I've both lived without a TV and with a TV. Currently I have a 42" monstrosity, which I would probably view as evil if not for a major innovation: the DVR. Transforming a TV from watching what's on to watching what you want when you want is a watershed event in my book. TV is 99% crap, but that 1% can be really fantastic.
posted to MetaFilter by mcstayinskool at 9:00 AM on September 4, 2008

*sudden weird moment of shock*

....I've just realized that of the four men I've dated in the past 10 years, three of them didn't have a TV.

Damn, I have a weird kink.
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 9:12 AM on September 4, 2008

However, I've read various things which have suggested that such an inspection system would be completely unworkable. Not politically, but practically. So even if, let us imagine, the inspectors had powers to look anywhere, rifle through government files, march into Area 51 and the Kremlin, there's still no way that they'd be able to find all the missiles buried out in the mountains somewhere, ready to launch at the flick of a switch. Is this true?

I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by phrontist at 10:13 AM on September 3, 2008 marked best answer

Sorry, thats science fiction. If I know anything about engineers, then they would consider it a point of professional pride that their work would result in the annihilation of the human race. Anything less would be an ego-shattering failure.
posted to Ask Metafilter by damn dirty ape at 10:56 AM on September 3, 2008

Is anyone in the house recognizing the independence of North Ossetia?
posted to MetaFilter by crapmatic at 7:50 AM on August 27, 2008

Geez, are you sure the name of the agency isn't Marx & Lenin?

Geez, what a stupid thing to say.
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 9:01 PM on August 22, 2008

The best thing about threads like this is the residual favorites it generates. It's like being a snark billionaire and living off the dividends.
posted to MetaTalk by mullacc at 9:40 PM on August 17, 2008

Response to 9/11 Offers Outline of McCain Doctrine
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 8:11 PM on August 18, 2008

I have no idea whether it's fake or not, but I'm amused by those who are shouting that it's OBVIOUSLY FAKE!!!

Yeah, a lot of this is a little too by-the-numbers. Motivational posters? Seriously?

Seriously. My last office job was run by idiots like this, who put those fucking posters up all over the place.

What the hell kind of workplace would this be, where you can just not show up?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by languagehat at 8:59 AM on August 15, 2008

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posted to MetaFilter by dawson at 10:18 PM on August 13, 2008

pessimistic (though generally accurate) life advice:

01. The universe is unbelievably vast, mostly empty, and there's no apparent reason why it exists.
02. Neither infinite nor finite time/space is satisfying.
03. There is no magic.
04. You are your body and you will die.
05. Even compared to the number of people in your city you are insignificant, let alone the planet or the whole of history.
06. There are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by leibniz at 2:34 AM on August 7, 2008

Sadly, both Albania and Kosovo are very poor - there's nothing like the financial divide that existed between East and West Germany.

In Albania, Enver Hoxha's regime was isolationist even among Eastern European nations - close ties to China, for instance. Like many dictators, he was fairly paranoid, and seemed to spend a lot of time constructing millions of concrete bunkers and seeming to do little else.

Kosovo's Albanians benefited in some... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 12:13 PM on July 30, 2008 marked best answer

This will be your last chance to have a liberal intellectual in charge of the free world for many years. Don't screw this up!
posted to MetaFilter by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:41 PM on July 29, 2008

I was given a fantastic book by a former coworker that talked about the history of viewing China as the "next big thing". Apparently the view that China is the next major export market/world superpower goes back to the 1700's or so. I gotta go find that book again.
posted to MetaFilter by GuyZero at 3:43 PM on July 28, 2008

I've been working with actors for twenty years, and I think 99% of such stories are bullshit. When you act -- particularly on film -- you're in a room full of people (technicians, etc.) and you constantly have to start and stop. You shoot about a minute of the film and then you go wait in your trailer for four hours while they re-light the set.

There are plenty of disturbed actors, but most of them got that way via their upbringing or during off-work hours. It's usually... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by grumblebee at 8:50 AM on July 15, 2008

One thing I can say: this is one AskMe where no-one can offer anything approaching a provable, testable or even probably truthful answer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by lalochezia at 9:22 AM on July 12, 2008

At 15, I took this exact train ride with my then 81-year-old but very spry grandmother. All went well until we hit Omaha, where a barge hit a bridge and we had to wait for six hours for the Coast Guard (in Nebraska!) to say it was OK to cross. I still recall the slow anticipation as we crossed, and how I ran from the front of the train to the back so that I would be on all the cars as they passed over the bridge.

