(sorry if this reads as too Pepsi Blue, but I think it's the neatest bike computer I've ever seen and points out this could be the tip of the iceberg of cycling computer and phone integration)
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 7:56 PM on January 8, 2013

Does it work any better in canyons filled with redwood trees than any other GPS bike computer?

Really? I've had a couple different earlier versions of these garmins but I've never had any data loss, even way off the beaten track in thick forests on mountain bike trips. I'd actually worry about these units, since there's definitely no cellphone coverage on these rides but I've never had a problem getting a nice map after a ride no matter how thick the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:13 PM on January 8, 2013

it's hard to imagine why this wouldn't be better handled in software

Part of what the bike computer does is track your heartrate, cadence, and power data. There are iPhone dongles for older iPhones to let you get some of that data (not sure I've seen a situation that gives you all), but yeah, I could see garmin not making bike computers in 3-4 years and instead just producing better software for phones.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:24 PM on January 8, 2013

Having the ability to communicate to the bike computer, which you are looking at all the time, as opposed to a phone would be great.

I thought one of the little video bits showed a new message indicator on a garmin head unit, but maybe all those bleeps and bloops were on people's phones.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:11 PM on January 9, 2013

Weird, I swear I read something almost exactly like this many years ago, like around 2004 or so, and I could have sworn it was also Richard Marx (I could be getting 80s soft rock guys mixed up). This entire story reads like something I have heard before but I can't find it anywhere.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:01 PM on January 9, 2013

Blasdelb, are you sure the libcom.org site has rights to publish this scanned (but copyrighted) book? It seems a little weird to link to a whole book that is still for sale in various places.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2013

I was wondering just how crazy a CES demo could be but egads, that is some insane material there. Actors, then Balmer, then Big Bird, then Bishop Tutu, then a rolls royce drives on stage and then Maroon 5 plays them all off? WtheflyingF?!
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 3:22 PM on January 8, 2013

I watched Jamie Kennedy's movie about Heckling and thought it was pretty good, and I did like it when he got to confront his hecklers. Heck, I even love a sport that playfully heckles its own athletes (cyclocross), but it's always playful.

But heckling at comedy clubs is the dumbest thing and not worth any effort defending. It's almost always a drunk guy that thinks he is funnier than he is and it creates a hostile place where you're supposed to be enjoying comedy. I've... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 6:28 PM on January 7, 2013

I was really hoping his retirement news wasn't leading to this, so I was saddened to hear this just now.

I have so many good memories of California based on watching his shows over the years and visiting so many of the same places, RIP Huell you were the best.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 2:00 PM on January 7, 2013

Are random youtube clips the only way to find his shows? I kind of wish one of the many travel channels on my extended HD package would just loop all his shows in a row 24/7 so I could pop in whenever I wanted.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 2:15 PM on January 7, 2013

How many other things did i do in CA were because of his introducing them to me?

For me it was The Apple Pan in south Westwood. It's a throwback little diner with a counter and stools, no booths, and I always wrote it off as some lame kitschy 1940s thing that old people must like. He did a visit there and the food sounded better than I thought so when I was stuck outside the Westwood mall one day looking for lunch, I walked into the Apple Pan and had... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 3:04 PM on January 7, 2013

This is MeFi's Own waxpancake's nephew!
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 6:31 PM on January 4, 2013

I remember sitting in the theater thinking that intro song was a good idea, to do a retro throwback thing where you sing a song that shares the title with the film while the credits roll, but it was kind of an awkward song and I was surprised to hear it was up for a Golden Globe award and likely candidate for an Oscar.

PFT's cover is astoundingly good.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 4:16 PM on January 3, 2013

My first thought is these look like a Family Circus comic showing what Jeffy did all day in his neighborhood.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 11:25 AM on January 3, 2013

A bird once beat me in a bike race (I'm the guy on the left)
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:15 PM on December 31, 2012

I saw this in the theater with my friends when we were all about 17 and it was the GREATEST THING EVER to us. Honestly, it felt like a movie made for teenage boys. We constantly quoted lines through the end of high school. I remember watching Next of Kin in the theater a few years later hoping for some of the same magic but sadly, lightning didn't strike twice.

I watched this for the first time in 15 years the other day and could not believe how insane it was, I guess I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:35 AM on December 30, 2012

Whoa, they released it on blu-ray in 1080p a few years back? I had no idea.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:15 PM on December 30, 2012

Wow, I would never have thought of the Blues Brothers being considered a "black movie" when the biggest comedy star in the world at the time was leading it. Didn't the theater owners realize that all audiences would like seeing Belushi pretty much do anything on screen?

