My trusty Krups coffee excretor gave up the ghost, but would be easily repairable if ONLY I could find a source for the blown thermal fuse. Any idea where I could find one, AskMeFi?
posted to Ask Metafilter by FauxScot at 5:57 PM on April 17, 2008 (11 comments)

What is the iconic (or just "your favorite") dead-tree product catalog (listing of merchandise for mail-order sale) for your hobby, industry, or trade?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadastral at 9:23 AM on April 1, 2008 (73 comments)

Besides Google Groups, where else can I find archives of discussions from the early days of the internet? (on any subject)
posted to Ask Metafilter by vizsla at 2:40 PM on March 11, 2008 (7 comments)

"By the time I cut his balls off," one settler boasted, "he had no ears, and his eyeball, the right one, I think, was hanging out of its socket." The soldiers were told they could shoot anyone they liked "provided they were black".
posted to MetaFilter by nasreddin at 10:08 AM on January 11, 2008 (74 comments)

By September, President Warren Harding had sent in Federal troops and bombers under war hero Billy Mitchell to put down the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. Short video. Podcast. That was then. Now a second battle of Blair Mountain continues to preserve the history and the environment of the first.
posted to MetaFilter by Atreides at 8:49 AM on January 15, 2008 (17 comments)

TV as RADAR.
posted to MetaFilter by odinsdream at 6:36 PM on December 4, 2007 (17 comments)

Help me build a device to last the ages - and still function! For a hobby/art project, I'm building a pocket-sized gadget comprised of electronics, gears, metal, glass, wood, plastic, etc. Is there any particular book or other source that stands out as the bible on issues of long-lasting methods and materials? Ie covers questions like how transparent and strong various plastics remain after X years/decades of sun and UV? Which material/method of lubrication for gears will best last decades under X conditions? Which soldier alloy?
posted to Ask Metafilter by -harlequin- at 10:47 AM on October 17, 2007 (7 comments)

He's the spiritual grandparent of both Cal Worthington (very recently) and Crazy Eddie (previously). He's Earl "MadMan" Muntz, more than a successful car salesman, he was a carmaker, a television pioneer (who coined the abreviation "TeeVee"), car stereo pioneer (for the pre-8-track 4-track tape ), a Verb in Electronic Engineering Lingo, hero of Free Enterprise Land and ad icon in Napolean hat and red longjohns.
posted to MetaFilter by wendell at 2:28 PM on September 19, 2007 (8 comments)

Youscope is the result of hooking up an oscilloscope to a soundcard. [youtube] 3rd place winner in Short Films at Assembly 2007.
posted to MetaFilter by oneirodynia at 12:30 PM on August 30, 2007 (27 comments)

What are the best free online resources for bicycle maintenance?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kingtaj at 11:11 AM on August 22, 2007 (7 comments)

In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don't Feel Rich [NYTimes Link] Mr. Kremen estimated his net worth at $10 million. That puts him firmly in the top half of 1 percent among Americans, according to wealth data from the Federal Reserve, but barely in the top echelons in affluent towns like Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton. So he logs 60- to 80-hour workweeks because, he said, he does not think he has nearly enough money to ease up.
posted to MetaFilter by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:22 AM on August 5, 2007 (142 comments)

It has always been difficult to look up any information on the pioneers of computing. Even today, in the Internet age, one has trouble finding much about early computers--even on the ultimate computer network.

Consider the late George A. Philbrick. He was one of the titanic figures in electronic computing in the 1950s--mainly because of the company he founded, which was a major manufacturer (and pioneer) of the operational amplifier, at a time when an "op-amp" was made of vacuum tubes. Op-amps were used to build analog computers, which were widely used to simulate physical processes in the days when digital computers were either non-existent, or too slow and costly, for many kinds of simulation and process-control work. Op-amps, in chip form, are still widely used in electronics. Yet, despite his unquestioned status as a major pioneer of electronics, there was almost nothing on the Internet about Philbrick or his company.

