MetaFilter

I once interviewed the Dead Kennedys at the Roosevelt sometime around '85. Slayer was staying there also that night and I managed to bump into them in the elevator. Fun night! I had no idea they had that record convention or that it was popular outside of punk and hip-hop circles. I miss old New York.
posted to MetaFilter by cazoo at 9:40 PM on June 1, 2014

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

― Isaac Asimov
posted to MetaFilter by Benny Andajetz at 2:16 PM on June 1, 2014

Look at all the time and money they put into creating this! The conspiracy is even bigger than I thought!
posted to MetaFilter by Salvor Hardin at 2:03 PM on June 1, 2014

> the airlines don't want to pay for GPS trackers for their airplanes.

A "GPS tracker" does not and cannot possibly exist. GPS is a receive-only system that relies on a network of satellites that only broadcast data.

What you're asking for is some completely new 24-7 network all around the world (including the farthest reaches of the ocean) which receives a stream of continuous position information from all flying vehicles and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lupus_yonderboy at 9:57 PM on June 1, 2014

This is the way I wished TV worked. I've been let down before. The fan theories are always more interesting to me than the actual scripts.
posted to MetaFilter by 2bucksplus at 7:37 PM on June 1, 2014

I currently use 40 lemons for a 1.5 l batch, using two 750ml bottles of Everclear 190 proof as my base spirit. I have become convinced that the initial stage where you dissolve the lemon oils in the alcohol really doesn't have to be as long as people say. In blind taste tests, I find that no one can distinguish periods of longer than about 30 days, so I usually use 60 days to be safe. Having said that, it is also the case that no one can distinguish the flavor of limoncello that has sat on... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Lame_username at 4:19 PM on November 9, 2013

Not everyone has the same size hands. A big part of why I'd never buy an iPhone is the dinky form-factor that seems lost in my giant hand.

I have enormous hands. I've only met one other person offline who actually has hands even the same size as mine, and no one with bigger hands. Like, i have to use toenail clippers to trim my finger nails because the regular ones curve at way too acute of an angle. My hand is longer edge of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by emptythought at 4:25 PM on June 1, 2014

Given the near ubiquity of cloud computing, I would like to see Apple make a statement about privacy.

(facepalm)

Apple Privacy Policy

iCloud security and privacy overview

iOS Security

Update on National Security and Law Enforcement Orders

MacOS X Security Configuration Guides (10.3 through 10.6, other papers available for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by charlie don't surf at 4:17 PM on June 1, 2014

degoao: And somehow this thread is still open.

It's in the queue to be closed.
posted to MetaTalk by gman at 1:20 PM on June 1, 2014

And somehow this thread is still open. Thanks for everyone's input!
posted to MetaTalk by degoao at 1:13 PM on June 1, 2014

It's possible. I pretty much had the day experience to your night; faster, almost double the battery life, a bunch of small irritations from prior releases fixed...

As someone with a MacBook Air with 4gb of memory, memory compression has been a boon as well.

I have a work-provided, Xeon-equipped dell tower running linux, mostly it exists to run VMs. The host distro seems to change every 6 months or so ("ooh new and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by strange chain at 12:55 PM on June 1, 2014

I'm not even sure why browsing would require two hands. Thumb scrolling, double tap to zoom in intelligently on text even on full sized web pages.
posted to MetaFilter by Talez at 12:09 PM on June 1, 2014

There are of course, still smaller Android phones. I assume smaller iPhones would still exist.

On the contrary, no flagship Android phone exists in a size less than 4.7". Even the HTC One "Mini" which is still a cut down version of the 5" M8 is 4.5 inches. Every phone smaller is a cut down version of the flagship phone with a worse screen, worse CPU, less RAM and less storage.

Performance versions of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Talez at 11:42 AM on June 1, 2014

degoao, thanks for making the suggestion, and sorry the response struck you as abrasive.

To be fair, "@degoao #lolnope" deserves "sorry you got some shitty comments" and not so much "sorry you took the comments badly." Does a comment that calls you out by name to offer a dismissive laugh strike you as somehow not abrasive?
posted to MetaTalk by in278s at 11:44 AM on June 1, 2014

rtha: Not too far above your comment Matt is saying maybe there hasn't been consensus yet.

Whether you or Matt choose to believe there's a consensus, reading all the comments over the past six and a half hours, there definitely is one, with a couple "maybe this would work instead" comments. He even goes so far as to say that culturally this is probably not a good fit. I suppose leaving this open for a month might also supply us with more... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by gman at 11:01 AM on June 1, 2014

lalex: Why should it be closed?

