You know who I feel for? That damned brother-in-law of hers. I don't care whether he's a child tasering drunkard or not, that poor sot must be pissing himself 24/7. Imagine being on the wrong side of some uber-vindictive, simpleminded nutcase, and then imagine that same nutcase getting promoted to greater and greater- no, make that absurder and absurder - positions of power, and consistently using that power to do everything they can to fuck you over. How horrible would... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by maryh at 1:35 PM on October 4, 2008

I liked this summary from the FT:

If you owe the bank $10, it’s your problem. If you owe the bank $10m, it’s the bank’s problem. If you and a million others owe the bank $10 each, it’s still your problem – but it’s also the bank’s problem. If the bank then sells to an investor the $10 you owe, it ought to be the investor’s problem. But if you have a problem repaying the $10 – and so do a million others – it’s both the investor’s problem and the bank’s problem. Your... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by athenian at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2008

A couple of years ago, I did a play at the Westport Country Playhouse. At the end of the first week of rehearsal, we were invited to dinner at "a board member's house" after rehearsal on Sunday evening. I didn't want to go - I was tired and cranky and the show was not going well. Add to that the two hour commute home to Brooklyn and I pretty much just wanted to bail, sneak over to the train station and be done with it. I'd profusely apologize Tuesday morning, claiming illness or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by TryTheTilapia at 9:14 AM on September 27, 2008

Astronomy is the most humbling science. By virtue of being free from the need to be economically useful, astronomers can spend their time looking for stuff that they have no hope of ever understanding. That's excellent for the psyche of us all in a Lovecraftian way.

Biologist: I just learned what this protein does! Hubris++
Physicist: Awesome, I can explain the magnetic properties of this material! Hubris+=3
Mathematician: QED, mofo!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by a robot made out of meat at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2008

And it's a little absurd right. I mean, two weeks ago these guys had no idea that anything was wrong, and now we should just hand over $700 billion dollars for them to spend however they want, with zero oversight whatsoever.

What worries me the most is that Paulson and Bernake both have their reputations riding on whether this plan succeeds, which gives them a big incentive, I think, to purchase the so-called sludge at an inflated price. After all,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by gsteff at 7:13 PM on September 20, 2008

Outrageous self-link - that I need to update at some point - of a welcome pack prepared by my school in Japan to welcome me.
posted to MetaFilter by liquidindian at 7:43 AM on September 15, 2008

For my fellow English majors and other artsy types who might want to do some reading on how this whole mess came about, let me recommend THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN, AS SEEN IN REAL-TIME THROUGH METAFILTER POSTS:

(The following list is woefully incomplete; please feel free to add your faves from the past year or so.)

July, 2007:
"A world of Casey Serins" - MeFi takes a look at the world of sub-prime mortgages and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Asparagirl at 11:03 PM on September 14, 2008

On a related note, I once tried to get my other half out of bed by whispering in his ear, "If you wake up right now, we have time for a quickie before work!" Unfortunately, he was in the middle of dreaming that he was on a game show, and said in his sleep, "I'll take the cash prize instead..."
All he remembers of that morning is waking up to a flurry of fists.
posted to MetaFilter by Billegible at 6:54 PM on September 5, 2008

I wintered over, one winter in the early 80's, on a slip in the Mystic River, near Boston, in an old Gloucester rigged schooner (not my boat), converted as a motorized trawler, while lawyers debated my marital fate, and I chipped ice and hoped a bilge pump could keep my fishy smelling new/old home afloat. It was usually cold, and sometimes wet, and always smelly, and I had no visitors of social standing, and many of maritime reknown.

Living on the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by paulsc at 8:59 PM on August 19, 2006 marked best answer

Forbes did this two years ago and I was so irritated by their ranking I wrote this:

I don’t know how the people at Forbes came up with this figure. I don’t know how a reporter of Capitalism justifies Santa as the richest fictional character, either. Santa Claus is a humanitarian non-profit. I mean, duh.

