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Single Link Blog. It comes up often in AskMeFi what British mysteries are good to watch. Timothy Barron's website is very helpful in answering these questions, particularly when you're looking for something similar to what you've enjoyed in the past. Barron has kept up his site for decades now, updating it pretty much as new series of shows are introduced. [more inside]
posted by drossdragon at 4:01 PM - 5 comments

London, like New York, is often too busy, and too much in flux, to play itself on film. So, time after time, filmmakers rebuild it on backlots...
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:15 PM - 0 comments

Today at 5 p.m. EST on February 4th, 2025, a rally began at the Treasury to protest Elon Musk’s billionaire takeover. Livestream here. SLYT
posted by orange swan at 2:58 PM - 17 comments

If you know Space:1999, you know that Victor Bergman (Barry Morse) and Maya (Catherine Schell) never met on the series because Victor died between Seasons 1 and 2. But they did work together in another series - The Adventurer, starring Gene Barry as a government agent who poses as a movie star. Several episodes are available on YouTube. [more inside]
posted by wittgenstein at 2:54 PM - 2 comments

Which Country has 18 out of 25 of the world's top landowners? When so much land and resources is owned by so few, what are the ramifications?
posted by gusset at 2:46 PM - 6 comments

Scientists and Aboriginal rangers make exciting discovery of new lizard species in remote Australia. Scientists have worked alongside Aboriginal traditional owners to discover a new skink, Liopholis aputja, in the Central Australian desert.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 2:41 PM - 2 comments

Morreu a escritora Maria Teresa Horta, a última das "Três Marias" [sapo; google translation] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 11:49 AM - 3 comments

James Bruton builds an omni-directional ball-wheeled bike (SLYT)
posted by stopgap at 7:13 AM - 37 comments

I picture my twenty-three-year-old self, back in 2010. What would I say to her? Things aren’t going to get better — they’re going to get worse? Award-winning author Casey Plett for The Toronto Star: Think this is a rollback of trans rights? No, this is something entirely new, and much more regressive (archive)
posted by Theta States at 6:42 AM - 22 comments

No. 13 Finale is a performance artwork by fashion designer Alexander McQueen... It consists of model Shalom Harlow wearing a white dress, standing on a rotating platform on the show's catwalk and being spray-painted by robots. The piece is regarded as a highlight of McQueen's career and one of the most iconic moments in fashion history.* (h/t to velebita for this inspiring comment)
posted by Lemkin at 5:48 AM - 20 comments

How much oil remains for the world to produce? Comparing assessment methods, and separating fact from fiction, by Jean Laherrère, Charles A.S. Hall, Roger Bentley [more inside]
posted by jeffburdges at 3:37 AM - 31 comments

The parts of the world that register the most patents are also, coincidentally, the parts of the world that have benefitted the most from patriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism. In contrast, the places whose lands and peoples have historically been exploited by the metropolis are accused, today, of lagging behind in technological progress and not producing enough patents. Those who benefitted from slavery, from exploiting colonized territories, and from relegating their care work to women had the resources and time to dedicate to technological innovation, patenting it and reaping its economic profits. In these cases, the technological advances attributed to competition within the capitalist system are actually built on the systemic exploitation and oppression of other people’s bodies and territories—the same people who are later accused of technological backwardness. from Inventing the Commons: On Alternative Technologies by Yásnaya Elena Gil [Guernica]
posted by chavenet at 12:46 AM - 5 comments

Lace monitor an inspiring symbol of recovery five years after Black Summer bushfires. A 1.8-metre-long (5.9 feet long) lace monitor that walks around Robert Miller's dairy farm like it owns the place is the sign of rejuvenation he needed to see after years of healing from the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires. (Australia.) [more inside]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:57 PM - 14 comments

Bluejeweled: a mod for bejeweled 3 to add more blue
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:32 PM - 17 comments

CDC researchers were instructed to remove references to or mentions of a list of forbidden terms: “Gender, transgender, pregnant person, pregnant people, LGBT, transsexual, non-binary, nonbinary, assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, biologically male, biologically female,” according to an email sent to CDC employees
posted by latkes at 8:17 PM - 27 comments

"...a deliriously scattered mess of joy and pain, intermingled and bound up within Coltrane's unbridled and luminescent energy. And now it stands as his parting gesture: one last moment bursting out at the seams with elation and ferocity, an awe-inspiring testament to life." — Pitchfork [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 5:05 PM - 5 comments

Stay in School is a 1967 PSA album released by Stax Records. [more inside]
posted by box at 3:29 PM - 5 comments

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is coming back to stake the undead, in a new sequel series reboot from Hulu. "Although the series is still using the title Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Buffy sequel series will focus on a new Slayer. Gellar would appear in a recurring role, rather than leading this reboot series." SMG will be around a bit. Joss Whedon will not be at all. It will be on Hulu.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:51 PM - 49 comments