Because the OP asked for it to be closed so they don't have to hear another fifty people say it's a bad idea, when a consensus has already been reached on the original idea. I don't think that's without precedent.
posted to MetaTalk by gman at 10:41 AM on June 1, 2014

In most rooms I'm in, it's the most popular.
posted to MetaFilter by i_have_a_computer at 10:17 AM on June 1, 2014

johnnyace: "Look, I don't want to start a derail (I own several Apple products myself that I'm quite happy with), but I cannot abide falsehoods. OS X is certainly not one of the most popularly-used desktop interfaces on the planet. Windows 8 alone outnumbers OS X systems."

I don't really understand. In what sense is it false to say that OS X is one of the most popular desktops in the world? By your link's testimony, it's number 2, if we... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by koeselitz at 9:45 AM on June 1, 2014

Look, I don't want to start a derail (I own several Apple products myself that I'm quite happy with), but I cannot abide falsehoods. OS X is certainly not one of the most popularly-used desktop interfaces on the planet.

I don't think you understand what "one of" means.
Lumping everything together, Mac OS X is number 2 behind Windows.
If you want to split everything up by version, Max OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by w0mbat at 9:49 AM on June 1, 2014

Just a reminder for people whose lives are MetaTalk centric: There are huge swaths of the world where constructive criticism is a thing and people are able push their little baby ideas out into the world secure in the knowledge that while the idea may be gently rebuffed, it will not immediately be torn to shreds by a pack of shrieking harpies.

To cut to the chase,

Metafilter: A pack of shrieking harpies
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 8:33 AM on June 1, 2014

Cool. Bad idea. Got it. I'll be sure to raise my opinion again in the future and not at all feel attacked by assholes with snarky remarks. So mods, close this thread please.

I just want to help make this site better. This is obviously a bad idea, I get it.
posted to MetaTalk by degoao at 7:40 AM on June 1, 2014

This was the best Portlandia sketch ever
posted to MetaFilter by C.A.S. at 4:10 PM on May 31, 2014

President Bush long ago claimed an extraordinarily broad executive privilege in carrying out hostilities against terrorists -- even going so far as to effectively suspend habeas corpus and declare his intention to assassinate US citizens who he -- and he alone -- felt were "threats" to national security. Without any legal oversight whatsoever. We also know that the executive branch has (probably for decades) been monitoring American phone calls and emails, also illegally. president... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Avenger at 6:35 PM on May 31, 2014

The level of suspicion being raised here in this thread is well beyond anything that this site or the former or current moderator team has earned through past actions.

Nah, I think it's you who is being a bit overwrought. Some of us are saying courteously that we think the mods are totally awesome but that we have a couple concerns about this as a structural mechanism. Including jessamyn herself, who wondered upthread if there was going to be a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by dontjumplarry at 4:29 AM on May 31, 2014

More, not less moderation on MetaTalk would improve this community.

open your wallet. make that happen.
posted to MetaTalk by lampshade at 7:00 PM on May 31, 2014

Y'know, it's possible to have an honest disagreement with this action. It sets a bad precedent.

That precedent was set a long time ago, and most recently and clearly re-set by Reagan in Iran/Contra and before when he almost certainly negotiated with Iran over the release of the hostages.
posted to MetaFilter by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:16 PM on May 31, 2014

The thing about declaring a War on Terror is that if you're going to have a war, you have to eventually negotiate or fight it for the rest of your existence, which means, in this case, you have to negotiate with terrorists.

Of course, this is unacceptable to some:

GOP lawmakers say administration broke law with prisoner swap

Unless, of course, this is just some assholes taking a delicate international situation and being... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MCMikeNamara at 6:17 PM on May 31, 2014

We missed an opportunity. We should have traded ALL the Guantanamo prisoners for Bergdahl, and closed the place.
posted to MetaFilter by LarryC at 5:23 PM on May 31, 2014

Gygesringtone: This won't take away the mods ability to delete comments.

Of course not, but if the staff has basically been cut in half and there are several contentious threads going on at once, these things pile up. One person gets pissed, several people jump on that person, and before you know it, the thread is out of control. Not to mention the fact that if the only place a person has to vent at the time, is on the blue, they are going to keep... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by gman at 1:34 PM on May 30, 2014

This is the alternate timeline where Walter White and Gale Boetticher decided to skip the whole meth thing and instead open up a coffee shop, isn't it.
posted to MetaFilter by Drastic at 12:52 PM on May 30, 2014

Django Unchained wasn't "about" slavery, or about Quentin Tarantino. Like all his movies, it's about movies, specifically about blaxploitation films. The whole story is about making retributive violence highly *visible*.
posted to MetaFilter by ThatFuzzyBastard at 7:29 AM on May 30, 2014

I don't think using the phrase "the mens" helps very much. I understand why it was used and I agree. But it feels to me that it alieanates our allies. I wouldn't react kindly to "the womens" type of comment.
posted to MetaFilter by futz at 6:14 PM on May 29, 2014

women don't need to up their listening to men any.

