flight of the vikings
being something of a weenie, i'm not much of an extreme sports junkie myself. but these guys jumping off cliffs in norway with wingsuits make the whole experience look almost graceful.
via metafilter
Entered by taylor wagen on 01.05.2009 at 9:10
Comments : 1

repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
Zune freezes up
last night at midnight thousands of zunes started locking up due to some sort of bug associated with the leap year.
Entered by jeremy carter on 12.31.2008 at 21:11
Comments : 2

i live my life like there's no tomorrow
soundboards have been a staple of crank calls for years. the usual samples are all available, as well as some odd ones - like the david lee roth 'runnin with the devil' soundboard.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.30.2008 at 21:34
Comments : 0

save your central north american republic money, boys...
a certain mr. panarin, a former kgb analyst, has long predicted the breakup of the US in 2010, but now he's getting a lot more attention in the russian press.
if all goes down as predicted, i will be living in the central north american republic, either as a part of canada or under canadian influence. taylor will be in the texas republic, either a part of mexico or under mexican influence (apparently mr. panarin doesn't remember the alamo). alaska will conveniently revert to russia.
Entered by Jonathan Reibsamen on 12.29.2008 at 9:56
Comments : 0

It's a Wonderful Life
So I'm watching It's a Wonderful Life and George Bailey is going to jump off a bridge over $8,000. Granted, we are in an economic crisis, but I don't see anybody jumping off a bridge for $8,000. So what is that worth today? Here's a website that helps you calculate the present value of money based on different factors. The CPI (generally considered the inflation rate), GDP per capita, GDP deflator, Value of the $8,000? $84,889.25 using the Consumer Price Index $68,534.07 using the GDP deflator $130,155.36 using the value of consumer bundle $145,333.33 using the unskilled wage $232,605.60 using the nominal GDP per capita $496,896.09 using the relative share of GDP
Entered by marco perez on 12.24.2008 at 21:23
Comments : 0

that doctoral thesis just got a bit easier
the 2008 ieee csse (computer science and software engineering) conference will include a paper by herbert schlangemann titled towards the simulation of ecommerce. unfortunately, the mr schlangszinger isn't available for the conference per se, since the paper was actually generated by some paper-generating software.
you can try your own hand at generating random cs papers using the automatic cs paper generator. not your cup of tea? maybe you need web economy buzzwords or help with web 2.0.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.24.2008 at 9:40
Comments : 1

Turn in your Bibles to chapter 11 (and other religion news)
More from the Journal this morning: an interesting article on churches filing for bankruptcy protection in record numbers (ironically, many after big building campaigns that appeared successful until the "faith promise" gifts failed to come in).
Also, there's an article about how Bible publishers are repackaging the already-best-seller-every-year book for niche markets.
Entered by Jonathan Reibsamen on 12.23.2008 at 9:18
Comments : 1

At the Corner of Wall Street and Madison Avenue
The Wall Street Journal has posted its list of the best and worst ads of 2008. Make sure you've seen them all, so you can sound informed at the watercooler.
Entered by Jonathan Reibsamen on 12.23.2008 at 9:04
Comments : 0

prop comics be warned!
the city council of brighton, michigan, has now made it illegal to be annoying. carrot top and carlos mencia have yet to be reached for comment.
Entered by the_andude on 12.22.2008 at 19:54
Comments : 0

clicky clicky clickity clicky
a laugh out loud cat.
playin it cool.
dolphins. lots.
let us dive into icey water.
fencing, late in life (bizarre, but kind of fantastic).
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.22.2008 at 11:58
Comments : 0

discover more frozen beauty
the new yorker's pop music critic identifies the best music video of the year. i'm not sure i can emphasize just how much you need to see this video.
it's by chris dane owens, and, since you will be hungry like a hippo for more data on him, i offer this latimes interview with him.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.22.2008 at 10:31
Comments : 3

discover the frozen beauty
the ultimate intersection of lego and star wars: a truly impressive ice planet hoth scene, complete with every detail you could ever want.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.22.2008 at 10:06
Comments : 1

get saved
the nytimes lede blog reports on italy's bailout of cheese makers (specifically, parmesan). of special note is their collection of the puns used by various news outlets in their coverage; the grand prize goes to the ft's editorial(registration required to read the whole thing; but the first two paragraphs are really quite sufficient.)
excerpt:
The move has already grated producers of other cheese varieties. Makers of buffalo mozzarella, for instance, fear that without dipping into a fondue of government cash they too may fall by the whey-side. The blood of some economic observers has curdled at the thought of the Italian government rescuing any and every industry facing difficulty. Unlike the cheese itself, the case for protecting parmigiano has not been easy for some to digest.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.19.2008 at 8:49
Comments : 0

