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The Ryungyong Hotel is a nearly 1,000 foot tall abandoned pyramid in the heart of Pyongyang that North Korea has officially tried to forget. [discussed previously here] The architecture magazine Domus had over 200 entries to a contest to repurpose the Ryungong, a similar project is also underway elsewhere on the web, though some architects think the effort is a bad idea. [For Domus, use:mefier/mefite]
comment posted at 6:36 PM on Apr-27-06

Adult Swim Fix. Streaming full-length Adult Swim episodes twenty-four hours a day online. Seven archival episodes will be available at all times, while premieres will continue to debut on Fridays, two days before they appear on-air.
comment posted at 8:15 AM on Apr-27-06
comment posted at 7:32 PM on Apr-27-06

Wes Anderson does a 2-minute commercial for American Express. (YouTube link). As you might expect from Wes Anderson, the results are "quirky" to say the least. Another bigshot director, M. Night Shayamalan, has made one as well. This certainly isn't the first time big companies have hired A-list directors. I wonder who's next?
comment posted at 11:33 PM on Apr-26-06
comment posted at 11:55 PM on Apr-26-06
comment posted at 12:12 AM on Apr-27-06
comment posted at 4:21 PM on Apr-27-06

Easily mispronounced domain names. Like mp3shits.com. You'll have to cut and paste the links to see for yourself that someone (or better yet, a committee of people) actually thought a particular domain name was a good idea. Another example: whorepresents.com. The list is short, but through the mighty powers of Mefi members, it could be oh so much longer. via grūpthink.
comment posted at 1:41 AM on Apr-26-06

What it costs to live well in the United States. According to Forbes, living well for a family of four in New York City requires an annual income of $483,800, compared to $189,923 in Wichita, Kansas. Of course, living well, according to the methodology, involves a vacation home, a BMW 325i and a Lexus RX 330, weekends at the Ritz, and almost no savings, so you might want to skip one of these things if you are a few bucks shy. Also worth noting, the most expensive ZIP codes and houses in the United States (and the world). Are you living well?
comment posted at 9:15 PM on Apr-25-06
comment posted at 6:58 AM on Apr-28-06

Tony Snow On President Bush: ‘An Embarrassment,’ It seems clear now that we will have Snow In Late April as the Bush appointment to be the new press spokesman. Snow comes to the lawn of the White House all the way from Fox News, where he represented their view of Fair and balanced. So balanced in fact that he said things such as this: "“No president has looked this impotent this long when it comes to defending presidential powers and prerogatives.” [9/30/05]. But that was then and this is now and so can we assume that suddenly Bush will be seen as a masterful leader of his nation?
comment posted at 5:25 PM on Apr-25-06

We've talked about quantum computation a few times before, but how much do we really know? Metafilter, instruct thyself. Don't forget to learn some advanced probability and computational complexity (Scott Aaronson has more). Whoa, that's a lot o' learning, so let's so check out the much easier, and much cooler "sleeping puppy" experiment. I can only dream that will help break quantum mechanics' association with animal abuse. Then, there's the Free Will Theorem that just came out (some discussion on it) and another paper with a new look at an old problem. The latter describes another way of solving ye olde, super importanto Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox using the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics (lots of discussion running around). Whew. We don't need the crackpot ramblings of What the #$*! Do We Know? when we've got real physics to keep us up at night. So, who wants to become a physicist? (t'Hooft has some thoughts for those who want to go theoretical.)
comment posted at 6:22 PM on Apr-25-06
comment posted at 6:22 PM on Apr-25-06

From estate tax to 'death tax' Public Citizen released a report [PDF link] today that "reveals how 18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the [U.S.] estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of $71.6 billion." The rich get richer...
comment posted at 5:29 PM on Apr-25-06
comment posted at 11:51 PM on Apr-25-06

Arguing the ceremony is only for the families, newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has forbidden the media from attending today's arrival of the remains of four Canadian soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan. Mr. Harper has also declined to lower the flag on Parliament Hill to half-staff. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, retired soldier and former lobbyist for various defense contracting firms, says his government is returning to the tradition of honouring dead soldiers on November 11, Remembrance Day. Meanwhile, residents of the northern aboriginal community of Kashechawan, plagued by flooding and drinking water problems, are being evacuated, after government promises to repair a dike went unfulfilled. God Bless Canada.
comment posted at 4:50 PM on Apr-25-06
comment posted at 10:20 PM on Apr-25-06

Bush Impeachment - The Illinois State Legislature is Preparing to Drop a Bombshell Utilizing a little known rule of the US House to bring Impeachment charges. California Becomes Second State to Introduce Bush Impeachment.
comment posted at 4:59 PM on Apr-25-06

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. It may not be the world's best ice cream (personal favs), it's also not the worst (universally reviled).
comment posted at 6:10 PM on Apr-25-06

"Killing the Buddha is about finding a way to be religious when we're all so self-conscious and self-absorbed. Knowing more than ever about ourselves and the way the world works, we gain nothing through nostalgia for a time when belief was simple, and even less from insisting that now is such a time. Killing the Buddha will ask, How can we be religious without leaving part of ourselves at the church or temple door? How can we love God when we know it doesn't matter if we do? Call it God for the godless. Call it the search for a God we can believe in: A God that will not be an embarrassment in twelve-thousand years. A God we can talk about without qualifications." I particularly enjoyed The Temptation of Belief, by a Buddhist exploring evangelical Christianity, and My Holy Ghost People, by an unbelieving daughter in a praying-in-tongues family.
comment posted at 5:23 PM on Apr-25-06

