Responsibility, or guilt, by inaction or indirect action, is a topic that's been tackled by a number of philosophers. To kill really is an action that implies a direct involvement in what's happened, so it really comes down to the philosophical question of whether indirect action or inaction are sufficient conditions for use of the term.

It seems like ZachsMind is overreaching a little by claiming it's an objective claim that the conductor "killed" the man,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 12:16 PM on July 22, 2008

We're not arguing for or against his version of anything. He's entitled to his opinion of his role in this, but it is not an objective truth that his actions (or inactions) directly line up with what the verb "to kill" mean in all lines of thought.

We merely said that it is debatable whether he has any measurable (moral) role. You agree with his take, or at least empathize. I empathize but think that it's misplaced, but very common, guilt. Just because we... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 6:08 PM on July 22, 2008

You see, the thing is that there are coffee fascists, very often in locally-owned shops. But fascists tend to make pretty good espresso.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 12:12 PM on July 14, 2008

Been there, done that.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 7:12 AM on July 10, 2008

BoingBoing is as much a personal/small group blog as any other site that has a core group of administrators and a large group of contributors. The majority of their content comes from other sites that they link, and a fair portion of those have a (Thanks, !) stuck at the end. I'd hazard a guess that a lot of those names are repeat suggesters, and even have a reasonable overlap with those who comment on the site. In other words, a good portion of BoingBoing's content is user-submitted and (shock,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 11:23 AM on July 1, 2008

When I was a couple years into my education at a state university, my younger sister was about to graduate high school and was looking into her options. She had a few more prestigious schools on her list. My dad, suddenly feeling the strings of his pocketbook, suddenly made some noise about how much he could afford to provide.

I told him that if he was being nice enough to cover my college costs, he should shell out for hers, even if it was more money, or at least make... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:50 PM on June 18, 2008

The Valleywags and TechCrunches of the world are really making ventures out there on the good old web a little more depressing, day by day. I know that it's been a business by and for the cash for well over a decade, but the reactions to Stewart Butterfield's resignation letter are aggravating. It boils down to "Where's the money? Who is this flake? Good riddance!" in most cases, with others telling others not to read his letter too deeply, since it's just whimsical.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 10:09 AM on June 18, 2008

Zambrano, what's bad about Flickr, del.icio.us, and a million other sites that fall under Yahoo!'s umbrella are the fact that they're practically mothballed. del.icio.us 2.0 should have been out by now but they're supposedly having scaling issues in testing. Flickr has rolled out a handful of features and kept up fairly well on maintenance, but they should have either had video sharing eons ago or more agressively pushed their way into other frontiers. Pipes are pretty great, but I haven't done... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 11:24 AM on June 18, 2008

Fair enough, srboisvert. I think judging a company by comparing it to it's presumptive competition isn't necessarily the best way to set goals, but it's true that Yahoo's doing a reasonable job. "They're doing a worse job than us" isn't really a refutation.

As for scaling, I definitely believe that scaling is likely a difficulty if they've added any more complexity to del.icio.us or have the expectation that the user load is going to be heavier than the current... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 12:49 PM on June 18, 2008

Mark Wahlberg's had some pretty decent turns as an actor, accompanied by some really hilariously bad ones.

On the other hand, this:
When I say Zooey should have her SAG card revoked, it is not flippantly. I adored the actress in that blatant Wizard of Oz ripoff called The TinMan.
..really makes me wonder if we saw the same miniseries. While the acting was below the standards of several of the people involved (Alan Cumming's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 11:14 AM on June 18, 2008

"Steampunk" as blogged about these days really doesn't have anything to do with period-authentic styling applied to new technology, or even anything really against the establishment, since they're modifying objects that are often already modified by many other groups. Really, what it's mostly about is gluing a bunch of old-timey shit to your stuff to make it look like it, and possibly you, fell out of a Final Fantasy game.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 5:54 PM on June 16, 2008

Well, there goes all the mystery from that. Thanks, internet cervix lady.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 4:39 PM on June 5, 2008

I don't remember where I read it, but apparently Chicago is still a city that's among those most racially-segregated by neighborhood.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 12:02 PM on June 5, 2008

It's still obnoxious that the AP, among others, have been jumping on every possible angle and rumor as a reportable article. The flood of contradictory, useless crap that become substanceless "most-emailed" stories on news websites is more to blame for my political fatigue than anything else. Does anyone else get the feeling that headlines and what should be blurb-sized sections of pieces are foisted on to CNN.com and every other news aggregator as full-blown stories, causing a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:20 PM on June 4, 2008

Hint: on the main set page, hit "Slideshow" then pause it and click through the comics one by one. They'll be at a readable size. At least they are for me.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 11:19 AM on June 4, 2008

Are kids these days really not used to being challenged at all, and are conditioned to give up if they get a negative response? It's an exercise program, but it's also a video game. When I was young, you didn't get unlimited lives and the ability to retry like you do on these newfangled Mario-type games. You took your three lives, you earned some more if you could, and when they were all gone you chucked the controller across the room only to return a little later. Because that little demon... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 9:10 AM on May 22, 2008