the war continues
bread and circuses has been getting buckets of attempted spam posts lately. kind of odd since it's a homegrown site that someone would have to specifically target, and even more strange since only about 10 people read it. but anyway...i've been doing battle with various spammers for a few years, adding filters, checks, and other behind the scenes hurdles in an attempt to close the door to 'viagra!', 'debt!', and other suck boring posts.
the latest trick we're going to employ is recaptcha. it's one of those 'recognize the twisty letters' puzzles that is supposed to be easy for humans and hard for automated spam bots, but the twist is that by recognizing the letters you're helping to digitize books, newspapers, and other old timey paraphernalia.
those of you who post without logging in (i think somebody did that one time) will see the captcha. if it doesnt work, let me know and i'll see what i can. otherwise, on with our regularly scheduled program.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.17.2008 at 16:35
Comments : 1

sky maul
while on a recent plane, ride, corin and i played a game to find the worst, tackiest, most absurd item in the skymall catalog (my vote was the thomas kinkade holiday tree, yours for $149). it looks like someone else was playing as well since they have a list of the best worst of skymall 2008.
via not cot.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.17.2008 at 10:22
Comments : 1

cool as ice
soccer practice.
the bail out.
like running from the cops.
commercial for superfly pink nike cleats.
retch. retchhhhh.
soulja boy.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.16.2008 at 11:03
Comments : 0

do you see what i see
japanese super scientists have devised a plot to read images from your brain. as in, they scan your skull and can create a picture of what you are seeing (the first link has some pictures that are pretty amazing).
this is the sort of thing that screams internet hoax, but there is a scientific looking article behind a pay wall so maybe it's legit.
via metafilter and everywhere.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.12.2008 at 8:42
Comments : 0

pretty as jade
the journal of the max planck institute adorned its recent issue regarding china with what they thought was an elegant chinese poem, but which actually was an ad for a chinese brothel.
via metafilter
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.11.2008 at 12:25
Comments : 0

ironically, it's called the killacycle
the worlds fastest electric motorcycle will do 0-60 in less than 2 seconds, and can do the quarter mile in 7.89 seconds. for comparison, my riced out [ok, stock] 1998 accord will fly through the 1/4 in about 16 seconds. but enough about me.
watch one of the scientists who works on the bike try to do a burnout, and get traction and wreck instead.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.11.2008 at 11:36
Comments : 0

you want some of this?
the wall street journal has a fluff piece on parental violence at the local chuck e cheese. of special note was the incident in flint, in which, "police responded to a brawl involving around 85 people. it began when three women fought after pepper gas was sprayed. people then flooded outside and the fight continued in the back parking lot."
my wife and i have a pact to avoid chuck e cheese; they often smell like dirty diapers to us, which makes eating pizza difficult.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.10.2008 at 14:11
Comments : 1

we do not have such creatures here
tanuki, sometimes called japanese racoon dogs, are known in japanese folk lore as being mischevious, jolly, and somewhat absent minded. strangely, they are also usually depicted as having unusually large testicles.
via metafilter
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.10.2008 at 10:16
Comments : 1

easy listening
rock your headphones just a little too loud in the elevator and share the music.
Grace_Jones-Williams_Blood_aeroplane_remix.mp3 i really like this remix; it's got a nice core vocal (grace jones), and the mix starts with a nice backup to her style, and then heads off in a completely different direction about halfway through.
El_Perro_Del_Mar-Ault_Lang_Syne.mp3 an indie new years eve. more available: 1, 2, 3, 4
Matt_Pond_PA-Amazing_Life.mp3 mellow indie folk, good for simple listening on a gray day. debated about posting it since it's not really going to grab anyone, and his voice isn't arresting enough to pull you in, but i think there's a good place for this type of thing.
School_Of_Seven_Bells-I_Am_Under_No_Disguise.mp3 first time i heard this it struck me as so similar to the cocteau twins that i didn't recognize it as 'school of seven bells' (last time i made this comparison between these bands it was a remix of the 7 bells done by robin guthrie of the cocteau twins). anyway, think atmospheric girl indie rock. more available: 1, 2, 3
Herbert-Leave_Me_Now.mp3 kind of like trip hop but without any of the dark/trip elements. easy listening done indie epop. more available: 1, 2, 3, 4
Little_Boots-Meddle_Baron_Von_Luxxurys_Technicolor_Remix.mp3 a little smoothed over from a normal little boots track; not sure if this is quite enough to post or not, i've wavered - but here we are, posting it. more available: 1, 2, 3
My_Brightest_Diamond-Tainted_Love.mp3 several of you are fans of miss zirconia; her tainted love cover is entertaining enough for a listen. more available: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Vieux_Farka_Toure-Ana_pocketknife_remix.mp3 another nice pocketknife remix of some african music by toure.
School_Of_Seven_Bells-My_Cabal_robin_guthrie_mix.mp3 robin guthrie (of cocteau twins fame) mixed this up; if you're not familiar with the cocteau twins, listen to this. they're known for their distinctive sound, which was at once atmospheric and full/large/wall-ish. more available: 1, 2, 3
Thievery_Corporation-The_Heart_Is_A_Lonely_Hunter.mp3 thievery corp track featuring david byrne; bigger names than the usual free stuff. exactly what you'd expect from these guys working together.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.09.2008 at 10:27
Comments : 0

