MetaFilter

The latest fad. You know you're really famous when there is a virus named after you. Avril lavigne gets digital punk.
comment posted at 3:24 PM on Jan-9-03

As our own Royal Family slams them, can we be certain of anything reported in the British press? Celebrity gossip is king: if an unpopular public figure isn't ruined, then they're dragged through the gutter by an amoral PR guru. Celebrities mysteriously go out with other celebrities, until their single reaches number one (usually they're with the same PR company). It happens all the time. And models have sex videos 'stolen', only for one newpaper to 'find' out and charge people to look (and trailers suddenly appear on Kazaa). Is nothing real?
comment posted at 3:38 PM on Jan-9-03

Another reason why we can't win. If we stay, we are labeled as imperialist agressors, keeping the two Koreas apart. If we leave, the South Korean economy will collapse as investors flee (and the North might well take the opportunity to invade again); we will then be blamed for causing South Korea to collapse. The only winning move is not to play. I say leave them to it and shrug when they come crying back to us for help.
comment posted at 10:42 AM on Jan-9-03

Join the mission to rig this poll by voting for the red bar. (You can vote a second time by deleting your GuardianUnlimited cookies.)
comment posted at 9:53 AM on Jan-9-03

Is there a Moore's Law for roller coasters? Ohio's own Cedar Point has announced it's newest record-breaking roller coaster - the Top Thrill Dragster. Here are the high points (pun intended):

• a 420-foot tower - the first coaster ever to top 400 feet
• top speed of 120mph - in 4 seconds
• a 90-degree turn at the top of the tower and an almost vertical drop back down

Downside - the whole thing lasts a mere 30 seconds. But I bet it's a fun 30 seconds. Can't wait to go.
comment posted at 8:43 AM on Jan-9-03

Michele's breasts are in your hands! Southern Cali college girl Michele bemoans her "itty-bitty boobies" and asks the world to decide whether she should surgically acquire a set of bodacious ta-tas by donating to her online implant fund. So far the fund has swelled to only $19.36, hardly the push-up Michele was hoping for and pretty far from the $4500 she needs to get [more inside] her Wonderbra. But perhaps Mefites have a silicone dollop of charity left after the holiday season. Then again, maybe this isn't the breast best way to spend your charity dollar. [via El Reg]
comment posted at 2:03 PM on Jan-8-03
comment posted at 3:08 PM on Jan-8-03

German in court over 'ironic' message board comment. I think we should talk about this. Very... carefully...
comment posted at 1:30 PM on Jan-7-03

Hopefully, the officials won't find a connection between the internet cafe and youthful violence. This smells of a problematic future.
comment posted at 12:38 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 2:32 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 2:54 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 3:08 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 8:35 AM on Jan-8-03

Latest cyberbegging: Help 2 nice Boston lesbians make a baby "What we're saving up for is SPERM! That's right ... those little swimmers cost a bundle...the sperm itself, which heterosexual women get for free all the time, intentionally or otherwise, costs a bundle! Upwards of $250 for a single shot." It seems to me that there might be...cheaper methods, but I would sooner give the 2 nice girls $ than this guy: "I don't have love, don't have career, the only thing is to pay more debts. now, I got very bad fever, and I could feel this world is gray. "
comment posted at 12:29 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 1:45 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 2:23 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 2:34 PM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 8:48 AM on Jan-8-03

I made my claim. Have you? This Web site was established to provide information about a proposed Settlement of lawsuits brought by Attorneys General of 43 states, Commonwealths and Territories, and by counsel for the Plaintiff Settlement Class entitled In re: Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation. You may be a member of the Settlement Group and your rights against Defendants may be affected if you are a person or entity that purchased these prerecorded Music Products from a retail store during the period of January 1, 1995 through December 22, 2000.
comment posted at 10:18 AM on Jan-7-03
comment posted at 10:25 AM on Jan-7-03

How Bush's economic stimulus proposal may affect you. An easy to understand explanation of what we might expect from Bush's tax cut proposal to be announced on Tuesday.
comment posted at 12:00 PM on Jan-6-03
comment posted at 12:09 PM on Jan-6-03

White House Silent on Racial Controversy. Bill Back, the California Republican party's vice chairman running for the top job, sent out an e-mail newsletter in 1999 that reproduced an essay that said "history might have taken a better turn" if the South had won the Civil War and that "the real damage to race relations in the South came not from slavery, but from Reconstruction, which would not have occurred if the South had won."
comment posted at 10:27 AM on Jan-6-03
comment posted at 11:41 AM on Jan-6-03
comment posted at 8:59 AM on Jan-7-03

Test your Hidden Bias. Tolerance.org has a set of Java-based tests designed to shed light on personal hidden biases w.r.t. race, gender, sexuality, and body image. Your results may surprise you. See also this New York Times article mentioning these tests and more rigorous studies.
comment posted at 11:56 PM on Jan-3-03

O-H-I-O! I know Metafilter's not exactly a huge group of sports fans, but this was a great (and unexpected) victory! Go Bucks!
comment posted at 9:48 PM on Jan-3-03
comment posted at 10:04 PM on Jan-3-03
comment posted at 10:07 PM on Jan-3-03

