The iTunes 5 Announcement From the Perspective of an Anthropomorphized Brushed Metal User Interface Theme.
posted by Tlogmer at 9:45 PM PST - 18 comments

Solutions For Grandeur Nicolas Sarkozy has become the most popular French politician by diving headfirst into the country’s most explosive political issues. If he has his way, this hyperactive, pro-American, Gaullist, free marketer will transform French politics for good. via
posted by Kwantsar at 9:25 PM PST - 1 comment

It should be mentioned wherever possible, and it should not stop until the mainstream media and all politicians realize that we, the people, will not stand for gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, nor the utter lies, any longer.
"We" the people? Or just a couple of blowhard bloggers? Do you feel a storm brewing?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:07 PM PST - 27 comments

The Davis-Bacon Act was passed in 1931 and requires all contractors for federally funded or assisted projects to pay their workers no less than the locally prevailing wage. The impetus for the act was a contractor from Alabama, hired to build a Veteran's hospital in Long Island, who brought a low-paid workforce with him rather than hiring more pricey locals. Organized labor is rather fond of this Act while others see it as racist and un-American. One provision allows the president to suspend the Act in times of national emergency, and now is one of those times.
posted by ewagoner at 8:42 PM PST - 18 comments

Know Thy Neighbor --playing hardball with those who sign a petition amending Massachusetts' Constitution to end same-sex marriage there. All who sign it will have their names and addresses posted on the site. It's the brainchild of Thomas Lang and Alexander Westerhoff, one of the first gay couples married in Massachusetts. A little more here, including this: ...altering the state Constitution is a big deal, and if the backers of this (or any) constitutional amendment can't find 66,000 Massachusetts residents who feel strongly enough about doing so that they're willing to make their support public, then maybe the measure shouldn't be on the ballot after all. ...
posted by amberglow at 5:57 PM PST - 158 comments

Norway is the world's third largest oil exporter and western Europe's largest gas producer. It has been saving oil revenues in a fund worth around $190 billion for future generations. Norway has an amazing welfare system. The Daily Show's book hit the nail on the head (pdf)(see 1967/93) Norwegians love hot dogs so much that a university professor wants to ban them. What an interesting country! They have a priest as their Prime Minister, but for how long? . Oslo, the country's capital, is the most expensive place to live... But minimum wage is far higher than in the US. They have had state accepted unions of same-sex couples since the early 90's. Norway isn't part of the EU.

Today Norway sits on approximately half of the remaining reserves of oil and gas in Europe.. And even though Norway's oil production has dropped, it still remains a huge supplier of oil to the US. But, no matter what, they will be okay.. Oh yeah.... the UN just said that it is the best place to live (pdf) in the world. (p.s The US went from 7th to 10th in the last year...wonder why?)
posted by thedoctorpants at 4:27 PM PST - 66 comments

LEGO case mod.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 3:42 PM PST - 16 comments

Watercolor galleries from Korea (2,3,4,5).
posted by Wolfdog at 3:19 PM PST - 5 comments

Paying for Katrina: Republican congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee suggested today that the costs associated with Katrina were 'good reason to at least delay' expanding the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Should the elderly and poor be expected to bear this burden?
posted by wadefranklin at 2:42 PM PST - 18 comments

Java applets to help visualize various concepts in math, physics, and engineering
posted by Gyan at 2:16 PM PST - 12 comments

Meanwhile, Malawi Withers
After a poor harvest that brought in 1.3 million tons of maize (well short of the 2.1 million tons needed) the United Nation made an $88m (66 million pounds) food appeal for Malawi ten days ago but has not received a single penny or pledge of aid from any nation so far.

Woops, check that, Ireland's just pledged a million euros. Only 65 million to go.
posted by fenriq at 1:56 PM PST - 13 comments

U.S. Can Detain Padilla Indefinitely. President George W. Bush was handed a major victory on Friday in his effort to assert sweeping presidential powers in the war on terrorism as a US appeals court upheld his authority to imprison indefinitely a US citizen captured on American soil.
posted by solistrato at 1:48 PM PST - 61 comments

Beautiful Gallery (Google Cache) of b & w photos of Germany from 1929. The shots look like something out of a fairy tale, or a Jean Cocteau film. Here are some favorites. Compare to this (all to brief) flickr gallery of photos from about 15 years later, during WWII.
posted by jonson at 1:25 PM PST - 16 comments

The Third Annual World Quoits Championship will be held tomorrow in Amityville, PA. This ancient game, related to the discus, involves pitching rings at a peg in the ground. Once widely played in the UK and US, the game of quoits has declined in popularity over the years, replaced in the US by its derivative--horseshoes (which are easier to throw and more likely to score “ringers”). Today, it’s a regional pastime, played primarily in PA, NJ and NY. Learn everything there is to know about quoits here. They’ll even find you a partner.
posted by jrossi4r at 12:39 PM PST - 6 comments

