Jesus tap-dancing Christ. If McCain wanted a former beauty queen with no experience and a criminal investigation on her record I don’t know why he didn’t just pick his own wife.

Like many other goods lines I pick up here, that one is so good I will shamelessly steal it and re-use it elsewhere. ;-)
posted to MetaFilter by Cool Papa Bell at 9:34 AM on August 29, 2008

Biden is a fantastic choice, and ironically for a lot of the reasons people see as a negative.

In simplest terms, Joe Biden is an enormous asshole. And frankly, I love him for it. He's the type of asshole who's an asshole because he knows, right out of the gate, that he's smarter than you, that he knows more about a subject, and that he actually has the right idea about something. And damn it people it's time to finally try having someone who's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 4:03 AM on August 23, 2008

You're throwing a lot of eggs into this basket (I'm not sure if that's an English expression, but it makes sense to me.) Let's get rid of some of the aspects of your argument that work against you:

1) First of all, work a bit on your grammar (and spelling) and pay attention to what you write. it will not only make you sound a little more intelligent, it will help avoid some questions, like following:

2) You write "I was in top rated... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 2:09 PM on July 29, 2008

This morning, I discussed this with my previously mentioned, photographer wife.

I showed her the image and she demanded to know what camera and lenses were involved. I shrugged my shoulders and she rolled her eyes at me...

At first she said, yes, a Lensbaby could shoot it with the proper 'plane of focus' along the gold finial, as it is in a straight line.

Then she looked a little closer and said there was Photoshop... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Argyle at 9:45 AM on July 20, 2008

For what it's worth, that's my blog. I wrote that. And it's pretty much a tempest in a coffee cup -- infuriating at the time, but not such a big deal the next day. I milked it for a quick, disposable blog post and got over it a few hours before MeFi (and now BoingBoing) picked it up.

I can totally admit that I behaved like an utter dick in the situation and made a bigger deal out of it than I should have on my blog. But is this really bigger than all that? I don't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by chinese_fashion at 12:07 PM on July 14, 2008

Shit. How likely is that two bloggers would independently write about the same event, one from the point of view of participating in it, the other from the point of view of viewing it; one of the blog posts gets posted to MeFi, and it turns out that blogger is himself a member of MeFi?

Of course, the event did involve over-priced coffee, so that probably shrunk the pool of possible participants.
posted to MetaFilter by yhbc at 12:43 PM on July 14, 2008

dnab, this persecution complex -- and that's what it really seems to be -- is tedious at best, and downright worrisome at worst. I like you, and shit like this makes me worried for you. Really, it's just a website, and no one's out to get you.
posted to MetaTalk by scody at 9:44 PM on July 4, 2008

I've typed about it around here before, but I spent some time in Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Imagine not needing to deal with the headache of shopping. You go to your local grocery store, but there's literally nothing on the shelves to buy. Not even bread. They're not sure when any will get there.

Imagine not needing to bitch about the rising price of gasoline because, well, the gas station hasn't had any in months. You have to buy it, if you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by allkindsoftime at 11:11 AM on June 6, 2008

It's understandable that one might interpret the question as asking what the most acceptable pronunciation of the world is. And clearly, those of us here have varied standards.

The sad thing about many native English speakers - this is particularly of Americans - is that they've garnered this strange "anti-elite" attitude, wherein speaking and writing a cultivated form of their language is considered "suspect" or "anti-American" or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 9:41 PM on May 29, 2008

It never occurred to me to pronounce it red, as the intent to direct one to a possibly more salient reading seemed so obvious from the context every time it appeared.

Yes, language changes over time, but in this day and age of easily accessible dictionaries when we can point to scholarship tracing the development of usage, it seems very intellectually lazy to fall back on this as a shield against what appears to be simply willful ignorance. We know how the word came to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by adamdschneider at 9:51 PM on May 29, 2008

It's the past tense. Read lirke the color.