Beavers side step planning authority and environmental review, skip permitting process, and build dam creating wetland exactly where needed; save Vltava River Basin authority 30 million crowns.
posted by Mitheral at 2:42 PM - 11 comments

A stimulating piece by Liam Shaw (LRB Blog) about researchers who’ve developed an exoskeletal robotic device which enables pianists to play all the notes exceptionally fast. “Shinichi Furuya … was once an aspiring piano virtuoso. As he explained in a talk in 2017, in his teens he spent up to ten hours a day practising. The punishing schedule led to recurrent hand pain that no doctor could cure. His career since has focused on studying the mechanics of piano-playing – and, more recently, the potential application of robotics. He founded the NeuroPiano Institute in Kyoto, which aims to allow musicians to ‘surmount the limits of creativity’.”
posted by Joeruckus at 2:09 PM - 4 comments

Dial that dial to the smoothest radio station in the county, Your Beautiful Music Station, EASY AM 66. Two free 19-minute compilations of programming (and a third for sale) are available to listen to while the sedatives slowly take effect. It's light you can hear! An audio offshoot of Programme 4, which is equally as smooth and good and smooth. [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 12:37 PM - 19 comments

The World’s Oldest Anus Has an Unexplained Glow in Florida [Atlas Obscura]
posted by chavenet at 12:10 PM - 23 comments

Big Tech Stands to Profit From a US Takeover of Greenland [more inside]
posted by subdee at 11:00 AM - 70 comments

Dancing Boss! Make a cute li'l pixel-y 3D boss dance with a simple sequencer.
posted by 40 Watt at 8:46 AM - 17 comments

The NBA was rocked this weekend by news that the Los Angeles Lakers have acquired Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks -- a stunning move that could prove the most consequential sports deal of the decade. What made this 100% not-a-hoax trade particularly extraordinary is that Luka -- a 25-year-old superstar who led the league in scoring last season while nearly averaging a triple-double -- never requested to leave Dallas. In fact, the Mavs front office initiated the trade themselves, amidst alleged concerns over his conditioning and a reluctance to offer a $345 million 'supermax' extension. Making matters more bewildering, Dallas didn't shop their franchise player around the league, instead dealing directly with the Lakers in a secret negotiation that left other teams' front offices (and even Mavs staff) completely blindsided. The Lakers, continuing their historic tradition of landing generational talent (see: Wilt, Kareem, Shaq), now pair Luka with LeBron James in a dynamic that could reshape the sport for years to come. [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi at 7:05 AM - 32 comments

Art is not a luxury As noted in the Hyperallergic obituary: Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, (b. 1940, citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation) who bore witness to Native life, has died at the age of 85. Her five-decade oeuvre is an intimate visual lexicon that bridges personal memories and joyful resilience. [more inside]
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:42 AM - 6 comments

THIS WEEK IN FANFARE... A list of Best Documentary Feature Nominees. NEW MOVIES: Sophie Thatcher tries to be the perfect girlfriend, ends up running for her life in Companion; Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey's Dog Man scampers onto screens; Mark Wahlberg plays against type in Flight Risk. Meanwhile, people still have a lot to say about Nosferatu and Star Trek: Section 31. AND IN TV: A new episode of Severance and its fictional self-help book The You You Are gets a real e-book. Also new in TV: season/series posts for American Manhunt: OJ Simpson; the Netflix adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude; and the Sharon Horgan dark comedy Bad Sisters. SPECIAL EVENTS: The 2025 Grammys, The FireAid Benefit Concert, and a new Rifftrax take on Lancelot, Guardian of Time. Bonus inside this week: a massive list of all of the A24 films posted on Fanfare. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:23 AM - 9 comments

Killer Covers has your Mickey Spillane, your Carter Brown, your Ross Macdonald, and more Robert McGinnis than you can shake several sticks at. (CW: guns, dames, etc.)
posted by Lemkin at 6:03 AM - 10 comments

What can you freely say in one language that you can't in another? Does hearing another language make you feel free? What sort of language do you want to learn for free? Do you like your languages free of gender? Opinions about freedom from definite articles? Or are you more of a "kostenlos" sort of free-preferrer, liking stuff for free? Tell us what's going on these days for you, free or otherwise.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:39 AM - 69 comments

China builds huge wartime military command centre in Beijing [more inside]
posted by y2karl at 4:57 AM - 44 comments

Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software does not actually cover *everything* but if you're at all interested in making self-hosted open source software the backbone of your digital life it's a pretty good start. From Louis Rossmann.
posted by flabdablet at 3:06 AM - 52 comments

A growing sector is the subgenre dubbed “cozy games.” They are marked by their relaxing nature, meant to help players unwind with challenges that are typically more constructive than destructive. Recent research explores whether this style of game, along with video games more generally, can improve mental health and quality of life. from Cozy Comfort [Reuters]
posted by chavenet at 12:41 AM - 26 comments

