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Hey whats up. I am actually a graduate student in the lab referenced in one of the links above. We do a lot of research into conservation and bird-wildlife interactions, and birdstrikes rank heavily on that list. My thesis was going to be on habitat-level effects on birdstrikes, using 20 years of FAA data, but the bureaucracy got too tangled up and I had to switch.

Some interesting facts on birdstrikes not being mentioned in the news so far (citations available upon... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by CTORourke at 2:26 PM on January 15, 2009

Adams to Washington (aside): Yeah, Thom loves eating ethnic, amirite? (Fist bump)
posted to MetaFilter by ColdChef at 10:42 AM on January 16, 2009

And the example involving tea kettles? "They did that. I have no idea where they got those statistics," Wissner-Gross said.

Never under-estimate the cultural appeal of kettles to British culture. Not so long ago they were primitive things that would sit on a stove and whistle - like the rest of the world seems to use. These days they are invariably electric with hefty 3Kw elements. Mine appears to have been modelled on a rocket and sports a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by rongorongo at 2:22 AM on January 13, 2009

It was non-consensual, in the end.
posted to MetaTalk by found missing at 2:12 PM on January 13, 2009

No more Google. From now on, I'm going to get into my Hummer and drive 18 miles to our nearest public library.
posted to MetaFilter by terranova at 3:50 PM on January 11, 2009

I worked in the pet industry as a fish specialist for a while, so here's my take. YMMV, of course.

You can artificially accelerate the cycling process by adding commercially available cultures of nitrosomas etc. The most popular / widely available one is called "Cycle" from Hagen, but Marina brand stuff tends to be better quality. Another option is if you know someone who already has a tank, you can use a piece of their biological filter (if they're willing to... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Pseudoephedrine at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2009 marked best answer

I have a DLink DAP-1522 which is an 802.11/n unit that operates flawlessly in bridge mode. Fast as hellhounds, too.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by trinity8-director at 2:41 PM on January 9, 2009

So what do you become if you're a creepy, misanthropic, muscled-headed drug addict?

A drug treatment counsellor, obviously.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2009

As a result of having half-read Getting Things Done I'm putting this advice in a bucket, or something.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 11:29 AM on January 8, 2009

perhaps you might throw a little more rhyme into your rap?

I was walking with my girlfriend just the other day,
When some thug kids riding bicycles began to play,
They blocked off her path, so she could no longer walk,
And they started disrespecting her with nasty talk,
Everything went fucking red and I got in that kid's face,
Told the little motherfuckers they should make some space,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott at 6:56 AM on January 5, 2007

The [writing] was plain unctuous on its own...and [grated] my [middleaged] taste buds[.] [H]owever together, the delicate [sensibilities of this child] was overwhelmed by [my] strong alcoholic flavor.
posted to MetaFilter by applemeat at 9:03 AM on December 31, 2008

I'm glad to see a kid interested in something more than WOW.

Because it means I might stand a chance of killing his character and taking his stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by vapidave at 4:25 AM on December 31, 2008

To the root question, open source software is based in part on the idea that the software can start off very buggy or with limited features, and can be improved quickly because new iterations are cheap.

In contrast, space software is based on the idea that iterations are expensive, and that the first try has to be feature complete and perfect. "Software assurance" concepts and such, where you translate directly from requirements to code, and provide multiple... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by smackfu at 7:34 PM on December 30, 2008

I have a close friend who's blind, and the single most gifted and brilliant musician I've ever known in a life in music. I played in his band for a few years, and it was an education in seeing with your ears to be around him. He runs a huge digital recording studio -- and one of the most sought after producers in his niche of music -- without seeing a single light or meter or knob, all by feel and ear, and he never makes a mistake, and runs circles around seeing people who know their shit in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by fourcheesemac at 12:10 PM on December 26, 2008

You know, I'll bet they were chuckling about how brilliant this idea was when someone said, "...and the best part is, we'll even give some of the proceeds to charity!" and then everyone burst out laughing.
posted to MetaTalk by BitterOldPunk at 4:16 PM on December 31, 2007

Gee, it just wouldn't be December without Holden Fucking Karnofsky out making the rounds like a demented meth-fueled elf, attention whoring media coverage and end-of-year donations for his tawdry enterprise. Glad to see he's still the same grossly ill-informed shit-spouting little pisher we knew and loved.
posted to MetaTalk by FelliniBlank at 6:05 PM on December 23, 2008

You might enjoy Russell Baker's "Growing Up" as a remembrance of Depression era rural life, and the forces that moved many families off the land and into cities in that era. I also agree with dgeiser13's comment that the area best fitting your remembered details for where your grandmother grew up is near West Liberty, county seat of Morgan County. And I'll suggest that, if you haven't already, you explore the Kentucky Historical Society's Guide to Kentucky Oral History Collections for... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by paulsc at 11:48 PM on October 9, 2006 marked best answer

Your mother possesses such unfavorable geometry, her ass went prompt critical and fried your brain.
posted to MetaFilter by dirty lies at 12:47 PM on December 15, 2008

This page by Jeremy Reimer is the authoritative list of market shares of the 1970s and 1980s.

