I've been dating this guy for about 2 months, and he is absolutely wonderful. I want to bake him cookies to show my appreciation for him a) in general, and b) for being especially wonderful during a current shitty time in my life due to family issues.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by hasna at 6:47 PM on March 14, 2013 (35 comments)

The History of Philosophy podcast has the ambitious goal of covering the entire history of (Western) philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the modern day, without skipping any major philosophers or schools. At 110 episodes, it's just reached the end of the Roman Empire and Boethius and has very far still to go.
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 7:48 PM on March 13, 2013 (32 comments)

My computer is slowing down and I need to revive it!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by joyeuxamelie at 7:17 PM on January 30, 2013 (13 comments)

Only two works of Nonnus of Panopolis (fl. AD 400), arguably the last great poet of the Homeric tradition, survive complete. The first is his Dionysiaca, ostensibly an account of the adventures of Dionysus but embracing everything that touches chaos and fire and sound, "the longest surviving poem from classical antiquity and one of the most entertaining, outrageous and vivid epics ever conceived west of the Ganges." The second is the Metabole kata Ioannou [PDF]. It's a paraphrase of the Gospel of John into the idiom of Homer.
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 9:51 AM on February 15, 2013 (9 comments)

I'll be turning 30 in April, and I'm planning a trip in celebration. There are a lot of places in the world I'd love to go just to hang out and look around, but I decidedly do NOT want to do that for this trip. I want to travel somewhere and do something active. To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, my front runner so far is a one week stay in Jamaica learning how to make wood fired pottery. What similar "enriching" type experiences are out there?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Calicatt at 1:43 PM on January 3, 2013 (13 comments)

Please recommend to me books prominently featuring dragons that will meet my rather high (and specific) standards. Lots of details to calibrate your suggestions inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Caduceus at 5:54 PM on January 24, 2013 (37 comments)

Crunk/Southern Club style head banging high energy hip hop track. All vocals by my normal collaberator, Juicy Karkass, and his buddy Savior of Animal Farm
posted to MeFi Music by mediocre at 5:19 AM on August 1, 2008 (220 comments)

DU's comment got me wanting to expand my Audible library. I have a few credits to burn so help me fill up my library! I love biographies and science fiction but would like broaden my listening habits. Bonus points if you can recommend any narrators that you have found enjoyable as well.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zerobyproxy at 7:28 AM on January 23, 2013 (15 comments)

Have you tried the 5:2 diet as discussed in this Metafilter thread? Did it work for you? Do you find it sustainable?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by silly me at 6:41 AM on January 23, 2013 (13 comments)

My son is now 15 months old, and I would like for him to have the best possible mathematics education. What should I be doing now and what sort of long-term plan should I have in order to help him both to learn and to love mathematics? (He doesn't have to be a mathematician when he grows up, but really knowing mathematics is non-negotiable.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Jonathan Livengood at 7:45 PM on January 17, 2013 (48 comments)

OK, it being year-end and all, I thought I'd go have a look at the most popular AskMe posts in the last year... only to find that I can't really filter down like that (leastways not so I can tell)... so I decided to put a list together myself, and make it my first post on the grey! 30 would be a nice, round number, but I could only find 29. Please enjoy responsibly!
posted to MetaTalk by segatakai at 7:34 AM on December 25, 2012 (59 comments)

I need to stop reading wikipedia at work, so please give me books instead
posted to Ask MetaFilter by elizardbits at 12:14 PM on December 5, 2012 (16 comments)

best-cookie-recipe-ever-filter: I need your best, most impressive, most "wowing" when someone puts it in his/her mouth cookie recipe that you've got. Yes, I know there's a bazillion cookie recipes lurking in this AskMe/Metafilter machine. Which is part of the problem. Taste over looks.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by atomicstone at 2:24 PM on November 28, 2010 (46 comments)

When Alberti Giubilini and Francesca Minerva published a provocative paper about the ethics of infanticide in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the hostile response they received included death threats.
posted to MetaFilter by xchmp at 4:13 AM on March 3, 2012 (127 comments)

Tell me everything about teaching kids how to speak and read and write.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pracowity at 6:37 AM on October 16, 2012 (19 comments)

What are some audiobooks that work extremely well in the format? Any that are narrated especially magically?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chatongriffes at 10:32 AM on October 11, 2012 (67 comments)

The Global Language Online Support System (or GLOSS), produced by the Defense Language Institute in sunny Monterey, CA, offers over six thousand free lessons in 38 languages from Albanian to Uzbek, with particular emphasis on Chinese, Persian, Russian, Korean, and various types of Arabic. The lessons include both reading and listening components and are refreshingly based on real local materials (news articles, radio segments, etc.) rather than generic templates.
posted to MetaFilter by theodolite at 1:27 PM on October 11, 2012 (22 comments)

