Give me super placid media to engage with. Relaxing, tranquil, serene. TV, movies, and video games are all fine. Some examples would be Bee and PuppyCat, anything by Studio Ghibli and Knytt respectively. To be clear, however: I don't want stuff I can engage with mindlessly. I want stuff that I can pay attention to and follow along with and are interesting or humorous or even a teeny bit dramatic, but which are pleasurably slow-paced.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Quilford at 4:40 AM on February 20, 2015 (61 comments)

People Share the Most Pointless Argument They’ve Been Passionately Involved In, inspired by reddit. (Pleated Jeans has a single-page version without the unfunny commentary.)
posted to MetaFilter by Johnny Wallflower at 5:38 PM on March 22, 2017 (246 comments)

After almost 30 years I think I need to get out of IT and corporate cube life. I want to work with my hands. At the end of the day I want to be able to point to something tangible and say “I did that!” I want to… do something. I don’t know what that is. Help me figure out what it is I want to do. Help me brainstorm.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Tubesox at 8:53 AM on August 24, 2015 (29 comments)

I'm writing a piece referencing 90s era dotcom culture and I didn't mix in those circles back in the day, so I'm struggling with authentic-sounding dialogue. Any kind of buzzwords at all that evoke dotcom culture, especially first wave, would be most appreciated. I don't even need to be saying something in particular, just classic buzzwords I can throw in there. I tried clicking on Askmes/posts that were about this general subject but most of the links were long-dead and/or were post-mortems.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GospelofWesleyWillis at 4:58 PM on February 15, 2017 (117 comments)

I'm in a musical rut and I'd like to listen to more female-fronted "angry" music. Like Sleater-Kinney, but angrier. Like Hole, but still around. Is there a lesbian version of Trent Reznor? Bonus points for LGBTQ bands and bands that are still performing together.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by blueskiesinside at 5:45 PM on March 3, 2015 (66 comments)

Please recommend some melancholy, beautiful fantasy to hibernate with this winter.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sayuri. at 3:33 PM on February 1, 2017 (45 comments)

I have 2 Raspberry Pi's. I want to execute a python script on Pi_1 that will execute a python script on Pi_2. I want Pi_1 to send script parameters to Pi_2 and I want Pi_1 to retrieve the output of the Pi_2 script. I'm new to python and Linux. I'm learning a lot from Stack Exchange but I haven't been able to find anything related to the above. Anything that will get me on the right track would be appreciated.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by night_train at 8:00 AM on January 24, 2017 (10 comments)

I'm putting together a playlist to get me through this weekend. The theme is: we are all going to die/everything is terrible/this is a disaster/the end of civilization as we know it. Connections can be tenuous, lyrical/topical fit less important than the one moment of "HA! This song! Perfect!" Songs so far include REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It," The Homeless Gospel Choir's "Armageddon," Def Leppard's "Armageddon It." Not interested in generic depressing/downbeat songs or overly sincere songs or even hopeful ones. Bitter laughs preferred.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 10:21 AM on January 16, 2017 (95 comments)

Does anyone have any non-anecdotal information on how long a woman has to be on HRT for, before it becomes vanishingly unlikely that she can get someone pregnant?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 5:07 AM on January 15, 2017 (9 comments)

The best meme of 2016 — and let’s be real, probably any year — should be the one that was born from people arguing about dogs on the Internet. The Washington Post talks to @dog_rates and Brent Brant Walker , who had one of the best Twitter exchanges of the year.
posted to MetaFilter by Metroid Baby at 9:07 AM on January 5, 2017 (75 comments)

What is one concept or mental model you learned in law school, grad school, business school, trade school, in a MOOC, etc., that blew your mind, stuck with you, and became a regular or essential part of your "cognitive toolkit"?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by shotgunbooty at 12:56 PM on January 2, 2017 (83 comments)