This is wrong, and you should try not to state your personal usage as a Fact About the World. It's an imperative, pronounced /rid/; you can clearly see the development of usage from this OED entry:

9. a. To adopt, give, or exhibit as a reading in a particular passage. Hence, to substitute or understand for (what is said or written).
1659 HAMMOND... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by languagehat at 5:57 PM on May 29, 2008

Once again, I must applaud the general intelligence and lucidity of 'languagehat' and publicly express my mystification of the weird and pervasive ignorance so many native English speakers have of their own language.

As a simple country boy, the OED argument mystifies me as well. It'd be interesting to find a relevant etymological study, however.

Perhaps it would be useful to consider synonyms that have more distinct passive and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 7:39 PM on May 29, 2008

That's a nice post, Adam. And you bring up an excellent point, because language changing has occurred for many, many reasons . . . but the example in question doesn't really make sense in light of any of them I can think up. For example, in English: Crazy vowel shifts in 15th Century English, possibly due to mass sudden migration of speakers into southern England. Or the adoption of many Latinate words via the Normans. Also, when languages "interact," there is often a loss of some... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 10:38 PM on May 29, 2008

Some people, when they realize they're in shitty, fucked-up, unhealthy relationships, wake up one day and think, "oh my god, how do I change this?" Other people in the same boat wake up one day and think, "oh my god, how do I get more of this?"

I've decided that these two charmers, both being of the latter category and evidently clinging to each other out of fear of being alone the way a toddler might cling... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by scody at 11:49 PM on May 1, 2008

I FAVORITED EVERY COMMENT IN THIS THREAD.

Christ, what an asshole.
posted to MetaTalk by Blazecock Pileon at 9:37 AM on April 7, 2008

On April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City a terrorist detonated a bomb that killed my mother and 167 others. 19 children died that day. Had I not had the chicken pox that day, the body count would've likely have included one more. Over 800 other Oklahomans were injured that day and many of those still suffer through their permanent wounds.

That terrorist was neither a homosexual or was he involved in Islam. He was an extremist Christian forcing his views through a body count.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bradlands at 10:13 PM on March 12, 2008

Chuck Darwin:

You seem to imply he's not much of a computer guru. Most likely he just wants to browse the web and type the occasional document / spreadsheet. And doesn't know much about security. By down grading him to XP, you remove some of the more advanced security features in Vista. Right now Microsoft is releasing patches for both XP and Vista, but you know this will continuously shift. Just something to keep in mind.

Caution Live... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jeffamaphone at 12:01 PM on February 20, 2008

You know, it's quite a strange thing. The single most common adjective applied to Mister Rogers in this and other thread is the word 'creepy'?

I think I know why he strikes people as creepy. It's because his isn't at all 'cool'. There is no cynicism, no irony, no condescension in him at all. He is not simply unhip, he is ahip. And this is what people calling him creepy are picking up on.

We are conditioned to traffic in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 2:00 PM on June 1, 2007

Also its worth mentioning that "the smartest guy in the movie business" could be like saying "Whoa, that's a tall midget."
posted to MetaFilter by damn dirty ape at 1:02 PM on January 15, 2008

mr_roboto: "Wow. He sure uses lots of words to say absolutely nothing."

This is part of what I find so fascinating about Scientology and L Ron Hubbard in particular. When you read transcripts of him talking, it's almost impossible to extract any coherent meaning from his sentences or paragraphs. They're just a flurry of dangerously bent semantics jarring you out of reasonable thought through this really earnest, faux-learned string of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Drexen at 12:55 PM on January 15, 2008

It took me forever to figure this out.

Type about:config in the URL bar and change browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground to true.

Tada! Now new tabs from Google Reader (and other sites as well, natch) will open without taking focus.
posted to Ask Metafilter by shanevsevil at 12:12 AM on August 4, 2007 marked best answer

I can't say I found it amusing, but watching that bizarre , misshapen homunculus that was vaguely dressed like donald duck thrust and jerk about made me doubt the existence of God more than Dawkins and Hitchens combined ever could. I... I can still see it when I close my eyes.

I would say this post is noteworthy for that alone.
posted to MetaFilter by Uther Bentrazor at 5:07 AM on September 6, 2007

First of all, you can replace older style R12 refrigerant with new, ozone friendly R134a refrigerant, although you may need to find and fix the source of any leaks for systems which have already lost their refrigerant, to have a repair that lasts. This isn't as big a problem on some systems, as it is on others.

