MetaFilter

It's been a rough week here in the States. It was 50 years ago when I experienced the first "major event" in my cognitive lifetime, the assassination of JFK. And, it rolled forward from that... assassinations, wars, invasions, bombings, riots... we get a little complacent, we relax, and then it happens again and we're torn between the tragedy and the need for something better. In the 60's we campaigned for change. We wanted the world to be a better place for our children, we didn't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HuronBob at 10:40 PM on April 17, 2013

That's why the "distributed" model isn't going to work - there needs to be an authority who can say what kinds of talk are unacceptable and which aren't.

I laughed for a second, then realized you were serious.

This is a terrible, terrible idea. I don't often say that. You're trying to build your ideals (and they are yours, not everyone's) into the system. So let's imagine you get your central authority (which would... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by adipocere at 8:03 PM on April 17, 2013

Do not browse without AdBlock+, Ghostery, etc. You're favorite site might need money, but advertisements distribute more malware than porn. Google spends oodles tracking sites that distribute malware, but even advertisements on Google have distributed malware. Did I mention that SMS ads deliver malware too?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jeffburdges at 2:10 PM on April 17, 2013

Dear Penny Arcade -

It's not ad blockers -- or your readers -- that suck. It's your business model, which is predicated upon spamming the people you want to promote and participate in your site.

(You do know they can participate, right?)

I seem to remember a large online community I was the business manager of called LiveJournal, which did surprisingly well without ads for years, with numerous hired staff. We also paid... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by markkraft at 2:01 PM on April 17, 2013

And let's not forget that time in the late 90s when the online advertising market crashed (or was it 2000? It got eclipsed by the Worldcom Enron crash), sending hundreds or thousands of ad-sponsored services into the red and out of business right at the peak of the dotcom boom. Sure, they were nice, unlimited 5CPM contracts, but the ad company was budgeting something like $50 for your payout, not the $12,000 in traffic we ended up sending their way. So everyone ended up getting checks for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ceribus peribus at 11:26 AM on April 17, 2013

If you want to get drunk as fuck on beer and watch polka dancing

Some days I'm not sure I've ever wanted anything else.
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 8:27 PM on April 17, 2013

This is a bit sideways from the original topic (and therefore my usual M.O.), but on a similar tip of the problems of haranguing kids about the dangers of the world, I had the experience of being told in Sunday school class about the terrible new threat of child molestation (imagine this pronouncement echoing gravely around a cinder block basement church classroom in the late seventies). Our "hip" assistant pastor teacher had already warned us about the dangers of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sonascope at 9:33 AM on April 17, 2013

Not sure why this is still a question that confuses people (see also: "why was Fox's 1/2 Hour News Hour so bad?")

Because the conservative position tends to be in defense of power. And the better part of humor is to reveal different ways of looking at things, not reinforcing the same ones.
posted to MetaFilter by spinn at 7:07 AM on April 17, 2013

Trivia: Space Coyote is referring to Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. It was permanently pulled from television and home video because one of its many guest characters was used without permission. That character was Garfield.

Ironically, we have comic strip hack Jim Davis to thank for protecting children from that travesty.
posted to MetaFilter by BiggerJ at 8:45 PM on April 16, 2013

Amusing to see the ALCU and EFF argue that information doesn't want to be free and available to the public.

There's no understanding like deliberate misunderstanding!
posted to MetaFilter by DU at 4:23 AM on April 17, 2013

If you think about CISPA in terms of "well, what's stopping the government from requesting information from a company when there is a specific cybersecurity threat?" then you start to realize what CISPA is probably for, which is the collection and scanning of all personal data, looking for patterns, without a warrant. Enjoy living in the Panopticon, suckers. You are not protected by the Fourth Amendment when you are online.
posted to MetaFilter by phaedon at 1:15 AM on April 17, 2013

I think these stunt proposals are a bad idea. For one thing, how is she going to take it when you just go to dinner and give her a gift for an anniversary? After the proposal precedent, won't she be like, where are the Zeppelins? Why are there no sled dogs involved in this anniversary?
posted to MetaFilter by thelonius at 10:04 AM on April 16, 2013