Need to explain current healthcare and medical research topics to people around you? Healthcare Triage offers informative and accessible videos on youtube: Obamacare * Is Marijuana Harmful to Health? * Why You Don't Need to Drink Milk * Exercise is NOT the Key to Weight Loss * GMOs * Is Organic Food Better for Your Health? * The Benefits of Paid Sick Leave for Workers, Employers, and Pretty Much Everybody
posted to MetaFilter by Foci for Analysis at 11:55 AM on December 30, 2016 (7 comments)

Letterboxd is a social network for movie lovers where you can rate films, keep track of what you’ve watched, and create collections based on whatever categories you want. Here are some of the best collections.
posted to MetaFilter by Johnny Wallflower at 7:13 AM on December 11, 2016 (75 comments)

Andy Kershaw just spent 45 minutes interviewing The Band's Robbie Robertson. BBC Radio posted the full audio of their chat online as a free downloadable mp3 this morning, and it's fascinating. Among the topics Robertson discusses are a memorable early Hawks gig in Jack Ruby's Texas club, dealing with audience hostility on Dylan's first electric tour, taking the Stones' Brian Jones to a gig by the then-unknown Jimi Hendrix, his memories of the Woodstock festival, 1970s drug madness in the music industry, The Band's legendary farewell at The Last Waltz and why a touring musician's years are like dog years. Both men are clearly enjoying themselves here and Kershaw can be heard cackling like a mad witch at Robertson's best anecdotes.
posted to MetaFilter by Paul Slade at 12:47 PM on November 24, 2016 (14 comments)

It’s been a monumental month for one of Nashville’s most masterful songwriters, John Prine. As October rolled in, Prine’s latest album of duets with women, “For Better, or Worse,” was released and debuted at #2 on the Country Charts, making it the highest-charting album of his career. A week later, he celebrated his 70th birthday with a series of star-studded, sold-out shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium...
posted to MetaFilter by mandolin conspiracy at 8:13 AM on October 25, 2016 (38 comments)

Deep-fried Data (Collections as Data, Library of Congress) For the generation growing up now, the Internet is their window on the world. They take it for granted. It’s only us, who have seen it take shape, and are aware of all the ways it could have been different, who understand that it's fragile, contingent. The coming years will decide to what extent the Internet be a medium for consumption, to what extent it will lift people up, and to what extent it will become a tool of social control.
posted to MetaFilter by CrystalDave at 4:19 PM on October 2, 2016 (16 comments)

I'd like to declare September 28th Reach Out to a New Mefite day.
posted to MetaTalk by ActionPopulated at 8:19 PM on September 28, 2016 (27 comments)

I currently live in the Boston area (Cambridge specifically) and I'm thinking of moving somewhere else. I'm 30, no kids, currently rent, and have a car and a flexible job. For now, I'm looking at smaller cities in the Northeast US. I do like having lots of different things to do (and have even considered living in NYC for that reason). I'm also looking for somewhere with a friendly and open culture.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by danceswithlight at 6:10 AM on February 10, 2016 (26 comments)

Fellow 40/50-something aging punks, indie rockers, etc.: what books do you think best capture the feel of the 80s / early 90s, pre-internet underground(s)? Fiction + non-fiction - novels, forgotten but still vital journalism of the era, music biographies, etc. - are both of interest.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ryanshepard at 6:12 PM on July 6, 2016 (44 comments)

"When I asked women to share their early Internet “safe spaces,” dozens responded to my inquiry talking about how Neopets, AOL chatrooms, fan fiction Tumblrs, X-Files LISTSERVs, LiveJournal communities and more introduced them to comfort on the Internet. Most of these sites were beloved exactly for that same dual sense of security and inclusion members loved — and when that sense was lost, from time or toxicity or something else, the woman who made them moved on to another new place." Julia Carpenter, for The Hairpin: "Sisterhood of the Traveling Safe Spaces: Where women gather online."
posted to MetaFilter by MonkeyToes at 6:13 PM on June 19, 2016 (61 comments)

Have you had any experience with having a therapist (or client) who has a very different background and level of privilege from you? How did you address this?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by gemutlichkeit at 9:47 PM on April 8, 2016 (23 comments)