Also, now that I have heard there is a 2.5hr version I really want to see one of those extended cuts of the movie, is that available anywhere on DVD?
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 1:04 PM on December 27, 2012

I had to sing this at my second grade xmas pageant thing (I would guess in 1979?) and I still remember both the hula dance I did and the words to the first verse to this day.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 4:20 PM on December 23, 2012

Oh sweet, looks like as of this afternoon, all the "chapters" are up and the whole story is there and annotated and the password is gone.

Man, the one section where they show the mountain and everyone's initial ski path as you read the story is kind of amazing, I've never seen anything like that before.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 3:19 PM on December 20, 2012

Yeah, I know a couple Type 1 diabetes people that hate this researcher guy and have argued with him to death. Apparently his "deploy enough insulin to kill someone via phone" demo last year was rigged to the point of being nearly if not totally impossible to do (according to friends) and has since changed/halted the approval of new devices for diabetes monitoring, stuff they were patiently waiting to come out (they both use a 10+ year old device that exports only to a Palm Pilot!). So this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:07 PM on December 20, 2012

You know, I had a similar reaction several years ago, and it was two things at once. When the first Grand Theft Auto that become a first person shooter (instead of the old goofy top-down version 1 or 2) came out, it was a turning point where it became much more real when you are looking at someone you are shooting in the face and you are seeing the people you are hitting with cars that the old low-res top-down version of the game completely fictionalized. The new version (I think this was GTA3)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 10:53 AM on December 20, 2012

Nice! Soundslice still amazes me, wish I was a guitar player and could use it.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 7:43 PM on December 19, 2012

I don't quite understand how that is possible to create these in just one night, but my god those are incredible and amazing looking.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 11:13 AM on December 18, 2012

I loved this article and I was glad to hear that Wirecutter is working out. I really love that site, I go to it to save time if I need something like a new wifi access point, knowing they've gone through the endless crap on all those other sites to write a personal review of some product I've never heard of but is rock solid and does what it is supposed to do.

For the most part, the reviews on crowded market segments aren't meant for gadget freaks, but for any normal... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 1:21 PM on December 17, 2012

I forgot to mention it was great that Kevin Kelley's Cool Tools was mentioned. That's also one of the only other gadget-ish site I like, mostly due to real reviews from people that used a thing and loved it.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 1:22 PM on December 17, 2012

Am I missing something about the cost analysis? Looking at the graphs, nearly 20% got a free copy of the game, and most people only paid $3-$4 for the game? And somehow they made $70k in profit but the normal game goes for $25? How does that work if most people paid barely 10% of the full price of the game?
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:19 PM on December 17, 2012

I became a fan of soccer after being dragged to a bunch of games, so I fully understand what the author is getting at. After seeing a few dozen games up close, then attending some World Cup matches in the stands (when it was in the US), and seeing a few LA Galaxy games when I still lived down there, watching especially US soccer league games (MLS) on TV in the early 2000s was absolutely horrible. Watching World Cup play was slightly better.

My guess is when the MLS... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 9:07 AM on December 17, 2012

Yep, TheWhiteSkull I agree with everything you said about cycling (I was hoping it would have made the original list). A grand spectacle like the Tour de France is ridiculous on the ground, you wait three hours for 10 seconds of bikes passing by at high speed and it's over for the day to you. But on TV it's amazing and technical and you can watch the entire race unfold along the course.

Cyclocross is one of the few events (track cycling, maybe too) where you can see... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 9:48 AM on December 17, 2012

Man, I had no idea the show has been on so long or that I've watched probably every one of the first 12 seasons but haven't seen one in a few years.

I remember the Dave Chappelle interview is really incredible, but the one that changed my tune on a person forever was Jaime Foxx's interview. Before I watched it, I thought he always did funny but goofy characters and his attempts at becoming an action star made him seem like he was a b-level Will Smith. When he talks about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 9:00 AM on December 17, 2012

[Hmm, anyone find a link to the post about this? I'd rather link to that then the image itself]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 7:28 PM on December 16, 2012

Yes! This!

I've been to Australia a couple times in the past 12 years and I swear every time I'm there I see doppelgängers for nearly all my friends. My own pet hypothesis about why this is is that maybe there are about 500 basic face shape/size combos and you can only have so many people without some of them starting to look familiar.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 6:51 PM on December 15, 2012

My wife dropped my daughter off at school this morning, as I'm sure millions of other parents did. I can't possibly imagine what it must be like to hear news that something this horrific happened at your child's school.

I can't wait to pick up my daughter today as early as I can.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 2:30 PM on December 14, 2012

It's probably no surprise that I agree with much of what Anil wrote, it's crazy how amazing it is to search Flickr for any kind of image and be able to use those images and then you think about Instagram and how that's basically impossible to re-display those on another site.