Have you ever wondered how the battle for Helms Deep would have panned out if the defending forces had been 500 infantry troops from the Australian Army? Or idly speculated what might have happened if the Imperial invasion of the planet Hoth had been met by a mechanised Arctic warfare battalion from Norway? [more inside]
posted by tim_in_oz at 10:56 PM - 12 comments

Elon Musk’s takeover of federal government infrastructure relies on the following six software engineers: Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. [more inside]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:43 PM - 179 comments

You've heard about a destination wedding, how about destination weeding? Ecotourism is drawing travellers across Australia, including on remote Lord Howe Island where Ian Sinclair and John Pemble got married after a morning spent pulling weeds.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:08 PM - 4 comments

20 reasons why Casino is the most stylish film of all time. The Perfect Fits of Casino. Sharon Stone on the Unforgettable Fashion of Casino, 25 Years Later. 7 suiting lessons to learn from Robert De Niro in Casino. [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 6:01 PM - 7 comments

The Video Game History Foundation have recently opened their online library. A long-running project to preserve the history of video games (something that's run into a wide range of difficulties), the Foundation have just opened their digital library to the public. Browse through a wide range of games publications, along with years worth of archival materials from a variety of games. Here's a short video from head librarian Phil Salvador discussing the launch.
posted by oc-to-po-des at 3:56 PM - 5 comments

Many Democrats agree that the first two weeks of Trump's second term have been rough, even if they don't agree on a message (NYTimes). NPR did its best to recap yesterday. Ezra Klein makes the case, perhaps hopefully, that "Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president." (Gift NYTimes link) [more inside]
posted by coffeecat at 12:49 PM - 58 comments

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is widely considered to be a dry and unemotional document. Published by the Department of Transportation, it outlines the basic specifications of all the street signs you could expect to see out on roads and highways across the United States. Most are familiar, but if you dive deeper into its pages, you can find some unsettling relics from darker times. from If You Ever See This Speed Sign, You’re Probably Going To Die
posted by chavenet at 12:23 PM - 15 comments

How Weight-Loss Drugs Can Upend a Marriage. (SLNYT) "At the table, in front of the fire, the tension between them rose, as if recalling the fight reignited it. Javier prickled that Jeanne took offense. “I’m her husband,” Javier said, looking at me. “I’m her partner.” He looked at Jeanne. “I’ve supported you in this path.” Why, he asked her, would he say anything to intentionally hurt her? For Javier, it felt as if the changes in their family were happening too fast — that their marriage was in a tenuous place. Suddenly, he felt, Jeanne held all the cards and their future wasn’t “up to him.”... [more inside]
posted by storybored at 11:42 AM - 32 comments

Tiny Worlds in Flasks game Just make yourself a terrarium online. Suggested by chavenet.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:31 AM - 4 comments

Winter Soldier is a 1972 American documentary film, chronicling the Winter Soldier Investigation, which took place in Detroit, Michigan, from January 31 to February 2, 1971. The film documents the accounts of American soldiers who returned from the War in Vietnam and participated in this war crimes hearing.* [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 6:59 AM - 10 comments

Canada hits back with comparable tariffs to the US after Trump cocks up a longstanding alliance. (slCBC) [more inside]
posted by Kitteh at 6:34 AM - 297 comments

The organic veggie garden that sprang to life on an arid salt pan. A community-supported agriculture enterprise is supplying organic produce grown on Whyalla's arid salt pans and offering alternatives to the big supermarkets.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 5:09 AM - 4 comments

In honor of Groundhog Day and in the spirit of fun, we pitted groundhogs from all over the United States against each other — and data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information — to see who’s the most accurate. From Grading the groundhogs
posted by chavenet at 1:21 AM - 12 comments

Three Seattle-area sailors were rocked by these losses, and the circumstances behind them: In both cases, it was not physically possible for the woman left aboard to lift her husband from the water. And, in fact, all overboard sailing rescues pose the herculean challenge of hoisting someone several feet onto a boat. As leaders in The Sailing Foundation, the three established its Safety at Sea Committee to research and test crew overboard techniques to help prevent similar cases. And for the next three decades, they volunteered their free time to the development and distribution of a revolutionary device — the Lifesling. ( archive, although with non-working slideshow ) [more inside]
posted by ShooBoo at 9:18 PM - 11 comments

Covid: January 30, 2025 [more inside]
posted by otherchaz at 8:19 PM - 63 comments

On April 17, after five long years, one of the world's cultural treasures, The Frick Collection, finally returns home. [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 6:07 PM - 10 comments

The Work is Mysterious and Important
posted by mireille at 4:08 PM - 47 comments

Why We’re Raising 100+ Guinea Pigs to Mow Our Blueberry Orchard! Some farmers in Wales who are raising a herd of guinea pigs to mow their blueberry orchard document the relentless experimentation they do to figure out how to make it work. Their dog helps round up the little piggies when they escape. [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:21 PM - 34 comments