Until 2005--when Joe Sousa decided to put up a website dedicated to Philbrick's legacy. Behold The Philbrick Archive.
posted to MetaFilter by metasonix at 1:57 AM on August 4, 2007 (10 comments)

Disaster at Sea!! A collection of dozens & dozens of photographs of misfortune striking those GIGANTIC shipping vessels, the kind that bring goods from China to Wal Mart. Every kind of affliction imaginable, from shipboard fire to heavy weather to grounding amidst crushing waves to capsizing from ill balanced loads to random explosive cargo to terrorist attack to so much more. Descriptions of the vessels and what brought them down are included in the first link.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 3:30 PM on July 15, 2007 (57 comments)

Flash animations of lectures by Alan Watts, produced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. (via)
posted to MetaFilter by thatweirdguy2 at 1:08 PM on July 13, 2007 (64 comments)

A Disturbance in the Blogosphere: Publishing the UK/US/Uzbekistan Torture Memo. Braving arrest, bloggers have broken the UK’s law of silence with the truth about torture. Bloggers are mass publishing the leaked UK/US/Uzbekistan Torture Memos. The memos are from the correspondences of Craig Murray who was the United Kingdom's ambassador to Uzbekistan. These memos are evidence and a memorandum of record outlining the rendition and torture of US-arrested prisoners in Uzbekistan. From Craig Murray's Memo: 12. On the usefulness of the material obtained, this is irrelevant. Article 2 of the [UN] Convention, to which we are a party, could not be plainer: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture." 13. Nonetheless, I repeat that this material is useless – we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful.
posted to MetaFilter by Dunvegan at 11:51 PM on December 29, 2005 (249 comments)

The amorality of Web 2.0. Partially inspired by a Wired profile, that asks "Could it be that the Internet - or what O'Reilly calls Web 2.0 - is really the -successor to the human potential movement?" And of course, it's not a bubble if one calls it a bubble.
posted to MetaFilter by gsb at 5:44 AM on October 11, 2005 (65 comments)

I am a grad student in a computer engineering program who has recently become interested in sustainability. Please help me figure out how best to use my talents to have a positive impact on society.
posted to Ask Metafilter by PercussivePaul at 6:43 PM on July 3, 2007 (9 comments)

A games and economic theory argument against intellectual property. Watt's on first in academic paper.
posted to MetaFilter by klangklangston at 10:09 PM on June 21, 2007 (42 comments)

The LED Museum has long been the Internet's premier source of absolutely obsessive LED and Laser analysis. Going strong since 1999, Craig Johnson's amassed quite a range of test equipment. Recently, he acquired a Playstation 3 Blu-Ray Laser Module. Did he mod it? Oh yes he did. (Warning: NSFC64)
posted to MetaFilter by effugas at 1:54 PM on June 15, 2007 (20 comments)

Mr. Woo, a chinese farmer, builds humaniform robots for fun and not much profit (to the consternation of his long suffering wife). [via, appropriately enough, William Gibson]
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 8:35 PM on June 2, 2007 (22 comments)

Television tube testers in grocery stores - when did they start becoming uncommon?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jaimev at 9:05 PM on May 25, 2007 (18 comments)

The Polar Bears of Spitsbergen is an amazing and gruesome photo gallery posted by a photographer who stumbled across a bear & its cubs at feeding time & spent the next 45 minutes capturing the event. via
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 9:58 PM on May 12, 2007 (40 comments)

I have a system that uses 3 computers, which are all talking to each other. I need to be able to use one keyboard and one mouse to control all three at the same time. Does anyone know of a reliable device?
posted to Ask Metafilter by matthelm at 9:26 AM on May 11, 2007 (23 comments)

The Fifty-Nine-Story Crisis. In 1978, renowned structural engineer William LeMessurier discovered a mistake in his design for the Citicorp (now Citigroup) Center. With hurricane season approaching, the skyscraper was in imminent danger of collapse. His handling of the situation has been praised as a "stunning example of good ethics in action" – but some disagree.
posted to MetaFilter by smably at 9:43 PM on April 20, 2007 (46 comments)

Over the next four weeks, Jeffrey Sachs will be giving the 2007 BBC Reith Lectures. Download [MP3] the first week's lecture ("Bursting at the Seams"), or subscribe [XML] to the podcast. Listen to the 1999-2006 lectures in full, or hear historic lecturers such as Bertrand Russell and J.K. Galbraith.
posted to MetaFilter by Aloysius Bear at 11:51 AM on April 13, 2007 (14 comments)

What cheese combination makes for the best grilled cheese sandwich?
posted to Ask Metafilter by AloneOssifer at 10:54 AM on March 11, 2007 (72 comments)

dlog is a new document visualization system that attempts to show writing not as a static document but a progression of frames over time. I find the suspense of the process mesmerising/delightful. I'm surprised it hasn't been trashed.
posted to MetaFilter by tellurian at 4:11 AM on February 13, 2007 (30 comments)

