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The Book of Accidents

The Book of Accidents: Designed for Young Children (1831). "In presenting to his little readers The Book of Accidents, the Author conceives he cannot render a more important service to the rising generation and to parents, than by furnishing them with an account of the accidents to which Children, from their inexperience or carelessness, are liable. If generally studied it will save the lives of thousands, and relieve many families from the long and unavailing misery attendant on such occurrences." [Via]
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 6:37 PM on July 3, 2008 (34 comments)

Boing Boing Finds 21st Century Trotsky?

Without explanation, all of Violet Blue's posts have been removed from Boing Boing, raising serious questions about ethics and revisionism that run contra to the thoughtful declarations of blogging pioneers. Is this hypocritical in light of BB's own public bouts with censorship? Or does this reflect an altogether different loss of control?
posted to MetaFilter by ed at 9:58 AM on June 30, 2008 (1640 comments)

They see me co-opt'n They hatin'

We've discussed fixed gear bicycles before.
posted to MetaFilter by wfrgms at 1:56 PM on May 25, 2008 (99 comments)

Interactive 18th century Rome

Imago Urbis: Giuseppe Vasi’s Grand Tour of Rome is a rich and innovative geographic database that projects Vasi's 18th century engravings of Roman architecture onto the contemporary map of Giambattista Nolli [previously] with supplementary modern satellite, photographic and mapping overlays together with copious background detail. The work was undertaken by researchers at the University of Oregon (announcement) [via]
posted to MetaFilter by peacay at 11:21 PM on June 11, 2008 (3 comments)

Games that Heal While I Play

Where can I find games for the PC that soothe, make me ponder and go *wow*?
posted to Ask Metafilter by watercarrier at 10:13 AM on June 10, 2008 (34 comments)

Am I responsible for the Holocaust?

Am I responsible for the Holocaust?
posted to Ask Metafilter by krautland at 3:27 PM on June 10, 2008 (90 comments)

What are some mindblowing scientific concepts?

What are some mindblowing scientific concepts (proven or hypothetical)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by stvspl at 7:31 AM on June 4, 2008 (56 comments)

The Dude abides

How to make the worst White Russian ever. That's what you get for asking for cocktail at some super square looking business hotel adjacent to an exhibition center. Ok, ok, here's how to make a nice one. Ooh it looks like Jupiter. Try one hot. Teeny tiny Kahlua drinks. Do NOT cook pork in it. Oh, okay, go ahead. Make you own kahlua. It won't be as pretty as this. While we're adding coffee to booze why not add booze to coffee.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 11:50 PM on May 29, 2008 (58 comments)

Muxfind

Looking for a song online? Use Muxfind to search Muxtape (previously) for tracks.
posted to MetaFilter by Korou at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2008 (30 comments)

15 bits of crypto should be enough for anybody

On May 13, security advisories published by Debian and Ubuntu revealed that, for over a year, their OpenSSL libraries have had a major flaw in their CSPRNG, which is used by key generation functions in many widely-used applications, which caused the "random" numbers produced to be extremely predictable. [lolcat summary]
posted to MetaFilter by finite at 10:01 PM on May 16, 2008 (81 comments)

Shell scripting or something better?

Faster techniques for grabbing lines of a file and doing text manipulation and arithmetic via shell (or other) scripting?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:19 PM on May 9, 2008 (20 comments)

The System loves you for your money, not your soul.

In this way, Lu Yang became one of the "RMB gamers" she disdains. More than 10,000 RMB was quickly and nearly imperceptibly spent. In the game, the "queen" possessed fearsome power. She carried out vengeance for herself and her friends, she accepted entreaties, and she protected the caravans of the kingdom. At the same time, she went out with the heroes to invade other kingdoms. Her reputation spread far and wide. [...] "Long live the Queen!" People bowed to her in submission. That was the high point for Lu Yang on ZT Online, and for that one fleeting moment, she felt that the time and money she had spent was worth it.
The System is a translated Chinese article examining ZT Online, an MMORPG that has taken fleecing gamers to a new level.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 7:40 PM on May 6, 2008 (34 comments)

He's joined Lucy in the sky...

