MetaFilter

This whole labelling issue is not about consumer choice, it's a follow up to a scare campaign.

Even if it weren't about scare tactics, the idea that the government should require or even permit labeling about some characteristic that consumers care about isn't obvious. For the simple reason that consumers can care about characteristics that are not actually harmful or beneficial.

I mean, no matter how many consumers cared... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:48 AM on September 23, 2013

I'm assuming most of the Rah Rah people are, like Elon Musk, SV types with no background in government or transit.

You know how pissed off you get government tells you how to do something? Same thing.

Imagine Joe Biden saying we should build an AI and throwing a copy of "Weird Science" on your desk to use as a guide.
posted to MetaFilter by entropicamericana at 3:52 PM on August 12, 2013

ARGH. STOP. NO. JUST NO.

Ok, fine. Steampunk is as strong as an argument we'll ever need to build a functioning time machine, if only so we can send thousands of irritatingly a-historical hipsters with more discretionary income than common sense back to the Victorian age where they'll hopefully perish in a raging, unstoppable conflagration inside the locked and chained doors of a shirtwaist factory.

That or they can try out some historically... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 4:28 PM on December 22, 2011

Anyway, aside from the obvious, I still have no idea why the called it The Karate Kid.

There were lengthy, intense meetings and conversations about whether or not to call it The Karate Kid or The Kung-Fu Kid, and in the end most people involved felt that they didn't want to appear to be running away from the fact this was a remake, they wanted to embrace the nostalgia and the references. There's also the fact that Kung-Fu is still heavily associated... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by incessant at 6:39 PM on November 25, 2011

Fisting has always fascinated me, it doesn't turn me on, but in the idea of pushing the body to it's natural extends--Zizek's essay on Deleuze, where he talks about fisting:


And, to go a step further, is the practise of fist-fucking not the exemplary case of what Deleuze called the "expansion of a concept"? The fist is put to a new use; the notion of penetration is expanded into the combination of the hand with sexual penetration, into... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by PinkMoose at 9:27 PM on October 21, 2011

I'm not sure of the exact legalities of the helmet law. But I can speak from experience that if you are driving a car on a twisty road at some speed... and you happen to be wearing a fullface helmet and fireproof suit... You're not going to talk your way out of the speeding ticket.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by tumble at 1:53 PM on May 27, 2005

I thought she had a boyfriend/fiance? Where was he? :(

Being ineffectual or unnoticed, most likely, and through no fault of his own.
posted to MetaFilter by Errant at 4:42 PM on October 27, 2011

Ha!
posted to MeFi Music by cortex at 11:10 AM on November 22, 2006

"And yes, to joannemullen upthread, people shouldn't call each other assholes. This is one of those things I've talked to klangklangston about some and his ideal MetaTalk is somewhat different from mine. We're working on it. But generally speaking pointed directed namecalling is something that isn't okay on AskMe, only squeaks by on MeFi and is more oboderline-tolerated here in MeTa. I sometimes wonder if the looser moderation in MeTa means that people who actually enjoy the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 9:19 AM on September 16, 2011

I prefer klang's assholes, within limits, to joannemullen's Parlimentary nonsense. If widely adopted, it'd just lead to a glut of limp zingers from a gaggle of self-styled wits who were only half right. Then'd come the tone arguments and weaselly whining that nothing bad was actually said, why, there wasn't even any explicit namecalling or profanity in the comment, etc.

MetaFilter: I prefer klang's assholes, within limits...
posted to MetaTalk by Alvy Ampersand at 7:37 AM on September 16, 2011

I think part of the problem is that we now expect mods to put out all the fires, do all the training, policing, aisle clean up, etc. When it was just mathowie, members did much more in the way of self-policing and we hashed things out in the gray. But today, bringing a post quality complaint or a point of etiquette to Metatalk is almost a hanging offense. It's all "flag it an move on" today.

No sir, I don't agree with that, it's lazy. Hashing things out as a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by madamjujujive at 7:17 AM on September 16, 2011

Here is another sad case of this on the internet. Just look at how crushed she appears after her trust is violated.
posted to MetaFilter by cashman at 8:06 AM on August 16, 2011

1. Brandon has come into an informal agreement with his caregivers that he will maintain upkeep and "ownership" of the room

and

2. The caregivers agree to the autonomy of Brandon's desires within a reasonable bound

Then Brandon has exclusivity rights granted by the previously owned parties.