Shutterbook - "drag and drop photo sharing." A flash-based Flickr-esque photo community..."The service is similar to Flickr before Yahoo and while it is in an open beta at the moment, there will be a cost for the premium version..."
posted by tpl1212 at 12:22 PM PST - 19 comments

NYC Remembers: Public Service Audio and Video Ads

"It's our big September 11 sale! Take 30 to 40 percent off every item throughout the store! Plus early birds take an additional 10 percent off! . . . Doors open early and stay open late!" (Video Ad 3)

The ad is the creation of One Day's Pay (similar post from 9/11/04) a nonprofit group working to establish Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteering. [via]
posted by clgregor at 11:52 AM PST - 3 comments

Vintage Projects do it yourself plans, vintage reprints and building ideas from the 40's, 50's and 60's for farm, workshop, woodshop, machineshop, kids and camping. Includes plans for a pop-up camper, toy excavator, snow blower, and concrete block machine.
posted by Mitheral at 10:42 AM PST - 18 comments

Michael Brown, head of FEMA is relieved of duties. After a rocky week and increasing doubts about his background and experience (like a padded resume), Brown gets pulled from FEMA duty. Pretty surprising to see, given that the "CEO President" proclaimed "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" just a few days ago.
posted by mathowie at 10:31 AM PST - 207 comments

La Tomatina! Every year, on the last Wednesday in August, the world's biggest food fight takes place at the Plaza Del Pueblo in the small town of Buñol in Spain. In 2005, the streets ran red with juice of 25 tons of tomatoes.
posted by Gamblor at 10:10 AM PST - 13 comments

Katrinanomore&global; warming Welcome to the first web site in America dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the connection between hurricane Katrina and global warming. See below an essay just written by author Mike Tidwell that explains how climate change will soon turn every coastal city in America into another New Orleans unless we make a rapid switch to clean, renewable energy worldwide.
posted by Postroad at 8:57 AM PST - 40 comments

Born abroad. 7.5% of the UK's population was born outside the UK and Ireland. This fascinating mini-site from the BBC shows where they all came from, and where they live now. Immigration has been a hot-button issue in UK politics for a while now. In Scotland, they want more immigrants. In England, at least on the right, they want far fewer. The conservative right hate Europe, and hate immigration. Perhaps we'd better not tell them that Germans are the third-largest immigrant group (India and Pakistan at 1 and 2), while the USA-icans languish in 5th.
posted by athenian at 8:57 AM PST - 4 comments

The Guardian Newspaper is changing to a Berliner format. This follows similar moves by both The Independent and The Times. The familiar Guardian masthead is also being revised, with the familiar and much loved sans-serif font being replaced by an entirely new font.
posted by Elpoca at 8:48 AM PST - 42 comments

It isn't difficult to find a chess programme that is better at playing chess, but you won't find many that shows you what it is thinking. It also explains how it works. Rather fascinating.
posted by SharQ at 7:34 AM PST - 27 comments

The Chinese in California 1850-1925. The site is poorly designed. To get to the content click Essays & Galleries. To get to the photos, click on the (practically hidden) gallery link at the top right of each short essay.
posted by OmieWise at 7:17 AM PST - 8 comments

In the summer of 1995 there was a week-long heat wave in Chicago. Over 700 people died. Most of them were the elderly, poor, and African-Americans. Link above is a Slate article by Eric Klinberg who wrote the definitive Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (2003) in which he concludes that "a city, in its decision to operate like a corporation, experienced the breakdown of massive social services" and the resulting "widening cracks in the social foundations of America's cities".
posted by stbalbach at 6:25 AM PST - 18 comments

Planning on taking part in this Sunday's Freedom Walk? Better register today or you will face arrest on Sunday. If you'd rather cheer on the march instead, be prepared to peer over a four-foot high "snow fence."
posted by Otis at 5:28 AM PST - 97 comments

"We should not fight because it’s simply not worth it." Are these the words of a long-haired hippy? A neutral Swiss? A flip-flopping Democrat? A Frenchman in mid-surrender? Nope. It's from a speech by Texas Republican Ron Paul.
posted by Jatayu das at 4:44 AM PST - 29 comments

Yes, it's another Katrina post - sorry, but... this is a great photo essay from with New Orleans before, during and after Katrina. Besides some really interesting photography, it goes some way to showing just why people didn't leave before, or immediately after the hurricane - the sense of normality is astounding, given what we know now...
posted by benzo8 at 4:39 AM PST - 80 comments

