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The one think I can't stand is moisture.

Forktine — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:26:50 GMT

Would you buy a ~~pepsi blue~~ pantyliner from this man? How about if he takes off his shirt?
That was Brad, your sexy shirtless cookbook author, who is cooking up a special meal just for you. There's also hunky Trevor, who is vacuuming when you arrive, and laughs about how his mom makes him display his dozens of medical degrees before taking off his shirt. And there's Ryan, who takes a break from making toys for underprivileged kids and finding homes for kittens to, you guessed it, take his shirt off for you. With the camera nodding in agreement (and taking plenty of opportunities to check out their shaved abs), each caricature of idealized maleness earnestly makes plenty of eye contact while demonstrating the pads' absorbency. (SFW as long as your work doesn't mind cheezy beefcake earnestness. Via Salon & Fleshbot)

A Widow's Journey.

chunking express — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:06:41 GMT

A Widow's Journey [MP3]. "In 1989, Appapillai Amirthalingam - the most prominent political figure of the Tamil community - was assassinated at his home in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Twenty years on, the Tamil Tigers have been defeated by the military. Appapillai's wife and son travel back to their homeland in search of his legacy in an attempt to understand what the future holds for Sri Lanka's Tamil people."

World's first 'tree cathedral' takes root in Italy

aqsakal — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:01:46 GMT

World's first 'tree cathedral' takes root in Italy The remarkable work designed by Italian environment artist Giuliano Mauri [Italian Wikipedia link], who died last year, has been completed after months of work and presented as one of the initiatives marking the International Year of Biodiversity.

So this rocky outcrop in the Atlantic, it vibrates?

Biru — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:09:05 GMT

Charles Darwin, famous for his work On The Origin of Species, was also a secret terraformer.

More here.

Justice is a train that is nearly always late.

karminai — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:31:29 GMT

Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck gave an interview today describing the complexities of DNA evidence and why it is so pivotal in many appeals. What we hear referred to as "DNA evidence" can really mean any number of things: a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis that focuses on enzyme restriction sites; using a polymerase chain reaction to amplify a segment of DNA; or a short tandem repeat analysis, looking at small segments of repeated DNA in an individual's genome. These tests, he believes, must be done whenever possible-- because more and more, they are proving people innocent.
Scheck's goal, through the Innocence Project, is to reform the justice system. DNA evidence has already made leaps and bounds in the right direction, exonerating 258 individuals, including 17 who spent time on death row. Many of these false convictions are due to faulty eyewitness testimony. While compelling, eyewitness testimony is often deemed unreliable, especially when it involves the identification of perpetrators of another race. (Previously). This was a contributing factor in the false conviction of Ronald Cotton, who was sentenced to life plus fifty years in prison. The victim, Jennifer Thompson, purposefully examined the face of her attacker so she might be able to identify him to the police. Ten years later, the man that she identified-- man number 5, Ronald Cotton, was proved innocent. Thompson now advocates against the use of eyewitness testimony as primary evidence, explaining that even though she was positive Cotton was her attacker, she was wrong. When he was released, she told him, "Ron, if I spent every second of every minute of every hour for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to how my heart feels."

Quantum cats, or, Generation of Optical Coherent State Superpositions by Number-Resolved Photon Subtraction from Squeezed Vacuum

twoleftfeet — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:23:08 GMT

According to this paper, researchers build mysterious "Quantum Cats" from light.

Giant (time) Killer

From Bklyn — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:22:24 GMT

Best of You Tube.

Generating Buzz

mattdidthat — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:23:47 GMT

Beelboard for a public-awareness campaign. La traduction anglaise.