Albert Hofmann, the inventor/discoverer of LSD, has died at the age of 102. Wiki. The Albert Hofmann Foundation. Erowid entry on LSD. Hofmann's often-cited essay, "LSD, My Problem Child." Late in his life, he questioned his own invention. A conversation with Dr. Hoffman.
posted to MetaFilter by CitizenD at 3:26 PM on April 29, 2008 (176 comments)

Unhip to the hip hip hop

A rap education for an picky atheist feminist weaned on indie, punk and new wave - primarily music but books/essays would be good too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by carbide at 3:45 AM on April 25, 2008 (75 comments)

Pulp Shakespeare

from ACT I SCENE 4

J: Your pardon; did I break thy concentration?
Continue! Ah, but now thy tongue is still.
Allow me then to offer a response.
Describe Marsellus Wallace to me, pray.
posted to MetaFilter by 2or3whiskeysodas at 6:48 AM on April 20, 2008 (170 comments)

At least as interesting as a one-link-to-wikipedia post.

Max/MSP is a graphical programming environment primarily used for music, video and multimedia. Max/MSP has sometimes been described as a digital erector set. David Tinapple describes Max in this way: "it's like you're drawing a diagram of what you want the program to do, and then when you're done drawing the diagram you've also sort of accidentally programmed it".
posted to MetaFilter by Crumpled Farm at 11:43 PM on April 21, 2008 (28 comments)

RSS feed scrubbed of deleted posts?

Greetings from a neophyte mefite. I was wondering: is there a way to get versions of the RSS feeds which don't include front-page posts that have already been deleted? If not, it's a feature suggestion, so please discuss. Apologies if I'm being dumb and this is simply not possible using RSS. (For a while I enjoyed the "guess if this post has been deleted" game, but it's getting old...)
posted to MetaTalk by pantufla_milagrosa at 11:05 PM on April 10, 2008 (160 comments)

Computer science doesn't require a computer

Learn (or teach) fundamentals of computer science, without a computer. Provided as hands-on exercises suitable for children, or even CS-illiterate adults. (If this is too basic for you, go here.)
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 12:12 AM on April 10, 2008 (13 comments)

Life-altering experiences. Can you point to a...

Life-altering experiences. Can you point to a single experience in your life, as a child, which you can define as having contributed to the person you are today? (+)
posted to Ask Metafilter by jeremias at 4:41 AM on February 2, 2005 (216 comments)

Oh, To Have a Fun, Relaxing Time in Portland, Oregon

It's been awhile since I've stayed in Portland. I am spending 5 days there next week. What are some fun things to do? Where are some fun places to go?
posted to Ask Metafilter by goalyeehah at 5:03 PM on April 7, 2008 (16 comments)

The awesomest song

I need a really awesome entrance song. Something that makes the audience be like, "Aw damn, I now know that this is going to be very enjoyable, all because this song is so badass."
posted to Ask Metafilter by ictow at 12:24 PM on April 4, 2008 (93 comments)

Job market in Portland OR

How bad in general is the job market in Portland OR.? I've heard for a few years now that the economy is fairly depressed there and that jobs, white and blue collar, are hard to come by. Is this true or are the people I'm talking to in the wrong lines of work?
posted to Ask Metafilter by josher71 at 12:31 PM on April 3, 2008 (11 comments)

quit playing with your balls and throw a frisbee

Disc golf- like it's ball-and-club cousin- challenges the player to navigate the obstacles of a pre-designed course from tee to basket, with progress being marked by the distance of your throw. It's my favorite way to enjoy the outdoors- and most courses are free to play! The sport is easy and fun to get into, yet provides an exhilarating challenge to players of all skill levels. You can play to relax, socialize, or win, depending on your style. What is disc golf, and where did it come from? With over 1000 courses in the US alone, you should have no problems finding a course in your area. Pick out some discs, grab a few friends, and go get throwing! Here are some tips for new players.
posted to MetaFilter by baphomet at 11:04 AM on April 3, 2008 (53 comments)

I want to get mocked as much as the coppers!

You know those three-wheeled scooter trucks that the NYPD uses? What are they called, where can I buy one and how much do they cost? I've seen several stripped of their livery and apparently in civilian use in Brooklyn. Do they get sold at surplus auctions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by boots at 3:22 PM on April 1, 2008 (9 comments)

Those who appear to be a little too happy will be asked to leave.