Einstein TOR DVD is a mostly animated feature film from the early 1920s, long thought to be lost, featuring animation from the incredible Max Fleischer (who is responsible for the seriously cool Superman animated cartoons). For $15, looks like a must-have for animation buffs and science geeks.
comment posted at 5:06 AM on Apr-21-06
comment posted at 5:47 AM on Apr-21-06
comment posted at 6:00 AM on Apr-21-06

You know what? There ain't no doors outta Hell, babe. Before serial killer nurse Charles Cullen was sentenced to 11 life sentences in New Jersey, some of the families of his victims were allowed to read Victim Impact Statements (audio) (videos linked at left) in which they not only told the court about the effect of the murders on their lives, but also told Cullen what they thought of him. While state laws differ, Victim Impact Statements are often allowed to be considered in making sentencing decisions, and sometimes creep into the guilt phase of the trial. The trials of Terry Nichols, Scott Peterson, and Zacarias Moussaoui all included Impact Statements. Some have argued that Impact Statements are needed to properly assess harm and balance mitigating and humanizing evidence allowed on behalf of the defendant. Others call it nothing more than institutionalized revenge. Would you want the chance to say "Burn in Hell" to a person who harmed someone you cared about, or does such talk have no place in the courtroom?
comment posted at 7:13 PM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 9:26 PM on Apr-20-06

Rolling Stone One of America's foremost historians assesses George W. Bush with the cover story: The Worst President in History? Check out the respectful cover illustration.
comment posted at 5:18 PM on Apr-20-06

Is Digg being censored? Accusations have been flying about, and posts about it on Digg itself have been getting huge numbers of votes while mysteriously staying off the front page...
comment posted at 5:22 PM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 10:44 PM on Apr-20-06

Yahoo has launched a sweet new airfare site. Not only does it do the expected fare comparison across several airlines, but it incorporates a highly-configurable, AJAX-based interface to let you filter results in real time. [via]
comment posted at 7:09 PM on Apr-20-06

The Bush administration is busy preparing for a possible military conflict with China. "The most important strategic decision the United States will make in the next decade is not about Iraq, Iran or North Korea. It is about China. What will America's basic attitude be toward the rise of China? And similarly, the most important strategic decision that Beijing will make in the next decade is: how should it relate to the United States? Depending on whether the answer to these questions is 'cooperation' or 'confrontation', one can imagine two very different 21st centuries." The Bush administration's containment strategy for China may herald the next cold war. [via]
comment posted at 1:55 AM on Apr-20-06

I am me and Rummy's he Iraq is free and we are all together See the world run when Dick shoots his gun, see how I lie
comment posted at 7:19 PM on Apr-20-06

A new study suggests that, over the course of its lifetime, a Hummer H3 has a lower energy cost per mile than all currently offered hybrid vehicles.
comment posted at 2:03 AM on Apr-20-06

"Americans using Internet to make Major Decisions." (Ahem) Where have we heard of anything like that?
comment posted at 12:09 AM on Apr-20-06

JetBlue Airlines' Route map has a little trick up its sleeve. When the Flash Route Map loads - click on a city, then hold down your computer's SHIFT key and then type the letters P B J. You will be....surprised. I know I was.
comment posted at 11:55 PM on Apr-19-06

How were you circumcised? A fascinating discussion of circumcision scar styles left by the different methods of circumcision. (NSFW, penis photos, slightly gruesome discussion of circumcision methods.)
comment posted at 12:03 AM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 12:04 AM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 12:06 AM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 9:53 PM on Apr-20-06
comment posted at 6:47 PM on Apr-21-06

LiveJournal adopts banner ads. SixApart has broken a longstanding promise/agreed-upon principle (recently deleted) and is adding banner ads to the service, which will be visible to the general public and approximately 95% of their users. Last year's April Fool's joke suddenly not very amusing anymore. Is SixApart's bubble a bit overinflated?
comment posted at 11:34 PM on Apr-19-06

“My God, you know, did I authorize putting a bra and underwear on this guy's head?” Rumsfeld “personally involved” in abuses at Guantanamo - according to a recently obtained (by Salon) army inspector general report which contains a sworn statement from a Lt. General
comment posted at 9:07 PM on Apr-18-06

Star Wars Kid Finally Gets Settlement Claiming to have been unable to attend school on account of being more famous than the kid who played the real Anakin Skywalker, Ghyslain "Star Wars Kid" Raza (original thread) finally gets his cut off of the three kids responsible for making sure he'll never, ever get a date. Sadly, the situation got so bad Ghyslain "let himself go and no longer lifted weights to keep fit." So much for a sequel.
comment posted at 6:25 PM on Apr-18-06
comment posted at 1:32 AM on Apr-19-06
comment posted at 2:59 AM on Apr-19-06
comment posted at 1:47 PM on Apr-19-06
comment posted at 11:47 PM on Apr-19-06

Your portrait painted like a propaganda poster. Become a socialist hero... in just 4 easy steps. To start, pick a poster from among the selection. Two weeks later, your painting is ready. (via STaAatCK)
comment posted at 11:18 PM on Apr-17-06
comment posted at 4:29 PM on Apr-18-06

What is a wikipedian? Every so often a Wikipedian comes to their senses, sees a problem with the way things are operating, and tries to do something about it. Tired of seeing articles carelessly deleted, censored, and then cherry picked as to what is "encyclopedic enough", several Wikipedia members formed "Wikipedians against censorship".
comment posted at 2:00 AM on Apr-18-06

In the latest salvo of the marketing wars, London ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi has taken the unique step of creating a new pop band that combines all the manufactured charm of the Spice Girls with all the serious musical chops of a female version of N'Sync (or, for the Brits out there, a female version of "Take That"). The band has yet to have a name, but they will be available to directly promote whatever item corporate sponsors pay Saatchi to have them promote.
comment posted at 11:15 PM on Apr-17-06