"You're really smart!" Psychologist Carol Dweck says that praising a child for being smart only teaches the kid to avoid any effort that might fail. "When we praise children for their intelligence, we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don't risk making mistakes." Malcolm Gladwell chimes in with his thoughts on the importance of being a smart kid, "What a gifted child is, in many ways, is a gifted learner. And what a gifted adult is, is a gifted doer. And those are quite separate domains of achievement."
posted to MetaFilter by revgeorge at 7:15 AM on February 13, 2007 (218 comments)

RONJA is an optical networking device that can be built by nearly everyone, using readily available components and using only free software.
posted to MetaFilter by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:45 AM on February 7, 2007 (23 comments)

In Korea, you use Windows and IE, or you're out of luck. MeFi's own Gen Kanai writes about the Microsoft lock-in in South Korea. It is also a monoculture in other ways, of course, but in a country of 48 million where internet usage has risen from 9 million in 1999 to 35 million today, that leads the world in broadband penetration, some lessons for the rest of the world about the dangers of monopoly might be learned.
posted to MetaFilter by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:06 PM on February 1, 2007 (30 comments)

Everyone’s got one. From the boys and girls who go to school, to the working women and men of India, who depend on the Dabba Wallahs to bring them their meals. The margin of error for these tiffin carriers has been clocked at an astonishing 99.9999999%, which has earned them the Sigma 6 rating, and has made them popular in other parts of the world.
posted to MetaFilter by hadjiboy at 1:50 AM on February 2, 2007 (68 comments)

The Credibility of Power. Daryl Press, author of Calculating Credibility: How Leaders Assess Military Threats, argues that in a crisis, the credibility of threats is primarily determined by the balance of power and the interests of stake; past history is relatively unimportant. As case studies, he examines the decision-making of Hitler and his generals during the crises over Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. "To this day, U.S. leaders ... are loath to reevaluate existing commitments for fear that doing so would signal irresolution. These fears, however, are greatly overblown." An example of US rigidity: Gideon Rose on the end of the Vietnam War.
posted to MetaFilter by russilwvong at 1:14 PM on January 25, 2007 (7 comments)

A Year in Pyongyang.
posted to MetaFilter by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:01 PM on January 20, 2007 (24 comments)

The Graphing Calculator Story. Amazing and very amusing article about the conception of a piece of software included with every Macintosh. Made at Apple... by volunteers.
Q: Do you work here? A: No.
Q: You mean you're a contractor? A: Actually, no..
Q: But then who's paying you? A: No one..
Q: How do you live? A: I live simply..
Q: (Incredulously) What are you doing here?!
posted to MetaFilter by kika at 9:22 AM on December 22, 2004 (34 comments)

I got a small infrared thermometer as a gift, and I'm trying to understand how well it takes temperatures of different materials.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jaimev at 10:03 AM on January 4, 2007 (3 comments)

Help me get through long classes without Internet access - I want to click one button while I'm online and download all my newspapers, blogs, etc. into a flat file that I can view offline. Bloglines often doesn't give me the full article.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Saucy Intruder at 5:22 PM on September 8, 2005 (15 comments)

Kant. Modern thought begins with Kant yet his work is dense and hard to understand. Perhaps this set of lectures, some 12 hours in total from the University of Glasgow will help. Titled 'Kant's Epistemology' they cover most of the subject matter of the Critique of Pure Reason - an extremely ambitious task. They are free and appear to be available only for a limited period. Perhaps worth downloading now - to savour when you have an few idle years.
posted to MetaFilter by grahamwell at 10:13 AM on November 14, 2006 (91 comments)

Muslim UCLA student tasered for not having ID
"It was beyond grotesque," said UCLA graduate David Remesnitsky of Los Angeles, who witnessed the incident. "By the end they took him over the stairs, lifted him up and Tasered him on his rear end. It seemed like it was inappropriately placed. The Tasering was so unnecessary and they just kept doing it."

