MetaFilter

Oh boy, I bet Ziff-Davis is just the conglomerate to keep the worthwhile reporting Deadspin, Jezebel and Kotaku did while stripping out their assholish sensastionalist elements!

Fuck Thiel forever.

They didn't lose in court because "well, that angry rich guy paid a lot."

They lost because a jury wasn't told material facts and legal precedent, and the verdict almost certaintly would have been... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:15 AM on June 10, 2016

Huh...Libertarian uses power of the state to destroy his enemies.
posted to MetaFilter by rocket88 at 11:13 AM on June 10, 2016

They didn't lose in court because "well, that angry rich guy paid a lot."

Yeah, they did. There have already been several stories about how Hogan would have settled if his paid-for lawyer hadn't encouraged him to go to trial to 'punish' Gawker.
posted to MetaFilter by graventy at 11:13 AM on June 10, 2016

I like Gawker and I'm sorry to hear about this, although not surprised.
posted to MetaFilter by Aubergine at 11:07 AM on June 10, 2016

I mean, Gawker is scum, but I don't think I would call "whiny billionaire libertarian baby throws money tantrum to shut down journalistic outlet he doesn't like" 'good news', exactly.
posted to MetaFilter by Itaxpica at 11:06 AM on June 10, 2016

This was awesome, too:

“Some Valley big shots have no idea how to react to the show,” Miller told me. “They can’t decide whether to be offended or flattered. And they’re mystified by the fact that actors have a kind of celebrity that they will never have—there’s no rhyme or reason to it, but that’s the way it is, and it kills them.” Miller met Musk at the after-party in Redwood City. “I think he was thrown by the fact that I wasn’t being sycophantic—which I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by My Dad at 4:36 PM on June 9, 2016

"This scene was set at TechCrunch Disrupt, a real event where founders take turns pitching their ideas, “American Idol”-style, to an auditorium full of investors. ... After the scene aired, viewers complained about the lack of diversity in the audience. Berg recalled, “A friend of mine who works in tech called me and said, ‘Why aren’t there any women? That’s bullshit!’ I said to her, ‘It is bullshit! Unfortunately, we shot that audience footage at the actual TechCrunch Disrupt.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:32 PM on June 9, 2016

So is there some kind of UK Grauniad liberal politics angle on this, where we are supposed to be contrasting in our heads the bright, clean, authentically proletarian world of McDonalds and the stifling, nanny state community centers? (As I understand it, the UK has a much more robust tradition of community centers.)

Honestly, "I find my community by hanging out for hours over a cup of very cheap, watery coffee at a seedy chain restaurant... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 9:21 AM on June 9, 2016

Did it say "replace"? It said this is happening at McDonald's and it isn't happening at official government-run support outlets. To read that as "replace" assumes it ever happened at the official outlets in the first place. Again in the rural midwest context, even people of little means would never in a million years think of themselves as needing government assistance, especially for something as basic, personal, and essentially non-economic as social togetherness.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by codacorolla at 9:16 AM on June 9, 2016

I don't think it's that people love McDonald's - it's that McDonald's is the cheap and widespread version of a coffee shop and it serves people who may not have homes suited for entertaining, or really have homes at all. You can buy a really, really cheap cup of something and sit inside in the heat or A/C for hours and hours, basically.

Around here, I have access to a couple of almost-McDonald's-cheap independent options, and they are always full of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 9:08 AM on June 9, 2016

No mention of Third Place yet? Well, alright.
posted to MetaFilter by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 9:06 AM on June 9, 2016

Mr. Encyclopedia: http://rollingjubilee.org/
posted to FanFare by hobgadling at 6:45 AM on June 6, 2016

Big Head's clearly not supposed to be as brilliant as the Pied Piper team but I also don't think of him as stupid or a below-average coder. I think it's more that his priorities are just totally different from everyone else's. As painful as it is to watch him fritter away and get bilked out of his settlement money, the neutrality with which he treats the news of his going broke compared with Ehrlich's sturm-und-drang is pretty endearing. His spirit of non-attachment obviously borders on the... [more]
posted to FanFare by en forme de poire at 11:51 PM on June 7, 2016

This episode was fabulous on so many levels. My husband called the "It's going to be an engineer-friendly UI" twist before we even looked at the site, haha.

