MetaFilter

I will add I don't think the aggressive, swearing, emotional framing of the MeTa is very helpful to your case, though dude. Doesn't read like a lot of good-faith assuming etc of the moderators.

I understand you may not have the faith, but if you're trying to change people's minds about something, best not to tell them they're bullshit, fucking ridiculous etc, I think.
posted to MetaTalk by smoke at 9:28 PM on April 17, 2013

I'm less of a firecracker nowadays. Maybe it makes me less exciting, but I'm not actually that interested in screaming at strangers on the Internet.
posted to MetaTalk by Bunny Ultramod at 6:44 AM on April 18, 2013

Well, I posted the link because I wanted to see discussion of it (which is presumably why many--if not most?--people post things here), and deleting it means the thing I was hoping would happen won't happen.

"Let's have a discussion of a contentious topic" is almost 100% of the time a terrible reason to make a FPP here, imo.
posted to MetaTalk by empath at 8:30 PM on March 28, 2013

The fact that Will Shetterly is being listed as a credible source in this post really undercuts its legitimacy. He has a history of harassment, mostly against Women of color as the link shows.

I'm not meaning to pick on you, here, Shawnstruck, but surely this kind of comment is quite similar to the in-group/out-group, personality-driven calumny that a lot of this post is addressing? I kind of feel like reducing something so complex and broad to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by smoke at 2:29 PM on December 2, 2012

OH MY GOD IT'S THAT EMU.

Strawberry Plains is no more than half an hour from where I grew up, and I can personally confirm that THAT FUCKING ONE-EYED EMU is, in fact, a dick. He's the sort of emu that, if he could possibly arrange it, would be waiting with a baseball bat in a dark alley for you to walk on by, and you would wake up in a bathtub of ice with one less kidney and an empty bucket that used to contain animal treats next to you.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by WidgetAlley at 7:21 PM on November 12, 2012

Yes, if there's a pure story untainted by merchandising out there, it is certainly Star Wars.
posted to MetaFilter by entropicamericana at 2:55 PM on October 30, 2012

So, how much of Frank Oz's work does Disney now own?
posted to MetaFilter by ckape at 2:19 PM on October 30, 2012

Neither brand is recognized by my musician significant other, so there isn't one solid winner for us to help you with. FWIW, they may indeed need repairs that are simply not obvious to you - we went and looked at a piano a few years ago whose sound board was cracked. It was very substantial damage - we could see through it in places - but the owner had never noticed that wasn't "normal".

Mr. Arnicae's suggestion is to find a piano tuner or piano technician and... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by arnicae at 9:34 AM on June 24, 2012

The cat is incapable of making a connection between being trapped in the garage and biting your wife. It's an animal. They do weird shit. Be the human and move on.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cuban link flooded jesus at 9:40 AM on April 21, 2012 marked best answer

It's also interesting that this pretty quickly devolves into a "Apple fans vs. PC fans" or "Apple fans vs. everybody that loves to hate Apple fans" thing.

I think that's the common refrain – and as a Linux guy, I'll be the first to admit that it's one that's attractive. Of course there are a whole bunch of easy default arguments that always get made on this line: "Apple isn't the only one to treat workers like that!" "Ah, but... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by koeselitz at 12:13 PM on March 16, 2012

As the husband of someone with a chronic illness, I'd say leave him, if you are 100% positive that he's using his illness as an excuse to get out things you ask him to do. Seriously, that shit is unacceptable in a regular relationship, there's zero need to putting up with it when one of you has a genuine, ongoing illness.

But. You do have to be sensitive to his health and needs in that regard. Having a chronic illness can be mentally and emotionally exhausting and some... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Brandon Blatcher at 7:47 AM on March 10, 2012

Adoption counselors at a lot of the really strict rescues are there because they like being around animals more than people, and are not great at reading people. The most important part of deciding if the potential adopters will be good owners is being able to read human behavior and emotions during the interview. A multiple choice/essay test is not a good predictor. If the adopter wants to be a good owner, they will listen to suggestions - they don't need to know it all in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by chundo at 8:40 AM on January 30, 2012

A lot depends on where you live and what you do with your free time.

