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By the way, what's with the hair? Is that part of the new image?
When it came time to make Aimee Mann's new video for the song Labrador, director Tom Scharpling dragged a reluctant Aimee Mann into making a shot-for-shot remake of the 1985 video for 'til tuesday's Voices Carry. The results are even funnier if you watch the original video immediately afterwards.
Good Functional Language for a Noob?
I'm looking for a solid language to work with for learning functional programming. I think Python piqued my curiosity, as has working with ANTLR and trying to get a handle on that beast of a program... Understanding syntax trees and seeing how LISP expressions are like trees... It's all fascinating to me. What's the best language for a functional newbie?
Zee German?
What is "the German" (dance? Game?) referred to in several Louisa May Alcott books?
Counting Rhos
Do you like biology? Do you like numbers? Like, actual numbers and not the television show? Take a look at BioNumbers.
How to discharge anger at an ex two years after the breakup?
When everything on the surface seems healed and healthy after a breakup, how do you quash obsessive thoughts and anger about an abusive ex- two years on?
Diamonds may be forever. Their apparent scarcity isn't.
The Russian Institute of Geology and Mineralogy announced
an allegedly previously undisclosed 60-mile-wide field of "trillions of carats" of impact diamonds caused by a metor strike into graphite rock in Siberia. The media is reporting that this has been known about since the 70s but undisclosed, but this is misleading. As detailed by Vishnevsky [academic summary PDF], for example, the presence of large amounts of impact diamonds within the impactites was very well known; it is perhaps better to say that the market-distorting sheer yield of the field (around an order of magnitude of increase over known reserves) had not previously been discussed. The diamonds produced by such high temperatures and pressures are around twice as tough as normal diamonds, and the extreme hardness and compartively cheap availibility is likely to hugely widen the usage of industrial diamonds even setting aside the gemstone issues. This does however put the 2011 sale of the Oppenheimer family 40 per cent stake in De Beers in an interesting light, especially as the field at once offers the prospect of huge diamond stones whilst devaluing De Beers' existing stockpile hugely.
How does fact checking a book work?
I'm looking for information on the process of fact checking a book manuscript. What are the norms in this field?
Where to try men's colognes in Toronto
Widest selection of men's colognes/scents in Toronto or GTA?
I like work but not when I have to.
If I feel like I "have" to do something, or that I'll get something out of doing something, I immediately lose interest. How can I learn to enjoy tasks for their own sake, even when I know that's not why I'm doing them?
SAD and Light Therapy
I'm looking to buy a "light box" to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder. I'd love some recommendations on a good quality unit. Suggestions from those who have tried and tested would be much appreciated!
The purpose of life is to keep the SF's score low.
N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős is a 1993 documentary directed by George Paul Csicsery about the life of mathematician Paul Erdős.
Paul Erdős (26 March 1913 -- 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. Erdős published more papers than any other mathematician in history, working with hundreds of collaborators. He worked on problems in combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, classical analysis, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory. He is also known for his "legendarily eccentric" personality. (Previously he was mostly a number)
Politicopsychopathology
According to Adorno, in psychoanalysis only the exaggerations are true.
If you wished to characterize the Democrats and the Republicans in terms of true exaggerations, you might say that the Republicans have become the Party of Psychosis while the Democrats have become the Party of Neurosis. The Republicans are psychotic because they have lost contact with reality, and orient their behavior not toward realities but toward fantasies. The Democrats are neurotic because they are aim-inhibited, as an old-fashioned shrink might say: their anxieties, hang-ups, and insecurities mean that they can’t attain satisfaction, since in a basic way they won’t even allow themselves to know what they want.
Future Bling of England
London advertising agency Iris have come under fire for the design of their staff benefits booklet. The photographs, while beautifully composed, are being criticised for their referencing of the chav stereotype, particularly at a time when benefit claimants are seeing drastic cuts proposed by the government.
Now usually I don't do this but uh....
The Jehovah's Witnesses produced an anti-masturbation video for the hard of hearing. And here it is mashed up with R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)". (SLYT)
Cook and cook and keep on cooking
Give me your tried-and-true tips on eating (consistently and healthily) when anxious.
Powerless over the Net
Many writers are
using software to fight what they call Internet Addiction that is interfering with their work. Zadie Smith thanked the programs, Freedom and Self Control, in the acknowledgements of her new novel,NW, which has a character who is addicted to online message boards. Other writers, including Booker short lister Will Self, prefer to use typewriters instead of being tempted by the Web's lures.