Donovan and Andy Williams and Martin Landau and Raymond Burr and oh my, my, my

item — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:20:49 GMT

Donovan madness: Andy's Love Concert* and Aliens From Spaceship Earth**
*Wednesday, March 19, 1969 ANDY'S LOVE CONCERT (NBC. 10-11 p.m.). Andy Williams offers his tribute to affection, with help from Jose Feliciano, Donovan and the brothers Smothers. (link sadly only goes to Donovan's contributions) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **"Aliens From Spaceship Earth" (this link goes to complete film - sketchy 'veoh player' required for viewing, however the above youtube link in the FPP goes to a compilation of Donovan's parts) is a "wild, deeply moving insider's view into the guru/yogi/cult/consciousness/alt. spirituality explosion of the 60s and 70s. With incredible archival footage and narrated by Donovan, who also provides the film's soundtrack, this forgotten jewel of a film has original footage of the most controversial and popular spiritual leaders of the time and their followers, including Sai Baba, Yogi Bhahan, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Guru Maharaj Ji, Sri Sathya, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Ram Dass and Father Yod (and the Source Family at morning meditation!!). This includes jaw-dropping footage of thousands of white, middle class young people walking across coals, recounting their kidnapping by "deprogrammers", chanting with shaved heads or long, long hair, and devoting themselves unconditionally, and with a deep satisfaction, to God Consciousness via their "alien" spiritual leaders. The film also features Cybil Shepard, Martin Landau, Chicago 7 activist-turned-mystic Rennie Davis, actors Leigh Taylor Young, Linda Day George, and Raymond Burr getting starry-eyed about their gurus and God consciousness."

Snoop Dogg Joins the War on Cybercrime

finite — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:47:55 GMT

Snoop Dogg and Norton Announce 'Hack is Wack' Video Contest To Raise Cybercrime Awareness

Kelly Meador and Daniel Elwing

netbros — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:30:58 GMT

Spheremetrical (Here With You) — from the Last Heist EP by Impactist, a directing duo with a diverse background in film production, design, animation, music, and the fine arts.

Polish this!

Fizz — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:37:12 GMT

50 Painted Nail Designs [via: buzzfeed] A selection of painted nail designs, ranging from the artistic to geeky.

The Authorized Guide and Companion to Dune

Rhaomi — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:30:44 GMT

Snippets of poetry from the Imperium; a sample folk tale from the Oral History; brief biographies of over a dozen Duncan Idahos; two differing approaches to Paul Muad'Dib himself and to his son Leto II; Fremen recipes; Fremen history; secrets of the Bene Gesserit; the songs of Gurney Halleck -- these are just some of the treasures found when an earthmover fell into the God Emperor's no-room at Dar-es-Balat. Out of print for more than two decades, disavowed by Frank Herbert's estate, and highly sought-after by fans, the legendary Dune Encyclopedia is now available online as a fully illustrated and searchable PDF [direct link].
[Note: If you're unfamiliar with the Dune series, see the opening section of this TVTropes article for a spoileriffic crash course.] Conceived and compiled by respected science fiction scholar Dr. Willis E. McNelly in 1984, the phonebook-sized Encyclopedia was a work of speculative beanplating unlike any other. Drawing on the contributions of dozens of experts in history, linguistics, theology, botany, and a score of other fields, it presented a series of approximately 200 essays and articles on the Dune universe, copiously cited and cross-referenced. The level of verisimilitude is striking, as the entire tome was written from the point of view of a "Library Confraternity" of in-universe scholars existing thousands of years after the events of the books. Accordingly, its ponderous, heavily-footnoted entries are rich with arcane detail, citing hundreds of fictional papers and books, and even contain realistic measures of error and misinterpretation. The comprehensiveness of the project was no accident. Dr. McNelly was a close personal friend of Frank Herbert -- he conducted an extended interview with the author and his wife in 1969 (previously), and penned a heartfelt eulogy after Herbert's death from pancreatic cancer seventeen years later. This close kinship was reflected in the Encyclopedia, which Herbert personally vetted and contributed a foreword to. A record of McNelly's writings on Herbert and the Dune series can be found on his memorial webpage, including a two-part piece on the development of the Encyclopedia, essays about Herbert's literary influences and love of wine, and a collection of writings on the role of science fiction in literature. Unfortunately, after Herbert's death, his estate placed less and less emphasis on Dr. McNelly's opus, opting instead to highlight the new novels being turned out by Herbert's son. Repeated requests for a reprint of the Encyclopedia were denied, and it was eventually relegated to official "non-canon" status. With McNelly's death and the expansion of the new series of books, this state of affairs is unlikely to change. Still, the Encyclopedia remains a fascinating work, perhaps the finest example of "fan fiction" in sci-fi history. Some highlights: [Note: All page numbers refer to this scanned PDF linked to in the FPP. If that version goes down or is removed, you can find another copy here. The character-recognition process is not perfect, and there are a few instances of mis-scanned words scattered throughout the book. If you want to view a direct xerox-style scan of the Encyclopedia -- albeit one with different page numbers and no search function -- see here.]