See, lemme stop you right there. We're talking about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by valkyryn at 3:00 AM on August 16, 2011

The Bar was last month. Someone clearly forgot to stop studying.

People, this is what happens when the legal job market is so shitty! Please remember to spay or neuter your counsel.
posted to MetaFilter by atrazine at 2:57 AM on August 16, 2011

Interestingly enough, the single largest populist movement today is 1) completely ignored by the author, and 2) actually somewhat immune from the factors the author identifies.

I think the reason he ignores it is that the Tea Party is active on the Right, not the Left. The Tea Party has pretty significant youth participation, believe it or not. But apparently "youth resistance" doesn't count if it doesn't involve street protests in favor of lefty goals.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by valkyryn at 5:17 AM on August 12, 2011

The original video was deleted, but you can see it in standard definition here or in HD (but with a different soundtrack) here.
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:58 PM on February 10, 2011

why stop at inverted? why not orient the south pole left? i mean, if we're going to be illogical, why not be really illogical?

Actually, it was fairly common in medieval times to put east at the top. Which has a logic to it: when traveling across open terrain, the one consistent thing you had to orient yourself by when you broke camp in the morning was the sunrise. In fact, that's the source of the term "orient yourself": it literally means... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by baf at 6:21 PM on June 11, 2011

Speaking as someone at least partly responsible for at least one of the linked sites, I can assure you that, for me and it, there is no level of, "god I secretly love all this stuff and oh man I am super jealous of the fun they're all having without me because I am sad and uncreative and only stewing in a jacuzzi of self-hatred and my own semen."

There is, however, quite a large level of, "JESUS E-FUCKING-NOUGH ALREADY, WE GET THAT YOU LIKE BOBA FETT AND... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Legomancer at 6:09 AM on April 21, 2011

Sex worker is not a euphemism, it acknowledges that men and women can legitimately, and legally, sell sex as a profession...without judgement.

I understand that it has a political meaning, but that doesn't prevent its use as a euphemism.
posted to MetaTalk by Jehan at 5:24 PM on April 22, 2011

Welcome to Metafilter, Scott!
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 1:38 PM on April 14, 2011

This Dr Venter, does he have two sons, Hank and Dean? But really, interesting post, and I look forward to reading more on this. And I agree with Blasdelb. When in biology class I learned that viruses do not meet the definition of life, my thought was, "Well they need to change the definition of life!"
posted to MetaFilter by Yer-Ol-Pal at 11:28 AM on March 25, 2011

I don't know that I agree, really, but maybe I'm misunderstanding you. The thing with mefi is that very early on, when Matt realized that people on mefi were talking about mefi on the front page of mefi, we ended up with Metatalk as an explicit place for that.

Misunderstanding, but it's because I didn't articulate what I meant very well. I meant "talk about how we function" in the sense of stepping back and appreciating, from time to time,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rory Marinich at 9:30 AM on February 28, 2011

Not sure we're such a great model to follow -- 15 posts in, and we're having an in-depth conversation about restaurants (albeit a very productive and respectful one)

But that's part of what makes us a community. We've got quirks, and playfulnesses, and one of the things we actually don't talk well about is how we function as a community (we don't take the Online Community as serious as, say, Hacker News does) but that's a part of the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rory Marinich at 10:55 PM on February 27, 2011

Not sure we're such a great model to follow -- 15 posts in, and we're having an in-depth conversation about restaurants (albeit a very productive and respectful one)

Dragging this back ontopic, my big gripe is that HN were never able to separate the business and tech sides of the startup focus. I'd love to see a site dedicated to emerging technologies that are appropriate for small businesses, startups, and the open-source community in general. There's a ton of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by schmod at 10:27 PM on February 27, 2011

It's entirely because we don't have threaded comments.

I mostly agree, but I like the lack of downvotes, also. Crowd censorship is trickier to implement than just letting anybody shut anybody else up.

posted by Rory Marinich at 12:43 AM on February 28 [4 favorites +] [!]


I wish I could shut anybody else up.

posted by shakespeherian at 12:47 AM on February 28 [5... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rory Marinich at 9:53 PM on February 27, 2011

Look in a mirror St. Bunny. You too are carles.
posted to MetaTalk by Potomac Avenue at 9:33 AM on January 5, 2011

And is just me, or does humanity come off looking pretty sad after reading that article?

