MetaFilter

> Thank you, #1.

Excuse me, but I think quidnunc kid is #1 now. I'm pretty sure that was part of the deal.
posted to MetaTalk by languagehat at 1:33 PM on March 4, 2015

You mod 16 years and whatya get?

Lots of praise and heaps of respect.
posted to MetaTalk by The Whelk at 1:27 PM on March 4, 2015

The plus side of always hiring people smarter than me is that leaving them in charge means it's a net positive for everyone involved.

By the time cortex's replacement gets replaced this place is going to be run by PhD brains in a vat.
posted to MetaTalk by GuyZero at 1:27 PM on March 4, 2015

I'm thrilled for you too, Matt. Putting on my probably-tedious Long Time CM hat, I've seen a lot of people burn out, and the ones who admit to it and deal with it are the ones that hang on to their sanity. It's a good plan, and we're all gonna be fine. This remains my favorite job ever, and I'm still grateful you hired me on the strength of my not having started any flamewars :P
posted to MetaTalk by restless_nomad at 1:20 PM on March 4, 2015

I am so excited for you Matt.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 1:23 PM on March 4, 2015

As for the new gig, I think he will make an excellent successor to Obama, but I think the stress levels might unfortunately remain high.
posted to MetaTalk by Drinky Die at 1:22 PM on March 4, 2015

I've said it in person a bunch already, but I'm so happy for you getting a chance to do something new and fresh and get away from the stresses this place has put on you, Matt. Sixteen years is a long time and you've earned the right to relax and just be Some Guy Reading Metafilter many, many times over. You've done something amazing making this place, and I couldn't be prouder to be a part of it.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 1:11 PM on March 4, 2015

I may agree with a gold-ish hue, but everyone who sees any white whatsoever in that is a replicant
posted to MetaFilter by naju at 5:14 PM on February 26, 2015

Yah, it's too late for you and anonymity. The best you can do is delete everything and wait for Google to slowly bury it all, which it never will. You'll just slow people down by five minutes. Delete your Metafilter profile. Delete your tweets, delete your Tumblrs, delete your registered domains. Then move your home and start over. :)

I can understand the wisdom of writing under a fake name, and why people are asking you to do it, but I would encourage you to stick with... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by RJ Reynolds at 6:55 AM on February 26, 2015

How do you propose determining what comments are misogynistic/MRA/antifeminist?

Last September I wrote up a list of what I think are obvious red flags:

Is the person doing a few of these?

* "what about the men?" analogies
* identifying men as an oppressed / discriminated-against group in environments / cultures / societies where they not only outnumber women but exist in a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by zarq at 12:29 PM on February 25, 2015

Dear kindly mod mathowie / you gotta understand / it's just our patriarchy / that gets us out of hand

WOMAN:
We read comments that aren't civil,
call us "hysterical" or "sad."
Golly Moses, natcherly we're mad!

WOMEN:
Gee, Mister Mathowie, we're very upset;
We get all the vitriol no person should get.
We ain't monolithic,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ocherdraco at 1:34 PM on February 24, 2015

Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: RE: Fwd: FWD: Fwd: FWD: FWD: FWD: Fwd: Re: Fwd: Fwd: obama
posted to MetaFilter by jason_steakums at 8:59 PM on February 23, 2015

Okay I wrote the movie while I was in the shower. So, Liam Neeson, who just wants a damn vacation, is on his way back from Malaysia to Ireland (where he is in the Irish special forces because ... probably Ireland has them?). The plane is hijacked as described here, only without cabin pressurization loss. The hijackers take control of the E/E room, release control of the cockpit and kill the pilots. They terrorize but do not injure the passengers. They start flying the northern route, skirting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 8:30 AM on February 24, 2015

Brilliant structure of this episode.

In the introduction, we fall for the con, in miniature.

The next 30 or so minutes, we fall for the con, again, but we have no excuse this time! We've been primed, and we're still suckered. It's a master class in manipulation - I want to watch it again and see how it convinced me that Saul was flailing. There's a lot of subconscious, subtle viewer-trickery going on - the scene where Saul... [more]
posted to FanFare by naju at 11:44 AM on February 24, 2015

Well, the cat litter that is made of compressed pine pellets is the exact same thing they sell at feed stores as stall bedding, except the feed store version comes in bigger bags and is a quarter of the price of the litter version.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by BlahLaLa at 10:51 AM on February 20, 2015

It's hard to understand why a focus on edge cases would be so interesting unless people wanted to delegitimize and undermine all discussion of rape. So yes, it's kind of exhausting to see this all over the place - not that it's new to be exposed to these ideas of false accusation, they're certainly ones we all grew up with if not experienced in a more up-close-and-unpleasant way, but it's not a discussion I am interested in having because of its political goals. I do think... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 1:27 PM on February 20, 2015

Hrrrrhg...
posted to MetaTalk by Zombie Bondcliff at 8:14 AM on February 20, 2015

mathowie: "My dumb story of my dropcam snapping a nude of me is in the "dick pics" story, but I didn't know it was part of a full issue on sex, so I'm off to read the rest."

