The Internet’s First Family by Stephen Thomas at Hazlitt takes a "historical" (recent history that is!) view of MetaFilter. Don't go all gooey when you read it. via Phire's tweet
posted to MetaTalk by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:49 AM on October 31, 2014 (163 comments)

When lobbyist Richard Berman gave a speech to the Western Energy Alliance, he was seeking to raise millions from energy companies for his Big Green Radicals campaign attacking groups like the Sierra Club and NRDC. What he didn't know was that one of the executives in the room would be so offended that he would secretly record the talk and hand it to the New York Times. The transcript (pdf) reveals Berman's strategies for creating non-profit groups to influence public debate and policy.
posted to MetaFilter by zachlipton at 5:16 PM on October 30, 2014 (38 comments)

I'm not a morning person at all, I never have been, and I doubt I ever will be. Unfortunately, society refuses to acknowledge this, and even forces me to do things before midday. Because of this, I'd love to hear what you do that makes getting up into a somewhat pleasurable experience, rather than keep experiencing the Promethean torture I go through every morning.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ned G at 7:22 AM on October 23, 2014 (60 comments)

I consider myself an exceedingly polite and considerate person, but often this makes me seem overly formal and has the (unintended?) effect of keeping people at arms' length. How can I reduce this behavior and act more casual and normal with people?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 6:08 AM on October 22, 2014 (16 comments)

Are there any desktop sealed ecosystems, like an ecosphere that are not so terrible for it's inhabitants? Is there a source for Bottle gardens? I'm looking for a desktop ecosystem that requires near zero maintenance.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by aeighty at 9:12 AM on October 23, 2014 (3 comments)

I need some tips on living with a sensitive temperament. More inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MeaninglessMisfortune at 8:48 AM on August 17, 2014 (30 comments)

Why is the world in love again?
Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
It's a brand new record
for nineteen-ninety,
They Might Be Giants' brand new album:
FLOOD (43m)
Or, if you'd rather meet James Ensor, there's John Henry (57m)! For something Fingertippy, there's Apollo 18 (43m)! More recent: Nanobots (45m) - Join Us (47m) - The Else (38m) (Official links from the band's YouTube channel! Oh, and they also have a podcast.)
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 2:33 PM on October 20, 2014 (48 comments)

"As the academic year begins again, new PhD students across the country (and further) are slowly settling into their fresh surroundings. I stayed at the same university when I made the switch to postgraduate research but I still remember feeling quite lost at the start, not knowing what to do or where to be. I’m now entering the final year of my studies and have (I hope) picked up some useful knowledge along the way.

"So I’ll cut right to the point: below is a list of handy tips, tricks, general advice and things I wish I knew when I started my PhD. The list was put together from chats with other PhD friends of mine, but is by no means exhaustive (nor is it in any particular order, though it did get quite long…). Hopefully it will help somebody. Please share your comments at the bottom if you have things to add – the more the merrier." Things I wish I knew when I started my PhD… from Between a rock and a hard place.
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:37 AM on October 18, 2014 (57 comments)

Some of the world’s most powerful conservationists are giving up on wilderness. They are making a big mistake
posted to MetaFilter by the man of twists and turns at 11:54 AM on October 14, 2014 (37 comments)

Another "how do I become friends with this person?" question! (Only possibly with a little more to it).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 5:46 PM on August 2, 2009 (11 comments)

My Africa Is Lagos: WeCyclers. The Floating School. Avante Garde Fashion Photography. Dakar: Le Journal Rappe. Malika Surf Camp. Sunu Street Project. Diaspora: Sonic Diaspora. Os Kuduristas. Technologie Democracy. (via)
posted to MetaFilter by ChuraChura at 6:38 AM on October 12, 2014 (3 comments)

Full Pavement concert from the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain tour in Frankfurt, March 6th 1994. The audio comes from the soundboard and two people shot the whole thing on camera, one to the side of the stage and the other from the back of the room. Here's the set list and a little bit more info. The same production company, now defunct, has a few other concerts up on YouTube: Sonic Youth in 2004, Yo La Tengo in 2000, The Frogs in 1988, and a whole host of Sebadoh clips, including a whole concert from 1996.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 11:21 AM on October 12, 2014 (11 comments)