Vint Cerf, "father of the internet", joins Google! It seems Google is going from strength to strength. Not content with buying up the world's dark fibre, they've now wooed Vint Cerf to work for them as "Chief Internet Evangelist" (what a great job title!) Vint's interview is here, and information on his major cause: the need for more IPs!
posted by tommyc at 3:38 AM PST - 23 comments

None Dare Call It Fraud: Harpers article on the report Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio.
posted by blue shadows at 1:25 AM PST - 75 comments

Rami Chami, a graduate student entering Tulane University, was among those who sought refuge in the Superdome. Chami was formerly an editor at the Indiana Daily Student, and has written a three-part series for the paper about the experience.
"The field before us, which would have been ideal to lay down on was empty, but off bounds. The field was manned by National Guardsmen who would not allow people on it. I was told by those around me that it was a multi-million dollar field which the stadium management did not want ruined."
"Our first choices for a bed that evening were: a wet floor, damp chair or in the reeking but dry hallway."
"The atmosphere in the dome had gotten incredibly tense and the soldiers were walking around with shotguns, which I assumed was an ideal weapon for close quarter combat."
posted by kyleg at 12:27 AM PST - 26 comments

New Orleans Flood in Your City Map overlays of the New Orleans flood over various US cities.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:52 PM PST - 43 comments

House and Senate GOP leaders announce the (Republican dominated) "Hurricane Katrina Joint Review Committee" which should ensure that no-one near the top of the (Republican Dominated) chain of command is in any danger of repercussions over the death of a great American city. In fact, it seems likely that incompetence will be richly rewarded: representative Waxman thinks that a Provision in Katrina Emergency Bill Leaves Government Open to Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. But that's nothing! Despite near-universal opprobrium as a dysfunctional bureaucracy led by an unqualified political appointee, FEMA will receive nearly all of the funds approved on Thursday -- $50 billion... (all links via TPM)
posted by dinsdale at 10:29 PM PST - 44 comments

NO First Responders and their families are getting some time off in Las Vegas. In the wake of two suicides and lots of resignations, some first responders are being rotated out to get a break from the stress of responding to the disaster. The trips are being paid for by the Red Cross as well as donations from Station Casinos and Allegiant Air. The first group arrived Tuesday, and gets five days to check out the town and get some rest - sleeping in soft beds, eating hot meals, gamble if they please and maybe catch a show or two. Other cities like Atlanta are also participating in helping the first responders get away from the disaster zone to get a break.
posted by SirOmega at 10:26 PM PST - 8 comments

Lustron House "We were revolutionizing a whole industry," said Richard Jones, former Lustron vice president of sales. "We were saying with our house: 'You put down a hammer and a saw and pick up a wrench.'" Though radical in its use of porcelain enameled steel, the Lustron house — a one-story, gabled-roof ranch with a bay window and side porch — looked much like other postwar-era dwellings. Behind its traditional façade, however, lay the hopes and expectations for a new era in American housing.
posted by goalyeehah at 9:54 PM PST - 12 comments

Three days after Katrina hit, on September 1st, Red Cross national president Marsha Evans 'first made the request to undertake the operation' ... 'to enter New Orleans with relief supplies', but the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness 'rebuffed' the request. As events unfolded, 'the Red Cross never launched its relief effort in the city' -- as reported by CNN. Fox News (transcription) broke this story with a slightly different perspective. Somewhere in between, I am sure, lies the truth.
posted by mischief at 9:03 PM PST - 38 comments

OpenDemocracy It's terrible terrible that the one institution which was created at the end of World War II to prevent any future wars from occurring. It is going to be the next place where these fasicists are going to be gunning for.
posted by N8k99 at 8:29 PM PST - 37 comments

Genes Reveal Recent Human Brain Evolution. Two important new papers in the journal Science (available here) from the evolutionary geneticist and rising star, Bruce T. Lahn (see this recent profile from The Scientist), are potentially the tips of some very large icebergs. The papers document how two genes related to brain properties that underwent strong selection during the course of hominid evolution, have continued undergoing strong selection since the emergence of anatomically modern man. The papers wonderfully illustrate how biological evolution is an ongoing process as well as the artificial distinction between “micro” and “macro” evolution, and promise to be controversial for two reasons: First, the brain genes underwent the strongest selection during two periods of cultural and technological efflorescence (roughly 37,000 and 5,800 years ago). Second, the genes are distributed very differently in modern human population groups, existing at very high frequencies in some groups and being very rare in others, ensuring that the modern function of these genes will be a source of more research and much impassioned debate. More observations from anthropologist John Hawks.
posted by Jason Malloy at 7:29 PM PST - 53 comments

