MetaFilter

Can we start one big apology thread and let everyone grovel in one spot if these apologies must be seen by all? Serious request. Because it's cool that people want to own up to their asshaberdashery, but all the threads for this are getting as tired as the "can't we all be nice?" threads. They're even starting to look more like a ploy for attention than a genuine apology. Wouldn't it be more genuine to send an email to the people you know you've offended instead of grandstanding? If... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by katillathehun at 12:11 PM on August 7, 2008

An interest in Ayn Rand is a form of acne of the intellect; it usually develops around the time of puberty and interferes with a person's ability to get dates, most people suffer from it to some degree (boys more than girls), it generally disappears without leaving much trace, but some people are deeply scarred and find that it reduces their attractiveness to the opposite sex for the rest of their lives.

I know almost nothing of Atlas Shrugged, but based on claims I've... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jamjam at 11:09 AM on August 6, 2008

Something Lick-ed Yisway Tums.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 7:09 PM on August 4, 2008

Someone else pointed out his pretensions in implying (I haven't read enough Derrida to pun 'imlying') that he's a proffesional historian.

For the record, I have never implied that I was a professional historian. I see myself as a historian, in the sense that creative writing majors see themselves as writers. This criticism is about on the same level as "OMG BARACK OBAMA CLAIMED HE WAS A PERFESSER!"
posted to MetaTalk by nasreddin at 10:51 PM on August 2, 2008

The priestly Egyptian hierophants and Chinese Mandarins were the aristocrats of language, kind of like investment bankers talking about hedge funds, and they aimed to create a language indecipherable by the plebes. Likewise, to aim for obscurity is to court pedantry and irrelevance. It is in some sense a deeply conservative impulse. Language is, among other things, a mode of exactitude: even when one strives to be impressionistic (as in a tone poem), one's language seeks a kind of semantic... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ornate insect at 7:30 PM on August 2, 2008

I agree somewhat with tkchrist, although I think the larger reason why both this thread and the other hipster thread are so deeply unsatisfying, pedantic, overwrought, is b/c there isn't that much to discuss in the first place. "Hipsterism" as a topic is too gaseous to generate much light. As a result, both threads are more reflections of people's own pet interests and theoretical preoccupations. Sometimes when there are no particulars to orient a discussion, the vacuum is filled with... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ornate insect at 4:48 PM on August 2, 2008

Black sheep are still sheep
posted to MetaFilter by Bathtub Bobsled at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2008

Dude, if that gets out it's going to dent my reputation.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 6:43 AM on August 1, 2008

We also need to ban ties.
-
Only if you're talking about the wearing of them in a "proper public/corporate dress" context. They do come in mighty handy under other circumstances.

Mostly ties help me determine if somebody is Avril Lavigne or not.
posted to MetaFilter by Donnie VandenBos at 11:12 PM on July 30, 2008

Gravity's Rainbow is a book that I've tried to read a couple of times. Every time it goes like this:

Oh hey! Man, I bet I could get through Gravity's Rainbow this time! I do have a long train ride to work, after all! So what if it takes me a month or longer, I can handle that!

Oh wow! This is awesome! I totally forgot how great these beginning chapters are! I wonder what stopped me from finishing this all those other times?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by shmegegge at 2:17 PM on July 28, 2008

so by "Britpop" they mean any British band since 1988, plus the Lemonheads for some reason? Here's my top five Bali Beat bands:

1. Radiohead
2. Rage Against the Machine
3. The Beatles
4. Beyonce
5. The Lemonheads
posted to MetaFilter by minifigs at 12:55 AM on July 28, 2008

You're... you're weird.
posted to MetaTalk by katillathehun at 5:01 PM on July 25, 2008

*whoosh*
posted to MetaFilter by quonsar at 6:58 PM on July 24, 2008

He is right, but he is asshole.
posted to MetaFilter by beelzbubba at 5:15 AM on July 24, 2008

That sounds like a challenge!

Do it to it! Really, the problem comes in a couple forms: display space and computational complexity.