Gonna be a great podcast this month.
posted to MetaFilter by boo_radley at 8:52 AM on February 19, 2015

What I don't understand, and maybe thats not for the members to know is whether there are less moderation hours now than before

There's 168 hours in a week, every week. There's fewer mods covering those hours now, which means more hours for the mods doing the work. It means some longer shifts to make the schedule work; it means weekends always off for the weekday mods isn't something we're able to keep doing. It means the amount of not-on-the-clock... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 10:37 AM on February 16, 2015

but I don't think I've ever had to delete anything in Projects, which is kind of nice since it's been around for about 7 years.

Challenge accepted.
posted to MetaTalk by Literaryhero at 5:44 PM on February 13, 2015

I think turning off your computer and going to shout into a pillow before returning is a better long-term option for getting along with others online though.

I used to do that, but now I have one of those new Yahoo! E-Pillows that constantly displays my favorite websites on the pillow surface. It...it wasn't the best $3500 I ever spent.
posted to MetaTalk by Drinky Die at 3:56 PM on February 13, 2015

(－‸ლ)
posted to MetaFilter by Reyturner at 7:12 AM on February 10, 2015

Neato!

I think the kids today just say mil nowadays.

btw everybody says "millsies" now

says the man who brought you meff-ite
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 7:01 PM on February 9, 2015

Well thanks to this post, I finally shattered an illusion. For a few years now, I've been listening to flacs and convinced myself that they sounded better. So just now I took five songs I know very well indeed and reencoded them in 320 mbps fixed rate mp3s using freeAC, an open source audio converter that uses the LAME codec to encode mp3, and got one of my kids to play them, deciding which one to play first using a coin toss. I used my Grado Labs SR60s, which I like, mostly because they are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by holist at 8:41 AM on February 9, 2015

I may start calling passive-aggressive people "nicey-meany."

One of the things that I do miss with the time jump is getting to see more of Donna and Joe's relationship. This was unlike the other incredibly successful weddings in that sense, but it smartly played up the friendships angle so it still felt like continuity and growth. I kind of loved the third bridesmaid, Michelle - a fun nod to the common complaint that work-based sitcom characters oddly have only... [more]
posted to FanFare by ilana at 12:00 PM on February 6, 2015

- Toss in an extra dollar for the tip if people are nickle and diming about it.
- Reshelve your own books at the library if you know where they go.
- Carry smaller bills (yes aligned the same way) so you can more easily pay exact change or close.
- Pick up trash in front of your house, on a hike, at your bus stop.
- Push the paper towel trash down in the public restroom if you notice it's overflowing because people are afraid to touch things in the... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jessamyn at 12:06 PM on February 6, 2015

I was assaulted in a similar manner, by a coworker who offered to give me a ride home since I was too drunk to drive. At the time, I hadn't even explored the ethical issues of having sex with someone who is so drunk they can't drive when you are sober (especially someone you've never dated or had any indication liked you prior to them being drunk and like for example mostly disagreed about things and not gotten along). I knew it was fucked up that things had turned violent and nonconsensual... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by xarnop at 12:39 PM on February 6, 2015

True confession and this one really flies in the face of convention. My kids were around 11, 9 and 6 when I got divorced and we had shared custody. Over the course of the next few years, their dad, who lives down the road, slowly stopped seeing/calling them and it's now been over 7 years since they've had contact with him. So my kids grew up without a father, because their dad couldn't be bothered.

After it became clear that my efforts to get him to see his kids were... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by kinetic at 2:40 AM on February 6, 2015 marked best answer

When my kids were toddlers, if they bumped their heads on a table or hit their shins on a shelf or had some other temporarily painful but non-injurious mishap, I told them I could suck all the pain into my thumb. Then I set my thumb beside the point of contact and counted to ten, wincing and grimacing and gritting my teeth more and more with each passing number, until I got to ten and jumped up, shaking my pain-filled thumb. This worked astonishingly well with all three of my kids, so minor... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Pater Aletheias at 10:12 AM on February 5, 2015

mathowie, your response is a model of what I show to the moderators in my communities about how to explain something that didn't go exactly to plan, and why a decision was made. Thank you.

Tell me about unconventional moderating practises that worked for you.
posted to MetaTalk by Kabanos at 10:36 AM on February 6, 2015

Like, would you not be seen dead in a fabric pattern from 5 years ago? And three, would you not want your mother's or grandmother's vintage silk saris, and if not, wouldn't somebody else?

So this stuff is pretty complicated, and definitely, fashion and tastes change. However, my mother has an absolutely amazing collection of saris (mostly silk) which she has been basically collecting since I was a baby or earlier (so about 30 years). She wore a sari... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by peacheater at 4:52 AM on February 6, 2015 marked best answer

Researchers at OHSU (in Oregon) have done several studies on whether or not specific exercise programs could improve bone density and balance in older folks -- they have created a program called the Better Bones and Balance program which may be of interest to those of us eligible for AARP or soon to be :).