I'm currently working as a school library technician and, to be honest, I sort of enjoy it. However, it's a really limiting position. There's nowhere to really go from here. I have a library technician diploma (Canada) and I feel really limited by my opportunities as a paraprofessional. Lately, I'm trying to figure out what my next career move should be and I am HONESTLY, SERIOUSLY considering going back and getting my MLIS. How stupid would this choice be? Is there a chance that it wouldn't be a mistake?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by modesty.blaise at 8:09 PM on April 4, 2016 (20 comments)

Hi friends! I like birds but know nothing about them. Is there an app that has information about birds that I might see so I can identify them, and maybe keep track of the ones I see?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by leesh at 12:44 PM on March 18, 2016 (12 comments)

I'm looking for things you'd maybe learn the hard way as parents, or pick up from other parents, specific to Seattle. Do you know of any of these tidbits, or where to find out more about the "lay of the land" for Seattle parenting? (Our daughter is almost 2 right now, if it helps.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by joshuaconner at 11:15 PM on February 16, 2016 (5 comments)

I have a running joke with my girlfriend regarding an over-elaborate way that I want to propose to her, what I'd love to do is catch her completely off-guard by actually pulling it off!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 777 at 3:52 PM on February 18, 2016 (23 comments)

I am a Quaker, and the Quaker magazine Friends Journal asked me to review a book on sex ed by a Quaker teacher, Al Vernacchio's For Goodness Sex. As a radical sex-positive poly person whose nuclear family has a 50/50 trans/cis split, I found Vernacchio's mildly progressive approach inadequate, and said so. Plainly, in keeping with Quaker tradition.
posted to MetaFilter Projects by not that girl at 12:49 PM on November 5, 2015 (2 comments)

I'm a liberal-arts-ish woman who has some experience with computer programming (HTML, CSS and PHP) and a ton of graphics/design experience. I hear about code bootcamps and lots of people changing careers to CS, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to try and develop my programming skills. But I'm worried I'm not geeky enough to hack it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MetaFilter World Peace at 11:20 AM on February 12, 2016 (18 comments)

"I thought I was pretty good at Snapchat. Then I watched my little sister ..." Buzzfeed's Ben Rosen learns to Snapchat like a boss from his 13-year old sister. "I would watch in awe as she flipped through her snaps, opening and responding to each one in less than a second with a quick selfie face. She answered all 40 of her friends’ snaps in under a minute. How was this even possible?"
posted to MetaFilter by zanni at 1:11 PM on February 9, 2016 (152 comments)

2016 All Candidates Debate - [SLYT] from Mefi's own Greg Nog [via mefi projects]
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:13 PM on February 9, 2016 (37 comments)

What are the best, most current books for total newbies on creating a media strategy for small organizations?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rykey at 12:47 PM on January 29, 2016

I'd like to read some fantasy or science fiction that has the same flavor and feel as Steven Universe. Any recommendations?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:11 PM on January 8, 2016 (4 comments)

For my 30th birthday, I'm planning a week-long trip to Mexico City with my partner. We both have some concerns about physical/emotional safety, especially for her as a trans WOC. I'm looking for advice and anecdotes from people with experience being brown (as a tourist/non-native) and/or queer in Mexico City.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by (Over) Thinking at 8:59 AM on December 31, 2015 (5 comments)

How can my 26-year old Second-Life-design-genius-and-little-sister get an invite for Sansar?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mike Mongo at 8:08 PM on December 29, 2015 (2 comments)

Too much of what I read on the internet makes me angry and upset. This is bleeding into my reactions in real life as well. How can I develop a mental filter and learn to take things less personally? I don't want to just avoid reading about certain topics and becoming less informed overall as a result.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ziggy500 at 4:05 AM on December 10, 2015 (18 comments)

In Cities: Skylines ... it can be hard to keep tabs on a single person's life for very long, and difficult to find them again later. I thought I'd fix this problem by creating a city in which only a single home could be built. Then I'd see who moved in and keep track of their lives. Here's what happened.

