MetaFilter

in 1996 they predicted that Clinton, if reelected, would destroy the US economy. they also predicted at various times that oil prices would go down, down, down.


the Onion was spot-on, once again.
posted to MetaFilter by matteo at 6:33 PM on November 28, 2007

OK, I think maybe you have misunderstood what they are "opening up".

You're familiar with the ISO "7 layer" model? The concept of protocols at different levels?

The thing they're opening up is very high level. They aren't opening up what's below that, because they don't own it.

Layers 1 and 2 are proprietary. Layer 1 is the hardware, the actual chipset. Layer 2 is the low level software that drives... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:01 PM on November 27, 2007

The best part is that if they levitate sufficiently out of reach, they'll be totally Quixote-proof.
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 2:13 PM on November 26, 2007

I've created a swivel dataset for some user data that I'm currently in the process of generating. I haven't had a chance to look through all of the interesting graphs, yet, and the fact that it only applies for users up through about 17k, it's very MeFi-heavy (right now it shows the average user's contributions are 79.8% blue, 5.4% grey, 14.7% green, which I don't think is currently accurate).

I'll update that dataset when I have all of the data.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Plutor at 8:37 AM on November 27, 2007

Well we are engaged!

I popped the question in the rain at the Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park. I wanted to do it in the Deyoung Museum (which is right next to Spreckels), but we were late and they were closing. But if I could go back I would not change a thing. It was raining and we were in the dark, so it was a very romantic setting! Thanks very much to everyone for your help...
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jaseaco at 5:36 PM on November 13, 2007

You know, I am conceptually very keen on this. We do a lot of what is covered in that list here at our house, but (oh irony) the Slow Home link absolutely reeked of being written from a position of enormous privilege.

To be perfectly blunt, poor people simply do not have that much control over their housing. Nothing highlights this better than the quiz on that site:

[ ] I prefer a home with one large space that integrates living, dining, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by DarlingBri at 12:42 PM on November 26, 2007

So you were speeding, you were driving with an outdated registration, and you did avoid pulling over when flashed and sirened at?

I think that you should get a lawyer and listen to his advice, which I'm guessing will be to plea bargain. The stuff you're saying you hope will get you out of these things you did sounds like sheer fantasy.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Flunkie at 11:40 AM on November 25, 2007

The more we indicate to people that they need to watch what they say lest they offend other members' sensibilities, the more this place is going to be less than it is.

Yeah, because god knows I've got a baker's dozen ass rape jokes just rarin' to go and oh no! what is this? the PC police?! Oh no, my creativity is being shunned! MeFi just won't be the same without my jokes how I would violently act towards Ann Coulter if given the chance!... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 10:12 PM on November 23, 2007

In general it's more important to be clear than parsimonious when working with UI. For instance, if you're designing a medical form, sure you can pat yourself on the back for just having a checkbox for a family history of "drug abuse," but if someone doesn't check it because daddy just drank a quart of Wild Turkey a day and never smoked the marijuana, the form isn't doing its job.

If this does the job it's designed for, I'm all for it.
posted to MetaTalk by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 8:56 PM on November 23, 2007

I wonder if Count Trackula uses this.
posted to MetaFilter by erpava at 3:17 PM on November 19, 2007

Clearly, flapjax, you do celebrate the holiday. With a plate of beans.

I am thankful for MetaFilter. Sometimes this site infuriates me and makes me froth at the mouth, sometimes it makes me laugh till other people look at me funny... but it always, always edifies me. Forgive the maudlin, as am half-pissed on Champagne, but I'm a pedestrian ol' American and today is the today where you give thanks aloud for that which makes your life better. (and,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by pineapple at 5:21 PM on November 22, 2007

Yeah, they say "blue and green should never be seen". I've told the admins to colour co-ordinate better, but Matt's all "WAAAH WAAAH WAAAH ITS MY BLOGGY-WOG".
posted to MetaTalk by the quidnunc kid at 10:17 AM on November 22, 2007

Or apparently. Or impressive. Or extrapolating. And from a forensic orthography examination, I believe we can ascertain the place of your birth.

Grand Rapids, Michigan?
posted to MetaFilter by pracowity at 9:20 AM on November 21, 2007

There are only three places and times in the world where 'rediculous', 'impresice', 'apparantly', and 'extropolating' have clustered like that. You seem too nice for Atlantic City, 1970s, and too young for Santa Fe, 1910s, so Grand Rapids, 1980s, it is. I almost had you down for Mackinac Island, 1950s, but that would have been 'rediculouse".
posted to MetaFilter by pracowity at 11:45 AM on November 21, 2007

I'm a little puzzled as to how you envision this person dying if not from cold, heat or thirst. This would seem to leave death by accident (which I presume you would also rule out) or starvation, and I think it likely that anyone weakened enough by hunger would actually succumb to some kind of exposure before the lack of food killed them.