Also, my favorite powerlifter is Dottie Ward, who at 87, set the world record for bench press and deadlift for women in her age group and weight class. She lives in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by elmay at 7:06 AM on February 5, 2015

I am placing a burrito across my head in joy.
posted to MetaTalk by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 2:44 PM on February 3, 2015

No, this is just a tribute.
posted to MetaTalk by zamboni at 1:28 PM on February 3, 2015

Yeah, it's pretty grear.
posted to MetaTalk by boo_radley at 11:27 AM on February 2, 2015

That was a very well-written and important article and I hope many people will read it, and I hope the abstinence-only crowd will finally open their eyes to the benefits of dealing with heroin addiction as a largely treatable public health problem, not criminal offence or moral failing.

I've been a heroin addict, off and on, since 2007. I lost a best friend from childhood to a heroin overdose. Ironically, right about the time my friend was ODing, I was trying my first... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by apis mellifera at 6:28 PM on February 1, 2015

I love the East/West run on Key and Peele. It's not their smartest or funniest bit in my opinion, but it does show how strong their comedic chops are because they have taken a really simple, dumb idea and done so much with it. Like, SNL would have just repeated the first sketch just with different names. But K&P did the rap, which was amazing, and now threw in real players and a callback to another one of their recurring sketches. I have no doubt these dudes can make a killer feature length... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dogwalker at 2:51 PM on January 30, 2015

Let's see... if my calculations are correct, for every one Ortberg post that makes it to the front page, there are at least nine that are either in the works or have already been deleted.

What I'm saying is—my god, people—this is only the tip of the Ortberg!
posted to MetaTalk by Atom Eyes at 11:38 AM on January 30, 2015

I enjoyed it. It's target audience is maybe a couple years younger than the typical Pixar outing, or maybe it's just not as smart. But it's fun. Definitely agreed that they did a very good job with the CGI for the bear.

I feel naive for always thinking adventure societies were just ballsy dudes. And kinda bad that I learned here that it really wasn't that simple.

I do want the Geographers Guild's Gilliam-esque pneumatic tube system for my home though.
posted to FanFare by dogwalker at 9:33 AM on January 27, 2015

The Swapper is a side-scrolling platformer/puzzle game with a creepy atmosphere. You've arrived on a research space-station which is investigating the alien intelligence found in captured asteroids (yup) and also developed a spinoff tech, the Swapper device. It lets you make up to 4 identical clones that follow your every move, and swap yourself among the clones. The clones that aren't you are expendable. Windows-- available on Steam or GOG.

I can't pass up an... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sunburnt at 11:51 PM on January 27, 2015 marked best answer

capricorn: "I always got the impression that the r/BlackPeopleTwitter subreddit was supposed to be mocking the way black people use Twitter in a "we are white people who are uncomfortable with how racist we are but we aren't going to let something like that stop us from actually being racist" kind of way. I would be very happy to hear confirmation from MeFites that I am wrong and that it is actually a celebration of black Twitter culture (including from people who are a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by anansi at 11:06 AM on January 29, 2015

If the new Dana Barrett is played by Ron Funches, this will be my new favorite movie.
posted to MetaFilter by dogwalker at 4:29 PM on January 27, 2015

I'd buy a ticket right now if I could.
posted to MetaFilter by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:22 PM on January 27, 2015

I heard this on the radio once, and the scientist had an interesting way of looking at it. He said that the commonality of iron explains not only why our barns are red, but that the barns of any alien civilizations we encounter are likely to be red too.
posted to MetaFilter by eye of newt at 9:07 PM on January 26, 2015

This is your monthly reminder that having super-smart people, nearly infinite resources and a very good product are still not sufficient to win in a competitive marketplace.

Also, barns.
posted to MetaFilter by GuyZero at 8:18 PM on January 26, 2015

i really really wish they had named it universal moderator appreciation day.

you know, because UMAD?
posted to MetaTalk by emptythought at 5:15 PM on January 26, 2015

This sounds like one of those made up hallmark holidays they invented just to sell mugs.
posted to MetaTalk by phunniemee at 1:49 PM on January 26, 2015

Short answer: should work fine.

Long answer: Skin color is caused by melanin. Melanin's absorption curve indicates that it is mostly effective at absorbing light of wavelength shorter than 600 nm (roughly orangey-yellow). Based on this whitepaper from Texas Instruments about the design of an optical heart rate monitor, they use infrared and red LEDs. At those wavelengths, melanin is not a very effective absorber, so there should be very little signal loss. Looks like... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Maecenas at 5:48 PM on January 25, 2015

Strikes me as crazy to imagine that no women actually internalize society's messages about how worthless they are.

I think people use questions on AskMe as Rorschachs into other things. I think there are a lot of women who have internalized lousy messages. However, I found the "Look, I don't like to say this shit out loud but $WALL_OF_SHIT" presentation a problem. Even if that is someone who is genuinely having those issues, having a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 2:15 PM on January 25, 2015

One thing I've been making an effort at lately is not commenting on other peoples' appearance at work. It may seem innocuous to mention someone's haircut, cute shoes, weight loss, etc, but it's really not given the cultural context. It puts even more emphasis on the fact that a woman's appearance in the workplace (other than general professionalism) is synonymous (or antonymous) with her ability or worth. Combined with the fact that, as a woman, I'm expected to notice these things as though... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by melissasaurus at 1:51 PM on January 22, 2015