My state has 709 zip codes. I want to draw reasonably well-grounded conclusions about the entire population of my state (having to do with insurance coverage and ACA subsidies, if you're interested). How many zip codes should I sample?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mr. Justice at 11:03 AM on February 24, 2015 (18 comments)

The Chicago Police Department has been since "the late 1990s" operating a secret, off-the-books black site at Homan Square where prisoners can be disappeared to to be interrogated and tortured.
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 10:42 AM on February 24, 2015 (129 comments)

High enough waist that they won't sag, comfortable, slim legs, cut to fit a curvy body, professional-ish - do these exist?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mai at 9:27 AM on February 19, 2015 (15 comments)

Are you interested in making ambient, drifting, densely-layered electronic music? But don't know where to even start? This is the most thoughtful and gentle introduction I'm aware of, from a fine musician. It's a 45-minute video workshop from Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpeace, composer of the gorgeous, acclaimed Fez soundtrack. Rich composes a Fez-like track on the fly, explaining what he's doing in the process. While he uses Logic and the softsynth Massive in this workshop, his general approach and attention to sound design and synthesis will be applicable to whatever software or hardware you choose to use. (Hat tip to sparkletone for the link. Fez previously on Metafilter.)
posted to MetaFilter by naju at 12:28 PM on February 16, 2015 (36 comments)

The Philadelphia 76ers are currently the worst team in basketball, but in terms of expected value, they are crushing.
posted to MetaFilter by Potomac Avenue at 10:08 AM on February 16, 2015 (108 comments)

For the next few months, I'll be spending a good deal of my time wrangling data and doing statistical analyses in a tiny ground floor room, one wall lined with file drawers. I have no windows. What can I do to make it pleasant? What is your favorite thing about your office?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MrBobinski at 6:11 PM on February 13, 2015 (16 comments)

How can I get into data analysis with little-to-no data or programming experience?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by matticulate at 1:17 PM on February 11, 2015 (7 comments)

I'm a physicist, and I'm marrying a biologist. Can Mefi suggest any wedding readings suitable for us? We're looking for something along a sciency theme.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by alby at 10:59 AM on February 9, 2015 (22 comments)

"A man who doesn’t help is 'busy'; a woman is 'selfish'." Regardless of your opinion of the advice Sheryl Sandberg gives to women in this article, it has some interesting (and disheartening) statistics about how the majority of "office housework" is expected to fall to women:

In a study led by the New York University psychologist Madeline Heilman, participants evaluated the performance of a male or female employee who did or did not stay late to help colleagues prepare for an important meeting. For staying late and helping, a man was rated 14 percent more favorably than a woman. When both declined, a woman was rated 12 percent lower than a man. Over and over, after giving identical help, a man was significantly more likely to be recommended for promotions, important projects, raises and bonuses. A woman had to help just to get the same rating as a man who didn’t help ... When men do help, they are more likely to do so in public, while women help more behind the scenes. Studies demonstrate that men are more likely to contribute with visible behaviors — like showing up at optional meetings — while women engage more privately in time-consuming activities like assisting others and mentoring colleagues. As the Simmons College management professor Joyce K. Fletcher noted, women’s communal contributions tend simply to “disappear.”

posted to MetaFilter by Librarypt at 1:54 PM on February 7, 2015 (80 comments)

I am with a wonderful man. We love each other and see a future together, and have a good relationship. However, I am a perfectionist about relationships and a depressive (in therapy, on meds, regularly meditating), and sometimes I react absolutely terribly to his imperfections. Yes, I'm working on it in therapy with a great therapist, but please help?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 7:47 AM on February 1, 2015 (43 comments)

Which films feature humble, quiet, loners with a grand project or rich inner life? Think The Shawshank Redemption or Zodiac. Bonus points if it's available on Netflix.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by phrontist at 6:53 PM on February 6, 2015 (40 comments)

When I'm out drinking, I bring my group's empty bottles and glasses back up to the bar so the bartender doesn't have to come out and get them. When I go out to eat, I consolidate the plates and cutlery after the meal so they're easy to bus off the table. What are some other similarly inconsequential-seeming habits I can adopt to help make the world a slightly easier and more pleasant place for my fellow travelers to live?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by divined by radio at 10:58 AM on February 6, 2015 (79 comments)

According to the laws of Newtonian physics, capillary action occurring in Earth's atmosphere should be able to lift water 10 meters high at most. For centuries scientists struggled to ascertain how, then, trees were able to lift water considerably higher. Finally, in 1894, Irish plant physiologists H. H. Dixon and J. Joly proposed the cohesion-tension theory which remains the leading theory today, though it is still not fully understood (PDF).