Frontline - Ebola Outbreak 30-minute Frontline piece on Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone televised in September 2014. It shows the human toll of the disease by interviewing doctors, aid workers, and family members.
posted to MetaFilter by Nevin at 5:15 PM on October 10, 2014 (85 comments)

Kathy Sierra talks about weev, harassment of women, trolling and Twitter.
posted to MetaFilter by Elementary Penguin at 6:26 AM on October 8, 2014 (166 comments)

I’ve been experiencing intense attraction to a man who is not my spouse over the last months and not sure how to deal. This started out as your standard, cute little crush but has become obsessive and all the tools I had to my disposal to curb this do not work.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 3:36 PM on October 6, 2014 (16 comments)

There are a number of grid energy storage methods, including flow batteries, which have the potential to be scaled up with increased tank sizes, but that would be expensive due to the cost of metals involved in the process. Enter a research team from Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who have developed an organic mega-flow battery that utilize quinones, similar to those found in rhubarbs. The quinones serve as charge-carriers in chlorophyll during photosynthesis, with minimal degradation during the process, which is ideal for batteries used in large-scale energy storage and distribution. Some day, energy may be stored in "rhubarb batteries." (Abstract on Nature, paywalled article).
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 11:32 AM on October 2, 2014 (25 comments)

Wolves in Wyoming are once again being protected under the Endangered Species Act, just two years after those protections were taken away. A federal judge’s ruling last week found the state’s management plan for the animal “inadequate and un-enforceable.” In February, NPR’s Nate Rott took a comprehensive look at the wolf situation in the Western U.S.
posted to MetaFilter by Librarypt at 11:14 AM on October 1, 2014 (32 comments)

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry.
posted to FanFare by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:33 PM on September 29, 2014 (7 comments)

A team of researchers, including University of Edinburgh paleontologist Stephen Brusatte and Swarthmore College Associate Professor of Statistics Steve C. Wang, cataloging 853 skeletal characteristics in 150 dinosaurs and analyzing the rate at which these characters change, and they found that "there was no grand jump between nonbirds and birds in morphospace." In other words, birds didn't suddenly come into existence, but evolved, bit by bit, or characteristic by characteristic. But when birds were finally a thing, they went crazy. "Once it came together fully, it unlocked great evolutionary potential that allowed birds to evolve at a super-charged rate."
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 2:41 PM on September 29, 2014 (37 comments)

It seems like there's this trend for (usually senior) professors to have a website (usually completely devoid of any CSS) filled with advice to juniors, strong opinions, and notes on very specific topics. Do you know of any?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by spec at 8:59 PM on September 19, 2014 (19 comments)

This is Science Magazine; this is one of their featured front-page stories (date stamped 17 September 2014 8:00 am): "The top 50 science stars of Twitter", by Jia You. The list has 46 men and 4 women.
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:56 AM on September 18, 2014 (23 comments)

I have a B.S. in Biochem and Molecular Bio, but after messing around as a bench tech for a while and then substituting at elementary schools, I found I was so much happier teaching then spending hours alone in a lab. Never expected it. So I've substituted mainly K-4 for over a year now (with high praise from the staff), and a few times in Jr. High. I've also done a lot of one-on-one work as a paraprofessional for kids who require accommodations. Physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, behavioral disorders, etc. The Problem: I'm qualified to teach gr. 7-12 full time right now, but in order to teach 6 or lower I need to complete most of a masters program before I can even get initial (or preliminary) licensure. I'd be willing to teach Jr. High for a couple years, but I suspect I would be happier in the long run as an Elementary teacher.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by WhitenoisE at 2:42 PM on September 15, 2014 (6 comments)

"It irritates me because it seems such a self-conscious way to live. But, to be fair, it’s almost always completely unselfconsciously done. It’s people like me, carping at the camcordsters, who are overthinking how life should be experienced. We’re the ones who are trying to impose our opinion of how things should be enjoyed. 'Why can’t you just look at a view!?' we fume, but we never ask ourselves: 'Why can’t you just let people enjoy the view in the way they want!?' Exasperated by people staring at their phones instead of the world around them, we end up staring at people staring at their phones, miss the sunset, fireworks display or penguin feeding time, and don’t even walk away with a video to watch later." (SLGuardian)
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:33 AM on September 14, 2014 (39 comments)

