MetaFilter

yes, I meant chatty answers in the chatty questions only.
posted to MetaTalk by supermedusa at 9:41 AM on August 23, 2023

(I know it's not necessary but: donated $5 to make this comment!)

I agree with the above two comments but would take it even a step further: individual people are good and groups are bad and have to actively work to be good. This is a paradox that is core to my philosophy of the world. As soon as people get into groups it's easy to divide the world up into "us" and "them", to exclude, and to feel like taking something away from "them" is... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by capricorn at 3:32 PM on August 22, 2023

I am asking why the people who suck, suck.

It doesn't explain everything, but the relentless toil of capitalism is a compelling argument.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by phunniemee at 2:11 PM on August 22, 2023

Garrett Hardin, the author of “The Tragedy of the Commons” is a White Supremacist , so a particular kind of asshole. Don’t rely on his arguments.

I think the “people are jerks” thing may be reporting bias. Like, if 99% of people throw their paper towels in the can in the restroom, and you have 1000 people use that space in a day, at the end of the day, you’ll have a mess of litter and think “people are slobs.” But 99% did the right thing! Maybe the bad 1% encouraged a... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GenjiandProust at 4:35 PM on August 22, 2023 marked best answer

Apparently a bunch of stuff going over my head here

Seconding that! As an avid consumer of front page posts and the comment threads, I’ve been really excited to see what feels like a resurgence of activity and discussion since last year’s fundraiser.

I’m probably late given we’re well into August, but I also want to throw in a thank you to jessamyn, loup, frimble, Brandon Blatcher & the rest of the staff for keeping... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by pulposus at 2:23 PM on August 22, 2023

"Didn't you people read the goddamn question?" to some of the replies.

Narrator voice: They did not.
posted to MetaTalk by DirtyOldTown at 12:58 PM on August 22, 2023

Transcript! I ran Whisper on my own computer for this one, instead of the usual Otter.
posted to MetaTalk by Pronoiac at 9:45 PM on August 19, 2023

I think it is the first no comments fundraising thread ever

At first glance and not asking any of the other mods, the no comment format is a good idea for conveying the fundraising information, while avoiding members getting into arguments on that specific announcement, while still leaving space for members to voice their opinions, albeit in related MeTa threads.

(brief rest after putting all that in a single sentence)... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Brandon Blatcher at 9:41 AM on August 22, 2023

[TW added! Generally, if there’s an ask for trigger warnings, we add them. It’s important that users know that what they’re about to read may contain themes that are troubling/triggering/traumatizing.]
posted to FanFare by travelingthyme at 6:16 PM on August 20, 2023

If the site has a team of amazing people who step up to work incredibly hard for months to financially save the site from going under and set up a bunch of stuff to get it on a better trajectory, the site can fail to build on their progress. It can ignore the recommendations of that team and not use the tools they put into place. It can do a fundraiser less than a year later that does very little to recognize those people who helped so much. It can fail to explain why it isn't using what was put... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by snofoam at 2:09 PM on August 18, 2023

Marc Maron spent literally YEARS of his podcast interviewing SNL alums trying to get dirt on Michaels. He's a mammoth figure and has been for decades, and I've long wondered what becomes of SNL after he's gone. Does he have any sort of protege he's training? It's all such a strong cult of personality it's really sort of amazing.

What I want, more than anything, is to get every single living SNL alum together in a giant theater and have them all spend an hour or two... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hippybear at 7:40 PM on August 17, 2023

Hiya! Soliloquy's two sponsored lists are up! #DisabilityInJapan and #Josei are the tags.

This means I am once again completely free to research whatever quirky list of films you'd like to see on FF.

A $25 donation to MeFi gets you six films not yet on FF, curated and posted.
posted to MetaTalk by DirtyOldTown at 10:58 AM on August 18, 2023

I'm not sure which tools/methods twelve cent archie was specifically referring to, but the SC did utilize more tools/methods/initiatives than just Power BI dashboards.

Even though there is no longer an SC, the SC didn't take away or delete anything that was developed for the fundraiser. There's an auction site account out there, there are very basic social media sharing graphics, there's infrastructure and ticketing methods available for live events.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by kimberussell at 8:48 AM on August 18, 2023

I had a serious disagreement with this last time it was posted and I'm just gonna repeat my earlier comment:

I have a hard time engaging with this when it doesn't acknowledge how much all this horniness was written, directed, cast, photographed, and costumed by and for men. In my perception, a big chunk of what has been jettisoned is not healthy sexuality but an assumption of male entitlement to women's bodies. Han Solo is hornier than Poe Dameron, but my kids think he's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by straight at 2:52 PM on August 17, 2023

Awww thank you for the nice words about my newsletter! If it sounds interesting, please do check out my latest longread on Disney's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel (also on Mefi Projects)
posted to MetaTalk by adrianhon at 10:28 AM on August 16, 2023

(have no fear, learning languages is totally good for your brain)
posted to MetaTalk by a snickering nuthatch at 7:45 AM on August 16, 2023

Mulțumesc, Jessamyn!
posted to MetaTalk by mpark at 4:49 PM on August 15, 2023

I was gobsmacked by how great Jack Whitehall's American accent was.