On the topic of Newton and his physics, a recently unearthed note from Isaac Newton's college days shows that he had it figured out 200 years before anybody else.

(Previously).
posted to MetaFilter by Hot Pastrami! at 4:11 PM on February 5, 2015 (15 comments)

Why am I bloating so badly at the end of the day?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by raspberrE at 6:44 PM on January 29, 2015 (11 comments)

An associate professor of biology with two children speaks more negatively about the effects of balancing work and family on his career: “It's a disaster.” [1]

posted to MetaFilter by en forme de poire at 5:41 PM on January 28, 2015 (75 comments)

How can I act like a less reserved person? I understand that it's not a flaw to be reserved, but I think it's getting in the way of my creating deeper interpersonal relations.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by rebooter at 9:21 AM on January 26, 2015 (11 comments)

I would like to do some reading on a subject I am having trouble wording; the best I can come up with is "positive feminist masculinity."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by A god with hooves, a god with horns at 9:09 PM on January 21, 2015 (12 comments)

Wolflandia: The Fight Over the Most Polarizing Animal in the West
Twenty years after wolves were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies, many politicians would still love to see them eradicated, and hunters and ranchers are allowed to kill them by the hundreds. But the animals are not only surviving—they're thriving, and expanding their range at a steady clip. For the people who live on the wild edges of wolf country, their presence can be magical and maddening at once.
posted to MetaFilter by andoatnp at 6:27 PM on January 21, 2015 (29 comments)

There is no question about it – I am an extremely sensitive person. What I want to know is how can I be less sensitive, or, maybe, if I should be less sensitive?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 8LeggedFriend at 4:32 PM on January 20, 2015 (16 comments)

Australian comic artist Sam Wallman (previously) has released a scary/optimistic new piece that looks at Climate Change.
posted to MetaFilter by AzzaMcKazza at 9:28 PM on January 19, 2015 (28 comments)

I need the basics to start making jewelry as a hobby.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Koko at 11:00 AM on January 19, 2015 (8 comments)

After months of joyful toil under the expert and unflagging stewardship of Faint of Butt, I am proud to announce that the Metafilter Flood Tribute Album is now complete, just in time for the mid-January 25th anniversary of the release of They Might Be Giants' now classic record.
posted to MetaTalk by umbú at 12:36 PM on January 17, 2015 (79 comments)

"Great athletes sometimes find themselves in these clarifying final acts. Shaq retired in a cloud of chummy nonchalance. Jordan went out on a play that completed the perfection of his all-important legacy (and then came back to screw it up, in a move that told us just as much about what drove him). Most of the time, though, careers wind down in ways that mean nothing except that time is passing. Remember Karl Malone in Los Angeles? This season is the distillation of the go-it-alone challenge Kobe set for himself back when O’Neal and Phil Jackson left L.A., or even sooner — Kobe, remember, is the star player who invited none of his teammates to his wedding. (It’s a wonder he invited his wife.) He can’t win, a fact that has no apparent bearing on the fury with which he is trying. We’re seeing Kobe stripped of everything except the will to succeed, a will that persists despite being hopeless. We’re seeing him face his doom with a fearlessness that is ludicrous, profane, and maybe slightly inspiring. We’re seeing the existential Kobe Bryant." Grantland's Brian Phillips on Kobe Bryant.
posted to MetaFilter by davidjmcgee at 1:39 PM on January 8, 2015 (23 comments)

They Might Be Giants have just kicked off an effort to produce a song every week in 2015 , and they're releasing the tunes via a revived Dial-A-Song line (MLYT).
posted to MetaFilter by Ipsifendus at 12:48 PM on January 6, 2015 (40 comments)

Non-working women are more likely to spend their weekdays doing housework or caring for others, while non-working men are more likely to spend that time watching TV. Perhaps, then, it's not surprising how William Giraldi spent his paternity leave (spoiler alert: not parenting). Mallory Ortberg responds.
posted to MetaFilter by Metroid Baby at 11:32 AM on January 6, 2015 (121 comments)

After watching James Baxter the Horse masterfully cheer up BMO after a tragedy, FDH and JDD decide to learn how to make others happy through entertainment.
posted to FanFare by bleep at 7:52 PM on December 13, 2014 (11 comments)

