That was mildly disappointing. I was expecting the zoom effect and fade transitions of Apple fame, and what I got was a screensaver worthy of Windows 95.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 8:54 PM on June 24, 2008

At what point do sentiments such as these degenerate into morbid misanthropy?

As a message of voluntary non-reproduction this parody is hardly misanthropic. Since about 1980 (for the whole of my lifetime) we have been in ecological overshoot. The attendant consequences have only begun to be felt.

Why not have a global discussion about humane population control. I think it's high time to stop making it a taboo subject.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:54 PM on April 15, 2008

And they say natural selection is dead.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 5:39 PM on April 15, 2008

When did this style of conversationalist journalism become widespread? I'm not asking rhetorically, I'm actually curious. It seems like an awfully wasteful format in terms of wordcount and the reader's time.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:00 AM on March 12, 2008

His main point seems to be that QM doesn't map well onto the English language. Not exactly a groundbreaking revelation.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 3:29 PM on February 25, 2008

A rare level-based flash game that is both challenging and playable to the finish. The last level takes a certain finesse, to be sure.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:19 AM on February 8, 2008

synaesthetichaze, that reminds me of a riddle: What's the one transplant where you would rather be the donor and not the recipient? answer
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:08 PM on February 1, 2008

Second link crashed firefox for me. Otherwise, neat post and rather surrealistic.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 8:20 PM on January 31, 2008

...Tired of video sites that are 99% cats running into walls?
Please provide links.

www.wallhackcats.com

On preview: Oh, sorry, that's not what you wanted.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 4:40 PM on January 23, 2008

I thoroughly enjoyed Bill Mckibben's 'floating head'* talk as a counterpoint to the rampant speculation of the other speakers.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same" is a saying that (I predict) will never get old.

*His talk was recorded and projected on a transparent screen.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 10:37 PM on January 21, 2008

One wonders how much credence we can place in GDP as a meaningful (let alone tangable) measure of anything.

That said, I've been wondering what percentage of GDP ends up as assets of people involved in the financial sector. It would be nice to know how much money is being used to feed the system, particularly if we consider the market as a means to an end. Like the derivative-to-GDP ratio, it wouldn't be a useful number so much as an interesting statistic.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 2:57 PM on January 2, 2008

The point was made that while religion may not breed conflict, it often becomes the dividing line in conflicts. Atheists have one less identifier at hand to separates them from other people.

This, in my mind is what makes the work of these four worthwhile; their arguments are relevant because there are still roadblocks on the path to a secularized society.

I also found it interesting that they dwell on the taboo of criticizing religion without... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:36 PM on December 23, 2007

I think that we will create a sustainable form of economics within the next 20-30 years. To echo kliuless, it need not be zero-growth (a better descriptor than zero-sum, imho) thanks to technological development, aka human ingenuity.

The only visible solution is to account for our social and environmental values alongside the value we derive from economics. How we will implement this new form of accounting is the most exciting question of our time.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 2:50 PM on December 19, 2007

The video raises all kinds of questions.
When did the Sasquatch become our national symbol? What are those two humongous green bears doing in Stanley park? Exactly how much money did VanOC spend trying to cross-breed a kermode bear with an orca whale, and what happened to the failed experiments? Does the radioactive glow coming from the whale have something to do with its transgenic metamorphosis?

I also noticed that most of the skyscrapers downtown are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 3:20 PM on November 27, 2007

argybarg, I think that economics gets a bad rap not because it's bullshit, but because practicing economists segregate themselves from the other social sciences. This practice is bizarre to those of us outside of the field, because economics is itself a social science with ideological underpinnings. It can be incredibly difficult to get at the ideologies and assumptions of mainstream economists, because they tend to treat them as irrelevant. This breeds mistrust and to me seems remarkably... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:54 PM on November 25, 2007

TED's format makes a lot of sense when you consider the average income of the conference goers. From that perspective what they do is brilliant.

For people with slightly longer attention spans, I'm hoping that TED will be a gateway drug to the sustainability talks I've collected.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 3:46 PM on November 11, 2007

¡Fantastic post!
Orquesta Nova plays a hauntingly beautiful choro on this album, highly recommended. Their music blends an incredible range of modern classical genres.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 10:59 AM on October 3, 2007

I'm surprised that the Climate Crisis calculator hasn't been mentioned yet. It's more accurate than any other 'impact calculator' I've seen, and allows you to compare your results to people near you.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 8:09 PM on September 26, 2007

I had no idea that these projects were the brainchildren of one man. I plan on checking back later to find out what the contents of the DVD are.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 4:38 PM on August 13, 2007

Doerr has done something that we are all capable of doing. He found changes to make in his own life, and he is helping others to make changes for themselves.

There is no reason for a dialog on sustainability to be sidetracked by speculation about population control. To be clear, the population issue is very important, but there are no direct ways to control population that are palatable, or in my opinion even realistic. Delmoi described the lower birthrate that occurs... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:40 AM on June 3, 2007

I enjoyed Should Google Go Nuclear?, and Toward the First Revolution in the Mind Sciences.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:22 AM on January 5, 2007

Aha! Your link explains so much. I mistakenly thought that the sword was used to cleave the bottle neck below the cork, which seemed implausible.

Apparently sabreage is more about showmanship than skill with a sword. Another mystery solved by the internets.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:36 PM on December 30, 2006

My favourite quote regarding the Dalai Lama's celebrity:
"It's just due to the corporate nature of our world that Buddhists are trying to monopolize [the contemplative traditions of humanity], to some degree." The Venerable Tenzin LS Priyadarshi
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 5:14 PM on December 28, 2006

Also offered on Google Video.

