A little late, but here's my own experience: My sister asked me if I was gay when I was 17 and not really ok with it. So I denied. She said that she would have no problem with it and everything, but I just wasn't ready/comfortable to talk about my sexual preferences with her.

That really made it way harder to come out to her later, because I initially denied it and didn't want to hear the "see, I told you so, I knew it all along" comment (which she didn't make... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 4:58 PM on August 3, 2008

I had the same problem, and this thread on macrumors solved it.
"After reading forum thread after forum thread of users that had this problem, I found a dude who fixed his jack with a rubber ended bobby pin. It seems a sensor gets bent (?) and the system thinks your digital external line is still plugged in. I took the butt end of a matchstick and tickled inside the jack. My red light went out. My internal speakers work again.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:31 PM on May 17, 2008

I second Erik Satie. And check out the Solo Piano album from Gonzales. I think these are interpretations of Satie.

also, the soundtrack for Good Bye Lenin, which Yann Tiersen also composed.

Maybe try out some more classical music, like Chopin? I think piano composition reached it's height with him. Listen to the Raindrop Prelude or Pelude Op. 28 for starters. Or go further back to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:00 PM on April 19, 2008

Aelita: Queen of Mars is listed as public domain.
Though the main focus of the story is the daily lives of a small group of people during the post-war Soviet Union, the enduring importance of the film comes from its early science fiction elements. It primarily tells of a young man, Loss, traveling to Mars in a rocket ship, where he leads a popular uprising against the king, with the support of Queen Aelita who has fallen in love with him after watching him through a telescope.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 10:26 AM on March 13, 2008

I don't like it all that much, and thought Cyberwoman was the weakest episode of season 1.
The good thing about the series is that everybody in torchwood is gay or bi, and someone must demonstrate it at least once an episode, regardless of plot; like in every single other tv-series they are all hetero and are proving it just as often, only hetero watchers won't notice because they think it's normal.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:08 PM on February 19, 2008

when I was a teen (I think 15 at the time) and discovered the internet, the first thing I did was to impersonate a female 30yo abuse victim on a chat room and laughing my ass off that I got away with it.
So I'd say, pretty normal behaviour for a teen, from my biased perspective. Don't blow it out of proportion.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:10 PM on February 10, 2008

some punk/hardcore/indie-concerts can be found on stressfaktor's concert site.

If you're in berlin before the 2nd february you should check out club transmediale!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 1:51 PM on January 28, 2008

I'm so glad that myspace wasn't around when I had my personal crazy person...

my advice, like most of the others here, is: ignore and avoid them. Of course, stop reading their myspace. If he was really seriously mental and set on getting you, he wouldn't care for a restraining order anyway. So him counting down the days just shows that he's a windbag that you don't have to be afraid of.

My crazy person waited for me with a kitchen knife on my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:11 PM on December 16, 2007

Some of my recent favourites: Spaceman Blues: A Love Song, Richard Bowes 'Minions of the Moon and One For Sorrow, though it is not a "gay" book in the strictest sence.

And I sencond At Swim Two Boys, this is truly a magnificent novel, surely one of the best gay-themed books I've ever read.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 10:45 AM on December 2, 2007

"Perry Rhodan is the world's most prolific science fiction (SF) series, published since 1961 in Germany.

Perry Rhodan is unabashed space opera, picking up (or reinventing) virtually every theme that has ever appeared in science fiction. While critics outside the genre and many within have habitually savaged the series, its multi-decade commercial success has become a literary phenomenon in itself. If nothing else, Perry Rhodan provides a mirror of the contemporary... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:00 PM on November 4, 2007

yes, Berghain is the place to stay up and party through the night.
And I would recommend exploring Kreuzberg too, although it's not all peaceful coexistence these days. More demonstrations by by kurdish groups were announced for this weekend, so it could get a bit rough there.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 7:19 AM on November 2, 2007

Some insults I heard in my time in Lower Franconia:

"Dumm wie fünf Meter Feldweg" - Stupid like five meter farm track (or dirt track, a variant of the more common "Dumm wie Brot" - stupid like bread)

"Verbrenn dich" - Burn yourself. I'm still using that.

(Thinking of franconian insults, I remember that american citicens were commonly referred to as "Zupfer" (Zupfen - to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 4:12 PM on October 31, 2007

creasy boy: yes, in Berlin Neukölln and it's called Silver Future. Sometimes we do play electronic music though...
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:02 AM on September 8, 2007

thanks for the suggestions fredoliveira, I'll try and find those bands. And please come and visit us.
Let's say everybody who says "metafilter" at the bar will get a free shot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:26 AM on September 8, 2007

Having lived in turkey and living in a turkish part of Berlin now I can say it's custom to kiss on both cheeks for a greeting, but as far as I can say, not as a goodbye or good night kiss. I could be wrong though.
It's also always two kisses, one left one right, while usually shaking hands. One big good night smooch seems different from the custom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 4:25 AM on September 1, 2007

Anti-americanism was official policy in the GDR, and much of the propaganda against the imperialistic west focused on the bombing of Dresden.

And then there are the German Indians...
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 9:07 AM on May 13, 2007

What WPW wrote about Soviet propaganda can be applied to east germany too. I think there was a television program with a US-correspondent who reported about the evils of a capitalist society.