For use spreading misery and pain during this holiday season, have a heaping shovelful of bad bad 80s Chrismas cartoon specials. Hail Grinch!
He-Man & She-Ra's Christmas Special (YouTube 44m)
Christmas Comes To Pac-Land (Dailymotion 23m)
The Wacky 12 Days of Christmas (YouTube 24m) (with Phil Hartman)
And the one that inspired this post, the amazing Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls (YouTube 23m) That is to say, the Wacky Wallwalker Christmas Special. Written by Mark Evanier!
After the break... TWENTY-ONE MORE OF THESE THINGS. You're welcome!
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 4:39 AM on December 13, 2014 (60 comments)

Seeing ‘the Man Who Fell To Earth’ Was One Of The Greatest Experiences Of Philip K. Dick’s Life - The time PKD got really into David Bowie.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 2:36 PM on December 12, 2014 (23 comments)

I'd like to replace the buttons on my women's winter coat to change/elevate the look a bit (I've done this on jackets before). Is there a particular brand (or shop) of button that has a great reputation? Any I should avoid? Do you have a dream button? Anything I should watch out for, aside from obvious things like "make sure they fit the button hole"? Thanks!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by paperback version at 8:50 PM on December 9, 2014 (7 comments)

How One Woman's Discovery Shook the Foundations of Geology "She crunched and re-crunched the numbers for weeks on end, double- and triple-checking her data. As she did, she became more convinced that the impossible was true: She was looking at evidence of a rift valley, a place where magma emerged from inside the earth, forming new crust and thrusting the land apart. If her calculations were right, the geosciences would never be the same."
posted to MetaFilter by dhruva at 5:12 PM on December 9, 2014 (25 comments)

Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze (graphic)
Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
posted to MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 10:23 PM on December 4, 2014 (48 comments)

Walter Benjamin presented "True Dog Stories" on September 27, 1930, as part of Radio Berlin's youth programming. Thoughtful but sometimes oblique commentaries on human society, Benjamin's radio shows have been called "Enlightenment for Children" and "NPR for weirdos," but an interview with the editor of their recent translations into English gives much greater context. Some essays have been re-recorded in German (including the dog episode, track 16), and Börne's original poodle letter is also online.
posted to MetaFilter by Monsieur Caution at 12:38 AM on December 4, 2014 (4 comments)

You are not a touchy feely person - that is, you do not openly express emotion or affection through physical contact. How have you learned to give and share love with people in your life whose primary love language is physical touch?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Juniper Toast at 8:12 AM on December 2, 2014 (14 comments)

What are some everyday ways to inhabit my body more positively? For a lot of my life, I have felt disconnected from it or have had negative feelings towards it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 3:24 PM on December 1, 2014 (29 comments)

I'm looking for beautiful movies where love affairs are the jumping-off point for a critique of bourgeois society.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by a sourceless light at 8:13 PM on November 28, 2014 (26 comments)

Developer Randi Harper came up with a simple solution to help people deal with the harassing tweets they've been receiving from Gamergators: the GG Autoblocker, a perl script that identifies likely GGers and adds them to an ever-evolving block list. This has been a popular move in some circles, and an unpopular one in others. In response to some of the "feedback" she's been receiving, Harper has written Still Here, a two-part post on being a woman in tech: A Memoir, Call To Arms
posted to MetaFilter by Going To Maine at 8:49 PM on November 24, 2014 (412 comments)

The Governor of New York Owes an Apology to a Bunch of Meteorologists Governor Cuomo’s attempt to scapegoat the National Weather Service for an inaccurate forecast in advance is not only completely in error–the NWS did an outstanding job–but is a disservice to the public and to the hard-working staff of this federal agency.
posted to MetaFilter by Nevin at 3:20 PM on November 24, 2014 (38 comments)

Christmas is coming, and I want to fly! What's the current state of drone + video? Can I get something worthwhile for $100-$500? Any specific recommendations of models/vendors? I'm not looking for anything commercial quality, just something I can play with and take some pretty videos and check out my roof, stuff like that.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MrMoonPie at 10:33 AM on November 18, 2014 (7 comments)

Memos from Bear Cave. Inspired by the 1970s memos of perpeptually apoplectic Edward "Tiger Mike" Davis ("I am not fond of hippies, long-hairs, dope fiends, or alcoholics"), SomethingAwful writers created a series about the manliest CEO in the 1970s soup-manufacturing industry. While Tiger Mike is hard to top, the saga of JD Boruff, who swims in his own soup and monitors his employees' toilet flushes, takes on a strange and hilarious charm as its universe expands.