So they earned close to $100k after taxes spending their time doing what they wanted with no boss? Sounds pretty successful to me.
And bear in mind, This is a pay rise from their tough $20k year, and more than double what they hoped to earn.
Good on them.
posted to MetaFilter by bystander at 9:06 PM on April 16, 2013

Actually, they've got some trickle revenue coming in. Looks like it's around 10-30 sales a day. At 10 bucks a pop, I'll take that. After a few years they'll have a portfolio and a brand they can import into Google Glasses or whatever the new hotness is. Even if their next game is weaker, they'll still have some revenue, possibly enough to cover the next year of expenses and the next game.

Ports, sequels, special editions...... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by notyou at 4:42 PM on April 16, 2013

My dad works in harm resistance, so I was raised under the three golden rules: 1) Don't do heroin 2) Don't do crack cocaine 3) Never inject.

I suspect now you could now add another rule for meth or something, but for me, having a parent who trusted me enough to be honest about what was dangerous and what wasn't made it pretty easy for me to make smart decisions. I smoked weed, I ate mushrooms, I still do in moderation.

The only bad trip I ever... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by emperor.seamus at 4:31 AM on April 17, 2013

If you have to try one drug, and only one, try coffee. Or maybe tea.

Most drugs are fun. Many are so fun it is hard to stop doing them. Caffeine is one of the few that is both fun and harmless. Stop using it a few hours (or in my case minutes) before bedtime and you will be fine. Posted at almost 3am.
posted to MetaFilter by poe at 2:49 AM on April 17, 2013

I am the grey sweater.

The hyper observant will see me randomly punch some kid in the last frames. Because I was a monster.
posted to MetaFilter by absalom at 7:13 PM on April 16, 2013

This commercial has convinced me of the unique value proposition that kmart℠ brings to my shopping experience. By referencing the similarities between "ship" and "shit", they've shown themselves to be a hip and "with-it" brand that's relevant to the unique needs of my generational cohort.

Thank you for bringing this brand to my attention! I should check to see if they're on Facebook, because I love engaging with my favorite brands in a way... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by truex at 7:06 PM on April 16, 2013

I totally agree that adults over dramatizing and outright lying about the effects of drugs and particularly marijuana effectively discredits everything else that is largely true about the dangers of harder drugs.

When you're a kid you're prescribed this incredibly plain, dull model of how you are to conduct your life. You can't drink before you're 21 and even then never too much or you will die in a horrible crash due to drunk driving (and probably kill your little... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by whoaali at 8:43 PM on April 16, 2013

Drug education definitely made me and all my friends curious about drugs.

However, that anti-smoking PSA from the 90s with the woman smoking through her tracheotomy? Literally any time I ever thought about accepting a smoke from a friend or otherwise trying tobacco, I'd see her face in my mind and turn them down. That woman died recently and I heard it on the radio and realized she'd singlehandedly prevented me from ever starting to smoke. I wish I'd... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by town of cats at 7:31 PM on April 16, 2013

"I've been of the personal opinion that the strident anti-pot messages have been particularly damaging to the goal of keeping kids away from dangerous stuff. Pot is not dangerous. It just isn't. But adults insist that it is, and scream bloody murder about it, all red-faced with their wattles shaking.

Then, when the kids actually try it, they figure out that, yet again, the adults are lying to them, as they so frequently do. So then they ignore the screaming... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by klangklangston at 7:26 PM on April 16, 2013

The lying about MDMA probably doesn't help either. Its use among young people is huge. If you make the mistake of listing something reasonably harmless alongside heroin and cocaine, it's not a huge leap for people to wonder if anything else on that schedule isn't also fun and harmless.
posted to MetaFilter by 1adam12 at 7:06 PM on April 16, 2013

Ignition is a great book. There's a great bit where he discusses the early days of Red Fuming Nitric Acid as an oxidiser and how they found out that you can store it safely by adding HF to it. When you're *adding* hydrofluoric acid to something for safety reasons, you know you're in exciting territory.
posted to MetaFilter by atrazine at 4:55 AM on April 16, 2013

I was reading this post as Japanese catbuses = Japan + cats + abuses, and expecting to see cats dressed up at samuri, geisha, sumo and the like. While I'm enjoying the catbuses, I am somewhat disappointed.
posted to MetaFilter by slogger at 7:46 AM on April 16, 2013

"How come there's always money when those with few resources are to be persecuted, but never money when those with few resources are to be defended?"