The list ranks Scrooge at fourth, which is an insult. Even the vaguest glance at anything related to the mythos of Scrooge McDuck will place him... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 9:26 AM on December 5, 2005

A badger hair brush is all right, for the pikers and fifteen year olds who are cultivating that "did I just have some chocolate milk or is it a mustache look", real men rip the head off the badger (preferably Mauritanian NOT the ones from Brussels, which are actually a kind of non-swimming water rat, think Nutria but unable to swim or even float) and lather that up with some Vendigliani Otrusco, which is a Sicilian emollientie di priapari (lit.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Divine_Wino at 10:54 AM on April 4, 2005

See also, recent news about pipeline fires and sabotage in the region.

At this point, I humbly suggest that all fpp's about conflicts in this region be accompanied by pipeline maps or oil field maps. We all know these conflicts are about energy, but the conflicts are going to be spun in the media and by governments as ethnic conflicts or battles for political (rather than economic) independence solely to agitate the local people to action and to keep the corporate and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 8:36 AM on August 8, 2008

I'm not a big fan of Kay Ryan's style but these lines from "Turtle"

Her only levity is patience,
The sport of truly chastened things.

rock my socks.
posted to MetaFilter by chimaera at 4:08 PM on July 18, 2008

In 1610, thinking he had discovered two moons orbiting Saturn, Galileo composed a message:

ALTISSIMUM PLANETAM TERGEMINUM OBSERVAVI ("I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form")

… and sent it to Kepler as an anagram:

SMAISMRMILMEPOETALEUMIBUNENUGTTAUIRAS

Remarkably, Kepler managed to "solve" this as a message about Mars, not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nasreddin at 11:17 AM on July 16, 2008

"Random House had better accept my True Crime Non-Fiction Novel Manuscript" drips off this thing like sweat.

The sweat not of vigorous exercise, the kind of exercise one engages in to improve oneself, like jogging down a country trail, the gentle thup-thup-thup of the whipporwill's wings in the air behind you as the sun gleams through the emerald leaves with the promise of another dawn; no, the flophouse sweat of the dead-eyed killer, the sweat that comes from... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 10:50 AM on July 9, 2008

Here's a true story about how awesome Pixar is.

As some of you know, when the trailer first came out, my girlfriend, Courtney, burst into tears at the trailer. She was emabrrassed but somewhat amused by this, as so she made a video of herself watching the trailer on her computer, knowing she would start crying every time that little robot said his own name.

After a few months, she started to get trickles of emails from people at Pixar who said... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 12:18 PM on July 1, 2008

grocery store, or BevMo, or Trader Joe's, etc

Weed from the corner bottleshop: The weed is all quite potent, but a bit dry. You can buy as little as a $1 spliff or as much as an eighth, but at all levels it's too expensive unless everything else is closed or you don't really want to walk very far. However, finally you can get a Rockstar, a hip flask of vodka, a blunt wrap or pack of papers and and a few nugs all in one purchase.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 3:43 PM on July 1, 2008

364 = 3⁰+3¹+3²+3³+3⁴+3⁵
posted to MetaTalk by Wolfdog at 4:06 PM on June 3, 2008

Just waiting for Blizzard to implement this for my druid.
posted to MetaFilter by marble at 4:48 PM on April 11, 2008

There are excellent biographies of all four men. You can't go far wrong with Andrew Hodges on Turing, Ray Monk on Wittgenstein and Russell, and Robert Skidelsky on Keynes. Andrew Hodges also has a website on Turing, with a lot of biographical information. I'd also recommend some of the more personal accounts of Wittgenstein, such as Rush Rhees (ed.), Ludwig Wittgenstein: Personal Recollections (1981) and Theodore Redpath, Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Student's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by verstegan at 11:52 PM on May 14, 2008 marked best answer

steven strogatz talks about this in _sync_ :P

cheers!
posted to MetaFilter by kliuless at 10:20 AM on May 3, 2008

Boomerang Story.

It was Christmas 1969. We were just preparing to go overseas and were spending our last Christmas stateside at my Grandmas in Idaho before my dad got his new orders.

It was a bumper crop in presents. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Spy Kit was particularly awesome. And in our stockings was a curious V-shaped piece of wood. One for my brother and one for me.