If you have a 16 year old Taurus, your A/C was designed and originally delivered with R12 Freon refrigerant. Ford used R12 refrigerant... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by paulsc at 9:43 PM on July 17, 2007 marked best answer

Do "I Saw U" ads in The Stranger really work?

Help me prepare for my hot date tonight!

What are the actual odds of getting a girl pregnant from a one night stand if a condom wasn't used? I thought she might be on the pill, and she's never had a boyfriend before.

There seems to be a rash on my privates. Is this invariably VD or could it just be an allergy to nylon?

Is there any real harm... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by maxwelton at 9:22 PM on April 1, 2007

The Earth was created 6000 years ago. Man is a special creation. Jewish rituals require the blood of Christian children. Blacks are a genetically inferior race. Homosexuality is a choice. Physics is deterministic. The Donation of Constantine. The four humours. Phlogiston. Spontaneous generation of pests. Possession by demons a cause of seizure, illness. Women don't contribute to their children's genetic makeup. A worldwide flood. Troy was a myth, not a real city. Outer space is made up of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by orthogonality at 9:28 AM on October 18, 2006

GoDaddy offers a number of password retrieval options. This one allows you to type in a domain and they'll show you a blinded version of the email address associated with the account that registered it.

From there, making a connection was fairly easy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by sportbucket at 3:25 PM on October 5, 2006

Hey, geniuses, if davy had responded any further in AskMeFi you'd all be smashing the flag button so fucking hard your hands would vaporize. So, like a good guy, he takes it to MetaTalk, which is encouraged, and in return, he gets a trillion fucking gay-ass posts about flame suits and Worst. Callout. Evers. and Steven C. Den Beste's fucking lolicon collection for the hundreth fucking time - by the way, Steve, it is weird and disturbing that you always have instant access to drawings of five... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Optimus Chyme at 5:55 PM on October 5, 2006

I don't think he knows how scary this stuff is for me.

Red Flag #1: Why not? Have you told him? If you haven't told him, why not? And if you have told him, what's his response? Does he dismiss your feelings, tell you not to worry, and/or turn it around as if you're attacking him?

I don't think he really means to be taking advantage of my credit either.

Red Flag #2: He's been... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scody at 8:12 PM on September 25, 2006

Most of all, stand up for your lover when they get bashed on the net.

Sweetheart, you keep learning the wrong lesson here. Stand up for yourself when you're getting bashed -- literally or figuratively -- in your own life. Did you notice how the more you revealed about the situation, the more we all reacted strongly? Because you're describing what many, many of us have either lived through or witnessed in our own lives. You... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scody at 2:05 PM on September 26, 2006

Okay, ALWAYS show up for court. Usually before you go before the judge you can meet with the issuing officer or the procecutor and they will offer to reduce the ticket.

I've had a number of them, most recent 80 in a 55 wound up with half the points 1/4 of the fine on a reduced charge.

Had two tickets once (speed too fast for conditions, obstructed view), one was dropped, the other was dismissed if I had no tickets for a year.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by DBAPaul at 12:41 PM on January 13, 2005

Bobby:

I'm not your lawyer. You are not my client. I may or may not ever have practiced law in Virginia, but I most certainly do not today. For all you know, I'm the prosecutor and I'm out to screw you.

Now that that's out of the way...

Look at the summons. It will tell you which General District Court has jurisdiction of your citation. If you have ANY DOUBT AT ALL about what the charge is, call up the Clerk of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mikewas at 6:20 PM on September 6, 2006

You could always do the following:

"I think the needs you now want have outgrown excel. I can't really take this further using excel - while it may be able to solve the problem, it's a poor tool, and one that would need constant maintenance to deliver. I can't in good conscience continue this project doing excel."

He'll object of course. At which point, you say:

"Back at the beginning when you wanted to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by filmgeek at 1:45 PM on August 23, 2006 marked best answer

I just added comments as well, in a 50/50 split, posts on the left, comments on the right.
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 5:37 PM on May 10, 2006