I'd like to like this more than I do. It's cool and clever, but it ends up so frenetic that I'm distracted from its distinctive qualities. Maybe that Moog is just a bit too punchy for me.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 10:41 AM on December 2, 2009

1000 faxes a day? It seems that the 80s are a mite too interested in our present day politics. Let the Time War commence!

On a related note, I imagine that people in the White House mail office are thanking God that flatbed fax machines never became mass-market items.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2009

Some people wanted to make a film of something, and they made it. Idiots. If they read this thread I'm sure they'll realise they should have spent more time nitpicking.

Those guys are probably covered in nits.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 11:23 AM on April 23, 2009

While I hate to be a picky little tit, I am one, and the author not knowing that the word "tenet" is different to the word "tenant" didn't fill me with hope. The list is pretty glib and uninspiring, seemingly written by someone who doesn't really understand what he's talking about.

But I'm not here just to knock it, rather to say that if you're interested in this sort of thing, Ben Goldacre's Bad Science is great, either his blog, or his book (out in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:39 PM on March 18, 2009

Yoink: "I counter that it is not irrational to spend, say, $2 to enjoy a week's worth of knowing that one has the chance (however remote) of winning $1,000,000."

Which is fair enough, but it's not quite what you initially seemed to be arguing. Purchasing a lottery ticket as an entertainment in itself is fine, but it doesn't counter the argument against purchasing it as a money making venture. It is always going to be a bad financial investment, even if it's not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:52 PM on March 18, 2009

USR. I just don't get your line of argument. A parent should not repeatedly slap her child. If she does, and then writes a book about her relationship with that child, I figure she's put herself in the firing line for criticism. The child, no so much.

You also seem to be relying on the claim that he must have hit her harder than she was hitting him, because his one blow caused damage. Even a basic consideration of probability will show this not to be the case. Likely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:21 PM on March 16, 2009

Well, leaving the rest of it alone, I think that teenagers do stupid and sometimes unpleasant things. I know I did. The child has done me no harm, and his mother evidently forgives him. I am much more uncomfortable with the phenomenon of educated and well-paid professionals washing their dirty linen in public for the sake of titillation and profit. Their private actions as a family are not my business, her decision to publish this book is.

Let's be straight, people... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:28 PM on March 16, 2009

Of course. 'Cause John Lydon has NEVER taken the piss in his life, has he?
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 2:17 PM on November 3, 2007

Tepidmonkey

Seems to me there is a reading of Wolof's comment that is both grammatical and conveys the intended meaning. "I would be glad to see less of the Smiths" is perfectly grammatical, and could be facilitated by eliminating members of the Smith family. If it was "The Smiths", we could just kill Morrissey. Then everyone's a winner.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 12:04 PM on October 8, 2007

Too small a sample.

Yup. Hence the disclaimers. "We know that our our test demonstrates nothing, so please don't pay any attention to it".
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 2:28 PM on October 3, 2007

He knew what it was going to look like beforehand, and still thought "Good idea!"

Presumably thinking, "I'm not going to waste loads of money by redesigning a perfectly good building, and no-one's gonna see it anyway."

Unless you think he's just been BIDING HIS TIME for the last 40 years. Or maybe he's communicating with space Nazis. Yeah. Must be that.

Jesus wept!
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:06 PM on September 26, 2007

I suspect I wasn't "playing fair", but the last level was a piece of cake, if you are retrieving anomalies. I can't even be bothered to think about how you'd do it without.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 1:34 AM on September 26, 2007

"I am shocked, shocked..."

Yeah yeah, course you are.

Powerful Religion Baby's comment does not seem to be that of a mocking outsider laughing at Catholics, but rather of someone within the Catholic community (if not the church) interested in the effect that the Pope's stance will have.

To put it another way: "Oh, blow it out your ass, Howard".
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 12:21 PM on September 22, 2007

I keep thinking this thread is about Charlotte Church. But she's keeping her mouth shut in global warming. If you want monolithic evil, I think you need look no further than the wobbly, drunken warbler, Church.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:20 PM on September 22, 2007

Concorde. Stupid wasteful beautiful miracle. I miss Concorde. It was one of the things that made me feel like we were living in the future.

.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 2:22 PM on September 20, 2007

LobsterMitten. Given Stephen Fry's Cambridge education, and his repeated expressions of hatred for all things Oxonian, I'd guess it was probably Cambridge.

Although if his books are anything to go by, I'm surprised he wasn't more interested in the prep-school athletes.

I think "prep-school" means something different outside the UK. Here it usually means a private school for boys between the ages of 8/9 and 12/13. Stephen... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:43 PM on September 20, 2007

A public school is the private school you go to after a prep-school. My God we like to make things complicated for ourselves. (I went to neither, but my father was a scholarship boy at a public school, and vowed to educate his children in the state sector all the way).