As internal leaks from the Romney camp suggest a campaign in serious disarray, and poll-of-polls meta-analyses show him with little time to recover his position before November, Mother Jones has acquired video from a private Romney fundraiser at which the candidate said of Obama supporters: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. Ezra Klein puts aside the political ramifications and crunches the numbers about who does and doesn't pay income tax in America. The Romney camp responds to the leak.
posted to MetaFilter by gerryblog at 4:00 PM on September 17, 2012 (5751 comments)

I just finished Gone Girl the other day and am looking for similar reads. Without spoiling anything this book features intelligent and unpredictable characters with twisty plotting, including a significant script flip halfway through. Would love similar page turners that keep you guessing without being too formulaic or lowest common denominator!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by yellowbinder at 9:23 AM on September 24, 2012 (26 comments)

If you’re looking for a way to carry your laptop about, want to protect it from scratches, or just hope to make the fact that you’re carrying a brand-new laptop slightly less obvious to shifty-eyed individuals who seem to be overtaking you on a deserted, dark street, and you have been disheartened by the cost and ugliness of the laptop cases and sleeves on the market, take heart. You can make a laptop case or sleeve that will not only protect your computer but will proclaim your individuality and style. Like yoga? Make a case out of your yoga mat. Love to travel? Use a vintage suitcase. If you’re a Jim Henson fan, make a Furry Monster case (but just don’t keep your computer under your bed at night because your aging parents are already terribly tired of running down to your basement lair every time you have a nightmare).
posted to MetaFilter by orange swan at 8:08 PM on September 5, 2012 (17 comments)

Harry S. Truman would make a good show of things, but he was a little guy. No reach. No intimidation.
posted to MetaFilter by Lucinda at 9:16 AM on September 4, 2012 (129 comments)

Can you help me find fabulous, head-turning fall shoes or boots for $300-$500?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by slenderloris at 11:49 AM on August 18, 2012 (16 comments)

"The Creepicus Complainicus, of the genus “Saddest Panda.” His cry is 'Why won’t someone just touch my wiener?'" Captain Awkward addresses the perrenial case of the creepy dude and the development of the proto-rapist.
posted to MetaFilter by Sayuri. at 8:41 AM on August 9, 2012 (342 comments)

Help me find AskMeFi questions where posters get advice that is nothing at all like what they would have expected.
posted to MetaTalk by peppermintfreddo at 7:00 PM on July 18, 2012 (505 comments)

In an interview published yesterday, Dan Cathy, president of Chick-Fil-A, tells the Baptist Press that Chick-Fil-A is "very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit." Also this week, Cathy told radio host Ken Coleman "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage." This is a change in Chick-Fil-A's corporate position; in 2011, responding to criticism that the company and its charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, support organizations that work against LGBT rights and marriage equality, Cathy stated that the company "will not champion any political agendas on marriage and family." Chick-Fil-A is a fast food chain of franchises that operates in 39 US states; in 2011, annual sales exceeded $4 billion USD. The company is privately held.
posted to MetaFilter by catlet at 6:48 PM on July 18, 2012 (208 comments)

I need a great escapist doorstop novel, and I love some magic and weird creatures, but most big fantasy novels seem to be about BAND of WARRIORS leading to EPIC BATTLE and grimness and people dying. Battles bore me and I'm just not that interested in violence (including magical violence). I'm also interested in people without so much power-- so no royalty, super-wizards, or Chosen Ones. Can you recommend fantasy books that AREN'T about warriors, magical or otherwise? That feature intrepid traders? Cunning craftspeople? What are the bourgeoisie and the working stiffs up to in magic epic land?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Erasmouse at 2:33 PM on June 27, 2012 (78 comments)

Bratabase is a crowdsourced "bra database" made to help women find the right bra (interview with the creator). According to many studies, over 80% of women aren't wearing the correct bra size: "there's a lot of misinformation about bras out there". For instance, D cups just aren't that big ("Clearly there are a whole lot more D+ cups out there than people assume") and not all D cups are the same size ("from left to right 30D, 32D, 34D, 36D, 38D. Five different band lengths, five different cup volumes. All D Cups"). Most of these links contain photos and therefore may be NSFWish for some.
posted to MetaFilter by flex at 6:44 PM on May 31, 2012 (120 comments)

Please suggest pregnancy resources for a scientific, geeky, intellectual, academic woman.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by medusa at 11:39 AM on November 3, 2011 (19 comments)

What books were the most useful to you during pregnancy?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by donajo at 3:59 PM on November 17, 2011 (24 comments)

Babyfilter: If you could get a re-do on your labor and delivery, what would you do differently?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by litnerd at 2:15 PM on November 23, 2011 (46 comments)

What are your favorite eyeshadow/makeup tutorials?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Windigo at 7:44 AM on April 10, 2012 (14 comments)