Scientists have recently linked internet addiction with a nicotine addiction gene, although there is no consensus on whether it is addiction or habituation.
Perfect or almost-perfect journalling system required, please.
Asking for a friend: I want an electronic journaling system that does EVERYTHING.
How to end a marriage with as little devastation as possible...
Question for a friend: How to end a marriage in the "best" way possible? Looking for useful advice from people who have been through it. Many details inside.
I need tips on bodybuilding while going to college full time and working part time.
I need tips on bodybuilding(specifically bulking up) while going to college full time and working part time. I live on my own and have no cooking experience.
How to avoid weight gain on Lyrica?
How to avoid weight gain on Lyrica?
"I want to encourage mainstream journalists to speak up when they discover their companies are misleading the people, doing PR for corporations and governments and disguising it as journalism."
Former CNN journalist Amber Lyon is speaking out against the network after it decided for "editorial reasons" not to air its documentary iRevolution on CNN International. Lyon worked on a 13-minute segment interviewing democratic activists in Bahrain, who risked their own safety to be heard. Glenn Greenwald reveals that at the same time, CNN was being paid by the Bahrain Economic Development Board to produce pro-state coverage as part of its "Eye On" series. A senior producer complained to Lyon about the nature of her coverage: "We are dealing with blowback from Bahrain govt on how we violated our mission, etc."
Winstanley's Eddystone lighthouse
On 25 November 1703, despite a severe gale warning, Winstanley insisted on going out to the lighthouse again along with five men to carry out some necessary repairs. On the 26th, England was hit by an event still known as “The Great Storm”, even today the benchmark by which all storms in England are measured.
Three Canadians, two kittens and one raft
"Only the kittens kept us sane."
In 1956, three Canadians lashed together nine old telephone poles to create a raft, loaded up on some comforts of home (including two kittens), and set off from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The kittens snoozed on the deck and climbed the masts. The men tied scarves around their heads, grew hipster beards, played chess, and drank coffee and liqueurs. Everyone ate the sardines. 88 days later, they reached Falmouth harbour in Britain. The kittens lived lavishly and happily ever after with the Duke of Bedford. The men had their ups and downs. Pictures. The Pathé newsreel from 1956. CBC Newfoundland reunites one of the sailors and a Newfoundland sailor who intercepted them over 50 years later. Radio summary of the tv story.
I'm Going To Hate This One, Frequently And Loudly
Diamanda Hagan is an obsessive Dr. Who fan in scary makeup. She posts extensive, entertaining, and exhaustively nerdy rants on some of the worst episodes of Nu Who. Behold! The Beast Below, Voyage Of The Damned, Victory Of The Daleks, Fear Her, The Next Doctor, Planet Of The Dead, The Doctor's Daughter, and The End Of Time (The Whole Damn Thing) (NSFW language)
Breaking an unhealthy thinking pattern
How can I encourage myself that it's okay to do something even if other people have done/experienced that very same thing?
Marikana Miners' Strike
Two weeks ago 34 striking miners were shot dead by police at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa.
Now, using laws once used by the apartheid regime to prosecute black activists fighting for democracy, the remaining 270 miners from the protest have been charged with their fellow workers' murders.
William Thurston
"The real satisfaction from mathematics is in learning from others and sharing with others."
William Thurston, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, has died. He revolutionized topology and geometry, insisting always that geometric intuition and understanding played just as important a role in mathematical discovery as did the austere formalism championed by the school of Grothendieck. Thurston's views on the relation between mathematical understanding and formal proof are summed up in his essay "On Proof and Progress in Mathematics."
The 555 Timer IC
The simple but powerful 555 timer IC can be rigged to produce a timed pulse or a square-waveform oscillation up to 68kHz. It later came in dual-timer (556), quad-timer (558), military-grade (SE555), and low-power (7555) configurations. Although it's largely obsolete in commercial electronics, it became beloved of amateurs wanting an easy and cheap way to make things buzz or blink. In memory of the recent passing of its inventor, Hans Camenzind, Make Magazine offers a retrospective of 555 contest winners. Here's a tutorial on chip function from instructables. How to build a toy piano. The morse code practice circuit. Miniature beeping circuit prank to baffle your friends and co-workers and a screaming altoids tin.