I have to say though, I'm incredibly immature, but my favorite moments of the episode were Jin-Yang prank calling Erlich. I just love Jin-Yang so much and love that at this point he seems to have dropped all pretense of having anything to do with himself other than make Erlich's life a little shittier.
posted to FanFare by town of cats at 10:34 AM on June 6, 2016

BTW, if you click on their photos on the Pied Piper site you get aweome little bios:

JARED (DONALD) DUNN
Head of Business Development

Jared’s early life is best passed over, and parts of it he cannot legally discuss because of non-disclosure clauses in settlements, but he managed to rise above it thanks a series of largely well-meaning foster parents and went on to receive a B.A. from Vassar College in Economics. During... [more]
posted to FanFare by bluecore at 10:28 AM on June 6, 2016

Like can we please talk about the fact that this interface took me right back to about 1999 (when I was working at my own tech start-up.... lolololol) and it is 100% written by devs, for devs?

I know it's not real and just a screenshot, but DAMN.
posted to FanFare by Unicorn on the cob at 8:22 AM on June 6, 2016

Before some white Western Marxist fuck living in Berlin judges the revival and transformation of a once drab, poisoned industrial city of some other nation into an capital and international destination that's a source of pride for its people, maybe he should actually understand more of the context.


Uh, in turn, what lets you speak for all Koreans and say that it's a "source of pride for its people"?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suedehead at 2:59 PM on June 7, 2016

A few times now on MeFi, I've heard the sentiment expressed that architects just design whatever they're paid to design, and that people shouldn't complain if they don't have the money to pay them to design something else. I feel like that's kind of a crappy sentiment, though. Why is there not a professional code of ethics for architecture that would push practitioners away from designing harmful projects? Lots of professions have codes of ethics. Why not architecture?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:24 PM on June 7, 2016

Yeah, I think this article gets at some stuff but not very clearly:

1. What responsibility do architects have in terms of labor, land theft, etc? How much excuse is there for someone who designs a beautiful building for a really, really shitty person or purpose, or who designs a beautiful building on land that is emphatically, obviously stolen, or who designs a beautiful building that is certain to be built by slave- or virtually-slave labor?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 2:01 PM on June 7, 2016

Oops. Stepped into the Ayn Rand section.
posted to MetaFilter by No Robots at 1:31 PM on June 7, 2016

LionIndex, this is true. But there should also be some kind of civic and/or social responsibility when it comes to urban planning.
posted to MetaFilter by Fizz at 1:26 PM on June 7, 2016

The memo is titled "GPS INTERFERENCE TESTING". Doesn't seem like you need to theorize too much of a conspiracy beyond "The government that launched and maintains the Global Positioning System is testing what happens when they turn it off, one way or another."
posted to MetaFilter by Etrigan at 11:56 AM on June 7, 2016

Hmmm...

Who’s Afraid of Occupy? The John Oliver Show Erases Debt Resistance

Wilson told us Last Week Tonight was interested in reproducing our feat. Because LWT has previously done a good job of highlighting the outrageousness and injustice of various issues, we were under the impression they were interested in highlighting the mechanisms of oppression used by the creditor class as well as our ongoing organizing work to challenge these unjust... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by gwint at 12:44 PM on June 6, 2016

rollingjubilee.org
posted to MetaFilter by gwint at 11:27 AM on June 6, 2016

It seems to me that the increasing Financialization throughout the world has allowed "markets" (ie the web of trade that is controlled by those who meet in Davos etc.) to dictate what a government can/can't do. Most governments, even supposed socialist governments seem unwilling/unable to shed the yoke of the neo-liberal capitalist class, which punishes the State for doing anything that might even be construed as "anti-business/profit", such as a policy that counters the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nikoniko at 2:13 PM on June 2, 2016

The powerful, hardline CGT union is locked in a standoff with the government, demanding a withdrawal of labour reforms designed to loosen France’s rigid workplace regulations and make it easier to hire and fire.