Where are the best affordable places for a genderqueer person to shop in Seattle?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mizu at 3:17 PM on September 12, 2014 (7 comments)

I'm going to break up with a guy I've been seeing for about a month. Wondering if I should stick to platitudes or tell him the truth, which is that he has some unsavory, borderline misogynistic views.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by placoderm at 11:44 AM on August 3, 2014 (43 comments)

In response to criticism over the banning of infamous subreddit TheFappening, where private photographs of women (both celebrities and not) were being circulated, Reddit chief Yishan Wong released a controversial op-ed stating that Reddit considers itself "not just a company running a website where one can post links and discuss them, but the government of a new type of community." T.C. Sottek, writing for The Verge, asserts that if this is the case, then Reddit is assuredly a failed state.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 2:23 PM on September 12, 2014 (269 comments)

"And yes, I get that sexuality is fluid and all of that, but honestly, can't they just do it and get it over with? Either that, or shut up about it." Are Sherlock and Watson Gonna Bone, or What?
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:32 PM on September 10, 2014 (200 comments)

I'm interested in learning more about precision farming and the use of drones / UAV's in crop analysis. I've done plenty of online research but I'm hoping to benefit from the experience of the hive mind.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by juva at 1:42 PM on September 8, 2014 (3 comments)

My son spends way too much time on 4chan and it really worries me.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Biblio at 12:20 PM on September 6, 2014 (23 comments)

My beloved partner has ADD and going to bed is a constant struggle for us. He frequently complains about being tired, and wishes he could go to sleep at a regular time, but says sleep is boring and instead will stay up for hours on the computer, saying he literally cannot stop reading the internet. If you have ADD, what are specific things you do in order to get yourself on the train to Sleepytown?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 4:29 PM on September 2, 2014 (25 comments)

Help me form a strategy for reaching out to people I have met and want to know better. I need a new one to help me search for work, but I have difficulty working with specific sorts of strategies for general sorts of problems, so I'd like to avoid making it about job hunting exactly. More about how to think of people in a way that accounts for my own interests while still thinking of them and not myself.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by LogicalDash at 6:21 PM on August 29, 2014 (4 comments)

V Martineau Illustration: The Miracle of Trees, Sciencia Illustrations, Levels Of Complexity, Plants, The Paper Birch Tree, Why The Sky Is Far Away
posted to MetaFilter by the man of twists and turns at 9:15 PM on August 27, 2014 (4 comments)

The Oral History of CSNY's Infamous 'Doom Tour'
posted to MetaFilter by josher71 at 11:03 AM on August 20, 2014 (39 comments)

We will be building a new house to live in, what features could we add to make this the best house ever?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:44 AM on August 9, 2014 (112 comments)

Not sure how to say this, but I think that I am procrastinating on things even when I seem to be busy doing other things. I need to get to a point in my life where I am taking consistent action rather than thinking about doing things.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nidora at 2:25 PM on August 8, 2014 (6 comments)

Help me find interesting, unique jobs in the sciences - physics, biology, or chemistry.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by theboxpenguin at 7:15 PM on August 3, 2014 (5 comments)

Help me find some really great gourmet foods that are available through Amazon Prime.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dougiedd at 11:43 PM on July 13, 2014 (15 comments)

I am a diagnosed ADHD inattentive type (comorbid with anxiety and major depression) who has WAY too many personal pursuits, hobbies and interests. For this reason, I often feel overwhelmed and end up starting but not finishing (or continuing to seriously pursue) many of them. This cyclical behavior makes me anxious and miserable, and it fuels my procrastination tendencies. Occasionally, I will get a jolt of enthusiasm that helps me start a project and finish it, but this is really no different than any of my other impulsive behavior that is, ultimately, inconsistent rather than disciplined and habitual. I often beat myself up and tell myself I'm a failure because I do so few of the things that I talk or think about doing. I also beat myself up (less often, but enough that it's cause for concern) even when I *do* start and finish a project/pursuit - the reason being that I still didn't get all of the OTHER things done. How do I choose one or two things to really focus on deeply, and accept and be happy with those choices? How do I stop letting myself get caught up in the allure of "everything else"?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nightrecordings at 10:06 AM on August 2, 2014 (9 comments)