This could be the tipping point, after which we learn that Edgar was actually kind of a shit.

What if the killer is Aniq, and that's why Danner wants him with her?

Agreed, the Yasper cameo was pure gold.

This season is longer than last season - 10 episodes vs. 8. STICK THE UNCLE ULYSSES EPISODE IN MY EYEBALLS RIGHT NOW.
posted to FanFare by rednikki at 6:37 PM on August 14, 2023

Yes, this was a nice Rip Van Winkling! I was heartened to see this pop up in my podcast app.
posted to MetaTalk by ignignokt at 8:06 AM on August 15, 2023

How had I not heard about Jessamyn's new job?

Also, great to see the podcast is back!
posted to MetaTalk by wenestvedt at 7:21 PM on August 14, 2023

Imposition for the win!!!!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by wenestvedt at 3:56 PM on April 6, 2023

What are the times that you came closest to putting your foot out the door, and why? And why did you stay?

I don't think I've ever really been about to quit, really. But almost by definition this job entails being exposed to seemingly endless negativity -- you're involved in a thing you love, but you mainly see its worst parts.

Most people I've talked to about this have suggested that to deal with this... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:17 AM on August 10, 2023

1. It makes me so happy that they used real bald eagle noises for Eagly instead of red-tailed hawk noises.
2. HBO, stop with the skip credits button. I will never skip these credits. Ever.
posted to FanFare by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:41 PM on January 26, 2022

The Harvard Art Museums have undergone a substantial renovation recently, so even if you've been before there's probably something new to see (they're also free).

The MIT Museum might be on your radar already but I only just went for the first time this summer and I'm a Boston long-timer.

MassArt has a new museum, MAAM, that I haven't been to yet but I keep meaning to. It's free and near the MFA. No permanent collection, all rotating exhibits,... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mskyle at 4:18 AM on August 10, 2023 marked best answer

I feel like public libraries should’ve gone all in on open-source/free software thirty years ago (maybe the people with the vision weren’t at the table when decisions were being made, because there were definitely librarians saying this thirty years ago), and fought harder for first-sale for digital content twenty years ago (maybe we did the best we could but capital tends to win), but we are where we are.

Overpaying for software from mediocre companies in an industry... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by box at 5:34 PM on August 10, 2023

What would it take to use underline[?]

There's no button for it, but as dg illustrates, if you enclose your text like so: <u>underlined text</u> it should turn into this: underlined text.

The FAQ mentions several other supported HTML elements. We've always been HTML-based though, I'm not aware of any plans to support Markdown.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:53 AM on August 10, 2023

The opening title sequence is glorious!

Note, all three episodes I've seen so far include extras after the credits.
posted to FanFare by Pronoiac at 8:55 AM on January 18, 2022

Dark is a fantastic sci-fi show set in Germany. Borgen is about a (fictional) Danish prime minister, the first woman in the role. The whole world of Scandinavian TV is pretty cool, actually. Watch one or two and others will start popping up on your recommended list. Lots of dystopian stuff, too.

I'll also second the recommendation for 3% from Brazil.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by bluedaisy at 11:47 AM on August 9, 2023

Letterkenny is a pretty accurate (and funny) spoof of modern millennial life in a Canadian farming town. Like, there are horses… and there’s weed
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nouvelle-personne at 2:50 PM on August 9, 2023

Oh, also Occupied, about a "soft" Russian invasion of Norway
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ImproviseOrDie at 12:28 PM on August 9, 2023

Season 2 of White Lotus (Sicily)
Acapulco (Mexico)
Club de Cuervos (Mexico)
3% (São Paulo, Brazil)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by credulous at 11:37 AM on August 9, 2023

Maybe not an immediate solution, but you can report the closures to Google here. Google will (probably) eventually note the closures, either from reports like this or a total absence of cars using Google navigation passing through those routes, and will begin offering ways around them.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pullayup at 4:29 PM on August 9, 2023

I just wanted to pop in to say you folks are heros. There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank whatever deities that may be for your thankless efforts which make this my favorite place on the web. And that's not just the beer talking. I had a little gin earlier.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Floydd at 5:08 PM on August 9, 2023

The KKR/OneDrive/S&S thing really bites because of how terrible e-book contracts already are for libraries.

But I got unreasonably excited for a half a second because I misread the bonus as "a librarian on their experience purchasing of a single branch library"
posted to MetaFilter by drewbage1847 at 12:55 PM on August 9, 2023

is there any alternative at all?

Palace, possibly, nascently?

