MetaFilter

My suspicion is that the spill was caused by somebody trying to prove that the universe is a computer simulation -- if you can figure out an easier way to crash a massively multithreaded random number generator than dumping out a whole truckload of dice at runtime, I'd like to hear it.
posted to MetaFilter by Strange Interlude at 12:38 PM on September 18, 2019

ok guys my sr yr of high school I bought this jacket. I thought it was the dopest.

I still have... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by fluttering hellfire at 6:47 PM on September 17, 2019

The opponents of single-payer (i.e. everyone except for Bernie and Warren) consistently come across as dishonest, to me. I'm in favor of single-payer, but recognize that there are some drawbacks, especially when it comes to implementation, utilization (at least initially), and the political problem of passing it. None of these single-payer critics are attacking m4a along those lines, though.

They do things like:
-bring up the costs, which, when compared to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by davedave at 5:48 PM on September 12, 2019

If cars are so fast, how come they can't jump over fences?
posted to MetaFilter by J.K. Seazer at 2:27 PM on September 12, 2019

A couple other thoughts (I probably care about this too much, but well, I've poured an ungodly amount of time into thinking about this topic...)

- It's great that you're interested in webnovels, for example. That's a great guiding star. I know a lot of ABCs who sort of feel guilty for not being able to read, and started to learn out of a sort of guilt, and none of them really were able to stick with it because that's not terribly motivating. I'd try to find positive... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by wooh at 8:37 AM on September 11, 2019 marked best answer

I am not an ABC. But I have gotten pretty literate in Mandarin, and can currently recognize about 6000 characters (and am working on being able to recognize every character in the 4 great novels).

I always have known many ABCs who did exactly what you did, to varying amounts of success. I say the above not to brag or whatever, just to qualify my advice. I'd say it's informed, but I haven't been in your shoes.

From everything I've seen, being... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by wooh at 8:19 AM on September 11, 2019

So, I’ve had some personal experience of Ms. Love and how she treats the people around her (like dirt). And she herself is, or at least was, prone to actively performing, promoting and perpetuating conduct that we would today recognize as abusive and furthermore problematic around consent and harassment. Some of that may have be en related to ongoing issues around depression, addiction and recovery etc., which were spilling into public view regularly at that time, but...yeah.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 6:55 AM on September 4, 2019

I have been a competitive shooter since I became a member of the U.S.M.C. rifle and pistol team in 1956.
For twenty years the NRA's focus was on target shooting, hunting and gun safety.
Targets were simple bulls eye targets or animal replica targets. Not human replica targets. Then in the mid 70's a group of crazies took control of the organization. Everything became self defense and they're going to take my guns.
Now competitive marksmanship matches are all... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by notreally at 10:05 AM on September 4, 2019

> Do you have a proposal for a replacement enforcement mechanism or are the nations highways going to be a Car Wars like free for all where driving to Disney means loading up the rocket launchers and napalm?

that is literally better than the police.

i mean if we need a replacement for the police it needs to be community-appointed and the community the police occupy need to have hiring and firing privileges over the police,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 7:01 PM on August 31, 2019

You should not.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 41swans at 8:43 AM on August 29, 2019

There are plenty of small solo board games, including war games. These tend to use chits and small cards, though, rather than pieces per se; it's not clear to me whether you're actually looking for something to play, something to look good, or both.

If it's just to play, consider starting with something simpler like Decision Games' Mini Series (here's a link to Lawrence of Arabia: The Arab Revolt 1917-18). This would play well in bed on a tea tray (there are plenty of... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by some little punk in a rocket at 9:33 PM on August 27, 2019

I cut out Twitter over a year ago. It took a few months, but I got my attention span back. (I could NOT read books while I was on Twitter. Later, I suddenly could!)

Sometimes at work I use apps like StayFocusd and LeechBlock to enforce not going to or spending too much time on certain sites. I think you can sync some of those across devices too.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by purple_bird at 11:48 AM on August 27, 2019

So much of this reads like MeFi is a video game that launched essentially in beta and everyone is pissed it wasn't 100% launched with a working business model and 100% of the features expected, so all the threads are filled with angry games and spitballing people.