As far as Stephen Fry goes, I was just showing off really. I never imagined that he'd actually be interested in seducing a teenage boy. It's much more interesting than that. While his apparent longing for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 4:21 PM on September 20, 2007

Looking back, I should add that Stephen Fry hates the Daily Mail, much though they may laud him, and has described it as both "the worst paper in Britain" and "a wretched snotrag". My earlier post may have been unclear. Forgive me.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 4:34 PM on September 20, 2007

cilit bang. Notice anyone missing from your link's list of "The People Behind QI"?
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 2:06 AM on September 21, 2007

Musicians who aren't singers will be able to create their own vocals in the studio.

They could spend hours and days of their valuable time producing something that approximates the subtleties of real vocal tonality and phrasing, those elusive elements that get called "soul". Yes, indeed they could. Or they could just, you know, hire a session singer.

The "digital Aretha" is maybe closer to the mark in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 11:04 AM on September 18, 2007

LooseFilter, but what would the real innovations be? You can artificially give a human singer 5 octaves already, but it's not really all that exciting. Timbre and timing, those are the really interesting textural elements in pop music. I'm excited by any application of technology that that does innovative and satisfying things with them. But that could be any technology, no matter how old.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 12:03 PM on September 18, 2007

People still listen to Aesop Rock, or Bob Dylan, or Bright Eyes, or Slayer, or Louis Armstrong, or Motorhead, or, hell, Wesley Willis.

Well yeah. But all their records had good vocals. No-one here seems to have made any statement about the kind of vocal (one's own or anyone's) one might wish to either hire or synthesis. I while I agree that many non-pretty vocals are good, no-one should be held to be morally obliged to sing if... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 1:10 PM on September 18, 2007

quin, I think your point is really the key to this discussion. Electronic drum programming has made things possible that weren't before. People have done brilliant things with it, and created whole new genres of music because of it. It's not really a terribly good choice, however, if you are looking to replicate the particular strength of a human percussionist. Same with this. It may be used in marvellously creative ways, and those applications are the musically interesting thing, not the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:45 PM on September 18, 2007

This article could have been cool, but it's not. D&D players will have already done all the obvious piss-taking in the article, and, like he says, why should anyone else care? Book of Ratings had this first and funnier here, here and here. Also character classes, and magical artefacts. Sure most of you have seen these, but there they are for anyone that hasn't.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:04 AM on September 14, 2007

I'll be the one saying "I told you so" when the lawsuits start in a few years.

Well, Arik Sigman (former kids' TV shrink, of course), might say all TV is bad, but I don't really buy it. Of course, if used excessively there's a danger, but what about the enormous benefit of being able to make children sit quietly for 15 minutes while a parent does something they need to do? Or the value of watching something together and then talking about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:19 PM on September 10, 2007

The first thing that one needs to deal with is that these strategists and tacticians are actually thinking like this. The second thing is that they are actually killing people like this. This is not postmodernist commentary on warfare. Rather it is evidence of soldiers adopting both the terms and the thinking strategies of postmodernism.

Geos, you seem to be both underthinking and overthinking. Underthinking because you don't seem terribly interested in the content of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:20 PM on September 7, 2007

And since when did clever serve to do anything but distract?

Reminds me of a Fry and Laurie line. "We may be stupid, but at least we're not clever"

humannaire, I'm a little puzzled by your comment. The writing in your post is obscure because it's bad, not because it's complex. If you don't think this sort of stuff is interesting or valid, fair enough. You can say so and move on. No need to snark.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 6:36 AM on September 8, 2007

Touched a nerve?
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:21 PM on September 8, 2007

humannaire, I'm confused. I can't work out if you're taking the piss or not. So. Yeah. Good luck with it either way.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:53 PM on September 9, 2007

it's a perfect example of what happens when you combine limited intelligence with pagan posturing in a mix with seasonal affective disorder.

Because we all risk doing that every day, don't we?

I'd be inclined to agree with the BM bashing, and the Good Lord knows it's produced a lot of ambient wankfests, but it seems to me that De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is such a great record that I can let the whole genre off.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:45 PM on September 5, 2007

Pastabagel. I don't buy it. Yeah, he's an immature, racist (or faux racist, depending on who you listen to), murderous piece of shit. An "inspiration"? "Disturbed and troubled" people can always find inspiration. We might as well crease our brows about the existence of the Bible, Sgt. Pepper, Ulysses, Rambo or In Cold Blood. Or none of them. For sure, screw Christian Vikernes, but let's not get our bleeding heart knickers in a knot pretending that he is a "problem".
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 6:16 PM on September 5, 2007

This looks potentially great, but it's so hard to render things like this photographically, that I really want to have a look at the originals. I'm not sure if some of these photos are that great, either. Hmm. I might try to go and have a look at these next month.

Cheers!
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:52 PM on August 29, 2007

Meh. They're not really letters, and the few I've read are a bit rubbish anyway.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 1:37 PM on August 28, 2007

Problem with that is that if you start talking about The Fall as an influential band of the last twenty years, you're going to have to mention XTC and then the whole discussion is fucked.

