Per aniola's suggestion, we're having an ice cream meetup. Final plan: Viva at noon on Saturday, followed by a walk over to Sweet Melissa's Press Bay Alley.
posted to MeFi IRL by zamboni at 12:59 PM on June 27, 2018

A coworker told me that he doesn't enjoy watching basketball because the high scores give less opportunity for surprising victories, as the scores are a reasonably good statistical reflection of which team played better in a given game. The low scores of soccer lead to the opposite problem for someone who likes surprising victories, since ties are so common. He came to the fine Canadian conclusion that hockey is just right. I suspect that he is mathematically correct, but I'm not sure which mathematical or statistical tools would help me prove or disprove it. Are there laws of small numbers that would apply to this analysis?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by clawsoon at 4:38 PM on June 20, 2018 (7 comments)

When coin-op arcade games first started featuring high score lists, they didn't have any sort of writable media, and so the high scores were simply kept in volatile memory, to disappear when the machine was turned off. When did this change? What was the first arcade machine to write scores to something more durable than RAM, and when did it become common?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by baf at 6:44 PM on May 31, 2018 (10 comments)

It was something along the lines of "In the morning, when everyone in the neighborhood is leaving for work, I always wonder what the dogs will do all day."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 2:24 AM on May 20, 2018 (1 comment)

Skerples writes about elf games (D&D and all similar games), often with the goal of bringing the real strangeness of history to your games, and some of those history posts may be of interest even to folks who are not interested in Dungeons and Dragons. When elf gaming blogger and designer Patrick Stuart (previously) wrote a review of Barbara Tuchman's (author of The Guns of August) A Distant Mirror, Skerples responded with a (title source) post about how to better understand the medieval mindset that anyone, gamer or non-gamer, might find interesting.
posted to MetaFilter by Caduceus at 6:00 PM on May 12, 2018 (13 comments)

How can I understand what it would mean to identify as both Latinx and white? Recognizing that race/ethnicity are complex social constructs, I could use some advice.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by sockpuppetryarts at 6:04 PM on May 2, 2018 (26 comments)

In BoardGameGeek's 18 years of existence, cataloging and judging board games from all over the world, only seven games have occupied the #1 overall position. The newest is Cephalofair Games' Gloomhaven, a super-ambitious legacy game that plays like Dungeons and Dragons using cards instead of dice. It weighs more than 20 pounds, costs around $200, and comes with more than 100 branching adventures for the players to hack and slash their way through. Reaching BGG's #1 position is particularly amazing for a game that isn't actually on the market yet (not counting the the two Kickstarter campaigns). FiveThirtyEight's senior board games correspondent Oliver Roeder takes a look at why it may be hard for any game to break Gloomhaven's hold on the top spot.
posted to MetaFilter by Etrigan at 7:01 PM on April 22, 2018 (43 comments)

Housework is not work. Sex work is not work. Emotional work is not work. Why? Because they don’t take effort? No, because women are supposed to provide them uncompensated, out of the goodness of our hearts.
posted to MetaFilter by sciatrix at 2:38 PM on July 15, 2015 (2054 comments)

My wife and I will be taking a little road trip in late April/early May from Detroit to the Finger Lakes area of NY with a two day/one night stop in Buffalo. Neither of us has visited before. Looking for recommendations on food/activities in these areas. We are interested in nature, delicious foods, hidden gems.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by likeplus at 8:35 PM on April 17, 2018 (21 comments)

Advice for first time* D&D player?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pH Indicating Socks at 8:13 AM on April 13, 2018 (4 comments)

Tired of increasingly bloated, over-designed web interfaces? Looking for a way to enjoy your content without all the dozens of JavaScript trackers and endless needless geegaws? Give the new MetaFilter Reader interface a shot! Clean, classic design; mobile friendly; it even comes with its own games!
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 10:15 PM on March 31, 2018 (136 comments)

Basically what the title says. What's the best place to make out in Los Angeles? Where can two gay women make out in a car, not be disturbed, and have the best views? Criteria are inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lilies.lilies at 8:00 PM on April 10, 2018 (2 comments)

My 13yo has been verbalizing suicidal ideation. I admitted her to a psychiatric hospital Monday night; things are not going well. Wall of text inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dancinglamb at 6:22 PM on April 5, 2018 (29 comments)