Of course, this isn't a video game that was oversold -- this is a website that's been going for 20 years. It's not the feature set has changed; the "table stakes" have changed. In a sense, it's design... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by dw at 8:19 AM on August 22, 2019

I think the "who are the alternative role models for men?" is a completely legitimate question that deserves a serious cultural conversation.

tbh, I think it's kind of a weird question (what is a "role model", in this context? How much can someone you never meet actually be a model to you of how to conduct yourself? Is there some reason that role models for men must be other men?), but let me propose an alternative: LeBron James.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by protocoach at 11:27 AM on August 20, 2019

representation matters because if you don’t see people who look or talk or live like you much in the wild, only within your immediate surroundings and in a heterogeneous way, you need to know that being a different way exists. White cis dudes exist all over the fucking spectrum already. There’s nothing they are seen to be incapable of, no way of being that’s denied to them. Fuck amplifying more of that. Not, to be clear, fuck the needs of people who grow up wanting it. But... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zinful at 11:26 AM on August 20, 2019

In places where there's more demand for places to store cars than there is space to store cars, there are two possible outcomes.

One is that the parking is free, with little or no incentive to move cars. This results in people who want to park their cars circling for blocks. The negative externalities of this approach are demonstrated above, colorfully.

Another possibility is that street parking is priced so that there is an incentive for people... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by asperity at 8:44 AM on August 14, 2019

A Better Reason To Unsubscribe From The New York Times
posted to MetaFilter by The Whelk at 11:09 AM on August 10, 2019

I give them a dollar, look them in the eye, and wish them good luck. If I don't have any cash for some reason, I say, "I'm sorry, I can't help you today," and keep walking. (In the car, I just shake my head.)

[This is on the assumption that the person in question doesn't seem erratic in a way that could be dangerous. In that case, I don't engage.]

I also have a monthly donation set to donate to what I feel is the best homeless-oriented... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Countess Sandwich at 11:59 AM on August 5, 2019

When you leave comments about the obesity epidemic, two things I ask you to remember. First, it is not a factual epidemic, and if you’re blaming anything on capitalism, consider the $60 billion diet industry in your concerns. Second, please remember that fat people are your fellow mefites. I am neither sedentary nor am I someone who eats much processed food. Some of us might be, the same as people in smaller bodies might be, but we don’t moralize them like we do fat bodies.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by the thorn bushes have roses at 11:27 PM on August 2, 2019

I knew so many kids in college who were working their way through because their parents refused to give them any money to live on or tuition or give them emancipation so they could get credit for not having what their parents refused to give them. The state determined your parents could afford however much and that's what you're on the hook for whether your parents give it to you or not. I knew SO MANY OF THEM. The fact that people get away with this scam even though kids who actually have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bleep at 9:56 PM on August 1, 2019

I tend to follow the self-motivation path myself, but I’ve watched my independent contractor friends pimp themselves out for recognition and reputation. It’s a fundamental part of their job. So, to get constant recognition for your work:

1) Name recognition. Get those business cards and make sure you spread them far and wide. Send project updates to larger groups, and make sure there are plenty of high level CCs. Learn everyone’s names and use them frequently — it... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Tell Me No Lies at 7:28 AM on July 29, 2019

Baby Shaqs

do dooo do doot do doo...
posted to MetaFilter by pykrete jungle at 5:04 AM on July 21, 2019

MeFi Seattle Trivia (usual team name Manifest Destiny’s Child using 20 Years of Cat Scans this week) salutes Metafilter’s 20th and has donated their $67 winnings from the night of the 14th.

Also, I cheated to get my account when signups were closed. I am not sorry.
posted to MetaTalk by skyscraper at 11:50 PM on July 17, 2019

Broken record wellred here to again recommend Emotional Agility, low woo, high your feelings are totally human and normal and you get to have them.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by wellred at 1:05 PM on July 16, 2019 marked best answer

Like JPD I invest in and restructure failing companies, including media companies, for living ... and also, alas, liquidate the ones that cannot be successfully restructured. (I'm also a barely 4-digit MeFite who joined in 1999.)

MeFi should raise capital. Not charitable donations, but real capital, likely in the form of a low-interest convertible bond or loan in the $200k range against a post-money valuation of $500k or so. This permits the $7k per... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by MattD at 9:28 AM on July 14, 2019

Not sure if people are still reading at the end of this long thread, but:

It's not just that people are leaving. It's that people who are still here are posting and commenting less. Fewer words on the site means the site is smaller, there's less to see, we offer less to potential new members.

Since I've been here a long time, and over the course of time have posted and commented a lot, and since and I post and comment a lot less than I used to,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by escabeche at 10:35 AM on July 13, 2019

Whew, that was a lot of reading.