After days of blockades and strikes, fuel depots have been liberated by police and petrol supply almost restored to normal, but strike action on Thursday caused a brief power-cut to about 125,000 homes in Loire-Atlantique as the focus switched to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by klanawa at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2016

> "We’re putting in place a politics of a modern left.”

Language like this usually means "old right."
posted to MetaFilter by The Card Cheat at 11:40 AM on June 2, 2016

Trump has a lot of Jewish supporters, who all point to Ivanka as some sort of proof that he can't be dangerous.

Yeah, much like how gay rights flourished under the Bush administration because of Dick Cheney's daughter.
posted to MetaFilter by Atom Eyes at 9:42 AM on June 2, 2016

I would say this to those who respond to the threat of climate change by saying "It's not really a tragedy. Life will go on without us." Life in some forms will indeed go on. And some many tens or hundreds of million years from now it may once again be as diverse and spectacular as it has been these last millions since the big dinosaur killing asteroid.

But before we get back to that vaulted state, the ecosystem will suffer a devastating loss of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kaymac at 12:32 PM on June 2, 2016

Klein's book lacks "any sustained consideration of wealth and power," which is counterproductive, since those are precisely the issues the Left needs to seriously grapple with in order to accomplish anything.

So we should dismiss Klein and the last 190 years of discussions about wealth and power because she didn't re-write Das Capital?

My sense is that the "broader failing of the Left"... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sneebler at 10:08 AM on June 2, 2016

The article in the FPP is excellent. Please read it.

Key points from the conclusion:

1. "Large parts of the left reject the notion of progress. The claim that science and its application to production have provided large benefits to much of the human race is now seen as a defense of exploitation and privilege." This is a problem insofar as "the vast majority of every country on earth wants economic prosperity and the benefits... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Gerald Bostock at 9:41 AM on June 2, 2016

Interesting article - my TL;DR summary of it is:

1) Klein takes.. "a moral position that expresses values, not a proposition that is intended to lead to laws or policies",

and

2) "It’s all ends and no means. This is a double convenience: first it eliminates the need to be factual and analytical about programs, since announcing the goal is sufficient unto itself, and second, it evades the disconcerting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suedehead at 7:48 AM on June 2, 2016

Ah, but that's action at a government level, not an individual level. (Which is arguably influenced by individual concerns, but indirectly at best.)

If you rule out collective action through the government as a means by which people can act to improve the well-being of people in the future, then, yes, it looks like people don't do very much to improve future conditions. But collective action through government is exactly how people have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by praemunire at 7:47 AM on June 2, 2016

Correct me if I'm wrong here.

For, "People pay more for [safe/green thing]" weren't all of those mandated by law because cheap, dirty, dangerous goods would still have sold to people who didn't care or couldn't afford to care?

That wasn't altruism, that was the government at the time realizing that they were waaaay on the wrong side of a cost/benefit balance.
posted to MetaFilter by Slackermagee at 7:21 AM on June 2, 2016

The most compassionate approached is two-pronged: Take all available action to minimize the suffering of people who currently exist, and take all available action to prevent the existence of additional people in the future.
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 7:12 AM on June 2, 2016

ask people straight up if they're willing to [substitute their well being for the well being of future people]

Exactly. People, broadly construed, have never done this (consciously) in history. Evolutionarily we're not very well adapted to do it either.

People do this all the time. In fact we are evolutionarily hard wired for it perhaps more than any other possible sacrifice we could ever make.

It's referred to as having children.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 7:11 AM on June 2, 2016

I'd like to read an article that points to the specific measures we should be taking to slow, then perhaps someday reverse, climate change.

Stop making Plastic, stop using fossil fuels, stop cutting down trees. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It's common sense really and everyone knows deep down what needs done, just like a smoker.

Like a smoker we just can't quit. It's harder than quitting smoking because we've all gotta get off... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twistedonion at 7:00 AM on June 2, 2016

If you ask people straight up if they're willing to pay more for goods, increase taxes, and lose a lot of jobs in mining and energy intensive industries to tackle climate change most say no. Barring some new undeveloped technology you can't genuinely address climate change without doing all these things.