I want to make interactive maps of imaginary places, for display on the web in an interactive manner. I am a programmer, I am not really a javascript programmer but I can do a little JS if required.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by RustyBrooks at 10:26 AM on April 4, 2018 (10 comments)

For Transgender Day of Visibility, The Independent interviews a wide spectrum of trans activists, asking how cis people can be better allies in 2018.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 11:15 AM on April 1, 2018 (57 comments)

I'm a video game designer looking to switch careers and maybe/maybe not industries in the near future. I'm looking at a specific program for a computer science degree and want some input from general software engineers and video game programmers (or others with relevant knowledge) on whether this program will adequately prepare me for the switch. Specifics inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ConradLandsman at 9:36 PM on March 31, 2018 (8 comments)

I saw this tree while surveying a roof in Northeastern Massachusetts this week. As best as I can tell, it is an ash tree on the bottom and a birch tree on top. This makes no sense to me. What is the deal with this tree?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:49 PM on March 29, 2018 (7 comments)

I tend to have shallow emotions. I don't think it's quite the same as depression, as I've been depressed and gotten better. Most times, I have a rather numb baseline feeling. This doesn't go away so easily. I'm pretty much unable to cry and worry I don't react strongly enough to deaths and sad events. Sometimes, I think I sort of fit the definition of alexithymia, although it's a difficulty in feeling and not just a difficulty in describing feelings. I'm uncomfortable in realizing that this quality seems to be something seen in pop culture sociopath characters. I can't help but shake the idea that this could be part of me, and I'm not sure how I'd be comfortable with that.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 7:39 AM on March 29, 2018 (27 comments)

I'm a trans woman in Austin, and I've been letting my hair grow out for quite a while. I haven't been able to get it styled because I'm not out at work. That's about to change, and I'm ready to do something fun with it (my hair, that is). The question is, what to do, and who to have do it?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Tabitha Someday at 12:39 PM on March 29, 2018 (27 comments)

How Fortnite became more popular than PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds [PCGamesN] “...the game’s true strength was found when Epic announced Fortnite Battle Royale in September 2017 - hot on the heels of the massively popular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The Battle Royale mode has become so popular since then that it is now the most streamed game on Twitch and the newly launched mobile version topped the iOS charts across 13 countries. Given the extraordinary success of Fortnite the fact that it is now attracting celebrities from outside of games towards its shrinking battle arenas is to be expected. It is not just Drake, either: international rugby players have imitated animations from the game during matches, and even Roseanne from the TV series Roseanne (yes, her) has caught the Fortnite fever.”
posted to MetaFilter by Fizz at 7:01 AM on March 22, 2018 (91 comments)

I've been using the word "bemused" wrong my whole life. I always figured it referred to affable, amused thoughtfulness. I'd imagine someone grinning a sardonic grin, comfortably seated in an easy chair, drawing on a pipe. Lost in thought, a bit detached and aloof, but grinning in self-amusement. Sort of a combination of "beguiled" and "amused". But no. Bemused, it turns out, is more of an expression of defeat. You don't know the answer, and you're probably not going ever know, and that's that. So what is the word I'm looking for?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Quisp Lover at 8:36 AM on March 22, 2018 (15 comments)

Please recommend non-white, Indie and/or Post Rock and/or Punk female fronted bands.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by signal at 2:48 PM on March 18, 2018 (43 comments)

Martina Vinci organised a flash mob rendition of the Fiona Apple song Hot Knife in the Genoa Metro in Italy. After it was posted to the interwebs... Fiona Apple heard it.
posted to MetaFilter by Lanark at 12:52 PM on March 17, 2018 (17 comments)

My aunt is visiting and has an interest in American literature (specialized in it in college) and is an English teacher. She's visiting from outside the US. We're based in the Boston-area which is perfect for this kind of thing - so would love to hear about gems we can explore either within the city or on day trips or perhaps one weekend away.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 3:44 AM on March 10, 2018 (25 comments)

I'm thinking of things like the brilliant Opus No. 1 by Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel, which I'd imagine most people that have made a phone call in the last twenty years have heard (but never knew what it was). There must be other songs like this. What might they be?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by stillmoving at 1:04 PM on March 4, 2018 (72 comments)

Do neural nets dream of electric sheep?

Bring sheep indoors, and they're labeled as cats. Pick up a sheep (or a goat) in your arms, and they're labeled as dogs. Paint them orange, and they become flowers. And if goats climb trees, they become birds.