(Man, I’d love to get this through Worldcat somehow.)
posted to MetaFilter by clew at 11:53 AM on August 9, 2023

Nobody will see this but I'm reading old metafilter stuff today and what happened over time was: I got a U-bass and didn't love it. I got a Rogue (knockoff of a Hofner) and liked it pretty well but wanted something that fit in my hands a little better and got a Danelectro longhorn that I love. Started doing School of Rock's adult program which has been great though I have to take some time off because it's not the cheapest thing. So anyway a lot of this sank in and got implemented over time.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by less-of-course at 11:14 AM on August 9, 2023

I have been considering taking up bowling again, which I was obsessed with when I was about 12. Not sure my wonky shoulder can handle it though. Plus which bowling alleys have changed quite a bit in the last [counts on fingers] 47 years.
posted to MetaTalk by JanetLand at 4:02 AM on August 8, 2023

I just want to add that I really appreciate DirtyOldTown's posts! This place is still fun and delightful after so many years.

Also to add that my monthly donations stopped and, indeed, it is because the card I was using had expired! So, off to fix that...
posted to MetaTalk by vacapinta at 6:34 AM on August 9, 2023

Final update from the OP: "Revisiting this thread after 11 years, I asked the mods if I could post a final update in case it provides some insight for anyone who might eventually read this, finding themselves in a similar situation.

As some users pointed out, this particular situation with the anaesthesia was completely a red herring. Some couples therapy, personal therapy, a broken engagement and 3 years later, I finally broke up with this guy. Now I look back and feel... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Brandon Blatcher at 6:26 AM on August 8, 2023

I'm not sure if this is metatalk appropriate, although since any changes would need to be coordinated across multiple themes and might affect user styles, I wanted to raise it as an issue for community discussion. As well as to ask if there is a way to solve this on mobile Safari without requiring site intervention.
posted to MetaTalk by autopilot at 7:15 AM on August 7, 2023

Jack Whitehall's American accent was somehow hilarious and believable at the same time. I'm waiting for the final reveal that he secretly IS British and works for Interpol or something. I agree it's too obvious for him to be the murderer.

I loved the Yasper cameo! I guess considering the end of Season 1 this was the only way we could see him...
posted to FanFare by mmoncur at 9:46 PM on August 6, 2023

how did you learn to not fixate on the situation?

Via an ongoing process of deliberately escalating the kinds and frequencies of ill fortune I was wishing upon those who had done me wrong until they became so baroque and so far beyond what was physically even possible that they just made me laugh.

Watching a lot of Wile E Coyote helps. Ren and Stimpy too.

I think the single most effective technique I... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by flabdablet at 2:44 AM on August 5, 2023

I bought this story least all. Definitely my prime suspect right now.

In case it was driving anyone else nuts, the cater waiter is Bevers from Broad City
posted to FanFare by Phase Shifting Pulse Gate at 8:26 PM on August 4, 2023

EM no longer works here.

Her profile page still includes the "staff" flair. Perhaps that should be removed? Or at least changed to "former staff" or something like that?
posted to MetaTalk by Flunkie at 12:25 PM on August 3, 2023

Thank you Brandon, and thank you jessamyn.

In the spirit of getting back to fundraising, you should know that the link on the fundraising page that reads "How to manage PayPal payments" goes to a nonworking (or unpublished) page in Paypal's help center.
posted to MetaTalk by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2023

People who love front page posts about short sf/f you can read for free online: For sufficient stakes I could be persuaded to do another little series.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:12 AM on August 3, 2023

And was that sandwich honey beef and bologna? Or is beef bologna a thing by itself?

This was a great little bit! Joy’s Nana made a honey butter and bologna sandwich, but most bologna is made with a combo of beef and pork. Simone made a honey butter and BEEF bologna sandwich - because Jesus is a Jew, and cannot eat pork. Subtle and kind of hilarious.
posted to FanFare by Silvery Fish at 5:23 PM on May 21, 2023

jessamyn: This is so small and weird but I do like that his last AskMe answer was marked a Best Answer. 💗
Dylan seriously loved being helpful to people. He owned a copy of the book mentioned in his answer and when I visited him at his apartment a few days after he posted that answer, he had pulled his copy down from his bookshelves and was rereading it.

Also at that time, he was preparing to travel to say his final goodbyes to his... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ceridwen at 11:47 AM on August 1, 2023

For a $25 contribution to MeFi, you can MeMail me and I'll find and post six as-yet-not-on-FF films on the theme of your choosing. I did this several times last go 'round and folks seemed to enjoy it. Prev: 1 2 3 4 5 .... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by DirtyOldTown at 11:38 AM on August 1, 2023

Don't know if you noticed but the typewriter Edgar bought from Grace in Grace's chapter for Hannah wasn't a qwerty typewriter. So it wasn't the qwerty one that we see in Hannah's chapter with a bow on it that Edgar and Grace give Hannah. So why two different typewriters?
posted to FanFare by Stanczyk at 4:20 PM on July 30, 2023