In addition, I'm not sure the 'straight line' premise is all that relevant - many people become 'lost' in relatively confined... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Urban Hermit at 9:51 PM on November 20, 2007

I think I've finally figured out why it's annoying me so much that this conversation is happening here, on Metafilter.

The war on terror. Bad nasty men come and harm innocent law-abiding Americans, and the official response turns into a curtailment of Americans' liberties, with rhetoric about keeping us "safe." Air travel is limited in certain ways, your library records or phone calls can be monitored, you will not be allowed in certainly formerly open spaces... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by occhiblu at 11:33 AM on April 27, 2006

I'm waiting for him to redeem his entire career and his mis-spent life in the title role of Liberace, under the direction of Martin Scorcese.
posted to MetaFilter by jamjam at 1:55 PM on November 16, 2007

"Wireframe" is a rendering technique. Vector graphics do not use wireframe rendering. Not the same technology. Not the same concept.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lothar at 4:21 PM on November 17, 2007

I recommend Play This Thing. Reviews that help you get a pretty good feel for the game, before you even play.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by birdsquared at 3:17 PM on November 17, 2007

I'm not sure if you're looking for a scheme to make this happen or a flat answer to your question. I'm fairly certain you can forward the mail from your apartment address to pretty much anyplace, including someplace where you are not. The easiest way to do this would be to frame it in some sort of believable hypothetical and just email the USPS... "I am going to Swaziland for six months and there is no one to pick up or forward my mail, what should I do with my mailing address at the... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:04 PM on November 17, 2007

He's a freak of nature named Sir Cycle Sexy!

I'm guessing it has something to do with it being a public place. Maybe he was being loud enough to disturb the other people there?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Metroid Baby at 3:51 PM on November 15, 2007

Just think. Instead of spending all that money on the war in Iraq, we could have hired 154,250,000 rapping groundhogs.
posted to MetaFilter by Citizen Premier at 11:24 PM on November 13, 2007

so if a rapping groundhog sees his own shadow on feb 2 does that mean six more weeks of chill?
posted to MetaFilter by pyramid termite at 7:14 PM on November 13, 2007

Old Country Buffet is a dish best served with a defibrillator.
posted to MetaTalk by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:41 AM on November 13, 2007

Heh, I was going to suggest Dhalgren too but if you are reading LOTR and Harry Potter that may a little too adult themed for you!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by JJ86 at 6:01 AM on November 12, 2007

I wish you had pointed that out to me before I signed an online petition to impeach Teddy Roosevelt.
posted to MetaTalk by wendell at 5:36 PM on November 10, 2007

I tried to join a frat at my college, but I take classes online, so pledge week involved a terse email from a student named "DXRUReady2SuckIt@gmail.com" ordering me to drink a bottle of jack in one sitting, stick my head in the toilet, and download several key Dave Matthews MP3s.

I decided not to pledge after he made lolcat macros out of all my facebook photos and then asked me to drink some more.
posted to MetaFilter by Uther Bentrazor at 6:43 AM on November 9, 2007

You will, by allowing yourself to be annoyed by passing aromas, tasteless ring tones, loud phone voices, talk radio, ugly sweaters, cretinous political opinions, weird and reverberating laughs, ill-timed sneezing, enthusiastic sports fandom, the things that people do with their jaws and knuckles, chewing, e-mail forwards, Christianity, insincerity, and unwavering cheerfulness, slowly drive yourself insane and make yourself unsuitable for employment anywhere less secluded than a hut in the Yukon.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dyoneo at 6:19 PM on November 9, 2007 marked best answer

The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing -- although it's a little like sending Ali in his prime to take out the all-city peewee Golden Gloves Champ of Moline, Illinois.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jamjam at 4:44 PM on November 9, 2007

This is one of the several reasons I hate people who swipe and repurpose other people's content for page views and ad serving. Not just that it's a greasy act of thievin' but it destroys context; the people who do this are generally ignorant f*cks who can't write a coherent sentence in any language and are just out to make a buck off the web. It'd be nice to know when and where this was. This was worth looking at but all the same I wouldn't object if mattamyntex deleted these on principle.
posted to MetaFilter by George_Spiggott at 11:45 AM on November 9, 2007

i cant beleiv he thought he culd rplace babby
...in teh cornr

nobuddy rplaces babby in teh cornr
posted to MetaTalk by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:31 AM on November 8, 2007

*falls to knees*

IIIIIIIIKKYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Skot at 10:16 AM on November 8, 2007

So at the reception following a friend's wedding, the father of the groom wanders over to me while I'm in the midst of tying one on. The groom has a German grandmother and with my two semesters of German 121 under my belt, it's my job to keep her entertained. After establishing that my name is Drew and I do not know which way the library is, we've resorted to the universal language of drinking beer.