Rereading my previous comment, I think I came across like I was endorsing outright criticism or abrasive comments inside the game. That's not what I really wanted to say. I think that, in spite of some negativity that the game conveys, which is kind of in line with their previous Wii games that have the "You Lose!" mentality that are more in line with Japanese culture than Western culture (which I think is probably much more of a negative than a culturally-neutral point), this is still... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:48 PM on May 22, 2008

There was also a great unproductive debate about the difference on MeFi here.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:10 AM on May 22, 2008

the cow moo says, on metafilter posted?
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:01 PM on May 20, 2008

There's an epidemic of brain cancer going on in the developed world and despite inconclusive evidence from studies on the subject, well, you just have to wonder, don't you?

Could you link to documentation saying there's more recorded brain cancer now than there has been before the introduction of cell phones and information on how often brain cancer is detected due to more sensitive instruments? There are studies with differing results on the effects... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 12:47 PM on May 20, 2008

paulsc: But, if somebody wants remuneration for software flaws, there is somebody to sue in court, or to pursue by other means, at the bottom of many commercial responsibility chains, with economic interests of their own. Not so with much OSS software; in many cases, from the authors of critical modules of functionality, there is nothing but the personal property enclosed in a few one bedroom apartments to be had.

This is the argument that is made,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:07 PM on May 19, 2008

Warez.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:59 PM on May 6, 2008

I tried to explain twitter to a coworker last week. His initial takeaway was "wait, so it's like an incredibly shitty blog?"

Well yeah, unless you're actually in a place where your friends are, and you use it for planning. When I'm at a bar at 8PM and I can use twitter to announce where I am and some other friends who were just down the block show up, I find it kind of useful. It's like a near-realtime social aggregator if you can use it locally.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 10:50 AM on May 5, 2008

Now that I've considered it, though, the type of messages I just said are pretty much nonexistent for twistori, since there's remarkably few realtime-style posts that have just opinions.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 10:53 AM on May 5, 2008

And to think, it's not that long ago we were blaming corn subsidies for obesity due to unhealthy foods and suggested they encouraged an imbalance of trade.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 5:44 AM on April 23, 2008

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. In the recent past, even on MeFi, we've had the pleasure of grousing about the heavy corn subsidies paid for farmers, which has lead to (previous) overproduction, and created an industry of cheap sweeteners, cattle feed, and corn as a filler in any number of foods populating those middle aisles of the grocery store.

Ethanol was decried as an annoying stop-gap measure: inefficient to refine compared to other fuels, and corn was criticized... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 9:34 AM on April 23, 2008

peacheater, I think that the ethics of assuming the status quo is inherently good or right is a trap that many fall into. That isn't to say that there aren't overreactions to the "consume nothing" side of the continuum, but really most people expect that they can continue doing tomorrow what they did today, and so on.

I think the prime example of that might be one of Iowa's senators, Chuck Grassley. I always cringe a little when I read comments he's made that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 11:16 AM on April 23, 2008

SteveInMaine: Unfortunately, I can't say the same for much of smooth jazz. Yeah, it works in the background, but crank it up and what do you get? Just louder background music.


And somehow, by conditioning the public to the "lite fm" radio stations, and then creating a genre that sounds very much the same but with the occasional guitar lick or vocal excised, we've created an ambient sound the likes of which Brian Eno couldn't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:48 AM on April 21, 2008

I'm going to do a work on "drinking alcohol" in which I quickly drink to excess every night, then recording myself vomiting into a bucket. The footage of me vomiting, pictures of my bloodshot eyes and burst blood vessels in my face, and the bucket will be part of the exhibit.

We can add this to the existing exhibit and call it "Induced Unfortunate Outcomes."
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 9:50 AM on April 17, 2008

I occasionally liked the "Dos and Don'ts" clips, and I think Vice occasionally spits out something worth paying attention to despite the theatrics about their mock/not-mock viewpoints/ironic non-viewpoints, but assigning some sort of scale to the random street pictures instead of a one-liner and a thumbs-up/thumbs-down kind of kills what it was going for.

Not that I think Vice's new ventures will do much better, but it's always entertaining to watch a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 6:38 AM on April 17, 2008

paulsc, if you don't mind my asking, is the $5600 pre-tax for just yourself, or for you and a spouse, or family coverage? Does your employer kick anything in?