How I Want To Be Remembered by Jack Handey. He was fabulously wealthy, but he would pretend to be broke, and often tried to borrow cigarettes and money from people. Little did they know that those who gave him stuff would later be rewarded in his will, with jewels and antigravity helmets. You may know Jack Handey from his Deep Thoughts which first gained fame on as filler between sketches on Saturday Night Live. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker (scroll down this page for his other essays).
posted to MetaFilter by amyms at 7:12 PM on March 31, 2008 (57 comments)

wireless'd

Ubuntu on a MacBook Pro, wireless hell ensues.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roygbv at 1:00 PM on March 31, 2008 (5 comments)

sick of the highs and the lows

I have Tourette Syndrome, and I can't stop jumping up and down. Help me rewire my defective brain to channel this activity into something less destructive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Juliet Banana at 3:05 PM on March 31, 2008 (36 comments)

We have some cool people at MeFi

This post is cool, not just because of the answers, but more even more because it shows how very diverse the membership of Metafilter is.
posted to MetaTalk by ShawnString at 5:51 AM on March 28, 2008 (43 comments)

They carried the joys and sorrows of those living with the sea

Iwase Yoshiyuki "In the late 1920s, young Yoshiyuki received an early Kodak camera as a gift. Since the main livelihood of the town came from the sea, he gravitated there, and soon found a passion for "the simple, even primitive beauty" of ama – girls and women who harvested seaweed, turban shells and abalone from beneath the coastal waters." "By the late 1960s, they had disappeared. This body of work stands as the final, most comprehensive visual document of the life and work of these divers." [NSFW]
posted to MetaFilter by tellurian at 10:45 PM on March 27, 2008 (48 comments)

Online Mixtapes For Friends & Awkward Crushes

Have a crush on someone you only know online? Want to make them a mixtape but you don't have their physical address? Not a problem, thanks to Muxtape, an online mixtape manager. Just upload up to 12 tracks, and a custom URL is provided.Via.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 3:34 PM on March 25, 2008 (55 comments)

Things you never thought you could do with your camera

One of the most amazing user-led projects out there, CHDK firmware turns cheap Canon cameras into photography powerhouses. You can take take time-lapse movies as in this stunning sunset example; automatically photograph lightening; easily make pretty HDR images and stereograms; have unlimited depth-of-field; and, perhaps most impressively, take photographs with shutter speeds of 1/60,000 of a second!
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:18 AM on March 13, 2008 (69 comments)

Not Hobbits, Just Shorties?

A South African paleoanthropologist on vacation on the island of Palau in Micronesia has discovered thousands of bone fragments of very small people estimated at between 900 and 2900 years old. He and his colleagues have just published a paper on their findings, which would appear to damage the claim that the bones discovered on Flores Island, Indonesia in 2004 and attributed to homo floresiensis (or "Hobbits") were not a unique and extinct branch of the human family, but rather pygmy-like peoples. However it also knocks a hole in the claim that the Flores bones were merely all unusually small humans suffering from microcephaly due to iodine deficiency. Naturally, the scientists who originally discovered the Hobbits on Flores aren't too thrilled about either of these theories. (Previous discussions here and here)
posted to MetaFilter by Asparagirl at 3:13 PM on March 11, 2008 (30 comments)

No more bounce! Damn ye, Mac dock!

Does anyone know a way to stop icons from bouncing on the OS X doc? I'm NOT talking about unchecking "animate opening applications" in the dock preferences. That only stops opening-app bounces. I want to stop warning bounces, too. They drive me crazy. Please note that I'm using an INTEL Mac (Leopard). I've only been able to find solutions for PowerPC Macs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee at 8:42 AM on March 10, 2008 (11 comments)

Wings of Desire... or something

Erotic Falconry
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 2:45 PM on February 29, 2008 (66 comments)

Of making many books

I would like to read books by more MeFi writers. I have therefore made a list of who they are and their books.
posted to MetaTalk by paduasoy at 5:03 AM on February 23, 2008 (102 comments)

Essential.... essential.... essential...

Since 1993, Pete Tong has been hosting the Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. A group on imeem seems to have uploaded them all. Tracklistings here. Some of the best of all time: Carl Cox - 1996 (tracklisting), Paul Oakenfold - 1994 - (The Goa Mix) (TL), Leftfield - 1994 (TL). A few good ones from the last couple of years: Justice, (TL), Soulwax (TL), Eric Prydz (TL). And one of my personal favorites -- Scott Bond - 2000 (TL)
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 11:48 AM on February 23, 2008 (61 comments)

Corporate Rockstar

How do I become a cubicle king and a boardroom baron? How do I become a corporate rockstar? I am in a typical corporate office environment and am wondering why certain people climb the corporate ladder and others do not. What techniques and tactics have you personally applied to move ahead? I am looking for things related to work ethic, communication, self-promotion, appearance, relationships, use of technology, methodology, GTD, etc. Do you send emails late at night to appear to be working late? Do you suck-up to the CEO's personal assistant? Or do you simply work your ass off and get sh*t done? Take me from the mailroom to the boardroom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jasondigitized at 9:31 AM on January 31, 2008 (34 comments)

Photographs of Children's Drawings

Wonderland is a series by Yeon Doo Jung which takes drawings done by children, and re-photographs them in the real world. The results of this interpretation are, um, hilarious. Use the green arrows for navigating from photo to photo.
posted to MetaFilter by suedehead at 8:20 PM on January 29, 2008 (27 comments)

Charge it!