The Pressure Cooker Makes A Comeback. "Pressure cookers are exploding—in a good way—into home and restaurant kitchens. I discovered the joys of pressure cooking last year while reviewing Modernist Cuisine, the 2,348-page encyclopedia of avant-garde cuisine by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold. He argues that pressure cookers are the perfect vessel for making stock, and he's right. Pressure cooking extracts more flavors from the primary materials and keeps them in the pot, where they condense back into a rich, full-bodied liquid. I was blown away by the chicken stock I made the first time I used a pressure cooker. But I didn't stop there. I followed a few of Myhrvold's other suggestions and soon discovered that pressure cookers make superior, stir-free risotto—cooked through, but with a pleasant hint of resistance—after just five-and-a-half minutes at pressure. Braised short ribs are similarly sublime, fork tender without being mushy, and bathed in a broth with an intense, concentrated beef flavor. They went from being a Sunday afternoon project to a supper I could prepare after work on weeknights. Emboldened by success, I even went so far as to pressure cook a surprisingly moist lemon-mascarpone cheesecake."
posted to MetaFilter by storybored at 10:46 AM on April 8, 2012 (92 comments)

Waterproof point & shoot camera - any personal recommendations?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 5:37 AM on April 6, 2012 (16 comments)

What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by limon at 5:40 PM on September 8, 2007 (237 comments)

It is a sad thing to realize that your primary history source of late is trashy romance novels. Help me fix this.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by elizardbits at 5:35 PM on June 18, 2011 (22 comments)

I'm looking for parenting books that blew. your. mind.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zoomorphic at 11:03 AM on January 10, 2012 (27 comments)

Any suggestions for gripping historical non-fiction books?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by EtTuHealy at 5:03 AM on January 9, 2012 (55 comments)

Which TV shows are exciting and absorbing enough to make the minutes fly by while doing cardio?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by amarynth at 12:29 PM on January 9, 2012 (40 comments)

Are there any skin care products that have actually been proven to be effective in the "battle against aging skin"?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Kololo at 1:09 PM on October 6, 2011 (26 comments)

Who's had a chemical peel, or a laser peel? What is the best way to get rid of sun damage?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pipti at 8:06 AM on July 8, 2008 (13 comments)

After moving to a hotter climate I seem to have developed a few unattractive flat brown spots on my face which I'm assuming are liver or age spots (too big to be freckles). This has never happened to me before so I'm not sure what to do - can anyone please tell me an effective way to fade these spots or get rid of them altogether?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by katala at 4:50 PM on September 22, 2007 (20 comments)

I am looking for a historical-fictional novel of either pre-Roman classical antiquity (Crete, Thebes, Sparta, Athens, etc.), the Celtic people (either before or during Roman conquest), Sumer, or Ancient Egypt. [Details inside!]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by SollosQ at 6:36 PM on December 20, 2011 (16 comments)

My wife and I are looking to purchase a very large world map to hand on my wall (most likely a political map showing country boundaries, capital cities, etc.). We also would like to get several smaller maps of countries we've visited over the years. What are your recommendations for the best online map stores (or brick and mortar stores in NYC)?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Falconetti at 10:39 AM on October 19, 2011 (10 comments)

Getting babies to sleep is a topic of great interest to all parents (see previously). One trick that has been shown to work is white noise. Although many opt for a white noise machine, other parents swear by radio static, vacuum cleaners, dryers, or a running faucet. Now, of course, you can send your cutie to slumberland without wasting nearly so much electricity or water, all thanks to youtube.
posted to MetaFilter by Deathalicious at 9:42 PM on December 6, 2011 (88 comments)

An innocuous question in Comics Alliance's weekly Ask Chris column about whether Chris Sims (previously) prefers the monsters in Scooby Doo to be real or people in costumes results in a stunning defense of secular humanism and the importance of the search for truth in order to expose lies perpetuated by Authority through the use of fear & superstition.
posted to MetaFilter by KingEdRa at 5:50 PM on November 28, 2011 (82 comments)

I absent mindedly opened an e-mail from the "United States Post Office" claiming that a package I had sent on the 12th had an incorrect address. Then I clicked on the attachment and that's when I realized I had done a very bad, stupid thing because the USPS doesn't have my e-mail for any reason. Yahoo's e-mail did a scan and it said the attachment was clean. Google tells me that this is a trojan. I'm running Malwarebytes as I type. What else should I do?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Constance Mirabella at 8:19 PM on November 18, 2011 (14 comments)

A hypnotic little tutorial on 25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how it was made (filmed in her bedroom). (via Already Pretty)
posted to MetaFilter by flex at 10:31 AM on November 15, 2011 (30 comments)

I want to start listening to classical music but have no experience of this genre / form whatsoever. Where to start?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by FuckingAwesome at 3:45 PM on November 9, 2011 (40 comments)

I'm sick and in bed and bored out of my gourd. Recommend guilty pleasure-type movies for me! Bonus points for government conspiracy / mysteries.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by custard heart at 3:05 PM on November 5, 2011 (41 comments)

Where in the South Pacific should we go for our honeymoon?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Grither at 10:27 AM on March 10, 2008 (12 comments)