Display:

if you want to graph a network of, say, 30,000 usernames, you need to find a way to show that off. Showing it off in a .gif means 30K * the number of pixels an average node and it's surrounding spaces takes up. Imagining a very tightly, very uniformly packed... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 9:51 AM on July 23, 2008

To be fair, the History, Discovery and SciFi channels don't have much more variation than Lifetime.

The Left Front Tire Treads of Hitler's Tanks: Behind the Scenes

Shark Week Presents: Shark Attack (Presented by Sharky Sharkington)

The Time Travelling Scientist, His Inexplicably Hot Girlfriend and Their Rocket Dog Save the World
posted to MetaFilter by DU at 4:03 PM on July 22, 2008

People are just going to keep on piling on in the hopes that you flame out. That is not how the general MeFi community is but there are a lot of jerks on MeTa.

While I won't dispute that there are a lot of jerks on MeTa and can't deny that I've been among them, I do quibble with your first assertion. The point isn't to make someone flame out/lose their shit/run away from MetaHome and never come back. I don't want people to feel that way, and I'm... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Alvy Ampersand at 10:48 PM on July 17, 2008

I was once trolling out in Long Island on my dad's dinky motorboat "The African Queen 7" (ask me what his favorite movie is) and I caught a sand shark, which is just like a regular shark except about the size of a large Italian Combo Hero in Astoria and my friend's dad said if you catch it you have to eat it, so we took it home and awkwardly butchered it and grilled it and ate it, it tasted like piss, two-stroke motor oil and biting into a vitamin E capsule. I still like seafood... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Divine_Wino at 2:02 PM on July 16, 2008

Obviously, espresso of this calibre probably isn't akin to single malt scotch, but there is some precedent.

It is Murky Coffee though. They're one of the most notable coffee shops in the USA, and go to extensive trouble to source the best beans, have the best espresso machines -- often custom modified. Similarly for grinders. Go through extensive testing to make sure that the cup they serve is as close to perfect as it can be.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott at 4:51 PM on July 14, 2008

A little condescending, a little passive-aggressive... I like your game.
posted to MetaTalk by Divine_Wino at 11:10 AM on July 10, 2008

Boy, oh, boy ... if this were "Daily Kos", half you traitors would have your comments hidden in the name of freedom!

Seriously ... after his Jerusalem flip-flop, I pretty much wrote off Obama. I never fell for the Jedi mind tricks anyway. I tended to read his speeches rather than hear them delivered; which tends to immunize one against common rhetoric. Then I'd wander into a thread of enchanted true-believers gushing over it and I'd feel like the only sober... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave at 6:01 PM on July 9, 2008

"I'd much rather see "nasty words" than see nasty words being policed, or people self-censoring."

I'd rather always have everyone use good judgment rather than have any police force, and I'd rather that beer made me thinner and pot made me more ambitious.
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 6:52 PM on July 9, 2008

Wikipedians are still better than IMDBians.

Biography for
ACTOR GUY

Trivia

He was born the same year as another actor guy

He is known for playing a different character in every movie except sequels

Appeared in two films where characters from another era dress in period clothing

When he smiles, the corners of his mouth turn... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by katillathehun at 11:57 PM on July 7, 2008

Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America writes "'Open to the public' doesn't mean 'feel free to treat this space like your living room.'"

Thanks Dr. Steve!

And "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" means you can assemble in your living room, and mail in a petition, which no one will deliver, because of the anthrax scare.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 5:45 PM on July 7, 2008

A for profit corporation exists for one purpose, and if it deviates from that single purpose it can be successfully sued by its stockholders. That singular purpose is "make as much money as possible". If breaking the law and paying the fines costs less than obeying the law they'll break the law and pay the fines. If treating its employees well costs more than treating their employees poorly, they'll treat their employees poorly.

For profit corporations are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sotonohito at 10:25 AM on July 5, 2008

Oh, cripes, this again. You know why it doesn't make sense to permit private control of water supplies? Because it falls out of the fucking sky, people. Where's the ownership argument there? "It fell on my land, therefore it's mine"? Next up: wind rights.