Just the other day I was wondering if anyone was blogging about the thing I wrote on Medium, and I had to go out and find the old Google Blog Search page and do a backlink search and I don't think I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 2:38 PM on December 13, 2012

As a fan of comedy, I see a lot of the things the author describes. There's always an essay by a mid-range male comic that comes out every six months saying Women aren't funny or some such nonsense and this debate gets restarted again.

I think she's right that top male comics are fine and those working a lot are ok too, but the lackluster small town comic at open mics and small bars will feel pinched by competition and lash out at women because of it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 11:25 AM on December 13, 2012

The author doesn't really establish what problem she is complaining about before launching into her opinions

Yeah, I wish she would have linked to some previous stories or blog posts about Toronto-specific stuff, but I've heard this whole "women are a problem in comedy, they aren't funny, etc" nonsense every so often. A bunch of years ago Jerry Lewis famously said it. Then Adam Corrolla said it this year.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 11:59 AM on December 13, 2012

[added a warning about the images]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 9:25 AM on December 12, 2012

[thanks XQUZYPHYR, updated!]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:26 PM on December 11, 2012

Love the color of those! But man, those shoes offer no support for the active 5 year old. They look like they'd flip off his feet while running.

But adults freaking out over it is crazy. Where did this take place? Somewhere where "that shit will turn him gay" is the norm?
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:04 PM on December 11, 2012

The strangest bit that stuck out to me was the part where Russians were surprised that most Americans don't lie.

I've had so many run-ins with Russians that casually and constantly lie to me that I'm often yelling in my head to not stereotype all Russians this way, but I wonder if it's maybe a by-product of growing up with nothing and having to hustle so much to survive? That maybe as a survival adaptation in the 1980s you had to trick others to help you get what you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 10:12 AM on December 11, 2012

Oh man, that was a great episode. Honestly the first time the Simpsons has made me laugh in 5 years.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 5:14 PM on December 10, 2012

The interior wood walls is a scandinavian design thing -- if I remember correctly when you're in a place with long winters and not a ton of windows, you cover the walls in a light wood to brighten the place up and warm up the looks through wood. Plus, you can hang a picture anywhere since you don't need to really find a stud.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:50 AM on December 9, 2012

Can anyone explain to me this supposed social networking aspect of Google Reader that has apparently disappeared and that I never knew about in the 6+ years of using Google Reader as my goto RSS feed?

It was minor at first, people could suddenly comment on your shared items. And that the shared items became sort of public to people following you. They also confusingly had "star" as an option but I quickly realized if I shared, other... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 7:34 PM on December 7, 2012

[sorry crayz, I removed your comment for derailing the discussion, please everyone try and be nicer to each other]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 10:37 AM on December 6, 2012

I love The Jets one most I think. That he got a football to evoke an airplane is kind of amazing, like the 49ers one.

The Raiders one looks scary and weird, but I love the simplified versions of the rest, like the Seahawks.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 3:51 PM on December 5, 2012

On MLKSHK last night I saw the first catbus using a live cat
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 2:51 PM on December 5, 2012

I was amazed how depressing much of the list was. I saw this linked on Twitter half an hour ago and when someone says "hey, go look at the best photos of the year" I sort of assumed they'd all be feel good and damn, it's been a rough year around the world and I wasn't expecting all the war and police photos.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 12:50 PM on December 4, 2012

Oh man, so many good points here, I will probably write an update post on Monday, adding points I forgot to mention and addressing a lot of things people are bringing up here and to me on Twitter.

The one comment I heard that has really stuck with me is that Facebook was built by 20 year olds who don't have "eras" in their life like 40 year old me, so they don't see a problem of mashing elementary school neighbors with high school friends with college buddies... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:52 AM on December 1, 2012

lantius, I thought a lot about that essay too but when someone online pointed out the author created the new Twitter competitor app.net, it kind of read differently after that. This was a direct competitor trying to tarnish a rival, to get more geeks running to his own service.

I mean, I know that's not a charitable read, but I don't think the reality is as bad as his essay suggests, and that gap leads me to believe it's bad blood/rivalry.
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 10:12 AM on December 1, 2012

Matt's article made me sad that he has to live in the moment, that he doesn't have old friends and family and experiences that he values, that fleeting moments of happiness are desirable for him.

That's a fair criticism, I will probably explain in a followup a bit more about my life so that my feelings on it might make more sense to people. I grew up in a small-ish town with a small group of friends that weren't the nicest or best people. Right... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 8:36 PM on December 1, 2012