In the course of general society, I don't disagree. But more specifically on this topic with men who show a willingness to honestly engage, yeah I think they have to be part of the conversation and dismissing them with catch phrases isn't the best approach. I think I've argued this as best I can at this point, so last you hear from me on that. Thanks for listening.
posted to MetaFilter by Drinky Die at 6:58 PM on May 29, 2014

Players will be able to squirt the ball to each other.
posted to MetaFilter by drezdn at 7:28 AM on May 30, 2014

I don't think the Bechdel test was ever meant to be a litmus test for a movie to be feminist

It's used that way all the time, though. Such as in this piece.
posted to MetaFilter by escape from the potato planet at 5:57 PM on May 29, 2014

I'm starting to think that the Bechdel test has jumped the shark. Every article or study that employs it points out (correctly) that it's actually a pretty clumsy instrument. Maybe we should come up with a better one.

If we're going for something that can be easily communicated and understood by average non-technical schlubs (e.g., me), then the Mako Mori test strikes me as a significant improvement—although it's admittedly more subjective.

(I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by escape from the potato planet at 5:44 PM on May 29, 2014

He sounds like several posters on here that seemed to be pearl-clutchingly aghast that Django Unchained A Movie by Quentin Tarantino wasn't a somber 4 hour meditation on the evils of slavery.
posted to MetaFilter by Ghostride The Whip at 6:11 PM on May 28, 2014

Nezhmetdinov

Check this out! He throws away piece after piece for positional advantage, leading to the weirdest mate I've ever seen.
posted to MetaFilter by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:25 PM on May 29, 2014

Did you read to the end? The number of guns, the 1000 rounds of ammunition, and the apparently illegal "high-capacity assault rifle magazines" aren't unusual?
posted to MetaFilter by nobody at 8:09 AM on May 29, 2014

Isla Vista Resident Arrested for Negligent Discharge of a Firearm

Did the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office just stumble upon another potential spree killer?
posted to MetaFilter by indubitable at 7:27 AM on May 29, 2014

I have no problem with reviewing movies from an ideological point of view, but I can just imagine J. Hoberman or Tim Kreider eye-rolling through this morass.
posted to MetaFilter by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:40 AM on May 29, 2014

Games are getting longer in part because draws are more common (in part because we're taking fewer pieces?). ;o)

I know we're just seeing more people playing more accurately (for instance, I've read that Carlsen's moves correspond to the top-chess computer choices at a higher percentage than any other player in history--though I don't know if this is true); however, I much prefer the swashbuckling days of yesteryear to these 50-70 (and even >100) move games...and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by whatgorilla at 8:22 AM on May 29, 2014

Am I reading this correctly?

TrueCrypt shut down and basically told everybody to "use any other crypto program you want. Good luck, kids"?

That can only mean they were compromised somehow. I can't think of any other explanation.
posted to MetaFilter by Avenger at 7:49 PM on May 28, 2014

Imagemagick can create a new blank image for you, so you don't even need the blank.png. On my Mac, with imagemagick installed with HomeBrew, the following makes a 640x480 transparent png with the date in MM-DD-YYYY format in Arial at 16 pixels high.

convert -size 640x480 canvas:transparent -gravity south -font /Library/Fonts/Arial.ttf -pointsize 16 -annotate 0 "$(date +'%m-%d-%Y')" DATE.png
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zsazsa at 7:57 PM on May 28, 2014 marked best answer

Not meant as a derail; more like supporting evidence.
posted to MetaFilter by ZenMasterThis at 10:30 AM on May 28, 2014

We are now well into the territory where I would think this was cool if ANYONE BUT GOOGLE was behind it.
posted to MetaFilter by chrominance at 10:04 PM on May 27, 2014

Oh sure, until your car starts gunning it towards Snake River Canyon and you have to remind it "Don't be Evel".
posted to MetaFilter by blueberry at 9:33 PM on May 27, 2014

What happens when the self driving cars get the inevitable Panda update and suddenly your car won't go to your favorite local restaurant anymore?
posted to MetaFilter by humanfont at 8:53 PM on May 27, 2014

'I'm Feeling Lucky'
posted to MetaFilter by shakespeherian at 8:12 PM on May 27, 2014

When I was in high school, I was always totally crushing on the geeky guys, who would "friendzone" me and complain, bitterly, that girls (i.e., the perky, boobalicious cheerleader-types they were pining over but never actually talking to) only liked bad boys and assholes, pouring out their anguish about how girls sucked to my sympathetic and ever-hopeful ears.

In retrospect, they were correct (as obviously I liked guys who were assholes :P).... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by keli at 7:44 PM on May 27, 2014