The supermarket argument makes no sense because a tremendous amount of labor and material goes into growing crops. When fresh bananas start falling out of the sky, give me a call.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phooky at 1:22 AM on July 5, 2008

GREAT MOMENTS FOR CORTEX

That is what I am naming my new giant donut and multiple hastily thrown up and then abandoned blogs store.
posted to MetaTalk by ND¢ at 1:44 PM on July 2, 2008

You know, as a programmer, I'm constantly coming face to face with the word "void." Public void. Private void. Abstract public void.

When I see this, I like to imagine that my functions are returning an actual void; something without mass, shape, color, or volume. While some may be disturbed to come face-to-face with the void on a daily basis, I find myself to be comforted by its presence. It's as if, by creating code, I'm somehow shaping the void, and... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Afroblanco at 12:59 PM on July 2, 2008

Astro Zombie just told one of the greatest stories in metafilter history. Sidebar it. Now. I'm all choked up over here, and I'm usually too busy feeling superior to people over the internet to bother getting emotional about anything.
posted to MetaFilter by shmegegge at 12:28 PM on July 1, 2008

Here's a true story about how awesome Pixar is.

As some of you know, when the trailer first came out, my girlfriend, Courtney, burst into tears at the trailer. She was emabrrassed but somewhat amused by this, as so she made a video of herself watching the trailer on her computer, knowing she would start crying every time that little robot said his own name.

After a few months, she started to get trickles of emails from people at Pixar who said... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 12:18 PM on July 1, 2008

It was like a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment. … Much to Disney’s chagrin, I will do my part to avoid future environmental armageddon by boycotting any and all WALL-E merchandise and I hope others join my crusade.

haha! I will protest a message against over-consumption and corporations by boycotting a corporation's products! I have clearly given this a lot of thought!
posted to MetaFilter by shmegegge at 11:47 AM on July 1, 2008

sorry, old joke is old
posted to MetaTalk by empath at 9:24 PM on June 27, 2008

The Big Red Button should just say "I'm a loser" on it.

Or, for makth lulth, rotate a set of alternate MeTa post-friendly phrases like "I have sand in my vagina" or "I'm a retard" or "Hurf Durf Button Pusher." Then, whenever someone is tempted to leave with a flourish of their wizard hat, they'll be faced with the burning desire to complain one last time about the offending text. We've got to know how to play to the target audience... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:33 AM on June 25, 2008

I'm bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and wearing my Anti-Projection Cap, so I believe I'm qualified to confirm that sluglicker is indeed coming off as a bit aggressive.

Do let me know if my aggression-confirmation services are required further. Good day, sirs and ma'ams.
posted to MetaTalk by katillathehun at 11:11 PM on June 24, 2008

That Joke That Burhanistan Just Made About You
AN EXPLICATION
~ by cortex

1. You said, of favorites, "just look at the people he gives them to".
2. The implication is that he gives them to subpar people.
3. Burhanistan noted tacitly that you have many favorites.
4. A tremendous portion of those were awarded you by a quixotic davey_darling.
5. Burhanistan states that "davey_darling... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 9:38 PM on June 23, 2008

I guess Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus! LOL!

The problem is that the women quoted in the article, who are quite obviously insufferable hens, confuse men's conversation filters with being boring. But these women would never want to have the conversation that would ensue if men simply said what was on their minds. For example:

F: My God, you're so boring!

M: What?