The x86 clones did in fact take off in the mid and late 80s and never looked back, but the TRS-80 was apparently first to market, selling 200,000 units/yr before Apple and Atari got going in 1978.

But I think the 1980s graph shows that it was the C-64 ca. 1983 that really broadened the market -- the C-64 was outselling the PC in the early 80s and didn't... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by troy at 9:34 AM on December 12, 2008 marked best answer

DOGROSE: That's fine, jonmc—but you could maximize the impact of your contributions by doing some research at GiveWino.net. We actually feel that when people insist that as many pennies of my dollar as possible need to go straight to the winos, what they're doing is they're leaving out a lot of the overhead that's needed to hire great people at the liquor store, to provide material for self-pleasuring in the recycling bins, to figure out what really works, in terms of Popov v. Wild Irish Rose,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by dogrose at 8:59 PM on December 10, 2008

you also demand that your toilet paper be hand woven by Guatemalan peasants on a precisely strung loom from recycled parchment, right? Just sit back and drink your damn draft already.

Show me what else you regularly pay $15 for that is as poorly made as the average cocktail. Oh, I forgot, you're the champion of the working man, and so only drink oat soda.

I'm a hard liquor man, and if money is coming out of my pocket, I expect the drink to be made well.
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 10:54 AM on December 1, 2008

I would like to see this series expanded to include all existent jobs, as well as various ways and means of not actually working.

Scene - Guy lying on couch, watching TV. Roommate enters.

Roommate: Sooo...
Guy: Soooo. So. So. So fuck off already. Fuck off! Get out of here!
posted to MetaFilter by stinkycheese at 10:37 AM on December 1, 2008

Find me a bartender instead of a glorified and overpaid beverage dealer, I'll treat him or her well. Find me a bartender who measures drinks, instead of using a speed pour and counting to three. Find me a bartender who doesn't assume that a martini is a shot of vodka sans vermouth, and takes the time to ask how you like it. Show me a bartender who even knows where the Galliano is on the shelf without searching for it for fifteen minutes because he doesn't know what it's distinctive bottle looks... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 10:34 AM on December 1, 2008

Why would I care what someone who pours liquid in a cup for a living thinks about me?

They do not just pour liquid in a cup. They pour Liquid Happiness in a cup.
posted to MetaFilter by jonmc at 7:50 AM on December 1, 2008

You think we're being racist, my Mom said so many times as I was growing up, when we went round and round about these weird books and movies. I heard an accusation. But what she and my Dad were trying to make me hear was their question: Why do you love a thing that won't even let you exist within their made up worlds?

How many other FoPs were driven to tears by this question they could not answer, despite painful struggles to do so? Am I the only FoP forced to develop a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 2:38 PM on November 30, 2008

Play counter got punched in the dick.
posted to MetaTalk by Rock Steady at 5:16 PM on November 28, 2008

she works in another department? talk to her manager, off the record, and talk to your manager. document it. put it in writing. seriously, things are weird and going to get weirder and if you have already documented it in writing, when she does try to do something totally off the wall, all you have to say is, "i was concerned about this months/weeks ago and documented it to management". it's not about CYA, it's about the fact that batshit crazy people can twist things around big time.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by micawber at 2:46 PM on November 27, 2008

Next up on the MetaFilter Programming Tutorial: race conditions and how to avoid them.
posted to MetaFilter by grouse at 2:12 AM on November 26, 2008

As much as it may gross you out, who your dad chooses to have a romantic relationship with is his choice, end of story.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jayder at 12:01 PM on November 25, 2008

I have a thought that might not make her very happy. Has she considered what grad school will be like? It may contain extra large concentrations of all of the things that she hated about undergrad work. Is her motivation strong enough to get her through years and years of work?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by oddman at 9:40 AM on November 25, 2008

Obama: "I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollan about food..."
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 11:56 AM on October 28, 2008

Dear Lexi,

The memorial was "A Celebration of the Life of ACW." You were with us from July 16, 1980 to November 16, 2008 (our birthdays were close!). It was at the Aryaloka Buddhist Retreat Center tucked in the woods behind Newmarket. I wonder if you ever got there in life. It was bright and clear today and would have been perfect for a swim in the creek (it warmed up just enough).