More neural net weirdness from Janelle C. Shane.
posted to MetaFilter by Lexica at 4:56 PM on March 3, 2018 (38 comments)

I recently consumed a piece of media that involved a queer coded woman turning into a tree. I would have sworn I've seen this multiple times before, but honestly can only thing of one other example. Can you think of any others?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dinty_moore at 6:28 AM on February 28, 2018 (14 comments)

Metafilter's favourite android Janelle Monae announces her new album Dirty Computer.
posted to MetaFilter by daveje at 12:58 PM on February 21, 2018 (70 comments)

I have 48,000 Word documents in a folder. Some of them contain embedded images and some of them don't. My life would be a million times easier if I could separate them.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by infinitejones at 4:43 PM on February 19, 2018 (7 comments)

Do you use google calendar? Do you buy a dayminder every year? Do you wake up in the morning and write: "7:00-7:30 breakfast. 7:30-7:40 get dressed. 7:40-8:10 commute. 8:10 pick up paperclips before work" or something like that? I'm interested in details--specific tools, philosophies, etc.!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by redwaterman at 6:45 PM on February 13, 2018 (23 comments)

I am moving to a new city this summer. After living in a series of apartment rentals for the last 15 years, I really want to put down roots and buy a place; thanks to an unexpected inheritance I might just be in a position to do just that. I have no idea what I'm actually doing, though. Many, many questions inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by basalganglia at 6:07 PM on February 12, 2018 (25 comments)

For a long time I thought that I hated podcasts, but it turns out I just hate "NPR voice" and overly serious, professionally-produced podcasts like Serial or Radio Lab. Then I started listening to Another Round and Dear Prudence because I'm a fan of the people involved. I love these podcasts! They are silly, casual, unscripted, and it feels like I'm hanging out with cool friends while they talk about smart stuff. What else should I be listening to?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 100kb at 9:20 AM on February 12, 2018 (70 comments)

I have a lot of out-of-town visitors who come for dinner, for the night, or for a week or two. How can I surprise and delight them? What have you truly enjoyed as a guest, that's made you feel special and loved and extra-welcomed? Things I've loved: a friend who has a giant bin of guest slippers for his please-no-shoes house; my aunt's snack cabinet (she remembers personal favorites and stocks up ahead of time with specific guests in mind). I'm a bit of a busy bee, so I'd love suggestions that don't require too much prep (or time away from my guests, like cooking an elaborate thing). Welcome signs? Treats on the pillows? Perfecting one really cool cocktail with ingredients that I can always keep on hand? Hit me!!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by red_rabbit at 8:04 PM on February 10, 2018 (38 comments)

I'm hoping to host a series of events for kids involving imaginative play, physical activity, creativity, and general "freedom/wildness" at my library. I need a short evocative name. It's based on a similar program called "A Wild Rumpus" (kind of perfect!). For {reasons}, I can't/don't want to use "Wild Rumpus" for my program name. Can you help me brainstorm?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Knicke at 7:42 AM on January 26, 2018 (18 comments)

Meet five large (Canadian) men and the little dogs they love.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:13 AM on January 19, 2018 (67 comments)

Good dogs! Naughty dogs! Snapchat dogs!
posted to MetaFilter by Johnny Wallflower at 3:36 PM on January 15, 2018 (21 comments)

I've recently done a little bit of work writing very light entries for a sort of coffee table reference book. Where does one look for similar one off writing gigs like this?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Just this guy, y'know at 4:10 AM on January 15, 2018 (1 comment)

I'm a postdoc, and I was just offered a tenure-track job across the country. However, I've had to move so much that I've struggled to build the in-person social connections (including a fulfilling romantic relationship) that I finally have now. Although I've built up a career that I'm proud of, the cost is that I've felt incredibly lonely for most of it- and I finally don't feel that way. I'm thinking about turning it down to try to make things work here, but it would be less of a guaranteed road. I don't know what to do.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by deus ex machina at 11:11 AM on January 12, 2018 (37 comments)

I've become increasingly aware of the (many) ways that I resist and avoid letting myself be vulnerable in both my personal and professional life. I think it's getting in the way of getting the most out of my experiences. I'm looking for practices that will help me grow on this front. They could be standalone exercises or a little curriculum that I could turn into a self-growth course, or, really any other suggestions for actionable ways to engage with this area in myself.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by spindrifter at 11:05 AM on January 11, 2018 (5 comments)

