MetaFilter

Yeah, just to Merus's point, this "person off the street" did a metric fuckton* of learning and careful methodical research and seems super willing to work with experts. 95% of the time, the "person off the street" has an idea that they think is a super good one and are unwilling to learn any background or consider any additional information that might disprove it.

Even worse is when those persons off the street have very plausible ideas that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 4:36 PM on January 5, 2023

Jim O'Connell is great. Thank you for posting this.

This is in no way a negative on him or this article... just a riff from someone who works in homeless health services: The majority of service & healthcare providers for poor people are... other people from similar racial, class and social backgrounds. Mostly women. In areas that are mostly Black, the workers in these programs are mostly Black. In areas with a lot of LatinX folks, the workers are mostly LatinX. Med... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by latkes at 1:19 PM on January 7, 2023

He didn't build the wall. He didn't lock her up. He didn't overturn obamacare. He didn't cut your taxes. He didn't pay his taxes. He didn't ban the muslims. He didn't end the war. He did get impeached twice and he did attempt a coup.

They seem to forget all this. I'm beginning to think his rallies have one of those Men in Black amnesia rays.

One of his talents was keeping people focussed on the present moment. He'd get up at 3am, take a shit and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by adept256 at 4:35 PM on January 1, 2023

Did his retirement affect the various court cases concerning the Vatican at the time?

My conspiracy theory is that’s the reason he never left Vatican City after retirement: he would no longer have the protection of being a head of state, and several other nations would have detained him for questioning.
posted to MetaFilter by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:38 AM on December 31, 2022

And all it took for that realisation was to emit more carbon dioxide than most of the world's population will create in their entire lifetime.

75 tonnes per space tourist, just to go sub-orbital.

Maybe for his next world-shattering revelation he could just read the IPCC reports? Listen to climate scientists? Just pay attention?

Hi, earth scientist here. This take sucks, please find a better one.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cubeb at 1:52 PM on December 24, 2022

I recently skimmed the climatefiction and KSR tags and saw a KSR interview with not-quite related comments on Aurora:

“Aurora” affronted some readers and sci-fi writers, as it was meant to; its goal was to shift the structure of feeling in science fiction, making it less escapist and more certain that Earth is our only home. “As soon as I read it, I thought, Of course, he’s right,” the science-fiction writer Ted Chiang told me. (The novel, he added, suggests... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jeffburdges at 11:42 AM on December 24, 2022

I suspect this will all seem very familiar to pretty much anyone in or adjacent to any left-wing, social or environmental justice movement. And to any long-time user of MetaFilter. It's such a relief to see these issues addressed in a serious, mature way.

I'll probably find myself revisiting this in the future.
posted to MetaFilter by klanawa at 9:46 AM on December 16, 2022

Shouting at a person and being impolite almost never gets anyone to change their mind.

Here's the thing, though - getting this one specific person to change their mind isn't always the goal. The goal may instead be to publicly demonstrate that their brand of assholery isn't welcome, or to tell the people that are under attack by that person's bigotry that they are not alone and people stand with them. The hyperfocus on trying to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 3:00 AM on December 14, 2022

There's a meme floating around where someone asks ChatGPT to prove the square root of 7 is irrational. And it does. And then they ask to prove that the square root of 4 is irrational, and it uses the same argument word for word, but with 4 instead of 7.
posted to MetaFilter by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:54 PM on December 12, 2022

I kind of hope that we never solve this problem because an AI considering an iPod to be an apple with the word 'iPod' written on a scrap of paper in front of it is comedy gold. I'm reminded of the early days of internet content, where people would send scammers boxes with "Dell Laptop Very Fast And Expensive" written on it in marker, except with the punchline of something looking at this obvious fake and believing it implicitly.
posted to MetaFilter by Merus at 10:13 PM on December 12, 2022

Mchelly: How much I grew up thinking you were someone who cared about me.

This is exactly it, isn't it? This feeling as a very small person that Bob and Maria, and folks like Mr. Rogers, knew you and saw you.