It was beautiful. It was simple and there were flowers,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by allkindsoftime at 5:06 PM on November 24, 2008

You'd have to be crazy to get mental healthcare advice from random internet people.
posted to MetaTalk by pompomtom at 6:58 PM on December 5, 2007

One interesting little fact about JAW: he was missing the tip of his index finger. When interviewing him nearly two decades ago, I asked him about it. It turns out that Wheeler -- who was an important part of the hydrogen-bomb program and spent a great deal of intellectual effort pondering the big bang -- had blown it off with a blasting cap when he was ten.

"I always liked explosions," he told me.
posted to MetaFilter by cgs06 at 6:16 AM on April 14, 2008

Well I suppose the marginal benefit calculations would have to depend on the patient's reaction to being told that you're going to let them die because you think it's more cost effective that way.

I can assure you, in my particular case at least, by the time I finally died everyone would understand that it would have been far, far less expensive to just cover the drug. They would go on realizing it for years after I was in the ground.
posted to MetaFilter by Naberius at 9:43 AM on November 17, 2008

Diplomacy isn't underrated, it's just hard to get together seven people who hate each that much.
posted to MetaFilter by Caduceus at 11:07 PM on November 14, 2008

Does your bartender own the bar? If not, picketing the bar doesn't really do him much harm, and it harms the bar's owner, who for all you know is blameless and is opposed to prop 8.

My advice is just let it go. The whole point of having an initiative on the ballot is for the people to express their opinions about what the laws ought to be. You have a right to your opinion; arguably, so does your bartender, at least until the 9th Circuit rules it unconstitutional.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ikkyu2 at 9:00 PM on October 29, 2008

Wait, now I see it... I RECOGNIZE THAT STONE CROTCH!

...wait, the logo you say? Never seen it before.
posted to MetaTalk by cimbrog at 6:23 AM on November 14, 2008

I'd move on. You won, if you want to calculate points.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by InsanePenguin at 11:16 PM on November 13, 2008 marked best answer

I admit I had my doubts at first, but if you look at the website, you'll notice that the reactors have a blue glow which means they're good. If they had an evil green glow, then there might be cause for worry, but not with a blue glow . So I'm all for these.
posted to MetaFilter by happyroach at 10:44 AM on November 12, 2008

It is the kind of humor that only very mean spirited people enjoy... and ends up being bait for many others..

I guess my take on this is that it doesn't contribute anything positive to the world... or to metafilter....
posted to MetaFilter by HuronBob at 7:38 AM on November 13, 2008

It was a good story, but I didn't find it funny at all. It must have been hard on you to grow up with that, tkchrist, and I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for your father.

That's becuase your a grown up.

Kids see things through another lens. I admit I was afraid of dad occasionally, but he was a great guy. His PTSD episode only lasted about a year or two and most of that was exacerbated by all the medicine... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 6:52 PM on November 12, 2008

Okay.

My dad is a 'Nam vet. He was an officer in 5th and 7th Special Forces. Lt. Colonel. D. C. Christensen. When I was a kid the man was always bigger than life. But I suppose most kids feel that way about their dads. But in many ways he was really bigger. From a family of the west. A family of some real tough ranchers, farmers and hard scrabble Mormons used to scratching out a life in the wilderness. And he was in the Green Beret. So it's only now I realize my... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 10:10 PM on November 11, 2008

Like this: http://solar-center.stanford.edu/singing/
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zamboni at 1:53 PM on November 11, 2008 marked best answer

During the rectification of the Reagan, the traveler came as The Great Seitan! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the Bush supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Tofu! Many Lobyists and Day Traders knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Tofu that day, I can tell you!
posted to MetaTalk by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:54 PM on October 27, 2008

You know what goes well with tofu? LESS CRACK.
posted to MetaTalk by turgid dahlia at 5:57 PM on October 27, 2008

Wouldn't calling the emergency room violate the principle of choice?
posted to MetaTalk by DU at 7:22 AM on October 20, 2008

Whiskey with nothing in it. No, don't look at my name, that's just a Dillinger Four song. Whiskey with nothing in it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 8:20 PM on October 16, 2008 marked best answer

IP Freely.
posted to MetaTalk by dirigibleman at 10:51 PM on October 15, 2008

I feel like the dismissive "Doctor, NOW" answers aren't helpful especially in cases where someone has something easily home-remedyable like an ingrown toenail or something.

The interesting thing about AskMe medical questions to me is the line between when some people think you absolutely MUST go to a doctor and when others do. That said, if affording it is the only reason some people with probematic medical situations aren't going to the doctor, it's also... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 9:09 PM on October 13, 2008