Why are women so less self-assured and why are men so overconfident? The Atlantic takes on what they are calling the "confidence gap," the tendency of women to underplay their expertise to lack confidence in both their achievements and their potential.
posted to MetaFilter by amanda at 9:30 PM on July 31, 2014 (56 comments)

An interactive explanation of Markov chains
posted to MetaFilter by a snickering nuthatch at 3:48 AM on July 30, 2014 (18 comments)

"... a series of curated, open access books about life — with life understood both philosophically and biologically — which provide a bridge between the humanities and the sciences." Although they offer "frozen PDFs," these books—on topics like biosemiotics, animal experience, and air—are curated collections of links to open access science articles, reviews, interviews, podcasts, sometimes with embedded sounds and videos. They have ISBN numbers and editors vetted by the Open Humanities Press, which is generally a gold mine of interesting books and journals. They feel perfectly at home on the open internet, evoking hope and nostalgia for a flourishing academic world wide web, without paywalls and login screens.
posted to MetaFilter by mbrock at 12:57 PM on July 29, 2014 (7 comments)

We ended up biting the bullet on tickets to Maui for our spring break in March yesterday (arriving 3/10). You guys were awesome when we went to the Big Island last year- where should we stay and what should we do in Maui?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by charmedimsure at 6:19 PM on January 22, 2013 (17 comments)

When the body of high school student Laura Palmer is discovered wrapped in plastic on a riverbank, the town of Twin Peaks reacts in horror. Special agent Dale Cooper of the FBI is called in to investigate. Although sleepy and idyllic at first glance, the town begins to reveal its dark secrets, as a large cast of memorable characters plot and scheme amid the turmoil caused by Laura's death.
posted to FanFare by codacorolla at 9:51 AM on July 29, 2014 (32 comments)

At the end of a project, regardless of how the rest of the world feels about it, I am almost always sad and angry at myself about how it went. Sometimes I imagine myself being punished for imperfections, e.g. by being attacked and beaten to death with pipes because of bugs in submitted code. Other times I project this unhappiness and anger onto other people, e.g. imagining that colleagues are disappointed in me, until they actually say outright that they are pleased with how something went.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 4:20 PM on July 28, 2014 (18 comments)

I tend to care about what people think way too much. I get nervous in social situations sometimes to where I feel shakey and out of breath. I can't think straight sometimes when talking to people. I also tend to change the way I act around different people to the point of where I feel disconnected from myself. How can I stop caring so much?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by anon1129 at 1:26 PM on July 18, 2014 (18 comments)

NPR reports on a recently-published PLOS ONE article describing sexual harassment and assault perpetrated on (overwhelmingly young, female) researchers in the field.

In a survey of scientists engaged in field research, the majority — 64 percent — said they had personally experienced sexual harassment while at a field site, and 22 percent reported being the victim of sexual assault.

posted to MetaFilter by deadbilly at 7:24 PM on July 17, 2014 (38 comments)

What did Coach McGuirk mean when he gave Brendon Small this advice: "Brendon, let me tell you a little something about women. Women are like men. But men are not like women..."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jtothes at 10:17 PM on July 16, 2014 (9 comments)

I regularly flake on email responses-- both personal and professional. (I have all the comorbidities you'd expect: ADHD, perfectionism, perpetual writer's block, mild social anxiety, introversion, disorganization, procrastination/avoidant tendencies.) I'm starting a new job and need this particular behavior to stop forthwith. Short of completely overhauling my whole effed-up executive function, is there an ironclad system I can implement to ensure that every single one of those emails gets answered punctually?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sockinian at 7:06 AM on July 11, 2014 (17 comments)

Songs about long-term, developed love - not butterflies.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ohsnapdragon at 9:16 AM on July 11, 2014 (78 comments)

I’m looking for a game, playable on my iPhone, with probably crazy specific requirements. I fell in love with and completed (twice, once with huts and once without) A Dark Room. If I could erase my memory of playing that game and do it again, that’s basically what I’m after.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by DulcineaX at 5:54 AM on July 10, 2014 (11 comments)