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with wanting to be important and special. I like that on MetaFilter I can say/favorite anything that I want and help shape discussions in ways that'll interest me. It's a lot better than being completely unspecial anyway.

The issue is more that not many designers spend their time asking... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rory Marinich at 7:37 AM on January 6, 2011

Can someone who knows give me a summary of what Hacker News is?
It's a link-posting and commenting site, with four key features:

1. It's half-filled with a load of early-20s coders who hate the idea of working for the man, and are convinced that they just need to hit on the right combination of Mongrel/Ruby/Scala/Django/node.js to create the minimum viable product that will make them "fuck-you money" and let them spend all their... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by bonaldi at 2:14 PM on September 21, 2010

koeselitz, you nailed the critique on the commenting system. HN is worse than Reddit, and Reddit's pretty awful. Their commenting system frustrated me to no end.

Hacker News had a leaderboard when I was a member; I was in the top 30 or so for karma. (Username "unalone", for the HN-MeFi crossovers reading our MeFi-HN crossover.) So I was pretty heavily active for the year I was there. Eventually I got hellbanned for posting a comment critical of a moderately... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rory Marinich at 12:06 PM on September 21, 2010

I'm pretty sympathetic to making linguistic accommodations and what not but I think this is silly. There is a world of difference between excising words from our language that have been used to oppress entire groups in very concrete and life-altering ways (see: the n-word, retarded, "gay" as a pejorative), and asking people to alter their language because one individual with a condition that has not historically been tied to oppression doesn't like the phrase.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by AV at 7:13 AM on September 11, 2010

I'm... pretty sure that doesn't mean what you think it means.

It means exactly what it means. Watch the fucking clip. He called him out for editing that video and not showing the entire thing and calling it "collateral murder" instead of letting people make up their own mind. He points out all of the stuff that Assange left out. Assange had to admit it.

I've hated the Iraq war from day one. But being truthful is the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ironmouth at 11:34 AM on August 21, 2010

Re the use of “lizard brain”:

Look, I love the idea that a knowledge of human biology can help us understand why we are the way we are and why we act the way we act. I did a degree in psychology in which I studied physiological psych, and my most nursed obsession was evolutionary psych. I love the idea that we can understand ourselves through science. But let me relate two stories.

First story: my friend is in a band with his girlfriend. The... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by skwt at 9:59 PM on August 21, 2010

Then come over here and rip the sexist bastard a new arsehole.

Please don't shit where I live.
posted to MetaTalk by nomadicink at 6:32 PM on August 21, 2010

And when my teenage nephew puts his fist through the wall because his mom tells him he can't take the car because she needs it, I don't think he is hurt, I think he is pissed off that his plans aren't working out.

...

It isn't that my nephew has been hurt by women or that he is unable to articulate his feelings, he just likes to assert his maleness in front of his mom to show off that he is bigger than she is and she should remember that... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by enn at 9:31 AM on August 21, 2010

I blame Kurt Gödel for that one, furiousxgeorge.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 12:44 PM on August 20, 2010

I suppose it's pointless to tell you your snappy response is embarrassingly superficial and demonstrates a lamentable ignorance of what sexism and gender issues are all about, because you presumably have no interest in remedying that ignorance. But if I'm wrong and you would like to learn more, there are a number of MeFi/MeTa threads that you might find illuminating.

Talking down and not answering! Well done!
posted to MetaTalk by Big_B at 10:42 AM on August 20, 2010

With the small exception of menstruation, childbirth and other bodily experiences which currently cannot be performed by men, can women really femsplain anything? There is generally not a sense of "here, let me tell you how to feel about this topic because I know better than you"

Momsplain?
posted to MetaTalk by Gator at 9:19 AM on August 19, 2010

I regularly hear one of these evo-psych explanations from women -- on the subject of looking for a mate with a certain income profile (I have had a lot of single female friends though most of them have for the moment paired up). The non-creepy explanation proferred is always the "good provider" -- even if there is no intention of having kids. Wait, not always. One was honest enough to say she wants to take nice vacations and not have to pay for both of them. That's not what I usually... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Durn Bronzefist at 9:00 AM on August 19, 2010