We hit Chicago and the conductor decided that a woman and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by parmanparman at 9:02 PM on July 10, 2008

Interesting article. The underlying criticism is quite pointed. National Geographic paid top dollar for the Judas text and did all they could to produce the story they wanted, including publishing an outright flawed translation of that text. There's a reason academics take a virtual vow of poverty. Truth is more important than money.

PS: what's with all the inane commentary in this thread? Article had too many big words for you?
posted to MetaFilter by Nelson at 9:40 AM on June 30, 2008

Wait, we're not destroying the earth? We're not fat lazy slobs?
posted to MetaFilter by sonic meat machine at 11:54 AM on July 1, 2008

Once again I am forced to defend my hometown. Take your Poughkeepsie bashing elsewhere, please. Maybe you'd rather end up in Coxsackie? No, I didn't think so. Poughkeepsie will kick your asses, haterz.
posted to MetaFilter by spicynuts at 3:01 PM on June 28, 2008

Is she able to stop standing like that, were she to wish to? This is potentially a deal breaker.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 11:57 PM on June 27, 2008

You could be Willy Nelson!

Being Willy Nelson is my dream job, but Willy never really went at it like a job, y'know?
posted to MetaFilter by Mister_A at 11:21 AM on June 26, 2008

a friend once said that for him, happiness in life comes from being prepared to live with the consequences of your decisions, whatever they may be. As I have struggled not only with The Question, but the consequences of my decisions, I am struck, in retrospect, by how little the conscious thinking I applied to some pretty major decisions has turned out to have been even remotely accurate in terms of where I ended up - bottom line, for me at least ... it's still a crap-shoot and seems more often... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by troutmask at 11:28 AM on June 26, 2008

It's a great thing to look for strong resonance between who you are and what you do for work on a daily basis. Some people accomplish that; some don't.

One must go deeper, past Bronson.

Here's a resource that one could use to augment Bronson

Here's Book V, with opening text, below:

"In he morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present- I am rising to the work of a human... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MetaMan at 11:58 AM on June 26, 2008

The reason it was called the Real Ghostbusters, is because of the other Ghostbusters cartoon, which was based on the live action show from the 70's.
posted to MetaFilter by brevator at 4:16 AM on June 25, 2008

One of my favorites growing up was the one where they fought the Jabberwock, whose depiction was pretty much straight out of the the classic Tenniel illustration. My sister was terrified by the Jabberwock and would run screaming and crying if I started to recite the poem. She figured that if I recited the whole thing, the Jabberwock would come burbling through the nearest tulgey trashcan and snatch her away.

So of course I memorized the poem. Hell, I think it was the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 5:45 AM on June 25, 2008

That show completely failed to capture the essence of Janine Melnitz.
posted to MetaFilter by ND¢ at 5:53 AM on June 25, 2008

I can't think of anything to say about this
posted to MetaFilter by Mick at 7:47 AM on June 19, 2008

how can I tell if my apartment is haunted

This is an easy one! When you see the apartment, ask yourself: "Am I currently a fictional character?" If the answer is NO, your apartment is not haunted.

I'm not sure how you know if a funny sound, a stray thought, or a sudden cold feeling is due to a paranormal presence rather than a more mundane source.

See above: "Am I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Justinian at 11:54 AM on June 18, 2008

And to think, there used to be a time when I could get in trouble for waving my junk at airport security. Well, now the balls are in the other sack!
posted to MetaFilter by Krrrlson at 2:52 PM on June 13, 2008

^Heck, I will apply for double shifts. Triple shifts even.

