Displaying post 1 to 50 of 279
Michael Scheuer, the former chief of the CIA's "bin Laden Station", and the initially anonymous author of
Imperial Hubris, pulls an
O'Reilly on
yesterday's Glenn Beck broadcast:
"The only chance we have as a country have right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States [...] only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them [...] with as much violence as necessary."
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 12:24 PM on July 1, 2009
(96 comments)
Click on "My Profile". Click on the number to the right of "Favorited by others:". Click on the word "Popular". Copy and paste the top result into this MeTa thread (with hyperlink).
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 7:27 PM on June 25, 2009
(311 comments)
There are about six different places where favorites live, and I often find myself confused as hell as to the differences between the various tabs and links.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 7:14 PM on June 18, 2009
(58 comments)
Does formal, or politely euphemistic, language exist by which, early on in the job-hunt process, you can make sure you and a potential employer aren't considering salary ranges that are half a planet apart?
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 11:45 AM on June 12, 2009
(8 comments)
Pony request: can following all anonymous posts (or maybe, more widely, following a specific user) be integrated into MyAskMefi?
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 1:21 PM on June 9, 2009
(29 comments)
It's a bit difficult to give context to
Fathom without ruining the fun of the game, but I daresay it's worth your time. A bit more
here, and the comments there seem to offer a few useful hints if you're getting too frustrated.
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 4:38 PM on May 19, 2009
(44 comments)
Looking for a Twitter client with very specific certain requirements. Does it exist?
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 3:52 PM on April 21, 2009
(6 comments)
A little old, but chock full of enough wackadoodle quotes to be your morning cup of head-go-boom-iness.
FOX News on Mr. Rogers and his effect on "the narcissistic society he gave birth to": "
This evil, evil man has now ruined a generation of kids." "Do you think that Mr. Rogers [...] ruined a crop of our newest, youngest generation?" "Instead of telling them 'you're special, you're great', why didn't he say, 'there's a lot of room for improvement, keep working on yourself'?"
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 9:00 AM on April 6, 2009
(191 comments)
I'm looking for mottos, slogans, or quotes that are short enough to be easily remembered, that are meant to spur someone to take
action towards their goals, and/or that warn against overthinking and overplanning and staying in your head – in other words, that laud the merits of action over thought. I've already thought of "just do it" (which is the precise sentiment I'm looking for), but it is
so overplayed that it doesn't have much meaning any longer. Any sentiment of any length is appreciated, but ideally it would be something that easily sticks in your mind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 3:25 PM on April 3, 2009
(80 comments)
This idea has been sticking around in my head for a while: assuming its creator cortex didn't vehemently object, could
Big Big Question be integrated into Metafilter as a new subsite? I think it could be something amazing.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 3:44 PM on March 28, 2009
(65 comments)
I have a podcast that downloads as multiple segments over multiple days. Its format arrives as YYYYMMDD_showcode_segment.mp3; so, for example, one download might result in files as 20090323_goofa_01.mp3 through 20090323_goofa_21.mp3, and also
within the same download 20090324_goofa_01.mp3 through 20090324_goofa_21.mp3. What I'm looking for is a Unix script (shell, perl, what have you) that would look at a directory and look at what dates are represented there, and let me join all of the segments together by day. I can use mpgtx -j to do the actual joining; I'm looking for the code that would let the script determine what dates are in the directory and then get each day's segments united into a single MP3 for that day's show.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 4:08 PM on March 25, 2009
(5 comments)
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act helps unemployed people with their COBRA payments in two ways: it subsidizes 65% of their payments, and because this lower price makes it affordable for many who couldn't before, it allows people who didn't elect for COBRA the first time a second chance to elect for coverage. I was laid off on October 24, and I
did elect for coverage on January 28. But I haven't paid yet. The grace period for payment ends in a few days, on Saturday — it has to either be paid online or postmarked by then. If I were to
not pay, would I be given the same second chance as those who didn't elect the first time around — the difference being that I would have elected, but not paid? It's a substantial financial difference for me. A little bit more inside.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 3:37 PM on March 11, 2009
(3 comments)
John Hodgman: "
Did I ever tell you people how much I hate the word 'meh'? Nothing announces 'I have missed the point' more than that word. It is the essence of blinkered Internet malcontentism. And a rejection of joy. By definition, it may mean disinterest (although simple silence would be a more damning and sincere response, in that case). But in use, it almost universally seems to signal: I am just interested enough to make one last joyless, nitpicky swipe and then disappear. It's part of the toxic Internet art of constant callous one upsmanship."
(via Andy Baio)Andy Baio: "Part of the problem is that 'FAIL' implies objective truth, when it's just your personal opinion. Tantek Çelik pointed out that, in LOLspeak, 'DO NOT WANT' would be more appropriate since it clearly conveys a personal opinion.
[...] I know many people who make stuff for the web, all of them very passionate about what they do. And every time I see a 'FAIL' assigned to their work, it makes me sad. Yes, I know you're trying to be funny. But I'm starting to see a trend away from the funny, and towards the angry, bitchy, or mean. So please, mind yer words."
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 2:12 PM on March 2, 2009
(181 comments)
What third-party Metafilter killfiles/killfilters — if any — have been developed, and do any still function on the way the site acts nowadays, all AJAX-ified and such?