I have a birthday coming up soon (28 - which for some reason feels like a milestone to me) and have been spending some time thinking about some of the small epiphanies I've had in the last few years that have made my life infinitely better. Such as - it's ok to let go of friends who no longer bring anything positive into your life; you are not responsible for your mothers happiness; and it's OK if the person you are seriously dating and thinking about settling down with is very different from the person that you thought you'd be with. In fact, it might be a very good thing. All of this thinking has made me realize that 1) if I had known this a few years earlier I might have avoided some serious heartache and anxiety attacks and 2) that there are probably plenty more epiphanies that I haven't had yet. So, I'm asking you all wise and all knowing MeFiers - what is a life changing realization you wish you'd had sooner?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Bokonon11 at 4:17 PM on August 12, 2013 (106 comments)

This question is my favorite AskMefi post of all time and I find myself revisiting it every year or so. As I've since graduated college and entered the adult world some of these realizations have become much clearer. It's been years since that post and there are a lot of new official Mefites here, myself included. So, wise people of the green, what are some life-changing realizations you've had as you've aged?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by hexaflexagon at 1:35 PM on December 22, 2017 (144 comments)

Today, I schooled some total dinguses who didn’t know which character was Zelda. [via]
posted to MetaFilter by signal at 5:18 AM on December 21, 2017 (198 comments)

Sci-fi writer Ted Chiang on how Silicon Valley misdiagnoses the AI threat: “The idea of superintelligence is such a poorly defined notion that one could envision it taking almost any form with equal justification: a benevolent genie that solves all the world’s problems, or a mathematician that spends all its time proving theorems so abstract that humans can’t even understand them. But when Silicon Valley tries to imagine superintelligence, what it comes up with is no-holds-barred capitalism.”
posted to MetaFilter by Phire at 9:17 AM on December 18, 2017 (40 comments)

I want to get back into my childhood passion of stage magic - and make it more aligned with the kind of political & highly personal art I already do. Where do I begin?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by divabat at 3:32 AM on December 17, 2017 (18 comments)

I'm looking for a more appropriate word than "non male" that is more inclusive than "female."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by aniola at 9:05 PM on February 26, 2016 (37 comments)

“Cat Person” is a short story by Kristen Roupenian in the latest issue of The New Yorker. It’s about a brief modern relationship.
The magazine has also published an interview with Roupenian on the story.
posted to MetaFilter by Going To Maine at 12:49 PM on December 9, 2017 (170 comments)

So you want to be a wizard? (PDF) Julia Evans (aka @b0rk, possibly MeFi’s own?) is a programmer, debugger, ‘zine author, speaker, and prolific blogger. Julia does a great job of pulling back the curtain on how computers work at a lower level than most people (including many in tech!) are familiar with, and by doing so is introducing systems programming to a much wider audience in an enthusiastic and approachable way.
posted to MetaFilter by yeahwhatever at 11:59 AM on December 11, 2017 (14 comments)

I've been thinking about trying to dabble with GIS in an urban setting. I'm not going to fork out for expensive tools, so I'm looking for free ones. I'm asking this as a complete noob - so I probably don't even know the right questions to be asking here - but my initial requirements are inside. Thank you!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by carter at 6:18 AM on December 6, 2017 (12 comments)

The Investigation Into Toad's Head Continues [Kotaku] “In case you didn't know Toad is at the center of a heated, ongoing debate. On one side are the people who think the mushroom on his head sits there like a hat. On the other side are people who think the mushroom is part of his head. Thanks to the latest Boundary Break video [YouTube], we have some new evidence to consider. While the debate has been raging for aeons, it was recently brought back to the fore thanks to Super Mario Odyssey. There are a bunch of toads in the game and some of them are wearing hats. Like, real ones. On top of their mushroom part. This seemed to suggest the pro-head people have been right all along. A post over at Dorkly [Dorkly] that laid out the debate in detail earlier this month also explained that Toad's mushroom can't be a hat because Cappy, Mario's companion in the game, can only possess creatures who aren't already wearing hats. Mario can possess toads in the game, ergo the mushroom must not be a hat.”
posted to MetaFilter by Fizz at 4:27 PM on December 3, 2017 (51 comments)

My friend has been on a quest for years to identify the song played at 1:28:53 in this skateboard video from 1990.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mr.marx at 2:02 PM on December 2, 2017 (5 comments)