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Posts from July 2015

The Tale of the Lazarus Snail

Helix desertorum. Forskal. From a living specimen in the British Museum, March, 1850.Helix desertorum. Forskal. From a living specimen in the British Museum, March, 1850.

In the mid-1800s, a snail spent years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum) before scientists realized it was still alive. What became of this snail? Ask Metafilter found out!

nicebookrack tracks down a gastropodean mystery and reports back on the amazing story of the snail that came back to life after years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum... and what happened next.

07/15/15
by taz

"25 years ago, shots rang out on the Mohawk territory of Kanehsatake..."

Pte. Patrick Cloutier, a 'Van Doo' perimeter sentry, and Mohawk Warrior Brad Larocque, a University of Saskatchewan economics student, face off during the Oka Crisis (Image: Shaney Komulainen of Canadian Press, September 1, 1990)Pte. Patrick Cloutier, a 'Van Doo' perimeter sentry, and Mohawk Warrior Brad Larocque, a University of Saskatchewan economics student, face off during the Oka Crisis (Image: Shaney Komulainen of Canadian Press, September 1, 1990)

mandolin conspiracy shares a great collection of links for the 25-year anniversary of the Oka Crisis, the 78-day 1990 conflict between the Mohawk community of Kanesatake and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada.

07/15/15
by taz

Metafilter's Sweet Sixteen

Yorvit the cat, celebrating Metafilter's birthday in the traditional fashionYorvit the cat, celebrating Metafilter's birthday in the traditional fashion

It's Metafilter's 16th birthday today! Every year we celebrate with a post about scanning cats, in homage to the very first live post on the site, back on July 14th, 1999.

In the ensuing years, the original cat-scan.com site disappeared; in 2011, mathowie bought the domain and turned it into a collection of user memories from the first 12 years of Metafilter.

Feel like digging into the site's yearly celebratory goof-off threads? Here you go: 2000, 2001 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 , 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 , 2013, 2014 .

A lot has changed on the internet in 16 years, but Metafilter's been here all along, being one of the best communities on the web. We're thankful to all the members who've been part of that, all the readers who have come along for the ride, and all the wonderful folks out there making the internet a place worth linking to and talking about. Now blow out your candles and make a wish.

07/14/15
by cortex

Podcast #106: I Cleaned Out The Bathroom Closet

In case you missed it, this month's podcast is out, with cortex, jessamyn and mathowie chattering about recent neat stuff on Metafilter, cortex's summer in Huntsville, and how hard it can be to do one little thing when you know you have to do a bunch.

07/11/15
by cortex

Looking good, Billy Ray!

My dad took me into the pit. We wedged our way into his spot - second level up from the bottom, back to the corner. Basically right where Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd stood in the movie. I was, obviously, the only kid in the pit, and all I could see in every direction were people's legs. It was like being in a massive crowd of people, but nobody was moving - everyone standing around, shoulder-to-shoulder, hip-to-hip, waiting ... Then, about 5 seconds before 8:30, the crescendo began.

In a thread about the closing of Chicago and NY futures trading pits, Member Guernsey Halleck recounts accompanying their dad onto the trading floor of 4 World Trade Center and viewing the action close-up as a child.

07/07/15
by taz

CineFilter

Support films made by and about people of color!

Jaguar has compiled a great linked list in the Run Time: 8 Seconds thread.

07/06/15
by taz

Medieval Martha Stewart?

medieval beekeepermedieval beekeeper by hans s (cc by-nd)

Another thing to consider is how dark homes were in the Medieval period. There was not a lot of window glass. Homes were often very smokey and the various sources of light were inadequate. Clutter seems to have become prevalent during the late Georgian/early Victorian era as the lighting improved and manufacturing made extraneous possessions affordable. Until then you did a lot of groping around in the dark. Kitchens were often not part of the main house, as were workshops, weaving galleries and cloisters, places where work could be done outside where there was sufficient light to do it. This probably discouraged them from having a whole lot of stuff on display inside.

Jane the Brown offers a great overview of possibilities, conditions and practicalities surrounding xarnop's question, "Are there any surviving evidence of household decorations from medieval times in Europe?"

07/05/15
by taz

Highlighting the best bits from the MetaFilter universe

MetaFilter started as a community weblog in 1999, later added question and answers, then music by members, jobs, projects by members, a podcast, and finally an area dedicated to meetups.

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