There are eighteen epistolary stories in the series to date, indexed below the fold.
posted to MetaFilter by rorgy at 8:47 AM on November 15, 2014 (2 comments)

The infrequently mentioned counterpoint to the Dunning-Kruger effect is that people who are better than average at something underestimate their skills. Self-evaluation is hard. I know that I personally have a hefty dose of impostor syndrome and distorted thinking to add to that cognitive bias, but how do I adjust for this?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cortisol at 12:02 AM on November 14, 2014 (7 comments)

I'm having problems letting go of control and being authentically "me" in my relationship.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 9:44 PM on November 12, 2014 (16 comments)

"Go say hi to other dudes if you need to so bad." Twitter reacts to claims that men who street harass women are "just saying hi."
posted to MetaFilter by Librarypt at 11:03 AM on November 8, 2014 (117 comments)

I have a very mentally taxing/stimulating job. When I get home from work, I can't muster the mental energy to do anything but surf the internet. Even a supper with more steps than 2 (open and heat) seem overwhelming. Physically, I feel fine. I'm not physically tired, just completely mentally tapped out. It's starting to cause some tension in my relationship because I am no longer pulling my weight around the house. Leaving my job is not an option: it pays well and I love the work. I am looking for ways to have more mental energy at the end of the day to perform multi step tasks around the house and/or socialize. Any tips? Organization? Meditation? How do you get (more) stuff done? Thanks!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by tippy at 3:55 PM on November 7, 2014 (22 comments)

I would like to have a career in one of the federal agencies that administers our nation's (that is, America's) public and protected lands—a park ranger or similar. What are the prospects like for those types of jobs, and how do I go about getting one given where I am now and where I plan to be in a year or so's time?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:26 PM on November 6, 2014 (11 comments)

I feel like quasi-impulse buying a new board game this weekend. Which should it be?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by phunniemee at 7:32 AM on November 6, 2014 (33 comments)

What do others do to reset themselves and to bring focus and attention on the goals and objectives that they have in their lives? I do meditate, but I feel like I am all over the place and not very centered or focused on much of anything. I just feel very scattered and am not finding anything that really brings me back to a place where I know why I am doing what I am doing. Any suggestions from anyone?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nidora at 2:56 PM on November 4, 2014 (22 comments)

What are your best hacks for repurposing items or using them in an unusual way to help organize your kitchen?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by reenum at 3:10 PM on November 2, 2014 (51 comments)

Newly unearthed — and not for the faint of heart — Kurt Cobain 's 1988 experimental sonic collage / mixtape, Montage of Heck. Recorded on a four-track cassette recorder when he was 21. Here's some notes on what you're listening to. And Consequence of Sound has additional info. Not recommended for work speakers, probably. What if this had started the alternative revolution instead of Nevermind?
posted to MetaFilter by naju at 11:32 AM on November 3, 2014 (14 comments)

The Halloween Concert That Reinvented Bob Dylan by Sean Wilentz (an excerpt from his Bob Dylan in America) is an article about Dylan's concert in New York's Philharmonic Hall fifty years ago yesterday, which was released ten years ago in Bob Dylan's Bootlegs series. Music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, not the super-fan Wilentz is, wrote about another defining event in Dylan's career, his life in Woodstock, playing music along with The Band. Why did Dylan go to Woodstock? To flee his fans, who have been the subject of a recent book, The Dylanologists by David Kinney, which was reviewed at length by Ian Crouch in The New Yorker.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 4:37 AM on November 1, 2014 (4 comments)

About half of the people fighting wildland fires on the ground for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) are incarcerated: over 4,400 prisoners, housed at 42 inmate fire camps, including three for women. Together, says Capt. Jorge Santana, the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) liaison who supervises the camps, they save the state over $1 billion a year. This year, California has had over 5,300 wildfires, which is about 700 more than had occurred by this time in 2013, and a thousand more than the five-year average. Now, as the West is coming to the end of one of the driest, hottest years in recorded history, the work of inmate firefighters has become essential to California’s financial and environmental health. (SLBuzzfeedNews)
posted to MetaFilter by Rustic Etruscan at 9:23 PM on November 1, 2014 (26 comments)