whip it real good
adam winrich is not just any entertainer. he is more than a whip cracker. he has a website, with pictures of him cracking whips at what look to be frontier festivals. he made a video demonstrating the various ways to crack a whip.
many of you are probably dreaming of becoming indiana jones about now, but i can't help remembering that scene in laura ingalls wilder's 'farm boy' where the teacher defends himself from the thug kids with a bull whip.
metafilter!
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.09.2008 at 9:06
Comments : 1

standing under a gold mine
The Hair Trader
I'm not sure why this is awesome. It is though.
Entered by bil on 12.09.2008 at 6:45
Comments : 1

don't poop herrings
i know that spain likes to think of itself as the head of spanish-speaking culture, but they have some serious needs when it comes to christmas traditions. to be fair, this is in catalonia specifically. here's a sample song to whet your lips:
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.08.2008 at 15:50
Comments : 0

macho men
health update time...first, 'scientists' have decided that "a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people." apparently "the basic male tool kit is under threat". apparently half of the male fish found in lowland rivers in britain were found to be growing eggs in their testes.
also, some other britishers have discovered that the virus behind the cold sore is linked to alzheimers.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.08.2008 at 8:08
Comments : 1

holiday fear
has anyone seen kyle?
federal bail out application.
collapse iceland in 10 steps (sick of econ stuff yet?)
vader bowls.
ninja horse.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.05.2008 at 14:44
Comments : 1

kazaam
a few celebrity tech news bits have recently come to light.
shaq twitters.
obama uses a zune.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.04.2008 at 9:37
Comments : 0

accidental floaties
australian lad's mag 'ralph' is having some trouble with their holiday promotion after losing 130,000 inflatable breasts at sea. the give away was intended to be a promo in the coming month, but it's much nicer to think of them bobbing around the south seas en masse. i particularly like to imagine a ship going down, and all the passengers surviving thanks to the happy coincidence of 130,000 inflatable breasts.
via the inquirer
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.03.2008 at 9:39
Comments : 0

Where does he get those wonderful toys?
Here is PC magazines list of "Technology for the Obscenely Wealthy." My favorite choice is the Hardcore Reactor Extreme PC.
Entered by marco perez on 12.02.2008 at 18:27
Comments : 1

santa claws
santa can be scary to lots of kids. my parents never pushed the santa spiel on me, so it's always seemed a bit weird to take your kids to the mall to have them sit on some weird guys lap, but this is quite important to some families. or so i have gathered.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.02.2008 at 15:26
Comments : 0

a giant has left us
a sad salute to the passing of zima, which has ceased production. slate has a piece titled, "the long, slow, torturous death of zima" covering the beverages history.
you may still be able to find the drink in stores while inventory is cleared; best hurry though.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.02.2008 at 15:24
Comments : 0

my pretty
aesthetics stuff from the web. speaking of aesthetics, after my run yesterday some woman at a bus stop told me i "have real pretty legs."
how to write like an architect (i've always wished my handwriting looked like this).
make croquetas out of those mashed potato leftovers.
the magic of makeup.
spector becomes an isp.
minimalism to the max.
and...last, some earrings by lauren lowe.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.02.2008 at 11:38
Comments : 0

2fast2furious
ken block does a bit of drifting (the video is better than it sounds). apparently it's a gymkhana exhibition.
thanks, jason.
Entered by taylor wagen on 12.01.2008 at 12:42
Comments : 0

special like everyone else
ha ha! my cat tried to attack a squirrel through the window! ha ha!
oh wait... so did everyone else's.
nevermind.
Entered by Jonathan Reibsamen on 12.01.2008 at 9:23
Comments : 0

buildings weird and wonderful
Some strange buildings, and some more strange buildings. I've only been to one of them. I didn't know any thing about this one, an interesting story in itself.
via metafilter
Entered by Jonathan Reibsamen on 11.28.2008 at 10:33
Comments : 1

give a hoot
the broken window theory, after weathering some negative press the past few years, has received some emperical backing.
Entered by taylor wagen on 11.24.2008 at 13:03
Comments : 3

running to stand still
rediscover running outdoors with the revolutionary mobile treadmill; perfect for those times when you want to run or walk outdoors. be sure to avoid steep downhills though.
this got me thinking about creating an exercise bike that could be used outdoors on streets and stuff.
via metafilter
bonus: japan has a treadmill and cookies game.
Entered by taylor wagen on 11.24.2008 at 11:52
Comments : 0

falling from the sky
> than meets the i .
get some sick flames on the fender.
i can't hear you (jjjosh shout out).
medical humor.
piranha bite.
Entered by taylor wagen on 11.24.2008 at 9:36
Comments : 0

steady old boy
"keep calm and carry on" - the history of the poster. apparently they actually weren't distributed (during WWII) and weren't found until recently.
some modern versions: panic and onoz
via metafilter
Entered by taylor wagen on 11.20.2008 at 9:00
Comments : 0