I watched this recently and found it lacking in substance. The only remarkable fact I took away from the program was that Exxon-Mobil funded hired a scientist spokesperson who was also part of the cigarette lobby.

Denial Machine didn't quite make the cut for the 'climate awareness' section of my work-in-progress video catalogue.

To answer b1tr0t, no it's not of the same... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:16 AM on December 10, 2006

"How many people have internet burnout?"

I get it regularly. Each time, the site that gets me hooked again is MetaFilter. I'm not sure what that says about my pattern of addiction.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 1:04 PM on December 4, 2006

I chose 37 of course, because this is statistically the most likely number to be picked and because I am a sheep.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 6:48 PM on August 28, 2006

I find it hard to believe that a NASA scientist would predict a collision between ball and station. If both objects are in free orbit then they will be travelling at a relative speed equal to the initial drive, ie. not very fast by debris standards. Not to mention that having the ball achieve a trajectory level with the station is mind-bogglingly unlikely.
/grumble-grumble
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 10:18 PM on May 24, 2006

In a feat of engineering the hotel was constructed using only rebarred concrete, as opposed to a steel frame. One consequence is that the building's elevator shafts are significantly curved!
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:02 PM on April 27, 2006

According to this thread, the video came from a DVD called Video Victim. I'm really curious as to what else is on the DVD.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 9:43 AM on December 13, 2005

Moonbird I would highly recommend eMule. It requires little setup other than feeding it a URL such as this so you have some servers to connect to.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:11 AM on November 26, 2005

Interesting project, I could see this being a great source of material for sampling.

I can't help but mention that I always get a kick out of watching this mishap[wmv] from TechTV.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 5:03 PM on November 23, 2005

Very tasteful flash interface. I wish online slideshows of this caliber were more plentiful on the web. I found the narration quite helpful in giving the photos context.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 2:32 AM on September 5, 2005

Nicely designed site.

Did he attempt to create any of his structures out of paper? All I see are 3d renderings.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 9:17 AM on July 17, 2005

This shop reminds me of Paxton Gate in San Francisco. They sell some items by mail order but their website doesn't shaw a fraction of the store's vast selection. On that note, can anyone recommend similar shops in other cities?
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:18 AM on April 2, 2005

Astounding. It plays like a short film, with a soundtrack that's just background music to the eye candy.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 7:05 PM on March 28, 2005

Both Privateer and its add-on Righteous fire can be run in the latest version of DOSBox. I prefer to use the D-fend GUI to tweak all the DOSBox settings. If anyone's interested, check the DOSBox forums or email me to get information on specific settings.

Jerub, I can't tell if you're kidding, but if not check out Urquan Masters.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 5:31 PM on March 7, 2005

Interesting links. I'd like to throw in this demo [mpeg] from an animation school, depicting an automated enforcement robot. I'd say the the people in the movie look pretty scared, and with good reason!
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:33 AM on February 17, 2005

AlexReynolds, can you elaborate on why you think the United States government pays so little attention to the connections between these groups? It stands to reason that many of the people involved with foreign policy are scholars of religion, international relations, and the like. These people must be well versed in the structure and the appeal of groups like Al Qaeda. Why aren't their voices heard?
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 10:06 PM on February 14, 2005

Can someone please elaborate on the act of "docking"?
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:09 PM on January 24, 2005

neckro23, you have my respect for correctly using the 'montecarlo' and 'buggery' tags within the context of one post.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:39 PM on January 24, 2005

Thank you jewzilla, that made my day.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 3:41 PM on December 23, 2004

My thoughts still linger on the question "Is 'heterological' a heterological word?"*. Can anyone answer that for me?

*Ignore quoted text for e-prime compliance.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 9:03 PM on November 30, 2004

Well worth watching to the end.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 4:17 PM on October 31, 2004

The ring does nothing to collect charge, it simply provides a contact point to conduct charge away from your body. As mentioned in the first link, any metal object will serve the same purpose. I can't see the need to incorporate a resistive element. Static discharge through a metal object is all but imperceptible, at least to me.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 12:33 AM on October 18, 2004

I must have ran into the wall about 5 times before I realized I was controlling things. I guess we all need to be taken down a notch every now and again.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:45 PM on September 23, 2004

Recent improvements in reactor design make for safe and foolproof operation, but there is little interest in building new plants. New construction, if it occurs, will most likely be in developing countries. We may find that 20-30 years down the line there will be a technology transfer in reverse, eg. coming to North America from Africa.

I highly recommend this lecture from MIT, The Politically Correct Nuclear Reactor. It details the technical and political hurtles facing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 8:18 PM on May 26, 2004

In the 44 years since the project began, some evidence of frame-dragging has been gathered. Gravity probe B is expected to provide much more accurate data than astronomical observations to date have yielded.

This probe took such a long to build because the technology for many critical parts didn't exist when the project began. Take for example the gyroscopes--perfect single-crystal silicon spheres floating in liquid helium.

As for the budget, I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 2:00 PM on April 13, 2004

Here I am struggling to learn Cubase when the ultimate in sound editing software was released with Windows 3.1 and consists of 4 short menus. Curses!

[Thanks for the great link!]
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:50 AM on April 9, 2004

My favourite Brunchism has always been Ed's World.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:13 PM on November 5, 2003

MetaFilter: Like Fark, only a little more sophisticated.
posted to MetaFilter by FissionChips at 11:35 AM on April 18, 2003