F: Boring! You... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 8:21 AM on June 19, 2008

OMG I jujst did it's/its error. I RESIGN MY COMMISSION AS METAFILTER GRAMMAR JERK 1ST CLASS.
posted to MetaFilter by Mister_A at 11:49 AM on June 16, 2008

On further thought, I can't believe that you would even question what disclaimer a professional gives when giving advice to people. You sure do have a lot of nerve. What you people don't seem to realize is how lucky you are to even be interacting with doctors and (even more so cause really, they touch gross stuff for a living) lawyers. It is like when the gods used to walk the earth and give shiny rocks to mere mortals. You should thank me and recite poems to me and every other lawyer who is a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ND¢ at 6:55 AM on June 4, 2008

I'd say '68 Cardinals, OP was Bob Gibson.
posted to MetaTalk by carsonb at 7:44 AM on June 3, 2008

Recast without the quasi-spiritual pathetic fallacy:

Cities that are dominated by one particular kind of endeavour, and successful in that endeavour, have an atmosphere that rewards success in that endeavour.

That's blindingly obvious. This essay is tripe. read some Jane Jacobs if you want real insight into the inner life of cities. Or Lewis Mumford. Anyone but this fool.
posted to MetaFilter by WPW at 10:36 AM on June 2, 2008

If you want a big laugh, you could go with good old Shel Silverstein. A woman I know married a man with a young daughter, and the daughter read this one at the wedding.

My Rules

If you want to marry me, here's what you'll have to do:
You must learn how to make a perfect chicken-dumpling stew.
And you must sew my holey socks,
And soothe my troubled mind,
And develop the knack for scratching my... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GaelFC at 2:55 PM on November 1, 2005

True Love

True love. Is it normal
is it serious, is it practical?
What does the world get from two people
who exist in a world of their own?

Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason,
drawn randomly from millions but convinced
it had to happen this way - in reward for what?
For nothing.
The light descends from nowhere.
Why on these two and not on... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sidhedevil at 12:56 PM on January 5, 2005

The disadvantage of being a man or a woman is simply that at some point you have to look in the mirror and realize that you just ain't fucking tough enough for this old world. Advantages include: clean sheets, orgasms, book stores, a few moments of blessed silence, The Velvet Underground and roast pork shoulder with rice and beans in the Puerto Rican style, add to that as you wish.
posted to MetaTalk by Divine_Wino at 8:16 PM on May 29, 2008

My all-time favorite smackdown: Matthews v. Malkin.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 9:49 AM on May 28, 2008

It's only interesting in that she said the same exact thing to Time magazine, but got a pass.

It's also only interesting if the minutiae of this particular horse race matters to you, every back and forth, every misstep and misspeak and gaffe and videotaped nosepick. I know that the issue of "who is going to become president of the US" is a topic that is of interest to people outside the borders of the US and I too am interested in how this... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 7:10 AM on May 24, 2008

I would like to add to this discussion on Realplayer by saying [buffering 20%...] ...
posted to MetaFilter by Deep Dish at 8:14 PM on May 20, 2008

Mostly, it seems like you rolled a natural 20 and fumbled your post.

(And just to toss another spanner in, primary retention rates have historically been high, meaning that Clinton's likely adding Dem votes simply by carrying the primary to voters who have never had much stake before.

Oh, and while I have my beefs with Clinton, c'mon, against McCain? In a heartbeat. Of course, after eight years of the stump-humper we've got, I'd probably vote... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 2:56 AM on May 17, 2008

...which does not support your argument that "any" woman can have sex at any time she desires

Average represents most people. While it is doubtful that below average women would be equally successful (75%), the acceptance base rates are so high for average women, it is unlikely to even be closer to male rates. Unattractive women can get sex easily enough as well, which we know from related kinds of studies. In fact unattractive women have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dgaicun at 6:47 PM on May 10, 2008

Unrelated: I had this idea a while back to make a mefite baseball-card generator that would take various numbers from a user profile and create a little table of stats just like on the back of a Topps card. That'd be kind of cute.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 3:22 PM on April 30, 2008

Now is as good a time as any to mention something I've been wanting to say for a while. Because I work here, with my odd flexible schedule, and this huge crowd of bright and shiny nerds [and the rest of youse] it also lets me do the other things I do in my life like helping the little libraries of Central Vermont with their tech support issues, teaching email to old people, and travelling around the world teaching librarians why they shouldn't be afraid of computers. This would literally be... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 5:55 AM on April 29, 2008