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 1:45 AM on February 13, 2009
(77 comments)
I'm writing a shell script to take a webpage and convert it into a text file. I'd appreciate tips as to how to store URLs, save the file with the URL's title as its name, and also just general tips as to how to improve the script and/or achieve the process better. Specific questions inside.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 4:53 PM on January 30, 2009
(17 comments)
I had a suggestion for Ask Metafilter: a field for a one-sentence summary.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 3:48 PM on January 20, 2009
(24 comments)
Semantic question: When initially proposing a "getting to know you" predate, the common invitation is to go get some coffee or to go get a drink. If you don't enjoy coffee or alcohol
(yet), what alternate phrase can you use that doesn't sound weird? "Get a soda" sounds like "let's go get a malted!", and proposing "getting a drink" and then not drinking alcohol yourself can be
problematic — and engaging in even a one- or two-sentence-long explanation about how you don't drink takes the question's tone away from casual and into "sounds complicated-neurotic" territory.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 10:41 AM on January 17, 2009
(47 comments)
On December 4, 2008, at NYC's
Symphony Space,
NPR's
Intelligence Squared program conducted an
Oxford-
style debate. As their future debate schedules in
Australia,
England, and
America show, the propositions of such debates are routinely phrased strongly to provoke debate, and this was no exception. The motion that was put forward was: "
Resolved, that Bush 43 is the worst President of the last 50 years."
[mp3, 23 MB, 50 min.] What lifts this above the
reams of media and multimedia already spent on this issue is that, moderated by ABC's
John Donvan, this premise was debated — under formal debate guidelines — by
Jacob Weisberg,
Sir Simon Jenkins,
Bill Kristol, and ...
Karl Rove.
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 9:34 AM on January 6, 2009
(28 comments)
Exit Mundi's thoughts on the latest anticipated apocalypse: the
coming apocalypse in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 A.D.. (No kidding.)
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 10:38 PM on January 3, 2009
(79 comments)
Is the presentation of a choose-item-from-multiple-choices-presented menu possible to implement into a Javascript bookmarklet?
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 2:10 PM on December 29, 2008
(3 comments)
Just wanted to float an idea about Ask Mefi categories.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 6:40 PM on December 17, 2008
(29 comments)
I remember an Ask Metafilter question in which it was asked whether, if the current Queen of England went by a name based on her forename and surname (the format many of us go by, such as "John Smith" or "Jane Doe"), what that name would be. I can't seem to find it under the "queen" tag or via a Google search.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 3:13 PM on December 10, 2008
(69 comments)
Some of the best short-short fiction I've read recently has been that of the
Heartbroke Daily, the stories of the love affairs of (fictional) Knox Dupree, who "fall[s] in love too easily" and "as a result [...] suffer[s] from near constant heartbreak." Start from the
beginning and work forward.
(via Presurfer)
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 12:37 PM on December 6, 2008
(4 comments)
Is there a Firefox extension, or Mac app that can work with what is currently on Firefox, which will export the current webpage as a PDF file that is not paginated and reproduces the screen appearance, such as what Saft's "Export PDF" feature offers for Safari?
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 11:54 AM on December 1, 2008
(5 comments)
Rick Astley and
Foster's Home for Imaginary Kids conduct
the largest rickroll in recorded history, when you consider how much of America tunes into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (And maybe the first live, in-person rickroll with Astley himself?) (SLYT)
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 9:46 PM on November 27, 2008
(87 comments)
PonyFilter: Keyboard navigation for comments, similar to what's demonstrated
here, except the pagination hack wouldn't be necessary (unless you wanted it to go to the next thread instead of the next page). 'j' would go one comment down the page and 'k' would go one comment up the page. It'd be a real nice addition!
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 4:04 PM on November 21, 2008
(31 comments)
There are two beverages that nearly every American adult seems to like, but I dislike both: coffee and beer. I would like to develop a taste for both of them. For morning caffeine, coffee's free at most workplaces whereas pop isn't; and beer is a cheap mood alterer; but more importantly, both are social lubricants, one that isn't achieved by drinking a soda while others get either awake, buzzed or drunk. It's been a while since I had either, but remembering the tastes, I think it's that I dislike the bitterness in each drink.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 10:34 AM on November 15, 2008
(56 comments)
You know, sometimes, you want to read about an upcoming economic nightmare, sometimes, you want to read about Obama's transition team, sometimes, you want to read about the Rifleman's Creed, and sometimes, you just want to see
squirrels dance to Michael Jackson (SLYT).
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 10:05 PM on November 11, 2008
(25 comments)
Just out of curiousity, tomorrow, there's going to be about five million, four hundred thousand, six hundred fifty-two attempts to write a "first black President" FPP. Do the mods have any specific plans, or is it going to be whomever jumps the gun first? And are you guys going to be able to enjoy the festivities, or are you going to be too busy deleting everyone's massively respawning dupes? ;-)
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike
at 6:59 PM on November 3, 2008
(107 comments)
I could use people's advice as to finding out the most likely future of our economy, how to come out of a period of unemployment proud as to how I used my time, and how to best prepare for the worst.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 5:45 PM on November 2, 2008
(6 comments)
Given that you're a Metafilter user, if you're also a Firefox user, you may want to check out the
Read It Later extension. It's not an unfair assumption to assume that Metafilter users tend to do a lot of online reading
(who, us?), and the Read It Later extension is well-suited to help you manage your online reading while not cluttering up your bookmarks. It began as a bookmarklet but now has its own online site, RSS feed, intracomputer syncing, caching of pages for offline use, integration with Google Reader, and customizable keyboard shortcuts, and has really matured into a really great (free) extension.
posted to MetaFilter by WCityMike
at 9:31 AM on October 31, 2008
(35 comments)
Why do medical insurers treat obesity different than other vices? Not a GYOB (I've got one); I literally don't understand the facts of the situation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by WCityMike
at 7:26 PM on October 20, 2008
(20 comments)