I feel for cortex. This must be a gut punch of a thread loaded with bewildering and internally conflicting animus, ideas, suggestions, and complaints. It's a lot to take. I'm sorry and I know from personal experience it's hard and irritating. In the life of an organization, sometimes everything that's hiding in a mixed bag tensions left unaddressed for a long time just come rushing out - the "lancing of a boil" in the usual... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 7:41 AM on July 13, 2019

The ~600 comments so far have been really enlightening and they collectively show the enormous challenges in running Metafilter in this year of 2019.

People want a business plan. They want to get Metafilter LLC to at least a break even point, which requires one or more of a: strategy plan, SWOT analysis, prioritised list of tasks, cost-benefit analysis of each task, a fundraising plan, volunteer and paid consultants, existing and new user research, surveys, site UI and... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by adrianhon at 2:43 AM on July 13, 2019

Neither you nor I have any idea what that answer is, and I don't believe anyone has done any work around that.
A lot of people have done work on understanding how online communities function. This research is housed in the general field of human-computer interaction, where I am a professor. My area of expertise is online communities. So this is a bit difficult, because your feeling that no one has done work around this does not match the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by sockermom at 12:08 PM on July 12, 2019

That every FPP be a short essay to justify itself submitted for for critique rather than, say, a link to an interesting thing on the internet to discuss is very much a later development . It’s fucking obnoxious and it’s why I’ve given up on doing FPPs.
posted to MetaTalk by Artw at 7:07 AM on July 12, 2019

This thread is so dismaying. I feel like last time there was a "we need funds" post, the vast majority response was an outpouring of love for this place, eagerness to support it, and by the way, lots of ideas for how to help. This time, it feels like we're circling the drain and many of the ideas being offered up are steeped in bitterness that competes with their helpfulness. I didn't know that site participation and ad revenue had plummeted so much. I hadn't thought about the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by daisyace at 5:42 PM on July 11, 2019

The thing to note about schools not being great in some areas is that studies have shown (don't have the link offhand) that if you are decently well-off and of privilege, sending your kids to not-great public schools likely won't hurt their performance and likely will be beneficial to those around them. Sending your kids to private school is what I would consider an unfortunate St. Louis tradition that tends to have a lot more to do with race, class, and/or religion than actual public-school... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by limeonaire at 9:35 AM on July 15, 2019

This might sound like a strange suggestion but bear with me.

Check out How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne. You need to know going in that this was written by a man who would eventually become the Libertarian candidate for U.S. President. As such, it's riddled with Libertarian ideology.

But the first part of the book is, quite simply, about choosing and pursuing personal freedom. About doing what is right... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jdroth at 8:17 PM on July 11, 2019

I was motivated to write about my relationship with Metafilter over the 19.5 years I've been a member and what I'd do to turn things around (publicly ask members for more money, improve sharing to social media, start a newsletter)...
posted to MetaTalk by adrianhon at 2:14 PM on July 11, 2019

Young people go where other young people are.

Hello! That's me! I am the new user you are trying to attract. I'm 22 and joined last year. I talk about MetaFilter sometimes to my friends, but it is a hard sell. There's no quick pitch where I can say "MetaFilter is for ___" or easy way to highlight cool things from here. If you scroll down the main page it just looks like a content aggregator, and the internet already has too much of those.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by storytam at 10:10 PM on July 10, 2019

So, this comment turned into more thoughts than where it started. But here's where it started:

Is it really true that the active userbase of the site is shrinking? Is that true in terms of pageviews and/or number of members who post/comment monthly? And if so, on what timescale has that shrinkage been happening?

Both traffic and user activity peaked around the turn of the decade and have fallen off since.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 2:57 PM on July 10, 2019

"But to behave as if he were a monster, equivalent to a rapist, and to circulate petitions threatening to boycott anyone who would dare to hire him, to create a situation where he can’t work—that is, to me, absurd and even cruel. Especially given the real, powerful monstrousness that is upon us right now, about which there is nothing subtle or sublimated, and which we cannot stop with words or hand gestures."

I'm ambivalent on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:53 PM on July 9, 2019

Hooray! I love an Afforestation thread!