"What's this?" I asked.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 10:42 AM on May 2, 2008

We built our own house and here are our house-hacks, in order of our love for them 6 years later:
Kitchen sink: get a standard stainless-steel sink welded to a 4'x8' stainless-steel sheet and folded, to make an integral sink/countertop/backsplash. The weld was seamless! It actually costs less per lineal foot than most other countertops.
Wall-mounted faucets: if water/gunk spills, it won't hide under the flange on the countertop. (You're plumber will object, because it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mediaddict at 12:43 PM on November 3, 2005 marked best answer

A badger hair brush is all right, for the pikers and fifteen year olds who are cultivating that "did I just have some chocolate milk or is it a mustache look", real men rip the head off the badger (preferably Mauritanian NOT the ones from Brussels, which are actually a kind of non-swimming water rat, think Nutria but unable to swim or even float) and lather that up with some Vendigliani Otrusco, which is a Sicilian emollientie di priapari (lit. boner cream). By all means use an English... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by leotrotsky at 6:12 PM on April 28, 2008

There certainly were a lot of people there, packed into a smallish area. I knew I didn't meet or introduce myself to everyone, but I didn't know until this morning that two of them were pb and bondcliff! Sorry guys; but it was nice to meet the folks I did get around to and say hello to the ones I had seen before!

One anecdote: as I was waiting in South Station waiting for my 11:20 train and munching an Auntie Annie's pretzel, just as the announcement came over the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by yhbc at 7:54 AM on April 27, 2008

Ah thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen this paper yet but after a brief read I'm not surprised by its views, as BIS has been pushing out a wide range of communiqués on the credit crunch.

A few observations:Borio isn't speaking for BIS, this certainly isn't a BIS policy paper, and it (admittedly) only incorporates information up to the end of February, and hence is subject to (perhaps significant) change.
I find it very curious that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mutant at 2:33 AM on April 24, 2008

Not exclusively women but The Sartorialist takes amazing photos of beautiful (semi-)normal women wearing beautiful things. I swear there's a magical filter on his camera that makes everyone look like an 8 or above.

From the current front page: 1 2 3 4 5*... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by junesix at 3:20 PM on April 8, 2008

Oops. Should have used a UNIQUE there.
posted to MetaFilter by eriko at 10:22 PM on March 15, 2008

Reminds me of the best short palindrome ever:
Taft: fat.
posted to MetaFilter by msalt at 11:49 PM on March 11, 2008

She'd hit me.
posted to MetaFilter by Rumple at 5:10 PM on March 8, 2008

I once had occasion to bathe a hamster, after a bizarre incident in which my uber-smart aussie mix figured out how to extract a hamster named George from its Habitrail. The dog carried the rodent around in his mouth for several hours before he was caught and the hamster extracted. George was soaked in dog spit, traumatized beyond belief but was physically unharmed, albeit reeking of dog breath. After his mate rejected his return to the Habitrail, I decided to bathe George using a large mixing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jamaro at 12:13 PM on March 9, 2008

I have to agree with mangoes. With some exceptions (like the criollo), the smaller mangoes, with big pits and little flesh tend to be tastier, and not carried by supermarkets. The good news is that Indian mangoes can be imported to the US since 2007!

Manila mangos, ripe, soft as butter, to be eaten shirtless at the beach, let it melt in your mouth, cool juice running down your chin and dripping on your chest. Ocean dip to clean up.

Ataulfo mango,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Dr. Curare at 8:51 PM on February 25, 2008

That's still not as fucked up as the parasite that eats a fish's tongue and then becomes the fish's tongue *shudder*
posted to MetaFilter by cecilkorik at 11:09 PM on February 22, 2008

I will never again say that only the boring are bored.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 4:11 AM on February 23, 2008

My favorite use of a dash is when it represents approaching profundity; the Germans call this a "Gedankenschtricht," I think.

Thus Nietzsche:
"It is more comfortable to follow one's conscience than one's reason: for it offers an excuse and alleviation if what we undertake miscarries--which is why there are always so many conscientious people and so few reasonable ones."
posted to MetaFilter by nasreddin at 12:18 AM on February 19, 2008

"The possibility that financial institutions (like those I pointed out at the beginning) are systemically miscalculating their risk exposure is pretty frightening..."

Frightening I agree, but I'd argue the probability is relatively small. In terms of calculating risk, models for CDS are admittedly complex as we're dealing with both credit and market risk drivers.