A Chronology of Some Important Events in Human History (pg. 7) - An extensive timeline of the Dune universe, which charmingly compacts all of human history to date into only nine entries. The chronological baseline has been moved from (approximately) the birth of Jesus to the foundation of the Spacing Guild in A.D. 16,200. This makes deducing the "correct" years a bit difficult, but fortunately the grunt work has been accomplished by this fansite (albeit in Comic Sans). Note that a handful of the early dates are a century off due to an error in the Encyclopedia -- "The Great Struggle" should be in 1400, "Discoveries in America" in 1492, and the "Battle of Englichannel" in 1588. Al-Harba, Harq (pg. 14) and Al-Harba Question, The (pg. 17) - A biography and analysis of the Dune universe's Shakespeare, including examples of his work and questions about his true identity. Arrakis, Astronomical Aspects of (pg. 33) - The first in a series of articles detailing planet Arrakis, the central world in the Dune mythos, as well as its environment and evolution. Atreides, Leto II: God Emperor of Dune (pg. 98) - An account of the son of Muad'Dib, whose actions shaped the course of the later novels over thousands of years of history, and whose hidden historical cache formed the fictional basis of the Encyclopedia. Atreides, Paul (pg. 113) - A sprawling biography and analysis of the single most pivotal character in the series: Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides, who founded a new religion and launched an epic holy war that changed the galaxy forever. Bene Gesserit Archives (pg. 157) - The first of seven articles describing the nature, history, and practices of the mysterious Bene Gesserit sisterhood. Follow-up articles include discourses on the Bene Gesserit Library and Chapter House on Wallach IX, their system of governance, their ranking system, their training techniques, and their extensive history (including hinted-at interludes as the driving force behind Wiccans, European royalty, and the Daughters of the American Revolution). Butler, Jehanne (pg. 194) and Butlerian Jihad ("The Great Revolt"); Its Cause and Effect (pg. 201) - An analysis of the Dune backstory's most central event paired with a biography of its most central figure. The Butlerian Jihad, a devastating war against "thinking machines," was Frank Herbert's way of constructing a baroque future not defined by advanced technology. The Encyclopedia's account of the Jihad differs significantly from later canon, most notably the controversial trilogy of prequel novels penned by Herbert's son Brian. Calendar, Standard Imperial (pg. 207) - An interesting exercise in devising a calendar system that spans tens of thousands of worlds. CHOAM (pg. 226) - An examination of how the "Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles" trading society helped maintain the balance of power between the feudalistic Houses over millennia of war and political upheaval. Family Atomics, History of (pg. 290) - Traces the evolution of nuclear weapons back to the ancient mists of "Old Terra" (20th-century Earth). Due to a serious case of Future Imperfect, the familiar outlines of World War II are heavily and amusingly distorted to adhere to the neo-feudal "House" system that dominates the world of Dune. Fremen: Cultural Development to the Year 10190 (pg. 314) - One of many articles exploring the culture and history of the Fremen people of Arrakis. Companion articles include an account of their Jihad against the rest of the galaxy (led by Paul Muad'Dib) and a detailed examination of their language and customs. Holtzman, Ibrahim Vaughn (pg. 419) and Holtzman Effect (pg. 423) - The strange and tragic tale of the lost scientist whose research produced, among other things, near-instant communication and convenient interstellar travel. Imperium, Feudal Patterns of (pg 470) - An explanation of the basic structure of the galactic government. Mentats, History of the Order (pg. 515) - The first of three articles outlining the "Mentats," human computers that have come to replace advanced AI. Orange Catholic Bible, the Fundamental Scripture of the Imperium (pg. 553) - Adapted from the Appendix of the first Dune novel (a much pithier essay, in my opinion: 1 2 3) and ostensibly written by protagonist Paul Muad'Dib, this article explores the history of the O.C. Bible, the revered "Accumulated Book" of pan-religious scripture that forms the foundation of faith in the Dune universe. Includes a rare list of the tome's constituent books, a roster of contributing faiths, and a follow-up essay analyzing its impact on Paul Muad'dib that's rich with O.C. Biblical quotes. Rakis Finds, Discovery (pg. 582) - An account of the discovery of Leto II's secret "no-room" that contained much of the information discussed elsewhere in the Encyclopedia. Shai-Hulud (pg. 618) - An overview of the monstrous sandworms of Arrakis: their biology, life-cycle, and their role in the production of the all-important melange. Spacing Guild, Foundation (pg. 629) - A history of the Spacing Guild, the consortium that controls all trade and transportation in the galaxy through their monopoly on melange and the mutated pilots who sustain themselves on it.