posted to MetaFilter by cthuljew at 2:57 AM on November 16, 2015 (55 comments)

Songs From A Mountain Goats Album In Which Cicero Is Not Mentioned And Everybody’s Marriages Work Out [SLtoast]
posted to MetaFilter by schmod at 5:52 AM on October 29, 2015 (155 comments)

My husband works very hard and does amazing things. When he has an accomplishment, I have a hard time thinking of something to say other than "I'm proud of you" but I think that sounds so patronizing, fake, and parental.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ForeverDcember at 1:29 PM on May 17, 2015 (26 comments)

Please recommend music which would be noticeably worse off without a triangle. I have attended the symphony eight times per year for the past five years, and I've only been thoroughly annoyed by the triangle once*, but I'd like to develop appreciation rather than tolerance and befuddlement.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by esoterrica at 2:51 PM on October 22, 2015 (22 comments)

Since having a child, my sister seems to have become one-dimensional and our relationship is starting to feel like hard work. Should I just expect this to be reality until my niece leaves for college? How do we maintain connection if so?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by DarlingBri at 7:47 AM on October 22, 2015 (41 comments)

My stepson (12.75 years old, tall, sensitive, excelling in his 7th-grade computer classes) asked if he could set up a YouTube channel to post gameplay and commentary type stuff. He currently spends most of his screen time watching that sort of thing and playing along (various, mostly iOS games). I'm only vaguely aware of the phenomenon, being An Old, and my initial thought was "I do not want to let this kid be exposed to YouTube commenters."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Etrigan at 8:00 AM on October 22, 2015 (15 comments)

My son is 9 and one of my favorite things to do is gently aggravate him with dad-esque sayings.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Twicketface at 8:56 AM on October 5, 2015 (79 comments)

Since graduating college, I've wandered from job to job. I taught kindergarteners English in China, then I got an EMT certification and worked on and led Americrops chainsaw crews, and now I'm in the Peace Corps, at a health center in Rwanda. When I'm done, I think I'll be ready to go back to school (if necessary) and move towards something that could be a more permanent career, but I don't know what that would be. I'd like to talk over that decision with someone qualified, online.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rinku at 10:18 AM on October 3, 2015 (5 comments)

Recently seeing a lot of disappointment from parents/ grown children regarding their parents/ grown children. Both sides disillusioned with the difference between who they want/ need the other to be/do and who they actually are/ do. What has kept you close to your parents/ children?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by oink at 4:00 AM on December 12, 2013 (44 comments)

The U.S. Trans Survey, currently being conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, "will give researchers, policymakers, and advocates the ability to see the experiences of trans people over time, how things are changing, and what can be done to improve the lives of trans people."
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 7:21 AM on August 19, 2015 (16 comments)

I'm a trans man who is flying (domestic US flights) tomorrow. Can I wear a packer through security?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cheerwine at 6:42 PM on July 6, 2015 (24 comments)

As I plan my own transition into a career in programming/IT, I'm looking to hear from women who already work in the field and are happy about it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by stoneandstar at 3:16 PM on March 16, 2015 (12 comments)

I'm in the beginning stages of transitioning from to female to male. Only my friends know at this point; I haven't said anything at work and I haven't started hormones (yet) so it's not very obvious physically. For many reasons, I want to start looking for another job but I'm wondering how to handle it with an impending transition. How do I present myself? How do I handle references when they know me as another name?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by AFABulous at 6:24 PM on June 24, 2015 (6 comments)

16 teams remain in the FIFA 2015 Women's World Cup as we enter the knockout stages. Let's review the 16 survivors, how they got there, and how far they might go.
posted to MetaFilter by eriko at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2015 (842 comments)

I would like books and journal articles written by grave people with PHDs out their ass on the physiological and psychological effects of rituals.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by curuinor at 3:18 PM on April 29, 2015 (16 comments)

How do I find a therapist who will help me develop a thicker skin regarding failure during the job hunt and keep me on a positive track?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by sockomatic at 5:32 PM on April 24, 2015 (3 comments)