet, Tony has moved up in the world. As of Tuesday, he will become editor-in-chief of Laist, the coast city's premier city-based blog and a part of the Gothamist network of blogs. Congrats, Tsarfan
posted by Ironmouth at 4:12 PM - 22 comments

New Zealand All Blacks and Hurricanes Captain Tana Umaga has been quite the news maker lately. Umaga, a hard nosed rugby player known for his fierce tackling, equipped himself with a women's handbag to beat his drunken teammate to tears while breaking up a late night fight in a Christchurch bar. Umaga then followed up the weekend be being honored by the Queen for his services to New Zealand Rugby. While it is well known that the Queen favors carrying a handbag, it was not revealed if that weighed into her decision to give Umaga the honor.

Trying to cash in on Umaga mania, the young lady who owned the bag sold it on trademe.co.nz for $22,000 NZ. While the bar owner launched a failed attempt at selling the security video of the incident. Not wanting to be left out Chris Masoe, who was hit with the bag is rumored to be considering selling the napkins he used to whip the tears from his eyes in order to raise funds to pay off the fine he received for the incident. There is still no word yet from the NZRFU as to whether or not the All Blacks will incorporate overhead handbag smashing motion into the newest version of the Haka.
posted by remo at 3:54 PM - 38 comments

GOP Senators have lost their bid to kill the currently-defunct estate tax. This defeat of the permanent repeal effort is a major triumph for the 98% of Americans who've never been in danger of having to pay the tax.
posted by maud at 3:31 PM - 159 comments

The Netflix Rolling Roadshow, "Imagine watching 'Jaws' from a raft in the ocean just off the Martha's Vineyard beach where it was filmed . . . or watching 'Escape from Alcatraz' in the cell block where Frank Morris, played by Clint Eastwood, was locked up...This August, the Netflix Rolling Roadshow celebrates classic American movies by screening them at the locations they made famous. Each screening is an interactive special event (think scavenger hunts, road rallies, a high school prom, even spending the night on Alcatraz Island). Some screenings will also include cast reunions and question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers." My favorite: Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. That is going to be a surreal experience.
posted by JPowers at 3:25 PM - 38 comments

Super hero pizza man defeats nefarious villain. A delivery driver for Galactic Pizza, a Minneapolis restaurant, recently defeated a purse-snatching neer-do-well with the assistance of some valiant bystanders. Galactic, which is dedicated to delivering pizza with a community- and environmentally-friendly oriented business model, delivers pizzas with 100% electric vehicles and purchases all their energy from renewable sources. Indeed, their vision of the future is refreshing to see from any American business. Oh, and their drivers wear super hero costumes, which seems more than appropriate considering the ethics of both their business and their heroic workers.
posted by baphomet at 2:58 PM - 30 comments

2%. (bugmenot login fleeb@fleeble.com, password fleeble) That is the percentage of students in UCLA's incoming freshman class that self-identify as black. Only 96 students in an entering class of 4,852, and the lowest percentage since 1973. Many believe Proposition 209 is to blame, but some want to stop collecting this data altogether.
posted by fugitivefromchaingang at 1:33 PM - 46 comments