Per capita energy use, let alone CO2 emission, is basically decoupled from "well being" (as measured by a capitalist measure like GDP)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mark k at 6:59 AM on June 2, 2016

If I were say, driving, and I realized I was definitely going to crash into a wall, I would still hit the brake. Saying that there is no point is nihilistic, and false. Acting increases our collective chances of survival. Not acting decreases them.
posted to MetaFilter by ent at 6:12 AM on June 2, 2016

Am I the only person who goes nuts seeing carbon dioxide constantly called "carbon"?
posted to MetaFilter by thelonius at 5:48 AM on June 2, 2016

I believe that it MAY be too late, but we should try fixing the world anyway, just for kicks.
posted to MetaFilter by mrjohnmuller at 5:41 AM on June 2, 2016

Curious: Do the prices for a blowout differ depending on location? Because around these parts, $45+tip will get you 95-100% of the way to a full cut at a pretty nice salon. #flyoverprices
posted to MetaFilter by soren_lorensen at 8:24 AM on June 2, 2016

Presumably, Twitter is now alerted and they will be on the lookout for this behavior.

That would be the first time that happens, then.
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 9:00 AM on June 2, 2016

The only reason I intend to see Ghostbusters is because the MRAs are mad about it. I saw Fury Road for much the same reason, and although I don't expect a similar payoff, I'm satisfied with my decision.

I saw Fury Road for the same reason, and I loved it, but I'm kind of put off about being expected to play this game with Ghostbusters. I'll probably enjoy it when I get around to seeing it, but I LOATHE the idea that I am making some sort of feminist... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by almostmanda at 7:44 AM on May 26, 2016

quadrilaterals, it's basically a radar chart.
posted to MetaFilter by monju_bosatsu at 11:14 AM on May 26, 2016

I'm just happy to see the word "neoliberalism" legitimized. As the Slate article mentions, the term itself is often considered a sign of the unseriousness of the speaker, dismissed as an Oberlin hippy, to use their shorthand. But of course one of the great geniuses of the current system is how vigorously it avoids labels, definitions, or even conceptualization. Even "capitalism" is considered a vaguely marxist and unserious term. You might sometimes be allowed... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by chortly at 10:54 AM on June 1, 2016

what the "great recession" showed is that, in a moment of crisis, the powers that be totally abandoned "neoliberal" economics. remember that Krugman has been a neoliberal economist par excelance his whole career. his jeremiads during the crisis were driven by the fact that suddenly all his friends in government were ignoring what basis neoliberal macro had said you should do.

so, the point is that "neoliberalism" as in these articles has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ennui.bz at 8:46 AM on June 1, 2016

I'm pretty sure they only printed it to show how narrow-minded the fellow is, but it is shocking nonetheless. It shows how reasonably a person in authority--it is from George Muir, the former head of ATOC--can talk about 'competition' then elide that with a government-run franchising process. The market can deliver benefits where a market exists, but the government choosing a franchiser is not a market. It's nothing like a market and you will never get the benefits of one. And, of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by generichuman at 6:28 AM on June 1, 2016

alive and well in the UK
Yep, thanks Thatcher and your fucking legacy of impoverishment. The only way to beat Thatchers ideology in the 90's was to go Neoliberal lite... now we are soaked in neoliberal posturing by the right. Sell, Sell, Sell.

The things my parents part owned as citizens of UK PLC...
British Airways
British Gas
British Rail
British Electricity
British... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twistedonion at 3:52 AM on June 1, 2016

There are people who think the Road Runner is the protagonist?

Oh, they're all Boomers. That makes more sense. Road Runner's success is entirely accidental and a product of circumstances not under his direct control, either through the incompetence of Wile E.'s schemes, or through the convenient suspension of what had previously been ironclad rules. Wile E. paints a tunnel onto a sheer cliff face, and doesn't screw it up? No problem, Road Runner will just run through... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mayor West at 8:14 AM on May 31, 2016