Hell, I'm gonna fly MORE now.
posted to MetaFilter by not_on_display at 3:06 PM on June 13, 2008

How long would you survive if you were transported back to 1000 AD in space?
posted to MetaFilter by rusty at 6:45 AM on June 12, 2008

What's really more likely is that YOU DON'T TRAVEL BACKWARDS IN TIME.
posted to MetaFilter by everichon at 10:23 AM on June 11, 2008

Thou might feek to conftruct from the limbs of the birch an INTER-NETTE of fuch proportionf af to rival the FTREETF and FEWERF of ancient ROME in com-plexity and magnificence. Then thou might fofter the development of a myriad of myriadf of FITEF acroff thine internet, which FITEF would be dedicated to the EXHIBITION of IMAGEF and TEXT both FACRED and PROFANE. Moftly profane though.
posted to MetaFilter by Mister_A at 10:37 AM on June 11, 2008

oh, sure. The razor is free. They nail you with the cost of an android shave-bot, though.
posted to MetaFilter by boo_radley at 12:12 PM on June 11, 2008

Indeed. At least Hitler was competent.
posted to MetaFilter by Dr-Baa at 10:35 AM on June 6, 2008

what reason do other countries have to keep lending dollars back to the US

cough
posted to MetaFilter by tachikaze at 12:23 PM on June 5, 2008

Wow interesting collection of links, thanks.

But America has always been for sale. In fact this isn't really news as last March The Department of Commerce launched their 2008 Invest in America program, of which Paulson's trip no doubt figures large. Attracting investment is one of Commerce's regular activities. Carlos M. Gutierrez (Secretary of Commerce) was banging this same drum last year, but I guess having the backdrop of a market meltdown gets... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mutant at 2:09 PM on June 5, 2008

God does not play dice with the Universe; God is the dice.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 1:48 AM on June 5, 2008

It seems to me that an astronaut in particular would have a bias towards life-changing experience upon viewing sights in space. Why? Consider how much time they have invested in the process of becoming an astronaut: the education, the tests, the massive amounts of manhours in training, as well as the cloak of prestige that envelops them when they don that NASA badge.

Consider anyone who has ever set their life goal to such high standards and then achieved it. Are they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tybeet at 11:59 AM on June 2, 2008

I've mentioned these quotes previously, but what the hell, they're relevant:

Suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth... home.
— Edgar... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:03 PM on June 2, 2008

The post above (though second-hand) seems pretty 'recognizable' to me, although it's about Hungary and I lived in what was then Yugoslavia.

One thing to realize is that while the West portrays the Communist period in Eastern Europe as relentlessly monotone and grey, there were (and are) huge, colorful differences in the situations in each country, within the regions of each country and amongst different peoples in each country or region. So it makes a big difference... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 1:54 AM on May 29, 2008

You need to cut the cord sometime. They'll get over it. All parents do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by loiseau at 9:04 PM on May 27, 2008

Some things that are generally regarded as offensive in certain cultures and contexts aren't regarded as offensive in others.
posted to MetaFilter by ibmcginty at 1:02 PM on May 25, 2008

This isn't racism.

(you fucking idiots).
posted to MetaFilter by autodidact at 2:37 PM on May 25, 2008

Every happening this or any universe is the result of causality

No, quantum events are random (though following a probability curve).


Quantum effects aren't really happening on the macrolevel in this way

Usually, no, because whatever particle behaves weirdly is counterbalanced by trillions of particles that behave normally. But in the mindbogglingly unlikely (but... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by martinrebas at 6:39 PM on May 24, 2008

why would everyone break into broadway song?

The molecules in your body are moving in response to quantum events, which generally cancel each other out. In an unlikely universe, coordinated quantum events might produce a muscle spasm, which makes you utter the beginning syllable of a Brodway song. In an even more unlikely universe, another collection of unlikely quantum events creates another spasm, making you follow the first syllable with another... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by martinrebas at 7:36 PM on May 24, 2008

Did your church ever burn a perfect hacatomb for us, John?
posted to MetaFilter by sebastienbailard at 9:17 PM on May 24, 2008

Every week my youth pastor would say to the class "God is good all the time," and we were expected to repeat back "All the time God is good." But that's not what I see in my Bible.

I am not a theologian, but my understanding is that Christians believe that the very *definition* of good is provided by God. In their world, there are no rules or morality independent of God. He is literally a giant puppetmaster and your happiness will... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by breath at 1:49 AM on May 25, 2008

electrical energy cannot be stored efficiently, cheaply, in sufficient quantity.

If only someone would invent a device that stored electricity for later use!
posted to MetaFilter by absalom at 5:58 PM on May 22, 2008