My health expenses are pretty low if I count my out-of-pocket expenses, but I take a couple of prescription medications for allergies that are pretty cheap after my insurance picks up the majority -- $40 for three months, and another that's $10 for a couple months. My employer picks up the majority of the cost for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 3:13 PM on April 16, 2008

Combining religion and government demean the principles both institutions.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:42 PM on April 15, 2008

of both institutions, that is.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:42 PM on April 15, 2008

I prefer Chris Ware's cover for Candide that came out a few years back.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 6:38 AM on April 14, 2008

Still waiting on stuff that's not young, "hip" liberal white people. White people are really into evangelical churches, country clubs, golf, and college-themed comedies but they haven't shown up yet.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:16 AM on April 11, 2008

That came off like I'm agreeing with people who think he's slamming progressive values -- I think it's probably that he's self-deprecating himself and his peers, or is just mocking the day-to-day stuff that he takes for granted.

Still, reach a little, man.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:20 AM on April 11, 2008

rlk, I don't know, but central Iowa certainly has a lot of varieties.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 7:02 AM on April 10, 2008

Considering the majority of the courses I took for my CS degree didn't involve using a computer, this isn't all that surprising. What you need a computer for is access to Google for when you're having difficulties stumbling through some of the problems in books like this.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 6:58 AM on April 10, 2008

valkyryn, your viewpoint leaves out the fact that there are textbooks out there that, while flawed, don't have the issues outlined in this post. The goal here isn't to deride all textbooks or claim that public schools are bad -- it's to acknowledge that this is an example of a textbook with obvious biases that is used in some public schools. Maybe the complaints to the publisher will result in a less biased second edition, or the school board will pick a better option next time.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2008

So you're saying that if the textbook left out or changed the points that they mentioned, that it'd be "liberal?" Or if it mentioned a conflict in some ideas, and taught it as Chanther does, it wouldn't be a good textbook? There is a middle ground for textbooks.

I remember my teachers having pretty decent textbooks, especially for the Advanced Placement courses I took in high school, even if there were always one or two points they'd elaborate on per chapter.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:58 PM on April 7, 2008

I do, however, object to the idea that there can be such a thing as an "unbiased" textbook, and I object to criticizing a textbook for being "biased." All accusing someone of "bias" really does is to accuse them of not agreeing with you, which is not only not a particularly useful accusation, but deceptive, as it pretends to challenge accuracy when it really challenges perspective.

I find this kind of offensive, since... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 3:00 PM on April 7, 2008

Gungho, I won't say much because of where I work (GM crop company, not Monsanto), but in the long run I've seen them often publicly perceived as assholes despite other companies being in a similar business barely getting any negative press.

Maybe it's just because they're sticking up out of the crowd because they're largest in the GM field and have the patents that other companies are licensing, but I tend to think (and yeah, I'm probably biased) that they do so in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:25 PM on April 3, 2008

The food choice is so arbitrary and the blending so unnecessary. If you're going to do a gross-out, just grab any random shit, don't even bother going through a couple drive-thrus. If you're going to do a deathy meal, then at least create something.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:08 PM on April 3, 2008

I mean, I could illustrate the story of how I ate chinese food, a quarter of a pizza, and a large chocolate shake during the course of an evening in college, and blended it to show what my stomach contents likely were, but that would at least portray the endpoint of a story. This is... just a bunch of random shit.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:09 PM on April 3, 2008

People are still quoting that vegetarian rant from Kitchen Confidential? He's said a lot more about vegetarian food since, a lot of it verging on apologetic with a lot of praise for good chefs.

Then again, if you go into a traditional French bistro restaurant and try to order stuff in a vegetarian style, you're going to get what's coming to you.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 2:32 PM on March 25, 2008

humannaire, I think defining "human" as a being that shares a certain empathy, feelings toward acts (violent or otherwise), and a take on morality is short-sighted in that it changes the term from one that's a simple word meaning a human being, a member of homo sapiens, a person.

I think you're conflating it with the idea of "losing (one's) humanity," or referring to the characteristics you mention as "human." I think one of the points of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:52 AM on March 24, 2008

How can Obama's story be uniquely American, except that it took place in America? In almost every country in the world people can remake themselves, with luck and daring and the right breaks.

I'm not singling this particular comment out, but it's representative of a sentiment that's seen throughout this thread. Here's my take on it:

Obama's personal story isn't uniquely American because of his ethnically-diverse background,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:39 AM on March 19, 2008

On another note, geographic differences within the US are boggling my mind right now. Anyone posting here saying that Hillary has a better chance against McCain doesn't live in my neighborhood, because I can count on two hands the number of people I know who have either voted republican, who kind of cringe when they hear Hillary speak or just think that she's somehow "fake" who support Obama. And these people aren't far-left or far-right, and think that while either party could suit... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 8:43 AM on March 19, 2008

Wait, I want to move to Texas and build up a farm where I can skeet shoot off my back porch, and I'm a redneck, but when rich white kids in New York do it, it makes the Style section of the New Yorker?

Well, the thing is that if you're farming in Texas, you're not going to live off of it alone unless you do what these people are doing -- growing a niche good that commands a higher price, but at the same time allows you to (and even requires you to)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 9:42 AM on March 17, 2008

Yeah, we totally caucused for some stuff. It was cool.
posted to MetaFilter by mikeh at 1:45 PM on March 11, 2008