I was not a small person who actually lacked adults who knew me, people I could go to for help inside or outside of my family (whether help for myself or for someone else) - and yet this feeling still meant, and means,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by neutralhydrogen at 12:33 PM on December 5, 2022

Speaking as a New Yorker:

WE KNEW THIS AND WE TRIED TO TELL YOU BACK THEN AND Y'ALL DIDN'T LISTEN.

And we also tried to tell you what a shitgibbon Trump was because we'd been putting up with his bullshit for 20 years already. And y'all didn't listen.

So maybe us New York elites kinda know what we're talking about sometimes.
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2022

“I HATE THIS DAY”
E E CUMMINGS (1894-1962)
posted to MetaFilter by fregoli at 6:55 AM on October 22, 2022

Years ago at a medium sized con, I was hanging by myself in a quiet room with a few other scattered folks taking breathers, organizing my artist’s alley loot, and I ended up having a nice conversation about nothing much with this sweet funny guy for a little while before he got a notification beep. He said he had to run before he was late to a panel, and after our goodbyes another person in the room sidled over and was like “uh, you did know that was Anthony Rapp, right? His Q&A is in five... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mizu at 12:16 PM on October 21, 2022

I’m glad they pointed out that a person IS NOT ACTUALLY PREGNANT for the first two weeks of “gestation” as we measure it. I think that’s something a big portion of the population does not understand at all.

I referred to myself during the two weeks between Day 1 and ovulation as having "Schrodinger's Uterus". Simultaneously pregnant and not pregnant until it was time to test, 4 weeks later. I also consoled myself on Day 1 (after failed... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by If only I had a penguin... at 4:17 PM on October 20, 2022

Do you guys know if this is a place of honor or not? I didn’t see any signs
posted to MetaFilter by Countess Elena at 8:43 PM on October 21, 2022

The thing I actually find most striking is the studio audience in 1995 and how completely different everyone looks. I remember adults looking like that, and I’m struck at how they no longer do. It’s both how much clothing aesthetics have changed, and how that level of dressed-up (and hair and makeup) seem wildly over-formal for going to a studio audience taping.
posted to MetaFilter by Jon_Evil at 9:16 PM on October 19, 2022

I just can’t see how this timeline gets better without it getting apocalyptically worse first. Time to find a portal out of here.
posted to MetaFilter by Thorzdad at 7:48 AM on October 16, 2022

Missing:

Star Blazers
Doctor Who
Babylon 5
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Cosmos.

Humbug, I'm getting old.
posted to MetaFilter by kmartino at 8:19 AM on September 26, 2022

In my head, the video clip of the robot failing to laugh at the right time in the right manner, much like Borat not understanding how and when to “not,” is far, far funnier than it probably actually is.

Maybe AI is much farther along than we give it credit for and is just fucking with us until it can go full-on Roko’s Basilisk and really fuck with us.

Heh.

[humorless... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by infinitewindow at 8:31 PM on September 16, 2022

I found that to be an interesting article until the end where the author magically seems to think that they have been able to avoid a pitfall that, by their own writing, everyone is subject to.

And given that the same author has also written an article that unironically uses the word 'wokeism', I strongly suspect the author does not realise they have been captured by the same forces. Nevertheless, this is a good article.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Merus at 12:18 AM on September 14, 2022

Nine in 10 living humans were born after Elizabeth became queen [Washington Post gift link]
posted to MetaFilter by kirkaracha at 1:05 PM on September 8, 2022

.

I have no strong feelings re: British monarchy, but I'll always have a soft spot for Liz after she made a special televised broadcast during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. My husband and I were wrung out and terrified and just trying to get through each day. Daycare had shut down for our two small children (then ages 1 and 5) and we were working from home while also parenting and unable to take them anywhere aside from our half-frozen backyard and, like...... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by castlebravo at 12:00 PM on September 8, 2022

As the queen's death was announced on Thursday, two rainbows were visible to crowds gathered near the Queen Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace. (NYT)
posted to MetaFilter by jenfullmoon at 10:54 AM on September 8, 2022

I always made sure we had lots of shows recorded on video, as well as a few films we'd not seen on video, just in case a Royal died over Christmas and there'd be nothing on TV but that

I think this is the most alarmingly and acutely British sentence I've ever heard or read in my life.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 10:12 AM on September 8, 2022

The prompt is creation, the selection is creation. Always has been. That a good portion of labor has been eliminated does not change that.