Some skaters blowing shit up.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 1:50 AM on January 27, 2008 (60 comments)

And the Beat Goes On... Nihongo Stylee!!!

...Japanese hip hop has become a significant national, cultural, and business genre since the late twentieth century, and this phenomenon has been applied and has succeeded by using almost the same ideology that was historically used by other Japanese industries like automobile manufacturing. The pioneers in the Japanese hip hop industry like Buddha Brand learned their skills in the U.S. and have successfully been influencing the contemporary Japanese music scene. As a result, the imported hip hop has become a ''Japanized'' products. Many hip hop industries in Japan have modified the American hip hop into Japanese ways, and their businesses, like the hip hop dance schools, have succeeded.
The Japanese Hip Hop Movement: Its Cultural and Economic Impact
posted to MetaFilter by y2karl at 7:14 PM on January 19, 2008 (39 comments)

Integrating CBT and mindfulness

Can cognitive behavioral therapy be reconciled with mindfulness into a single, integrated approach to the world?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gordion Knott at 6:47 AM on January 10, 2008 (18 comments)

The Most Awesome Movie Training Songs?

I'd like your help in compiling a workout mix-cd of the most Awesome Cheesily Inspirational songs from movie training sequences. Think "Eye of the Tiger"... or even better, "Hearts on Fire" from the Rocky IV training sequence. And quite possibly the apex: Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" from the Karate Kid. (YOU'RE THE BEST! AROOOUND!) Stuff where you can't help but start going, "Yeah! I'm going to totally train in this montage to kick that guy's ass!" Doesn't even have to be from a training montage, just have that 'feel.'
posted to Ask Metafilter by Stan Chin at 7:25 PM on March 31, 2005 (65 comments)

Oy vey, no Kwanza specials... sorry.

Time to kill while waiting for Santa to arrive/dinner to digest/family to leave? Well, here's a Very Special Holiday Episode fpp just for you. God bless us, every one.
posted to MetaFilter by miss lynnster at 8:56 PM on December 24, 2007 (49 comments)

One Gorilla Drumming

It's an advert for chocolate. It's a man in a gorilla suit drumming to a track by Philip Collins Ltd. It's been very popular. It's won awards. It's been spoofed. And it's been mashed-up... some bad (Metalica (sic), ACDC, Guns and Roses), some good (Bonnie Tyler, Subsource, A Skillz, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple, Nirvana) and some utterly sublime ('Enders, Bodyrockers, Cameo). But great adverts don't always equal great sales. Bonus: Monkey Drummer. (Previously)
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry at 8:57 AM on December 23, 2007 (38 comments)

Okay, fine. I never thought I'd say it. But yeah, I love LA.

So hey, how has LA changed in the last 3 years during my absence? Update, please.
posted to Ask Metafilter by miss lynnster at 2:33 PM on December 19, 2007 (36 comments)

tap that glass

I'm interested in fitting odd lenses -- and making custom lenses -- to/for digital cameras and digital video cameras. I'm not terribly concerned with the electronic side of things, so you shouldn't be either. What I'm looking for is a crass/crash course in optics -- something (a book, a video, a class, a kit) that will teach me the basics of optics and allow me to force photocopier lenses, telescopes, and microscopes onto unsuspecting recording devices.
posted to Ask Metafilter by fake at 1:51 PM on December 28, 2006 (12 comments)

How can I improve contrast of photos at the time they are taken without resorting to curves and levels tools in photoshop?

PhotographyFilter: How can I improve the dynamic range of photos at the time they are taken without resorting to curves and levels tools in photoshop?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Pastabagel at 10:59 AM on December 12, 2007 (26 comments)

the future is open {

Papervision3D 2.0 released yesterday. Papervision3D is an open source 3D Engine for flash which provides a lightweight, browser friendly platform for rendering 3d content in your browser window. Papervision (some examples of PV3D in use: 1, 2, 3 (this third one might be awhile to load...), however, is only the tip of the iceberg which is a very committed and talented open source flash community.
posted to MetaFilter by localhuman at 5:53 PM on December 5, 2007 (11 comments)

What should I do with my last three weeks in Portland OR?

What should I do with my last three weeks in Portland OR?
posted to Ask Metafilter by concrete at 10:44 AM on November 28, 2007 (11 comments)
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