~metafilter | Bookmarks (989)

Shelved by Genre is a podcast [Apple link and RSS feed] where Cameron Kunzelman, Michael Lutz and Austin Walker discuss science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction books (and the occasional movie), in great detail. The first season was on Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, the second on Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle, followed by a season on Junji Itō, and they...

Start off strong with Sixth Wonder - BRUTAS, then get a little more melodic with HURANOVA - TAKE ME FIRST and REEBZ - "Hallucination", bump up the intensity with THE HELLFREAKS - Weeping Willow, and end with an oldie that really should have gotten more traction: Straight Line Stitch "Remission".

Every Friday morning, dozens of children ride their bikes to school as one large, highly organized group. They call it the bike bus and it's been a huge hit for kids, parents and teachers. Kids ride to school in the fresh air in NYC, Boston, Los Angeles, Portland, Fairhaven, MA, and...maybe your school district?Make Way for the Bike Bus [NYT]. Want your kids to...

At first, zero caused confusion. "Its ability to represent 'nothing' and enable complex mathematical operations challenged deeply ingrained theological and philosophical ideas," Nieder said. Particularly due to the influence of the church, philosophers and theologians associated "nothing" with chaos and disorder and were disinclined to accept it. Many even feared it, considering it "the devil's number," Barnett said. from How the Human Brain Contends...

OCTOBER 22 IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!!! EVERY YEAR WE GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SALMON FOR TOAST, EVERY YEAR WE GET A CROCKETY BLOAT, EVERY YEAR WE GET DRUNK ON THE DOCKS, AND EVERY YEAR WE HAVE SEX WITH OUR CAPS LOCKS!11!!

A study, a scare and a long silence. How menopause became a health crisis for Canadian women. Women in their 40s and 50s are suddenly being hit by menopause symptoms at the peak of their careers — and finding little help in the health system.

Have A Cigar as performed by the most excellent LA funk band The Main Squeeze.Lots more covers and originals on the Main Squeeze YT channel.

Rookie washashore wins historic derby prize! The annual derby always has great memories......but the boat used to be bigger.

This had to mean something. I thought about the prophecies of ruined cities in the Bible. Nineveh and Babylon, empty of human life, inhabited only by birds: "The cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the lintels; their voice shall be at the windows; desolation shall be at the threshold." Ruined granaries where a few sparrows still peck for the last wedged-in flecks of...

At the 2024 World Crokinole Championship Series, Justin Slater (fresh off his win in the World Crokinole Doubles Division) and Connor Reinman (the defending World Crokinole Champion) met in the semi-finals and managed a double perfect game. Confused? The Pudding has an interactive explainer.The Pudding mentions 'the one-cheek rule,' but doesn't elaborate. Tracey Boards explains. Crokinole previously and previouslier.

Toilet lines are longer for women than men, but simple changes could reduce loo queues. Queuing is never a pleasant experience, especially if you're desperate to go — and while new research has revealed it's an issue that disproportionately affects women, experts say that tweaks to building codes could help reduce the problem.

+++ATH0: Ward Christensen, co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), has died at the age of 78. Christensen, along with Randy Suess, created the first BBS in Chicago in 1978, leading to an important cultural era of digital community-building that presaged much of our online world today.Christensen and Suess developed the software behind CBBS to allow Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE) members...

Why did everyone fall for the J1407b myth? is 12 minute video essay that starts off as discussion about a cool astronomical mystery but becomes a measured, well-argued rant about knowledge in the age of Google and LLMs. It is by YouTuber Kyplanet who makes weekly videos about cool astronomical things, mostly exoplanets.

"I read the words Gibbet Hill and I knew that wasn't a Bram Stoker story that I had ever heard of in any of the biographies or bibliographies." Wikipedia entry.

The human body is almost always at the centre of artist Joyce Lee's work, often transformed into psychedelic penis-shaped mushrooms or vulvic flowers exuding sticky pearls. These surreal metamorphoses move the viewer away from reality and into imaginary spaces, where desire and the body's experience of pleasure are the main focus. Over-the-top sexuality is combined with visual gags to lend the images a bizarre...

William Shakespeare on mass deportation, performed by Ian McKellan On May 1, 1517 — now referred to as Evil May Day — riots broke out in London as a response to an influx of immigrant workers. A young Sir Thomas More spoke to the crowd, and Shakespeare (a few decades later) wrote his version of that speech.A more polished version can be found here...

The Facebook of Margery Kempe.Margery Kempe (c. 1373 – after 1438) was an English Christian mystic, known for writing through dictation The Book of Margery Kempe, a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. Her book chronicles her domestic tribulations, her extensive pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and the Holy Land, as well as her mystical conversations with...

British Columbia goes to the polls [Global]. A rather complicated situation in BC: the old opposition party, BC United, quit (or at least its leader did)[CBC], and handed things over to the Conservatives. A bunch of BC United's candidates are running as independents [CBC]-- this includes five incumbents. So the Right-wing vote is split. Meanwhile, the Green Party seems to be doing okay (14%...

"Andy Capp is often dismissed as nothing but the exploits of a wife-beating drunk," Paul Slade says. "It deserves better." ... The Redemption of Andy Capp is an appreciation of Andy Capp's creator, Reg Smythe and his skills as a world-class cartoonist. There was far more to the strip than people realise today." [via mefi projects]

On the University of Michigan's DEI initiative. Nicholas Confessore (previously) reports on UM's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. (Gift link; X/Twitter thread introduction)A critical response by Dr. Tabbye Chavous, Vice Provost for Equity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer. R/Professors discussion. In discussing his article, Confessore recommends two recent articles on state universities.

Earlier this week, Paramotorist Alex Lang was flying around the Giza plateau when he spotted an unexpected sight - a dog frolicking on of the Great Pyramid barking at birds. Don't worry, the dog proved they knew what they were doing!

How future-proofing Victoria's forests could help save the state's iconic emblem. A Victorian emblem — the lowland Leadbeater's possum — is dangerously close to extinction, with only a few dozen left in the wild in a small forest patch in the Yarra Ranges.

The update offered some improvements! I appreciated the vertical orientation of its scientific mode, because turning your phone sideways is so 2009; the continuing display of each operation (e.g., 217 ÷ 4 + 8) on the screen until I asked for the result; the unit-conversion mode, because I will never know what a centimeter is. But there also was a startling omission: The calculator's...