The groom's dad places his hand on my shoulder. "My son says you... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 6:09 PM on November 7, 2007

So, all the problem-solving that just happened in this thread, you probably want to avoid therapists who do that to you, too. It's a normal human impulse, to fix things, but from the way you framed the question as well as your experience with CBT, it doesn't sound like that's what you need right now.

You were assuming an event would happen, and you gave meaning to your life counting on that event. That event (or those events) not happening can cause a serious need for... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by occhiblu at 7:33 AM on November 7, 2007

I'm in a class concerning "therapy for life transitions" right now, and we've been talking about these "anticipated non-events" a great deal. So I would assume that most therapists who specialize in, or at least have experience with, life transitions would have the training to help you.

(And one thing we've been talking about a great deal is how such events require meaning-making counseling, rather than problem-solving counseling. CBT is very much a... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by occhiblu at 9:32 PM on November 6, 2007

My gut says to lead by example. By which I mean: show him that you are comfortable with yourself just as you are (gay, out, all the other things you are) and you are comfortable with him just as he is (seems gay, identifies as straight, worried others might think he's gay). If he sees that his friends love him, themselves, and each other just as you all are, then maybe he'll be slightly more likely to be honest and comfortable with himself, gradually. Of course, it's always possible that the... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lampoil at 12:41 PM on November 6, 2007

It's always a good idea to make your own, because otherwise it might not be olive oil at all.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 7:27 PM on November 3, 2007

I don't take kindly to jackasses who steal photographs to make a juvenile attempt at explaining the concept of the decisive moment.

These pictures have copyrights. I can guarantee you the blog owner neither possesses nor has licensed any of them. So fuck him.

You want to see collections of amazing images? They make books full of them.

Hell, if these pictures rocked your socks, you'd probably get off on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by TheGoldenOne at 8:59 PM on November 2, 2007

HELL NO, WE WON'T POST

METAFILTER COMMENT POSTERS LOCAL #634 SYMPATHY STRIKE
posted to MetaFilter by ALongDecember at 7:42 AM on November 2, 2007

Methusellusc!
posted to MetaFilter by No-sword at 11:37 AM on October 28, 2007

My m.o. back in my swinging single days would be to date a girl until I had gotten tired of sleeping with her and then come up with some excuse for why I was breaking up with her, somewhere along the lines of an existential crisis. You have to make it clear that you can't be her boyfriend, but you have to make it look like the obstacle to being her boyfriend arose after you started dating, so that she can't say "Well if you knew you couldn't be my boyfriend then why did you start dating me,... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ND¢ at 10:50 AM on November 1, 2007

I bet the wife still leaves the door half open.
posted to MetaFilter by sanka at 10:03 AM on October 30, 2007

Ditch friend, avoid future such parties, two birds 1 stone.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ewkpates at 11:36 AM on October 29, 2007

Any random pack of assholes who had been lying non-stop for six years would have gotten better at it by now. This pack of assholes? Not so much.
posted to MetaFilter by trondant at 5:51 PM on October 26, 2007

Rod's got HO's. In different area codes.
posted to MetaFilter by sourwookie at 2:13 AM on October 26, 2007

I really recommend Carl Sagan's classic novel Contact. He describes the way a bunch of scientists discover and translate a message from space. The wonder of seeking the unknown, the methodical analysis, the occasional stroke of luck.. its all there. More importantly, the beauty and power of the scientific method is laid out in all its elegance. Come on, this is the most popular scientist of his generation writing fiction, who could give a more accurate portrayal of the scientific method?... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by arungoodboy at 10:33 PM on October 23, 2007

Gregory Benford's Timescape is about scientists diagnosing an environmental disaster in the then-future (now-past) that is scarily similar to what we now have, including terrorism against New York. They are sending a message to the past (uh, for me, this was all disclosed on the paperback's cover when I read it) that scientists must decode through scientific processes, then recognize what needs to be done.

I second the Mars trilogy -- large parts of it... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dhartung at 9:59 PM on October 23, 2007

It's been a while since I've read it so I might remember it being more detailed than it really was, but ... Andromeda Strain?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jbickers at 8:07 PM on October 23, 2007

It would probably help users, when flagging a something, there was a sound of a heavy piece of wood hitting flesh, followed by a cry of pain and little pop up message saying "You showed that mofo!", with a thumbs up sign in neon green. I'm only half joking.
posted to MetaTalk by Brandon Blatcher at 8:40 AM on October 24, 2007

I'd get the Zurich too, what a damn sweet ride. I test rode one, fell in love, but ultimately went to eBay to save a few $. For less $ than the Zurich I snatched a Pinarello with full Dura-Ace. Other than replacing a rear wheel, the tires, and putting my favorite pedals on it, the bike was in great shape. I still wish I had bought the Zurich though. It weighs more, but I live in the flat where weight matters not, and the geometry of the LeMonds really fits me and my riding style. The... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by caddis at 5:56 PM on August 13, 2007 marked best answer