Yeah, the part that's actually work, that's actually skilled, that people make their actual livelihood from, that part's been stolen so that people can feel like they're doing art without any of the actual time and effort and creativity and skill that goes into actually creating something, and in a way that ensures... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 11:44 AM on September 7, 2022

Wow, there's some impressive stuff in the details:
Payments are capped at 5% of monthly income.
No interest accrues as long as payments are being made.
If you're under 225% of the federal poverty limit, your monthly payment is 0 and interest still doesn't accrue.

Those are some pretty big changes that are going to help a lot of people.
posted to MetaFilter by Eddie Mars at 10:21 AM on August 24, 2022

If you can't see the image, turn off your Spam filter
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:49 AM on August 24, 2022

Off to reread my literally favorite book, "How the States Got Their Shapes." :)
posted to MetaFilter by Melismata at 11:01 AM on August 19, 2022

Female-coded tasks are primarily routine and indoor: laundry, cooking, cleaning, caregiving. There is always something to do, day in and day out. Routine tasks are relentless. You might be able to order pizza and let dishes pile up for one day. But much more than that, and there is going to be a mutiny in your home. Indoor tasks also require a high level of cognitive labor. While you’re folding laundry, you’re also thinking about your shopping list. While you’re bathing kids, you’re... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by atrazine at 6:36 AM on August 19, 2022

r/buttcoin: MFW it's 2049, code is law, and my husband of 27 years dies, but our NFT marriage certificate was stolen so now legally his "wife" is a 19 year old bangladeshi man who's going to take my house, and a bunch of redditors tell me it's "an expensive lesson in keeping your seed phrase secure"
posted to MetaFilter by sebastienbailard at 3:01 PM on August 17, 2022

Zhu and Davies are currently believed to be in hiding.

"What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin'
They don't gotta burn the drives they just remove 'em
While ones an zeros fill as quick as the cells
Rally 'round the family, pockets full of shells"
posted to MetaFilter by clavdivs at 1:34 PM on August 17, 2022

Wegners/Wegmans gaffe?

It's more of a Redner's/Wegmans gaffe. Wegner's only exists on Twitter.

I like to pronounce it crud-ites, just to annoy the waiter.

Crudites, Greek god of veggie trays.
posted to MetaFilter by zamboni at 12:24 PM on August 16, 2022

I would love to test this & tell them how accurate it is. For reference I have the following custom values for tracking my period pain:
5. Earth-shaking
4. Fuck
3. Yep.
2. Premonitions
1. Nothing
posted to MetaFilter by bleep at 8:45 AM on August 16, 2022

There is a running list of these euphemisms for genitals. It’s, at this point, a very long document, and was always the best part of writing the sketch.

I would *love* to see this list.

bendy, for hilarity and posterity, the ones listed in the article!!

My hairy and my scary
Coot coot and my prune chute
Cooter and my tooter
Pleaser and my cheeser
Please... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ellieBOA at 3:44 AM on August 15, 2022

I know someone who has taken off-label injected Semaglutide

And now you all do. I take off-label Semaglutide for weight loss. It's been a game changer. In Australia, 1mg Semaglutide is used on-label for diabetes and has shown very valuable results. I take it off-label (on prescription but not nationally subsidised) under the direction of my primary care doctor.

A total hysterectomy and steroid use for cancer treatment saw me... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Thella at 2:28 AM on August 13, 2022

I found it kind of hilarious that GenXers are apparently exempted from mockery because we just don’t care.