I have this priceless image in my head of Jess seeing this in the anonymous queue, going "Fuuuuuuuuu," taking a deep breath, approving the post and then sitting there perched over her keyboard in a WWII style tin helmet waiting for the incoming hate mortars to start landing around her mod trench.
posted to MetaTalk by The Straightener at 6:12 AM on August 19, 2010

We need a practice Ask Mefi training that people need to pass before being allowed to answer questions. It should involve reading an array of infuriating questions and not being allowed to respond in any way. Once people can deal with that they can move up to practicing responses that answer the question. If they fail they get bumped back to level one.
posted to MetaTalk by Solon and Thanks at 6:10 AM on August 19, 2010

Between the women who were over-the-top indignant about something that their dads do (though probably with more tact) and the men who were over-the-top "oh, I'm so sensitive and respectful to women":

That thread was HILARIOUS. Especially the people suggesting that he escalate the situation by apologizing. There should be one Ask Metafilter question like that per day.
posted to MetaTalk by Mayor Curley at 5:55 AM on August 19, 2010

Hi! My name is Keith, I'm 17, and I am the most powerful person on the planet. I know I'm not much to look at with my acne problems or my slight paunch, but please believe me when I say that I can have a half dozen Federal agents kicking down the door to your house in about an hour.

How, you ask? Simple! Unlike what you're read on those left-wing websites like Kos or MoveOn or Metafilter, I'm actually the guy that pulls President Bush's strings. Yeah, me. Not Cheney or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 10:04 AM on October 24, 2006

as if the site's a content generating news org.

I think this sort of exposes that the post was exactly what its early detractors claimed it was -- pretty much a 'gyofb' post, based on a weak current event link, and padded out with 2003-era net security links, which was old news and boring to some of the more cynical posters. It was probably more of a feature article than the usual 'best of the web' that gets posted here. The fact that it got as many... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by crunchland at 4:36 AM on July 3, 2010

This has to be a deliberate inside joke for nerds. Is it even physically possible to be that wrong by accident?

Sadly, it is. I've had plenty of conversations with higher-ups at work where the same technique of combining slightly relevant buzzwords into grammatically correct sentences has taken place. Usually, they're talking to people who don't know much about the subject under discussion, and this makes them sound like they really know their stuff.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by FishBike at 12:32 PM on July 2, 2010

You know, I have this theory. My theory holds that things like this (and, while we're on the subject, this) are the result of a cult of Situationist Anarachists embedded in important gatekeeper positions. They've wedged themselves right between the lower (development) and upper (management) tiers of groupthink and weasel weirdness in through the works just to make the world a little bit odder.

I came up with this theory after I decided that the world I want to live in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 2:06 PM on February 7, 2010

This has only vague relevance here, but I really need to unburden myself about this:

I've been to the bookstore twice in the last few days, and each time I've found it increasingly difficult to prevent myself from purchasing my very own copy of the new Glenn Beck novel, The Overton Window. Sincerely, there is a kind of genius in those pages from the very beginning that one very rarely sees even in this kind of thriller. Heck,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:46 AM on July 2, 2010

Halloween Jack: "(See Xerox PARC for the prime example of this; Xerox could have been Apple if they'd taken the risks, and had the same regard for the average user, that Apple had.)"

Xerox got pre-IPO shares in Apple. In some sense they were Apple. Xerox did the research and they farmed the development out to Apple. Their technology did see the light of day. In fact, this is pretty much all Apple does. They don't have a research arm that I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pwnguin at 12:53 PM on June 29, 2010

He means the Apple II, which was made by Mac in 1977, years before they made MAC, i-Pod or iTouch.

Pitch-perfect trollfecta for the win.
posted to MetaFilter by rokusan at 10:01 AM on June 29, 2010

let's get him his army of killer robots. We can make this happen.

This is bullcrap and you know it.

We can provide the robots, but it's up to him to make them killers. Robot evil is nurture, not nature.
posted to MetaTalk by ColdChef at 1:57 PM on May 21, 2010

Correct, it is affected by the fact that it is 4 AM and you can't sleep.

Because it's 5 AM and I haven't slept and seem to be suffering from either Irritable Male Syndrome or perhaps Underload Syndrome I give you Female Answer Syndrome.
Each of the above possibly fits within the category of Syndrome Syndrome.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by vapidave at 5:35 AM on May 4, 2010