The Lost Boys of the Sudan are a group of nearly 17,000 orphans whose parents were murdered and whose homes were destroyed by a government miltary turned against them. They marched on foot, without food or water, under attack from hungry predators & occasional strafing miltary fire for several years until settling in a squalid refugee camp in Kenya; nearly a decade later, the U.S. began a humanitarian policy of importing them, a few at a time, and resettling the lucky few in cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, and even Fargo, N.D. (NYTimes, reg req'd)
comment posted at 9:41 PM on Jan-3-03
comment posted at 10:13 PM on Jan-3-03

Women in Marin taking their clothes off for peace. A group of Marin County (one of the wealthiest counties in USA) women plan to march naked through San Francisco on Jan. 18 to protest the possibility of war with Iraq. How many naked protesting women does it take to stop the war ???
comment posted at 6:02 PM on Jan-3-03

Against Their Will: Forced Sterilization of the "Feeble-Minded." Rich, beautifully designed site from the Winston-Salem Journal about forced sterilization in North Carolina, which continued far later than most other states due to the influence of a small group of elitist businessmen and the complicity of newspapers, politicians and doctors. Heart-wrenching Flash interviews, an interactive timeline and original documents like poems, pamphlets and charts provide hours of fascinating reading. The state has been refusing access to these records for decades.
comment posted at 6:16 PM on Jan-3-03

Padded Butt Brief. Too bad I prefer boxers.
comment posted at 4:17 PM on Jan-3-03
comment posted at 9:43 PM on Jan-3-03

Shaqzilla dethroned. Shaquille O'Neal, who warned Chinese citizen & #1 draft pick Yao Ming to "Look Out, Shaqzilla is coming" (presumably unaware that Tokyo is not part of China), has been dethroned; currently in fan balloting, he is running a distant second to the rookie for starting center in the All Star game. Even though his numbers are effectively double those of Yao's, even though he's a three time NBA Finals MVP.
comment posted at 5:32 PM on Jan-2-03
comment posted at 5:59 PM on Jan-2-03
comment posted at 6:00 PM on Jan-2-03

Star Wars Origami.
It's exactly what it sounds like: square pieces of paper folded in elaborate ways to look like characters and vehicles from the Star Wars epics. Fandom at its quirkiest.
comment posted at 5:28 PM on Jan-2-03

sick of rat beach? join al queda it does'nt get a lot better than this - is this guy the next john walker lindh ?
comment posted at 5:45 PM on Jan-2-03

SWAT tactics being used to combat public drunkenness in Fairfax County, Virginia. Go to a bar or restaurant and risk being "escorted" outside by teams police in full riot gear, given a sobriety test, and arrested if you've had more than a drink or two in under an hour. Thank god our tax dollars are being used to keep us safe from the danger of slightly tipsy people celebrating the holidays in establishments that legally serve alcohol. Not like they have anything better to do.
comment posted at 11:55 PM on Jan-1-03

The six finalists in the Pentagon Memorial design competition. The contest (official site) has "emerged as a kind of dress rehearsal" [NYT] for the upcoming World Trade Center competition. The Post reviewed the proposals, which will be narrowed to a winner on Feb. 21.
comment posted at 5:35 PM on Jan-1-03
comment posted at 9:40 PM on Jan-1-03

Rumsfeld helped Saddam during war with Iran, while they had precise information about daily use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas, nerve gas, anthrax, and sarin. He met Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and passed on the US willingness to help his regime and restore full diplomatic relations, in order to help Iraq win the war. [source: Guardian]
comment posted at 11:23 PM on Dec-30-02

Is the Ad Aware project dead? Luckily the SpyBot application is still being updated and its still free.
comment posted at 8:36 AM on Dec-27-02

Smallpox Vaccination? The New England Journal of Medicine made available today an early release of articles from their planned January 30, 2003 issue, designed "to help inform the current national debate about smallpox vaccination" [more inside....articles unfortunately available only in PDF....]
comment posted at 1:08 AM on Dec-20-02

With negotiations breaking down, the Chicago Cubs have decided to sue "rooftop clubs" that sell tickets to watch games on rooftops surrounding Wrigley Field. Apparently the tickets cost between $70-$130. The Cubs are claiming unjust enrichment and public performance of a copyrighted work, due to the "clubs" showing the games to patrons via television. (via the Trademark Blog)
comment posted at 8:01 AM on Dec-20-02
comment posted at 12:55 AM on Dec-21-02

augustadiscriminates.org is the website of choice for Martha Burk and the NCWO's "Hall of Hipocrisy", where they name the CEOs of companies who are members of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters golf tournament. Burk has protested that Augusta should be banned from holding the Masters because they have not let women into their membership. So far, the Masters will have no corporate sponsorship in its broadcast on CBS. A few execs and pols have exited the ranks of members. Will more happen in the coming months to open the doors to women? On a side note, you can check out theburkstopshere.com where you'll find a collection of links to websites protesting Martha Burk.
comment posted at 6:03 AM on Dec-19-02
comment posted at 6:47 AM on Dec-19-02