Just to illustrate - if we were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mutant at 9:32 AM on February 19, 2008

Seconding the Norton hate. Norton AV used to be good but over the last few years their consumer edition has turned into total crap, Norton Corp. edition is still kinda OK, but we dropped it a while ago anyway. I recommend AVG myself, as it's free for home use. Between that and a couple of anti-spyware packages I feel reasonably OK.
posted to Ask Metafilter by barc0001 at 8:44 PM on February 17, 2008

I was going to make fun, until I remembered that Chinese Dwarf Hamsters are, without a doubt, the cutest and most entirely useless animal found in the world.

This is an animal that when it scratches it's ear, it falls over. Every time.

If people are going to obsess over an animal, they could do worse. (The article suggests that they can have a mean streak. This is probably true, but the only times I've ever been bitten, I deserved it for not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by quin at 9:43 AM on February 12, 2008

I actually had a slow loris as a pet when I was a kid, given to us by a Peace Corps worker who was leaving town. We named it oop-oop, because that was the only sound it made. It moved in super slow motion. It was AWESOME! I miss you oop-oop!

:)
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky at 11:36 PM on January 29, 2008

Wow, there weren't nearly so many entries when I looked last week. I think this one is still my favorite.
posted to MetaFilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 5:25 PM on January 25, 2008

You already mentioned it, but the Toyota Hilux has rather famously been proven to be absolutely indestructible.
posted to Ask Metafilter by googly at 9:38 AM on January 13, 2008

I'm fond of his work, personally.

I'll tell you a story. When I was writing The Ghost Brigades, Tor sent me a picture of a John Harris painting of a planet with a ring system around it. "This is your cover," they said. "Wow," I said. "I guess I better put a planet with a ring system into the novel." So I did. And it worked out rather well for the story, I have to say.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:20 PM on January 8, 2008

So I guess the answer to the OP's follow-up question is 1) the Olympics, 2) being a major city in a developing country with a booming economy, or 3) being Canadian, ie environmentally conscious.

There was an article in Business Week a couple months ago that gives a brief overview of the current subway boom, probably related to the above number 2: Subways: The New Urban Status Symbol.

(I keep a weblog mostly about the expanding Shanghai subway... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by msittig at 5:32 AM on January 5, 2008

I went to the Denver zoo with a friend and his three year old daughter. I got a little ahead of them and found myself in a crowd watching a jaguar pacing back and forth on a ten foot stretch of concrete at ground level behind a wall of glass. Its eyes were glaring at absolutely nothing, and its motions were as repetitious as the rotation of a bicycle wheel. Its pacing speed was a bit slower than my best sprint, I found myself thinking, and it was clearly completely insane.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jamjam at 9:33 AM on December 26, 2007

Sorry, Abiezer, 那小子真帅 is actually high-school romance from a hot Korean writer named Guiyeoni.

Even though Murakami isn't a Chinese original, you could still give it a try if you like his aesthetic, particularly given the fact that the primary mainland translator, Lin Shaohua, came under fire last month for making his translations too smooth.

If you like pulp, the big thing these days is grave-robbing adventure. Try The Ghost... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by zhwj at 6:00 AM on December 21, 2007 marked best answer

For the time that must use a computer, I highly recommend workrave to reduce both eye strain and repetitive stress injury.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kc8nod at 9:47 AM on December 21, 2007

Ah, shit, Godwin's law.
posted to MetaTalk by WCityMike at 2:23 PM on December 18, 2007

A friend from Brazil once had three bot fly infections from a trip to Brazil to visit his grandparents. He didn't know what they were at first, since the college health clinic just thought they were infected mosquito bites, but once he found out, his grandparents told him of they way they deal with them.

First you put butter on the opening, which makes them poke out a little to breath. Then you chew some loose tobacco and then stick on the opening. Supposedly the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by recursion at 8:19 PM on December 14, 2007

I used to date a girl with freakish super-hearing. Completely changed my entire world-view as to wht the human beings are capable of, and the powers of sensory input. It kind of sucked though because we always had to watch tv with the sound turned way down, and she didn't really like clubs or live music. She also would always assume that because she could hear you, you could hear her, so she would mumble a question from the opposite end of a supermarket aisle, and I would have to walk all the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by billyfleetwood at 9:09 AM on December 13, 2007

We've actually got this one framed and hanging in our livingroom. Love that archive.
posted to MetaFilter by gwint at 1:00 PM on December 11, 2007