QFT.
posted to MetaFilter by jaduncan at 7:13 AM on April 16, 2013

I don't understand why they messed around for so long trying to grab him and didn't just put a cardboard box or some important papers down.
posted to MetaFilter by orme at 6:44 AM on April 16, 2013

What a sad scene. Once the dead and wounded are taken away and the blood cleaned off, the horrible thing is that terror works. It always seems curious - though understandable - that the day after events like these the security apparatus focuses on that city, events like that. People convince themselves they'll fight the fear of terrorism but mostly they don't. America post 9/11 feels like a place that still struggles with how scared it should be. Perhaps... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MuffinMan at 4:21 AM on April 16, 2013

> If you think this is a false flag operation or other government conspiracy please seek an evaluation from a qualified mental health professional.

That is not a polite way to tell someone, "You're wrong."

People are justifiably suspicious of their own government. And once you don't have any framework of trust, you can believe a lot of things, including things that probably aren't true.

From the limited... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lupus_yonderboy at 9:46 PM on April 15, 2013

Yep. It turns out that Paul is the only real Beatle in the room. The rest got killed in a private jet crash in the Himalayas, during a trip to "groove with the mysteries of the East." Paul thought he could keep them "alive" for their devoted fans by hiring "three unknown look-alikes to stand-in for them," complete with "minor plastic-surgery" and voice training. Paul then invented the rumor of his own death to pull attention away from the other... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Whelk at 7:28 PM on April 15, 2013

What makes a thing-made-to-blow-up not a bomb?

Defusing it, primarily.
posted to MetaFilter by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:29 PM on April 15, 2013

Does running next year really send a message?

Terrorism fails if we refuse to be terrified.
posted to MetaFilter by benito.strauss at 7:14 PM on April 15, 2013

I started a new job a few months ago and my company's office is on the corner of Boylston and Exeter which puts my building almost exactly between the two explosions. I worked from home today because I could, thank god.

For those of you who don't know Boston geography, the finish line of the marathon runs across Boylston street and essentially ends at the Boston Public Library. My first week at the job I got off the T and was taking in the sights of my new surroundings... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jeremias at 6:41 PM on April 15, 2013

This is terrible, I feel bad for all the folks affected by this.

Foreign or domestic, terrorism is terrorism.

Yeah this. The Boston NPR station keeps reporting it as being investigated as a "potential case of terrorism." Like if it's not done by brown people from the Middle East it isn't terrorism?
posted to MetaFilter by marxchivist at 6:35 PM on April 15, 2013

There are times when I try to figure out what an FPP post is all about and I realize that like Hank Hill, some things are not for me. I don't have the ability anymore to understand life at the edge of popular culture. I can't parse it. My operating system is too old and cannot be updated with the proper drivers and plugins.
posted to MetaFilter by KokuRyu at 6:18 PM on April 15, 2013

because that dude needs to be called out and roundly mocked.

some poorly educated dude who has seen the aftermath of 9-11/has been led to unreasonable fear because of it is not my idea of a target of ridicule, and the internet is not your personal army
posted to MetaFilter by This, of course, alludes to you at 6:19 PM on April 15, 2013

I sure wouldn't want to be a Saudi guy that someone decided was suspicious in the wake of a bombing, no sireee.
posted to MetaFilter by BungaDunga at 5:21 PM on April 15, 2013

I haven't really read this thread, I started to and then I started thinking about my niece. She's run in the marathon before and I knew she wasn't planning to run this year - but she is a nurse and often volunteers in the medical tent. When I heard them say the medical tent, it just clicked that she would be right there.