But it's not like I care.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2007

Burhanistan. I'm not so bothered. I'd rather it was just you and me and the guy from Sparks, hanging out with Howard Marks.

Some music is significant. Some music is beautiful. Some music is both. I don't know how I'd go about unpicking influences. I'm not really sure that I know what anyone means by influential.

But yeah, the Roses were pretty good, back in the day.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:20 PM on August 26, 2007

When did the aim of life become getting the high-score?
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:26 AM on August 22, 2007

have support to build a network in Cardiff

From the ATS website FAQ:

Isn’t this the same scheme that failed in Cardiff?

Cardiff County Council remains committed to the use of PRT for the city. For a variety of political reasons it became impossible to establish long-term funding.

It ain't ever gonna happen, and never was. The main reasons for failure were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 3:58 AM on August 20, 2007

Which is great, I hope it works well. However, the transit demands of an airport are much better defined and more easily predictable than those of a city. The Terminal 5 pilot looks like it might well be a good idea, but to extrapolate from that to the "future of mass transit" seems perhaps a little hopeful.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 4:22 AM on August 20, 2007

I think there's a definite interest in being able to see the process of composition. It always seems amazing to me how quickly people can produce good quality sketches, but then the whole drawing thang is beyond me.
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:31 AM on August 17, 2007

Ha. I'm smarter than that chimp!
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:06 AM on August 17, 2007

But seriously, this sort of thing is really creepy. Chimpanzees are aggressive, physically powerful creatures. Anthropomorphising them in a dangerous business.

From Lodurr's last link. After James Davis had had all his fingers torn or bitten off:

Ape specialist Deborah Fouts...said the attack may have been prompted by jealousy.

'Chimpanzees have a real sense of right and wrong and fairness and unfairness,"... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:26 AM on August 17, 2007

Burhanistan, I disagree, I have to say.

"Jealousy" is not a about a sense of "right and wrong"

The evidence that great apes can actually learn language, rather that certain kinds of non-linguistic symbol use, is extremely sketchy. The primatologists who claim otherwise generally seem to exhibit the same kind of anthropomorphism that dog owners do, when they tell you "he understands every word I say".... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:52 AM on August 17, 2007

Alright! Alright! I'm just bitter because I haven't got 5 dogs with backpacks. One day....
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:00 AM on August 17, 2007

This is going to stand or fall by the way in which it incorporates computers and the internet into the D&D experience.

3.5 rules are pretty close to the D&D game I always wanted to play, so I am doubtful about the need for a new edition. However, good professional software, especially if its user-interface was top quality, would get me into playing more than the occasional game I have. Integration with VoIP, a standard D&D "client", quick start for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 10:00 AM on August 16, 2007

Ahhh!!! *runs around holding groin*

Smedleyman, SHHHhhhh. For God's sake don't say that out loud. We don't want another thread hogging argument with about whether it's bigoted to be freaked out by people getting their knobs chopped in half.

The dog is pretty cool. The story is awesome. I want to see the pig and the dog getting up to some high-wire hi-jinx that end with them eating someone's Sunday roast, or culturally... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 4:00 PM on August 13, 2007

Visitor Q horrible? Nonsense. Visitor Q is a, ultimately, a family comedy about the possibility of redemption through individuality and acceptance. And the guy getting repeatedly bonked on the head from behind always slays me.

Why is everyone moving away from me? Guys?






Guys?
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:31 AM on August 12, 2007

Firstly, I'm not really bothered whether this child is painting these pictures essentially spontaneously, through intensive coaching, or not at all. I reckon they're alright, but no more than that. If they turned up in a friend's end of year show I'd be fairly impressed; but there must be tens, running in the hundreds, of thousands of decent end of year show pieces displayed every June. So far so meh.

However, the post seems to have produced some genuinely interesting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 8:08 PM on August 10, 2007

This is good. But I prefer green bacon to smoked. So if you want to try that, I think this link might be handy for you.

The other point, as the link I put in suggests, is that you really should invest the savings you make from buying in bulk and home curing in buying some really tasty and top quality belly.

For unfussy and practical, but also profoundly joyful, information on brining, confiting and much more, Nose to Tail Eating, by Fergus... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 7:01 PM on August 9, 2007

Cool Papa Bell. I apologise if I read too much into what you said, but you did seem to rather shrug off Sean Bell's death as just one of those things.

When did I say that I distrust cops? I believe that the vast majority of police officers are noble people doing a vital and difficult job, for too little money, with too few resources and without enough respect. I just don't believe that the strategy you defend helps them do that job. Your links... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 6:55 PM on August 7, 2007

Americans (some much more than others) are simply more violent than Europeans and have been for several generations.

That there is more violence in America than Europe is obviously true (although less non-weapon homicide now?). But to suggest that "Americans" are "simply more violent" avoids the issue. It is also kinda silly, and seems to posit some sort of "average American" who is more violent than... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by howfar at 5:09 AM on August 8, 2007