In an interview with American ABC TV news to be broadcast on Friday (US time), Colin Powell , former Secretary of State, describes his speech to the UN Security Council on Iraq's WMD capabilities as "a blot" on his record. "I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now," [Powell] said. Finally, some recognition of this fact, albeit two years too late.
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:43 PM PST - 60 comments

Rappers I Know - FMJU presents 31 days of the "best shit you've never heard" for download. Featuring Talib Kweli, De La Soul , Oh No (Madlib's brother), J-Zone and the Kanye West "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" Gold Digger remix, a response to Hurricane Katrina from The Legendary Knock Out Boyz. ...and much, much more.
posted by SweetJesus at 5:54 PM PST - 39 comments

View the Pacific Walrus community at Alaska's Walrus Island State Game Sanctuary via their handy webcam. However, do your viewing soon as the camera will be going offline for several weeks starting tomorrow due to annual hunting by Alaskan Natives and their wishes for privacy . (yes, the animals in the last link are seals, but it illustrates why they don't want this broadcast live)
posted by numlok at 5:17 PM PST - 3 comments

On live TV, irate Miss. man tells Cheney to "self-copulate" Thus turns the karmic wheel ? Recall: over a year ago VP Cheney said ' "I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it," after he told Vermont Senator Patrick Leahey - on the floor of the US Senate - to "Go f_ck" himself. Today, during Cheney's tour of storm damaged Miss., a resident approached Cheney's press meeting and shouted: "Go f_ck yourself, Mr. Cheney!!  Go f_ck yourself!!!". The exhortation was aired on at least one national cable channel. Here is the video ( ALT ). The LA Times,CNN, and FOX are carrying the story.
posted by troutfishing at 3:34 PM PST - 126 comments

A Passion for Pachinko
posted by Rothko at 3:30 PM PST - 9 comments

Japanese Castles.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:03 PM PST - 14 comments

Creative COW (Communities Of the World) seems to be a one-stop... stop... for help with After Effects, Combustion, and other industry software of just about any type. While some (nevertheless incredible) tutorials are a bit difficult to decipher, they could also be much worse. The focus looks mostly to be on After Effects and other Motion Graphics software, but the forums are invaluable for just about anything you might need. Of particular note would be the Demo Reels forum, where anyone from Editors to Directors of Photography, and even Game Developers (former or otherwise) can post reels for criticism and even be approached for work. Some of them are incredible, even if you're not involved in the industry.
posted by shmegegge at 2:44 PM PST - 8 comments

Tolkachev, A Worthy Successor to Penkovsky [via]
posted by event at 2:35 PM PST - 8 comments

Lucy and Ethiopia From a favorite mailing list, I receive my dose of satellite images. One of the images this week is from Ethiopia. Reading the text they provide, you’ll see this is the area where ‘Australopithecus afarensis’ hails from; she is know as Lucy to most of us. Why Lucy? Because Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was playing on the radio when they found her. The site also lead me to this guy, who has the title Paleo-Artist and has rather interesting artwork on his site.
posted by fluffycreature at 1:42 PM PST - 1 comment

Vancouver's elite Urban SAR team has been and returned, having helped out in New Orleans in the way they were trained. There's more help on the way from Canada, in the form of Operation Unison; this includes a a Canadian Navy flotilla consisting of the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan, the frigates HMCS Toronto and HMCS Ville de Quebec and the Canadian Coast Guard boat tender HMCS Sir William Alexander. The flotilla carries around 1000 servicepeople, many of them medical and rescue specialists, in addition to engineering and construction crews. Additionally, forty Canadian navy clearance divers will be accompanying the relief force. Despite recent diplomatic spats between our two nations (notably over Iraq, cattle and softwood lumber) we remain good neighbours. After U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci's departure Canada was awaiting an even worse adversary in replacement Ambassador Wilkins. And yet, despite Wilkin's lack of knowledge of things Canadian, he appears to have a significantly greater measure of humility than dick-swinging Cellucci ever did. In any case, as "irrelevant and disappointing" as Canada is to the likes of Bill O'Reilly, we're on our way to help our friends to the south.
posted by illiad at 11:36 AM PST - 51 comments

6.8 Ghz Quantum personal supercomputer. 1 terabyte of non-volatile quantum-optical RAM, 2 terabytes of mass storage in non-volatile quantum-optical ATA-IDE. All solid state, no moving parts. In a fscking laptop. With an 8 hour battery life. Debuting at CES 2006. (Warning: Ugly website. Possible vaporware. Lots of pictures, though.)
posted by loquacious at 11:33 AM PST - 56 comments

Blame the tree-huggers? The national Sierra Club was one of several environmental groups who sued the Army Corps of Engineers to stop a 1996 plan to raise and fortify Mississippi River levees.
posted by flyboy at 11:18 AM PST - 43 comments