(And I too can only recommend The Lives Of Others.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 9:12 AM on May 13, 2007

If you're in germany: skip Munich and come to Berlin, and i'll treat you to a beer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 12:15 PM on March 3, 2007

AJAX for n00bs. "Take a look on the net and you'll see endless pages of AJAX Frameworks: libraries which promise to do all the trivial and dirty AJAX work for you, leaving you free to code without actually understanding how the application you're writing really works. So lets pull back the smoke and mirrors and see what AJAX is and why it's just a simple evolution of client/server tricks Javascript programmers have been doing since the web was born."

Ajax... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:55 AM on January 4, 2007

oh thank you, thank you! Now I know where those annoying IM-bubbles come from. finally I can turn them off!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 8:43 AM on December 27, 2006

this is probably not very helpful, but all I can think of is: get the hell out of there, look for another school and tell them why you left. Anti-atheist mobbing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 7:20 AM on December 20, 2006

If you're in Berlin, see the extension of the German Historical Museum by I. M. Pei and the Jewish Museum by Norman Foster, the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz and the buildings of the "Regierungsviertel".

The new central station, Lehrter Bahnhof or Hauptbahnhof, which got into international press because of a architectural scandal:
"Germany's latest prestige building, a monumental train station in Berlin, may have to be partially... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 10:07 AM on December 17, 2006

we will probably never be able to travel faster than light, if Hawking is right. We would need "generation ships" to cross the void, and I'm not so sure that there are many people willing to get on this ship, if only their grand-children will be able to settle on another planet. It would really mean a huge sacrifice, and I'm not so sure how the first ship-born generation would feel about beeing stuck a flying prison in the midst of nothing, without the chance of going to another place... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:04 AM on December 10, 2006

I don't understand, what is the question? The ending credits say it is the Bolero by Craig Armstrong. Didn't you google it? you would have found out that it is on moulin rouge vol.2 soundtrack, the closing credits song.
if you can't find it online, you can still buy it from itunes or something...
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:57 PM on December 9, 2006 marked best answer

Auto-da-Fé by Elias Canetti
""In Auto-da-Fé no one is spared. Professor and furniture salesman, doctor, housekeeper, and thief all get it in the neck. The remoreseless quality of the comedy builds one of the most terrifying literary worlds of the century."--Salman Rushdie

*I always thought that Proust was one of the more unreadable writers of classic literature, like Tolstoy or Joyce (I never got through War and Peace or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:57 PM on December 9, 2006

Sorry, I don't know any "serious" articles, but Charles Stross' Accelerando! does elaborate this issue, if I remember correctly. It is a good book, and it can be downloaded for free.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:01 PM on December 9, 2006

I originally wanted to point out the spelling too, but this Walzwerk place really amazes me. an "east german restaurant"? And that works, people are really going there? because here in Berlin, i wouldn't go near a place with that description...

If you really wan't to surprise your guests with an exotic German beer, try Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier. "a smoky beer made from malt that is roasted and smoked over Bavarian beechwood", but... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 6:04 AM on December 3, 2006

pmbuko: well, no one likes it. at first. you have to drink more than two until you can start enjoying the taste.

but i guess that is true with all alcoholic drinks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 2:03 PM on December 3, 2006

so is it a lot of peer pressure to go there with a date? From the opposite sex? Were there ever same-sex couples?

I always found it strange how it was hyped in hollywood movies, and tried to imagine how I as a gay kid would have dealt with it...
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 1:57 AM on November 28, 2006

zandvoort is a 1/2 hour trainride away and has lots of nice bead & breakfast rooms. If you appreciate a stiff north-sea breeze, and ignore the 60's style concrete monstrosity at the beach... it can be pretty romantic.

groningen, a sweet medium-sized university town, is 1-2 hours away with a car.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:34 PM on November 21, 2006

thanks, i wanted to know that too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 12:30 PM on November 18, 2006

Open Source for Mac. a simple clean list of free software that is useful.

FFmpegX for all my encoding needs

VirtueDesktops, a virtual desktop manager. There are other ones that may be better...

WhatSize, a simple tool that allows the user to quickly measure the size in bytes of a given folder and all subfolders and files within it.

I find quicksilver extremly useful too, though I couldn't figure... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 9:44 AM on November 16, 2006

i don't know. I don't see it as much a problem to raise children. If you are honest about your believes to them, they'll get a pretty dialectic upbringing. Both views first hand, the atheistic and religious. That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.

I was raised christian, protestant in a predominatly catholic area of rural bavaria. My mother was religious and my father wasn't, I went to religious classes, church and lost my faith before I had my confirmation. I went... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 4:39 PM on October 5, 2006

thanks for the The James Tiptree, Jr. Award link. Didn't know it existed. "Air: or, have not have" is an excellent book!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 9:53 AM on September 25, 2006

the problem is that Berlin is not Bavaria, where every village and every restaurant has it's own unique beer. The bigger Berlin-based brands like Berliner Kindl, Berliner Pilsener and Schultheiss are to avoid. You should try Berliner Weisse, which is white beer with different kinds of syrup. It is not really beer in my opinion, but it's said to be a Berliner speciality.

There are a few nice breweries if you know where to look.
Brauhaus Südstern, located... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kolophon at 5:45 PM on August 24, 2006