I suppose we should skip the politics of re-planting 'farmland' in the United States at the moment, as all of the reactionary forces of the Farm Bureau and a Republican adminstration are unwilling to consider that this 'farmland' (which includes thousands of square miles of former wetland forest) needs to be re-configured in a changed climate---Can we finally get rid of subsurface tile drains, y'all? Petrochemical Ag is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by eustatic at 8:49 AM on July 7, 2019

Perhaps what happened is that you expressed your emotions, fully and authentically, and your husband has made you feel that he has heard you and understands and does not disagree with you in any way. Feeling heard is extremely cathartic and intimate, so your relationship may, at this moment very much be meeting your needs. It sounds like you expressed yourself well, and responded at a level that feels sensible - nothing histrionic like suicide threats, nothing self-sabotaging like not expressing... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Jane the Brown at 4:33 AM on July 7, 2019 marked best answer

Burn, by James Patrick Kelly is a thoroughly complex exploration of a far-future planetary society that seeded genetically-engineered trees to convert a grubby industrial colony planet into lush forests. The whole world is named Walden and is under a sort of "simplicity decree" not unlike the rules in many Mennonite communities in the US.

It did a pretty good job of presenting what we'd think of as a simple and obvious approach into a complex situation that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:25 AM on July 7, 2019

And of course people on Twitter are claiming this is only promotion for her upcoming book.

Remember, only conservatives are allowed to be both capitalists and good guys, liberals have to choose one.
posted to MetaFilter by lefty lucky cat at 12:49 PM on June 21, 2019

Reading E. Jean’s advice column in Elle as a teenaged girl, you felt like she was a 90s Auntie Mame or a more independent Carrie Bradshaw—witty, adventurous, chic, always wearing beautiful clothes, and probably constantly trailed by friends and male admirers. She lived in New York City, she was a writer! It hurts to read this piece. I hate that it feels like no women get to escape this, not even the ones who seem like they might have. Reading that she hasn’t had sex since... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sallybrown at 12:43 PM on June 21, 2019

I moved into management in (natch) management consulting. I was at a big 4 firm where the model is basically up-or-out (i.e. if you aren't moving up the ladder, you are being counseled out). Fairly early on I was managing teams of consultants and analysts, and I've been in management ever since. I've always had the kind of work ethic that helped me get the button-pushing parts of my delivery work done with extra cycles to put on things like recruiting, business development, organizational... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by allkindsoftime at 3:17 PM on June 18, 2019

Augusta is one of the nodal points of our national toxic masculinity ley network. If I hear someone at work lionizing this place it usually means I’ll have to experience at least one temper tantrum in our professional relationship.
posted to MetaFilter by q*ben at 4:45 PM on June 16, 2019

I'm more sexually needy in our relationship than my husband. Ways we've worked on this problem have included changing the definition of what "Sex" is. We also have the "I could eat" rule in place. ie Sometimes you're not hungry but if someone starts cooking something that smells good around you, you could eat. If one of us feels like sex & tries to initiate with the other the other person has three options, yes,no or I could eat.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by wwax at 7:56 AM on June 12, 2019

The first thing to try is to attach to one of the stuck processes in a debugger and see if there are any clues to be had from the backtrace. You'll need root privileges on your remote server to do this. Here's an example where the Python process is just waiting for keyboard input:


$ sudo apt install gdb # if necessary
$ sudo gdb
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.5) 7.11.1
(gdb) attach 29156
Attaching to... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cyanistes at 12:31 PM on June 11, 2019

Grading papers at a local bar/restaurant, sitting by myself, idly thinking about being an undergraduate again, and the people I knew, and going driving on the back roads in the car of an ex, I wonder how he's doing now... the song playing in the bar turns to Marty Stuart's cover of "High on a Mountaintop," and I am poleaxed with longing and regret:

Well, I wonder if you ever think of me
Or has time erased your memory
As I... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MonkeyToes at 2:22 PM on June 10, 2019

Yeah, I live in Seattle. 200k is more than 5x what I make with my service industry and professor jobs. I nearly married someone who was making just over that amount, and I didn’t leave only because of the money (relationships are more complicated than class struggles) but it poisoned the well in unexpected ways. My life was absurdly, grotesquely, invisibly easier at that income, and it became clear as we expanded our social circle to include others at that level that nobody... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zinful at 11:01 PM on June 9, 2019

I think the meaningful break point for this particular kind of analysis is the income at which you start thinking of private school as the appropriate and socially-expected route for children without any particular special needs, because that's when you're divorcing yourself from a vital part of our public infrastructure. In NYC, that's basically a two-lawyer family: earning around $500K or so. Not the .01% for Manhattan.
posted to MetaFilter by praemunire at 12:00 PM on June 9, 2019

Counterpoint: Please be a grey man. Keep your prepping a secret. Act completely normal. Don’t involve other people in your creepy apocalypse neighbour-murder fetishism, you pathetic basic motherfuckers.
posted to MetaFilter by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:22 PM on June 8, 2019