Some additional coverage. Patriot act craziness or simple police overreaction?
posted to MetaFilter by cgs at 8:28 AM on November 16, 2006 (372 comments)

The Spark Museum John Jenkins' collection of vintage wireless, radio, scientific and electrical equipment, including Crookes and Geissler tubes, Barlow wheels and other early electric motors, loudspeakers and many more oddball electrical devices. [via TeamDroid]
posted to MetaFilter by mediareport at 8:35 PM on November 13, 2006 (9 comments)

100+ authoritative research sources that are available online. Various topics, real info. Think of it as a kind of do-it-yourself AskMe, or you know, a research library.(via Making Light)
posted to MetaFilter by LobsterMitten at 12:17 PM on November 3, 2006 (19 comments)

Garbage In/Gold Out Which is more important: recycling or the garbage collector's bottom line? Some Oregon cities are backing up the garbage collectors over recyclers. Too bad. First time I've ever seen a dumpster diving company who has a web page with testimonials from police officers.
posted to MetaFilter by leftcoastbob at 8:24 PM on October 27, 2006 (24 comments)

Meet the man who "had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in earth history" - Thomas Midgley, Jr. Midgley invented leaded gasoline in 1921 to stop cars from knocking. In the process, he created a huge new industry, increased by 500 times the atmospheric lead levels, and was part of a multi-decade coverup of lead's effects that put the tobacco industry to shame [note: article is both terrific and very long] and still continues today. Just a few years later, he invented chlorofluorocarbons, and, with a dramatic demonstration of their safety, usured in an era of cheap air conditioning and social change, as well as ozone depletion. In the end, he was killed by one of his inventions, though it was neither lead nor CFCs that were responsible. He is sometimes remembered fondly, he is more often vilified.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 11:47 PM on October 19, 2006 (30 comments)

Need help finding classroom demonstratable examples of software simulation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by carson at 2:53 AM on October 12, 2006 (9 comments)

Today is the 70th anniversary of the battle of Cable Street. On Sunday October 4th 1936, Oswald Moseley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, attempted to lead a march through Stepney, at that time a predominantly Jewish area. As the fascists met at Royal Mint Street, around 300,000 people barricaded the roads of the East End, chanting "No Pasaran" and "They Shall Not Pass". When the police attempted to break through the corden at Cable Street a riot ensued. The police were repelled and Moseley and his acolytes were forced to march in the opposite direction, into the empty streets of the City. With the Spanish Civil War at its peak, Cable Street saw communists, anarchists, Jews, dockers and many other ordinary eastenders fighting the fascists together and has a mythological place in East London folklore. Celebrations will be held this Sunday.
posted to MetaFilter by criticalbill at 11:00 PM on October 3, 2006 (26 comments)

Matt has just deleted thomcatspike's latest incomprehensible post. Although some think he's just pulling our chains, many of us think that he's simply having trouble with English. If that's the case, how can we help him?
posted to MetaTalk by timeistight at 10:45 AM on July 3, 2002 (132 comments)

"I'm not here for the Iraqis. I'm here for George Bush." How the reconstruction of Iraq was bungled by inexperienced staffers and officials who passed the GOP's loyalty test -- including their views on Roe v. Wade. A WashPost excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's new exposé Imperial Life in the Emerald City. (Corruption in Iraq previously discussed here.)
posted to MetaFilter by digaman at 12:22 PM on September 16, 2006 (57 comments)

Architectures of Control in Design. A blog examining product designs intended to restrict or enforce behavior. In the built environment, we see speed bumps and roundabouts with intentionally obscured visibility; in the digital environment, we see various species of DRM and trusted computing; and in other commerical products, we see car hoods only openable by licensed dealers, printer cartridges for only one sort of printer, and a set of shoes for children which detects the amount of steps they take in a day and translates that activity into the amount of TV they may watch. The control may be for economic reasons, for reasons of safety, or even simply to enforce social nicety - and for each of these reasons are the implications worth regarding . [via the excellent things]
posted to MetaFilter by Sticherbeast at 4:44 AM on September 14, 2006 (27 comments)

i want to buy a used digital camera online for really cheap. what are the best cameras of yesteryear (say, 3 or 4MP) that can be had for a paltry sum on ebay or other online places?
posted to Ask Metafilter by yonation at 9:50 AM on September 12, 2006 (23 comments)

David Watson's CADTutor, which deals with AutoCAD, PhotoShop, and several other design programs, is one of the most elegantly-designed tutorial sites I've ever seen.
posted to MetaFilter by koeselitz at 11:59 AM on September 7, 2006 (7 comments)

Making a watch by hand. In these days of “fast” and “convenient” I decided to commence a work of “painstaking” and “craftsmanship”, making my own wristwatch. I have had the idea for a certain arrangement of the watch dial, as on the image at the right, for a while now. My investigations into available movements showed that no production movement would give me this layout. After a long period of indecision and wondering what I was really getting myself into I decided to make my own movement, followed by the case and dial.
posted to MetaFilter by caddis at 2:48 PM on September 3, 2006 (21 comments)