Paris in 26 gigapixels is a stitching of 2346 single photos showing a very high-resolution panoramic view of the French capital (354159x75570 px). Dive into the image and visit Paris like never before!
Previous gigapixelism on Metafilter: Prague (18), Yosemite National Park (17) & Harlem (a measly 13).

The late William Safire left behind a language-column vacancy that the NY Times has been filling with a rotating crew of language experts, some better than others. Now they've announced their choice for a permanent replacement, and it could hardly be better: Ben Zimmer, an actual linguist. Reading "On Language" will be slightly less enjoyable for us nitpickers but a lot more informative.

Merlin Olsen, NFL legend and TV star (Little House on the Prairie; Father Murphy), has passed away at 69 from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. As I knew him more from TV than from football, to me he will always be the gentle giant.
From AP News:

Merlin Olsen, a Hall of Fame defensive lineman with the Los Angeles Rams who was a charter member of the team's famed Fearsome Foursome, then made a remarkably smooth transition into careers in broadcasting and acting, has died. He was 69.

[ ...]

Olsen played 15 seasons in the NFL from 1962 to 1976, all with the Rams. He was the league's most valuable player in 1974 and appeared 14 times in the Pro Bowl. After retiring as a player, he spent another 15 seasons in broadcast booths as an analyst for NBC and CBS and acted in such television shows as "Little House on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy."

With the Rams, Olsen helped popularize the star power of defensive linemen sacking the quarterback. The Fearsome Foursome of Olsen, David "Deacon" Jones, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy, a rare bright spot on mediocre teams from 1963 to 1966, used size, speed and skill to terrorize offenses.

"He was ferocious and fearless on the football field and then the other probably more important aspect of his personality was he was a true gentleman," said fellow Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, his teammate with the Rams in Los Angeles. "We all know what a wonderful, tremendous football player he was, but he was so much more than that."

Continuing the story from Paparazzi, Telephone from Lady Gaga and Beyonce.
previously, previouslier

If you can't move your face, can you still act with it? How plastic surgery and Botox is leading to change in acting style.

A South Korean couple meet online, make a real baby and neglect her -- to the point of starvation -- while raising a virtual child.
Slate's William Saletan sees this as part of a bigger change, "The balance of power between the worlds is shifting. Here and there, virtual reality is gaining the upper hand."

A Practical Guide to Musical Composition and Principles of Counterpoint - texts by composer Alan Belkin (quite a bit more to be found on his site).

Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-1989. A huge, 12 (!) disc, mix of punk rock sung by women.

Relative to other schools, public-commuter and engineering schools grade harshly.... [This] may help explain why undergraduate students are increasingly disengaged from learning and why the US has difficulty filling its employment needs in engineering and technology.

How are you feeling today? Are you energetic? Relaxed? Drunk? Maybe you're horny or lost in thought. Perhaps you're knitting, cooking, or doing some spring cleaning. Maybe you're simply untroubled. Whatever your mood, Stereomood will provide a soundtrack. (Warning: All links autoplay sound.)
Via the always excellent DataWhat?. Nancy Sinatra shows up a lot; don't ask me why.

Documentary Heaven | Free Documentaries Online | Dokumentationen in Deutsch

High school prom cancelled for fear of lesbians.

A Montreal man has had his lawsuit against Air Transat dismissed. He was suing the airline because the flight attendants refused to help him look at his scrotum and determine why it had started bleeding on a flight (they gave him some sanitary towels and told him they'd land for emergency medical attention if it got worse). On arrival in Mexico, the man saw a doctor who determined that the problem was a ruptured vein near his scrotum.

I can understand a flight attendant's reluctance to help a stranger examine his scrotum, but didn't anyone have, you know, a hand mirror? If I started mysteriously bleeding from my scrotum, I'd be pretty distressed, too. Cote sued Air Transat and the employees on the flight that day, accusing them of failing to provide appropriate medical assistance, seeking damages of $8,000 for the anguish he suffered as a result of their neglect.

But judge Michele Pauze rejected Cote's case.

In her decision, she said she agreed with arguments offered by Air Transat representative Chantal Chlala, who explained to the court that flight attendants do not have the right to examine passengers, and even less to make a diagnosis.

"It was not incumbent upon a flight attendant to conduct the medical examination of a passenger, a measure reserved for the medical profession," wrote judge Pauzé. Man sues airline for not looking at his scrotum (via Consumerist) Previously:

• Case of the haunted scrotum
• Testicle talc

"Pony Express," a Bulgarian mechanical horse (created by T.J. Tangpuz) is made out of discarded packaging, plastic ties, and other detritus, and it delighted the people of Oryahovo, Bulgaria with its regular perambulations, before it was moved to a gallery.