I've been rich and I've been poor. When there is too much sunlight in the house, I get headaches. When my room is full of untidy stuff I get depressed and crabby. When I plan my time badly so I am late for meals I get cranky. When I have people I can laugh with and talk about interesting things and they don't snark at me I feel content and secure. Being worried and stressed and dreading meals because... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Jane the Brown at 9:21 PM on January 26, 2011

About Costa Rica, Nicaragua, their mutual border, and Google:Given all this information, we can conclude that the narrative currently dominating the internet is wrong: Nicaragua did not mistakenly enter Costa Rican territory because it relied on Google Maps. Ortega’s justification for Nicaragua’s actions appeal to documents from the 19th century; Pastora’s mention of Google Maps is just a taunt.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by milkrate at 7:26 AM on November 7, 2010

I don't mind when I'm REALLY struggling to find a word and someone provides it, but what I really hate is when people try to finish every sentence I say and just end up talking over me. Is it the latter or the former? Or is it that you're interrupting to tell your own story?

1) "And then, the next time the nuthatches came to the... the... the..."
"Feeder?"
"Feeder, yes, thanks."

2)... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by srah at 11:50 AM on June 25, 2010

> It's really sad, but basically her reputation outside of publishing has been hijacked and destroyed by her willing association with Cory's strange and over-dramatic little blogging world.

You mean "her reputation among the tiny group of MetaFilter commenters who not only followed that stupid BB saga but are still seething about it all this time later." Among the rest of the world that's heard of her, her reputation is deservedly high.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by languagehat at 6:21 AM on February 22, 2010

I don't think the main cause has anything to do with Math or Science per se. Someone upthread said that there's a profound anti-intellectual trend in America. I agree, but I think it specifically takes the form of A DISDAIN FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS IN ACADEMIC SUBJECTS. This is just as true when it comes to Shakespeare as when it comes to Math.

The life-goal in America seems to be to get a well-paying job in which you don't need to think very much. I doubt this is a... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by grumblebee at 11:13 AM on October 17, 2009 marked best answer

This is mapmaking for the sake of making maps. The data choices are ridiculous and meaningless. Nothing useful can be derived from this, so I wish they'd just come out and say HEY WE WERE FUCKING AROUND WITH ARCGIS AND OOOH LOOK AT THE PRETTY MAPS.

because that's what i do when i'm bored
posted to MetaFilter by desjardins at 2:39 PM on April 27, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen of MetaFilter, I was there.

My friends and I arrived at about 11:45, and a large crowd was there to meet us. The number of spectators wasn't really surprising, since the weather was pretty much perfect for a rocket launch-- temperatures in the low 80s and bright sunshine, with hardly any wind at all. The general atmosphere was cheerful, with folks of all ages come to see and kids running around in the field. The spectators were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 6:07 PM on April 25, 2009

Stranded, had to swim some ridiculous distance, survived on its own for months?

Ah, it's an Australian Cattle Dog. Not really as impressive once I found that bit out; those fuckers are just unstoppable.

I'm pretty sure I could fire mine into deep space and within a year or two, not only would she come back, she'd have done so by herding some poor alien spacecraft into a corner and forcing them to take her wherever she wanted to go.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by quin at 10:33 AM on April 6, 2009

Hey, this brings back memories for me!

I used to watch the national evening news on TV with my father virtually every night from about 1968 until about 1981, when I moved into the dorms. I remember watching the evening news broadcast somewhere in the late 1970's which reported that the WHO had announced the eradication of smallpox.