Fabulous Bonus: Open source advocate Tim O'Reilly's full-length biography of Frank Herbert, now available for free through his website.

The mystery and romance of the rice cooker

hippybear — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:58:44 GMT

"The thing is, he doesn't eat and he doesn't talk. Or rather, he can't eat and he can't talk. He hasn't for four years, ever since cancer took his lower jaw, and three attempts to rebuild his face and his voice failed." Roger Ebert is publishing a cookbook: The Pot and How To Use It. Previously.

The Mutable Universe

bearwife — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:53:43 GMT

Ye cannae change the laws of physics. Or can you? (Single link Economist article)

Enhance thirty-four to forty-six

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:27:04 GMT

BLADE RUNNER revisited >3.6 gigapixels - An experimental film in tribute to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (SLVimeo)

From protests to hostages.

mephron — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:06:00 GMT

Right now, James Jay Lee has hostages at the Discovery Channel buildings in the DC area. the DCist information on the situation.
This is a story about him from February 2008. this is his manifesto. This is a link to a local TV news station's live coverage of the situation. Apparently, the daycare was evacuated successfully. (I first heard about it from the twitter feed from ThinkGeek of all places.) Also, MrMoonPie posted about this in MetaTalk; I thank him for the DCist link - I only had the WaPo link.

next month at the altamount commemorative

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:01:05 GMT

Sleazefest: The Movie [rather nsfw] is a documentary of the first Sleazefest, a two day festival of bands, barbecue, b-movies and beer that took place in August of 1994 at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. The festival was extended to three days and became an annual event for the next decade.
Over the years the festival has featured such fine sleazy acts as Hasil Atkins, the Subsonics, the Woggles, the Friggs, Nine Pound Hammer, Starlotta, the 45s, Dexter Romweber, Southern Culture on the Skids, Speedway, and countless unnamed others.