Mechanical cardboard horse Previously:

• Mechanical papercraft toys -- including a Maneki Neko
• Mechanical flapping papercraft bat with tombstone
• Gorgeous mechanical sine-wave calculator
• Free-ish mechanical paper dragon kit

These beautiful, fanciful miniature cities built into household objects like power-strips and desk-fans are part of the graduate show at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. The artist is uncredited, but it's very lovely work.

Student Work | Kyoto University of Art and Design (via Cribcandy) Previously:

• Photographer takes photos of real scenes that look like miniature ...
• Incredible miniature photography
• Miniature Bottle story for Significant Objects
• Miniature Neo Geo
• Miniature Paris replica made from trash

For 50 years, residents of the French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit have tried to understand the "cursed bread" incident, a moment of terrifying mass insanity and hallucinations that left at least five dead and dozens in asylums. Now the mystery is solved: the CIA secretly spiked the bread from the bakery with enormous quantities of LSD as part of its cold war mind-control experiments, at least according to recently uncovered documents. The allegation originates with H P Albarelli Jr., an investigative journalist who uncovered the documents while researching his forthcoming book, A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments. One man tried to drown himself, screaming that his belly was being eaten by snakes. An 11-year-old tried to strangle his grandmother. Another man shouted: "I am a plane", before jumping out of a second-floor window, breaking his legs. He then got up and carried on for 50 yards. Another saw his heart escaping through his feet and begged a doctor to put it back. Many were taken to the local asylum in strait jackets...

Scientists at Fort Detrick told him that agents had sprayed LSD into the air and also contaminated "local foot products".

Mr Albarelli said the real "smoking gun" was a White House document sent to members of the Rockefeller Commission formed in 1975 to investigate CIA abuses. It contained the names of a number of French nationals who had been secretly employed by the CIA and made direct reference to the "Pont St. Esprit incident." In its quest to research LSD as an offensive weapon, Mr Albarelli claims, the US army also drugged over 5,700 unwitting American servicemen between 1953 and 1965. French bread spiked with LSD in CIA experiment (Thanks, Steve and everyone else who suggested this!)

(Image: Shaw's French Bread, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from Adam Pieniazek's photostream) Previously:

• Video drama about CIA's real project to drug unwitting US citizens ...
• Midcentury LSD Experiments at Canadian mental hospital
• More on the CIA's evil genius, Dr. Sidney Gottleib
• Digging deeper into CIA "family jewels" docs
• Albert Hofmann, LSD inventor, RIP

The Olympics are coming to London, so our civil liberties are going out the window: because nothing epitomises the spirit of global competition and cooperation like corporate bullying and unfettered truncheon-waving. Police will have powers to enter private homes and seize posters, and will be able to stop people carrying non-sponsor items to sporting events.

"I think there will be lots of people doing things completely innocently who are going to be caught by this, and some people will be prosecuted, while others will be so angry about it that they will start complaining about civil liberties issues," Chadwick said.

"I think what it will potentially do is to prompt a debate about the commercial nature of the Games. Do big sponsors have too much influence over the Games?" Eyes turn to "value for money" London 2012 (Thanks, Bobby!)

(Image: More Riot Police a Creative Commons Attribution photo from Kashklick's photostream) Previously:

• Vancouver Olympics will own words like "winter," "2010" and ...
• Olympic bullying drives goggle-maker to verse
• London 2012 Olympics: We only buy security tech from ...
• Olympic bullying drives goggle-maker to verse
• Homeless people relocated out of Whister, Canada, ahead of ...
• Int'l. Olympic Committee: gender difference is a disease

Targeting the Good Cell: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covers the latest stem cell advances, built around a gripping 2008 series (1, 2, 3) about the competitive race to reprogram mature cells into functionally embryonic stem cells.
They also include a somewhat self-congratulatory rumination on this series and the challenges if making detailed science journalism accessible.

Often dismissed as a failed experiment, this oddity from Arthur Penn is a constantly surprising and enigmatic classic. Two years ahead of Bonnie and Clyde, this New Hollywood prototype is ragged and frantic, a skewed but thrilling attempt to rewrite established narrative form.
Penn's existential noir thriller, informed by a dose of French new wave elements, proved to be the perfect musical platform for both [Stan] Getz and [arranger Eddie] Sauter. Amidst Sauter's kaleidoscopic and mercurial backdrop, Getz offers up a fine mix of fluid improvisation and solo commentary. Never overpowered by the, at times, monumental full-band outbursts, Getz is able to remain poised and even break through the walls of sound with vigorous yet cogent statements of his own.

Slate takes on signs and wayfinding. Part 1: The secret language of signs. Part II: Lost in Penn Station. Part III: Legible London. Part IV: Do you draw good maps? Part V: The war over exit signs. Part VI: Will GPS kill the sign?