pop-culture

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Every Jeopardy! Clue and Response, Ever*

Let's say you wanted to know what went down on last night's episode of Jeopardy! Well, you'd be in luck -- browse on over to the Show #6128 page on J! Archive, and there you have it -- every clue, every response, all the scores, the whole thing -- you can basically play Jeopardy! for yourself by reading the clues, then mousing over the dollar amount to see the response -- remember to phrase your response in the form of a question. At first I thought the J! Archive included every game, ever, but several... READ ON

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The Late Movies: Disney Propaganda Cartoons

During World War II, Disney created propaganda for the US government. The cartoons dealt with subjects as varied as income taxes, the daily life of Nazis, and military tactics. I've collected a sampling of the cartoons below, for your viewing pleasure and amazement -- be warned, some are pretty weird, and many contain offensive racial or cultural caricatures. Note that most (all?) of these are included in the DVD box set Disney on the Front Lines, if you're into this kind of thing. I have this set,... READ ON

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Oregon House Members Rickroll Colleagues

In Oregon, our House chamber is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. This 50/50 split has been the topic of some concern, as bipartisanship is now required to pass critical legislation. In a surprising (and delightfully nerdy) move, a bipartisan group of Oregon House members decided to Rickroll their colleagues, by embedding lyrics to the Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up" into their floor speeches. Citizen volunteers helped videotape and edit the resulting rendition of the song,... READ ON

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How to Tweet Without Really Trying

The site That can be my next tweet analyzes your previous Twitter activity (assuming your account is public) and gives you back a "next tweet." The site appears to be using a Markov chain process to do this; Markov chains are useful for lots of things, including generating weird fake dialogue for Garfield cartoons. So what does it think of the relatively new-to-Twitter @KenJennings? There's a chapter on the Japanese cartoon from swim class. We've chosen a screen full of Mentos"? That's... READ ON
  1. FIND THESE T-SHIRTS AND MORE IN THE STORE!

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Exclusive: Mike Rowe Talks "Human Planet"

NOTE: My interview with Mike Rowe appears below a bunch of discussion of the documentary Human Planet. Jump to the "Interview" heading if that's what you're here for. Human Planet premieres Sunday, April 10 in the US on Discovery. Two episodes air each night, running from 8-10pm EST on April 10, 17, and 24. Check your cable listings for more details, and set your DVRs -- again, this is a huge justification for why you bought a big shiny HDTV. This time around, Mike Rowe will narrate the... READ ON

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Five Goofy Star Wars Re-Cuts

Need a way to nerd your way through the workday? Enjoy these re-cut Star Wars videos (they're all short) by YouTube master OneMinuteGalactica. They're completely safe for work, except for the fact that you're watching Star Wars videos at work. Warning: stupid but funny. Ben Kenobi Won't Shut Up Obi Wan's got a walkie talkie and he just can't stop using it. Best YouTube comment comes from warmachine021: "Strike Me Down and I Will Become More Annoying Than You Can Possibly Imagine" - Ben... READ ON

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Ken Jennings on Reddit's "Ask Me Anything"

Fellow _floss contributor and all-around Brainiac Ken Jennings has recently made a public resurgence, after (sadly) losing to IBM's Watson on Jeopardy!. Jennings is now on Twitter, his blog continues to be smart and funny (check his post about nine-digit ZIP codes), and he recently participated in Reddit's Ask Me Anything online mass interview. His answers are, as you'd expect, awesome. (Reddit's page also includes an ad that says "You bastards broke Ken's blog, the least you could do is buy his book."... READ ON

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Nothing Compares 2 Prince's Fridge

So Minneapolis-based food magazine/blog The Heavy Table came up with a great idea: to take a look inside celebrities' refrigerators. First up: Prince. Although it took them eight months to get a look inside Prince's fridge, they got the scoop*. And, let me tell you, what they found inside that fridge cements Prince's legacy as a musical legend. So what's inside? Below is an image (by illustrator Andy Sturdevant -- Prince doesn't let photographers inside his house/bunker/blimp). Highlights:... READ ON

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3eanuts - Peanuts Comics Minus the Last Panel

3eanuts catalogs Peanuts cartoon strips, minus the fourth panel. It's similar in spirit to De-Garfed (in which Garfield's thoughts are removed from the Garfield strip) and other crazy Garfield variants. But in this one, it's about existential aloneness, despair, hopelessness -- pretty rough stuff for a comic strip. Here's what author Daniel Leonard says about it: Charles Schulz's Peanuts comics often conceal the existential despair of their world with a closing joke at the characters' expense. With... READ ON

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Learn Math With Donald Duck

Donald in Mathmagic Land was produced by Disney in 1959 to educate kids about math. After its theatrical release (and nomination for an Academy Award), the film was distributed to schools, and apparently children of the 60's learned some math from this trippy cartoon. I'd never heard of it until a friend posted a link on Facebook. My favorite exchange: [Pythagoreans are playing music with lutes and such.] Narrator: "Shh, it's a jam session." Donald Duck: "Give us something with a beat!"... READ ON

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