Suffragette City

amyms — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:45:19 GMT

Though her nomination was a joke, instigated by a group of men hoping to inhibit the local activities of the Women's Christian Temperance Union by embarrassing female voters, Susanna Madora "Dora" Kinsey Salter surprised the pranksters by winning two-thirds of the vote in the mayoral election of 1887 in tiny Argonia, Kansas, becoming not only America's first female mayor, but also earning the distinction of being the first woman elected to any political office in the United States. Her official notice of election read: Madam, You are hereby notified that at an election held in the city of Argonia on Monday April 4/87, for the purpose of electing city officers, you were duly elected to the office of Mayor of said city. You will take due notice thereof and govern yourself accordingly. Though she only served one term and had no further political ambitions, she became a hero of the early women's suffrage movement.
The city marshal at the time of Salter's election (and one of her nominators) later told a newspaper, "We had a jollification, and when she took her seat like a man all our fun was busted." A contemporaneous booklet recounted the municipal elections of 1887 and 1888 in Kansas: Women's Suffrage in Kansas. Note: The article in the first link originally appeared in the Autumn 1954 edition of the Kansas Historical Quarterly, published when Salter was still alive and kicking at 94 years of age. Here's the same article, with a different link, because I don't know how much traffic the first site normally handles.

Oliver Sacks', The Mind's Eye

nickyskye — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:18:55 GMT

Oliver Sacks is surviving cancer of the eye, ocular melanoma. In his latest book, The Mind's Eye, he "tells the stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and abilities." In the interview, Sacks talks about his diagnosis, the after-effects of his radiation treatment (which include hallucinations that resolve themselves into words if he "smokes a little pot"), his apprenticeships with poets W.H. Auden and Thom Gunn, and the importance of science writing in an age when the authority of science is being undermined by religious zealots. Via MeFi's own, Steve Silberman, digaman.
This info comes via a new network of blogs launching today from PLoS.org, the Public Library of Science, that will also feature blogs by former SciAm editor in chief John Rennie and Pulitzer-prize winning author of "The Poisoner's Handbook," Deborah Blum.

Neil Stephenson(etc) releases The Mongoliad, a collaborative online writing experiment.

Stagger Lee — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:12:36 GMT

The Mongoliad. Previous, MeFi discussed new publishing formats, like the Shadow Unit web series. Now Neil Stephenson (And others) has debuted his own project, the casually hyped Mongoliad. The authors' intent seems to be an experiment with format, publishing to handheld devices, payment schemes, and the entire concept of intellectual property.

Bjørn Lomborg on global warming

stbalbach — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:33:37 GMT

Global warming skeptic Bjørn Lomborg changes position, saying global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront." He says in a new book forthcoming this year that governments should levy a tax on carbon and spend billions annually on research for new technologies. I suppose it's hard to ignore when 10 of 10 key indicators show the world is warming, and Lomberg is not the first prominent skeptic to change position.
Lomberg's 2001 The Skeptical Environmentalist has been for better or worse very influential, creating a mini-industry of Lomberg'ian pros and cons through the 2000s. This about-face has not impressed all his critics, some of whom see a skilled self-promoter able to "play the media" by simply "adopting a position already held by millions of sensible people." Mike Childs in the Guardian says "It appears that the self-styled skeptical environmentalist is beginning to become less skeptical as he enters middle age." Right wing media has often cited Lomberg, how will they react? It's possible Lomberg hasn't really changed his position. The Telegraph are distancing themselves saying Lomberg was always "a warmer" and this story of defection is a canard.

The story behind the music

TNLNYC — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:10:28 GMT

This is how a band gets promoted and why much of the music industry might still stand in the future. Florence and the machine has been discussed earlier on MeFi but this story highlights how a fan with good contacts can make a difference. Now, with a Youtube channel, a shot at getting a Video Music Award and a way to present their music to the US audience, they may be poised for a new breakthrough.

I Think We're Alone Now...

hermitosis — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:55:10 GMT

I Think We're Alone Now, the 2008 documentary about two people who stalk the '80s pop star Tiffany, is finally available on DVD (NetFlix). Since the film, Jeff Turner (who has Asperger Syndrome) has also been restraining-ordered for his romantic overtures toward Alyssa Milano. (Turner gives his side of that story here.)
The film joins the ranks of other documentaries like Grey Gardens, Crazy Love, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye, considered by some to exploit the mental illness of their subjects -- regardless of the fact that all these subjects have gone on the record as being extremely happy with the results. Rich at fourfour comments on this in his extremely thorough review of ITWAN.