The news in and of itself was mind blowing to me, even as a high school kid, as I had no idea that an eradication... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tube at 9:19 PM on February 16, 2009

As one of many, many people in our country taking immunosuppressive drugs to control a medical condition I just want to say that I would prefer not to catch whooping cough from somebody's unvaccinated kid.
posted to MetaTalk by hydropsyche at 3:09 PM on February 16, 2009

Well, you have to admit, a kid with polio will certainly stand out from "the herd." Iron lungs are the new nose rings.
posted to MetaTalk by Bookhouse at 10:02 AM on February 16, 2009

Can you see if you can defer your student loans for six months due to financial hardship, and dump that money into driving down your credit card debt?

Without knowing the exact numbers, including your living expenses and income, it's hard to say, but 15K sounds mildly difficult to pay down, but not impossible.

Give up cable, get down to one cell phone, check on student loan deferment. Do not make any more late payments on the credit cards,... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by A Terrible Llama at 4:13 AM on February 12, 2009

I posted is
the words
he were in
the inbox

and which
probably you has
saving
for private

Forgive me
my friend show me
I show mefi
and why no?
posted to MetaTalk by UbuRoivas at 4:27 AM on February 12, 2009

Karadžić is responsible for so much of what happened to me.

My family and I were starved and cut off from electricity, gas, water, phone service and even things like wood with which we could have kept somewhat warm. My father, a funny, kind and literate man, and my mother, a vivacious woman who struggled during Communism and the war to see her children survive with the class and dignity of our family intact, were both reduced to shells of their former selves because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Dee Xtrovert at 3:45 PM on July 21, 2008

Point 1: Boing Boing can do whatever they want to their site.
Point 2: Their readers are free to have an opinion on what Boing Boing does with their site.
Point 3: If Boing Boing doesn't react to negative reader opinion, they are going to lose readers.
Point 4: It's up to Boing Boing whether they care enough about that to do something about it.

That said, persuant to point 2, here is my opinion: I think what they did is sleazy and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 6:47 PM on June 30, 2008

I had a similar idea last summer. If you look at that famous photo of light pollution in North America nothing in the lower 48 states compares to the dark skies of Canada, even just a little north of the border. Although Alaska, the Yukon, NWT and Nunavet are your best bets to almost completely avoid light pollution.

I choose to go to Gordons Park on Manitoulin Island (mentioned in Bitteroldpunks link), and it apparently has the darkest skies on Ontario (being on a... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by saucysault at 7:47 PM on March 2, 2008

Tangential: What's the prevailing Korean attitude toward rural:urban?

OK, a quick and dirty one-pass to try and address your question before bed...

Despite the fact that the cities are true hellholes (although it is slowly just beginning to change) and the countryside idyllic (relatively), everbody under the age of 60 wants to live in the city, because that's where you get rich. Many villages these days are almost entirely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:44 AM on September 5, 2007

I love how everyone gets drawn into an argument they weren't planning to have.

The article is only interesting to the extent that it reveals the psyche of the author: "Don't they know that the mute indifference of nature is as terrifying and empty"

I've long held a pet theory which I call the Background Noise Theory. The background noise theory is quite simple: stupid people, violent people, and people who are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 7:43 AM on September 4, 2007

Check to see if IPv6 is enabled (it shouldn't be).
Go to Network>Show:Built-in Ethernet>TCP/IP. Toward the bottom there should be a "Configure IPv6" button. Click that and make sure IPv6 is disabled.

If your service provider isn't supporting IPv6 (and most don't yet), having this enabled can slow your internet access to a crawl.

Also, unless you really, really need it, AppleTalk should be disabled as well. Not that... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Thorzdad at 5:04 AM on October 10, 2006 marked best answer

'Greasemonkey' is one of those terms like 'Web 2.0' and 'ajax' and 'Cory Doctorow' that I see written here all the time, but that I have only the most general idea what they mean, so I just kind of ignore.
posted to MetaTalk by ND¢ at 1:37 PM on June 5, 2006