(Previously on metafilter, the 555 footstool.)
"I think she’s just a miracle.”
On August 5th, 2012 in London's North Greenwich Arena, 37-year-old Oksana Chusovitina placed 5th in Women's Vault. Thus ended her sixth Summer Olympics as a competitor, more than any other female gymnast in the history of the games. “Am I old? I don’t feel old,” Chusovitina said in Russian, through a translator, as if answering a ridiculous question. “I’m not doing anything amazing. I’m just like everybody else here.”
bons mots, poems, math, knitting and logic
Entertaining, collected bon mots and surprisingly interesting, collected poems by various authors. From a likable math brainiac's site, Dr T.E. Forster, a Cambridge University lecturer. He also knits and writes about Buddhist logic [pdf]. Bonus, there's a fun gif.
Preparing for an interview with a thin resume
How do I prepare for an interview for a job that I want, but am most likely not qualified for?
Help me pry open my oyster, please.
How should I approach planning for my new goals?
I need to get all of these DVDs out of my living room
How do I convert my movie library to digital?
What can I *add* to my life to help with my binge eating and/or desire to lose weight?
What can I *add* to my life to help with my binge eating and/or desire to lose weight? Additionally, what texts or exercises helped you work past bingeing?
Terror has a new game...
There seems to be a recent golden age of genuinely terrifying indie horror games that experiment with new ways to upset you. Slender [PC/Mac, free], is based on the creepy Slender Man mythos and has been garnering rave reviews and videos of terrified reactions as you try to escape the being that draws ever closer. The 4th Wall [free or $1 on Xbox/PC] is a even more abstract take on existential dread. SCP Containment Breach [PC, free] features the very disturbing Sculpture (even the picture in that link will creep you out) from the SCP series, it follows another SCP game - The Staircase. And there is more - Which [PC, free] has you stumble in the dark; Ib [PC, free] places you in the shoes of a girl in an abandoned art gallery, and Candles [free, Win/Mac] is all about atmospherics. On top of that, there are some cheap independent commercial games that generate great scares, such as Lone Survivor [online demo] and the now-famous Amnesia: The Dark Descent [PC/Mac/Linux, $20], whose upcoming sequel A Machine for Pigs, may have the best title of any game.
finding good student violins
My daughter has been taking violin lessons for about 5 years now. Her current violin was a beginner/student violin we bought from a music rental company in the northeast. Her instructor has recommended that we need to get a better violin for her, as she is progressing and is reaching the limits of this violin. Living in Maine, there aren't that many local outlets for reasonably priced/good quality student violins, so there are few options other than the internet. Please help me narrow down my choices.
Plugging Into Cool Sounds
Computer-based musicians have a wealth of free VST (Windows) and Audio Units (Mac) plugins to use in their favorite DAW software. Here are some of my favorites (primarily Mac, though most are available for Windows as well). If you share my passion for this stuff, you are likely already a fan of the excellent website KVR Audio, the ultimate resource for plugins of all stripes.
Bill Shatner speaks
Jeff Greenwald, author of Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth, conducted an interview with William Shatner. Comes in both coherent and full Shatner mode versions.
You Can Do Science Too
Citizen science refers to science conducted by average persons, e.g., people who are not full- or part-time professional scientists but nevertheless have a keen interest in scientific inquiry. Citizen Science Center is a resource for books, papers, discussions, and project listings related to citizen science that aims to convince you to get your hands dirty and do science now.
Living With Voices
A new way to deal with disturbing voices offers hope for those with other forms of psychosis.
Hans used to be overwhelmed by the voices. He heard them for hours, yelling at him, cursing him, telling him he should be dragged off into the forest and tortured and left to die. The most difficult things to grasp about the voices people with psychotic illness hear are how loud and insistent they are, and how hard it is to function in a world where no one else can hear them. It’s not like wearing an iPod. It’s like being surrounded by a gang of bullies. You feel horrible, crazy, because the voices are real to no one else, yet also strangely special, and they wrap you like a cocoon. Hans found it impossible to concentrate on everyday things. He sat in his room and hid. But then the voices went away for good.
My Trig Teachers Name Was Mr. Angle But That Didn't Make Him A Good Teacher.
My math skills are no where near where I'd like them to be. Can you recommend a self-paced math learning site? Pretty much any branch of math can apply.