I tried to reach everyone in my family to find out if she was there. I couldn't get her Mom or any of my sisters and I was working myself up into a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 5:01 PM on April 15, 2013

The Boston Globe has a map and graphics of the site of the two explosions and one disarmed device here.



Editorial.

Whomever did this was deliberately going for massive casualties. First bomb goes off near the finish, where the crowd is likely to be. The next bomb goes off ~20 seconds later, where they're likely to be running away to -- and of course, to ramp the panic level up high.

The third?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by eriko at 4:53 PM on April 15, 2013

.

Out here in Missouri, I had the day off today and was getting my car serviced—the airbag light just came on and stayed on earlier. So I was just sitting down in the dealership's customer lounge when I saw the first news about this—from YourAnonNews on Twitter. The TV in the waiting room didn't cut to the situation until a few minutes later.

Another strange and sad thing: One of the other women in the customer lounge said she'd actually been... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by limeonaire at 4:49 PM on April 15, 2013

Just heard an official near the EOD staging area announce to any hungry emergency personnel that they should go to the nearby Shaws and "grab whatever they want". Apparently they've opened their doors to feed those working the incident.
posted to MetaFilter by rollbiz at 4:16 PM on April 15, 2013

God, how many more people have to die before the mental healthcare system gets an overhaul? And not just the subsystems that look after those who present a potential threat, but just the whole goddamn thing?
posted to MetaFilter by smirkette at 4:13 PM on April 15, 2013

When I was 8, I got to watch the moon landing.

Kid, we failed you somehow. Sorry doesn't cover it.

.
posted to MetaFilter by Kinbote at 3:51 PM on April 15, 2013

Maybe he just wanted everyone to know he wasn't sitting there reading My Pet Goat while all this was going on.
posted to MetaFilter by Big_B at 3:16 PM on April 15, 2013

It's not our job to refrain from discussing things that are posted in the media. We're not the gatekeepers

I'm sympathetic to your message, but yes and no, really. There's a reason a majority of Americans still think there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and it's that early stories were believed and endlessly repeated. Now that we're part of the "Endlessly repeated" cycle, there are things we can do to avoid contributing to any... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:57 PM on April 15, 2013

Well, fuck. One of my staff saw both both explosions while waiting for her dad to finish the marathon.

Never been so happy to be in a position of authority to say TAKE AS MUCH TIME OFF AS YOU NEED.
posted to MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 2:28 PM on April 15, 2013

Can we just wait until someone is formally charged and the facts are in? Many here are too young to remember, I know, but if so you should read up on Richard Jewell and the 1996 Centennial Park bombing during the Olympics in Atlanta. There's no excusing speculation among those who remember this.
posted to MetaFilter by raysmj at 2:46 PM on April 15, 2013

Street Fighter, Liquidwolf. Raul Julia's last movie was Street Fighter.

***pushes glasses up on nose, adjusts pocket protector, gets lunch money taken by bigger commenters***
posted to MetaFilter by Rangeboy at 8:31 AM on April 5, 2013

Saw it opening day in the theater. My girlfriend at the time cited it as a reason she broke up with me. (She's now my wife, though, so what does she know?)
posted to MetaFilter by ColdChef at 8:20 AM on April 5, 2013

Malor: one of the dirty little not-really-a-secrets about the Apollo program?

Those computer screens at the consoles in the mission control center weren't actually computer screens. The computers used in the Apollo mission control system were late 1950s vintage mainframes. VDUs hadn't been invented when they were built; instead, they sent their output to dials and pen plotters, along with direct data from various sensors, all in a data center at some remove from mission... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cstross at 6:33 AM on April 15, 2013

America of the 1960s went to the Moon on steel, kerosene, and brainpower.

Many of us in other countries would love to see more of this particular version of the US in action. It was hugely inspiring.
posted to MetaFilter by Wolof at 6:17 AM on April 15, 2013