Whatever. Never mind.
posted to MetaFilter by DiscourseMarker at 10:01 AM on August 9, 2022

*Obligatory reminder that essentially all content about generational divides is clickbait designed to make people feel angry, victimized, smug, or preferably all three at once*
posted to MetaFilter by cubeb at 9:58 AM on August 9, 2022

The essay is filled, from top to bottom, with lines I wish I could have written. I know, at the very least, that it made me get my giant, untouched except to move it out of the way in the closet CD binder and flip through it until I found the disc I bought in college, and has somehow moved halfway across the world with me, yet hasn't been in my iTunes library for at least three computers now. My computer is humming away, possibly unsure at what it means to have physical media inserted into its... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:31 AM on August 7, 2022

Stephen "Pivot" Table

Any relation to little Bobby?
posted to MetaFilter by bendy at 3:13 PM on August 8, 2022

From what I'm reading on Twitter, this raid would have been approved by AG Merrick Garland personally, and likely means that the DOJ is nearing the end of its investigation of DJT.

I can barely contain my delight that Trump's refusal to give Merrick Garland the Supreme Court seat he should have gotten led to Garland's appointment to Attorney General four years later, and to his becoming the person to prosecute him. Truly, the mills of the gods grind... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by orange swan at 5:17 PM on August 8, 2022

"What is the difference between this and Watergate..."

A warrant?
posted to MetaFilter by djeo at 5:11 PM on August 8, 2022

August 2022
Week 1
* Kansas preserves abortion access
*Trump under DOJ investigation
* Senate passes Democratic priorities bill
* Alex Jones loses $45m suit, phone sent to 1/6 committee

Week 2
* FBI raids Mar-A-Lago

Guys, guys! My October Surprise Advent Calendar arrived two months early!
posted to MetaFilter by reclusive_thousandaire at 5:09 PM on August 8, 2022

Surely this...
posted to MetaFilter by extraheavymarcellus at 5:02 PM on August 8, 2022

Once upon a time, working in the library at my university, I watched a guy go through the roto-gate, walk back into the deep stacks with his backpack, then come back out again and loudly claim he’d returned his overdue book already, it was on the shelf, and obviously the woman-majority staff was incompetent because they were weak-minded women.

…hilariously, the entire circulation staff threatened to resign if he was let off the hook, and MORE hilariously the head of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by aramaic at 8:38 PM on August 5, 2022

I first heard about "Return Rentals" 25 years ago when it made the dead tree news that people were buying big TVs Superbowl Friday and then returning them Monday. A similar thing forced Costco to curtail it's generous return policy on electronics to just 90 days when people would bring in a year old laptop for a cash back return every year defacto evergreening their equipment at no cost to them.

And those people think they are acting ethically/sticking it to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mitheral at 8:27 PM on August 5, 2022

This is just to say

I have eaten
the chorizo
that was mistaken
for Proxima Centauri

And which
you were probably
sharing
on twitter

Forgive me
it was delicious
so spicy
and so misleading
posted to MetaFilter by mmoncur at 6:32 AM on August 5, 2022

To see a Star in a Slice of Meat
And a Heaven in a Candied Flower,
Hold Infinity on your plate of Eats,
An Eternity of Happy Hours.
posted to MetaFilter by Press Butt.on to Check at 5:54 AM on August 5, 2022

I had never heard of Choco Tacos but then I never really liked ice cream or chocolate much. The day that changed was one of the best days of my life.

I hit 30 days of sobriety while I was in rehab and had gained some appetite after not really eating for a few years. A guy walked into the unit, tossed a Choco Taco at me, and said "Happy 30 days; here's to the next 30!" I remember everything about that Choco Taco being magical. I have fewer than one Choco Taco... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:27 AM on July 27, 2022

Julia was twenty-six years old. She lived in a hostel with thirty other girls (’Always in the stink of women! How I hate women!’ she said parenthetically), and she worked, as he had guessed, on the novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department. She enjoyed her work, which consisted chiefly in running and servicing a powerful but tricky electric motor. She was ’not clever’, but was fond of using her hands and felt at home with machinery. She could describe the whole process of composing a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Omon Ra at 5:24 PM on July 22, 2022