MetaFilter

it's a tempest in a d-cup.
posted to MetaFilter by kuujjuarapik at 9:05 PM on February 3, 2008

Oh for crying out loud.

I have been twice to Cuba in recent years and visited organic farms and workers quarters. I adore the island and its people. But it is an absolutely miserable place to live for ordinary Cubans. For all the wonders of organic Cuban gardening the country can't feed itself and can't afford to buy enough food from abroad. Cuban agriculture is not a model.
posted to MetaFilter by LarryC at 9:00 PM on January 24, 2008

Voila. MetaFilter Bingo.
posted to MetaTalk by Plutor at 5:04 AM on January 8, 2008

I think the appeal of this kind of criminal comes from the craft involved.

Every day we hear about would be criminals who fail at even the most basic level. Then there are those who are willing to put others lives in harms way to get their ill gotten gains; the convenience store robbers and car-jackers and the like.

Whereas here we see someone who committed a year of his life to setting up his contacts and gaining access to the secure area.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by quin at 11:55 AM on March 13, 2007

Added #25, #20, #16, #11, #8 and especially #2 to my Amazon Wish List.

"...a gun that fires teddy bears. Although crime is rare in Japan, when it happens, it is absolutely hilarious." Here in the US, we have Constitutional Right to Bear Arms.
posted to MetaFilter by wendell at 6:44 PM on November 18, 2007

Here's an abstract that discusses what I think Steven C. Den Beste is referring to in terms of carbon ratios.

But I am thinking about this question as a geologist and not as a biologist, which I suppose complicates things somewhat since oil can migrate to shallower depths. That is, just because the oil is trapped in a Jurassic deposit doesn't always mean the biomass that formed that oil is from the Jurassic. Even with that caveat, I stand by my previous answer: It... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by adiabat at 1:44 AM on October 27, 2007

In America, liberal means a communist homosexual who hates freedom. In France, where I'm living this year, it means a genetically-modified, burger-munching capitalist who wants to abolish the government. I like to think of myself as being a mix between these two.
Don't runaway from the word. Even if you're successful eventually the word 'progressive' will get similarly tainted.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by greytape at 2:41 AM on October 26, 2007

Does it disturb you that I don't somehow fit in the box you want to put me into?

Steven, do you not understand that any post you make has to make a point that you either totally agree with, or totally disagree with? And it's up to the readers to assume which side you come down on.

Just posting something because it's interesting or ironic or noteworthy is a cheap tactic which will not be tolerated, so just cut it out.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Deej at 2:03 PM on October 14, 2007

Here's the transcript of the aforementioned Good Eats episode, where AB explains the function of some of the ingredients in the recipe variations.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by DevilsAdvocate at 7:58 AM on September 27, 2007

This article doesn't really show you what the DCT coefficients actually look like. Imagine this image laid over the matrix right before the "Quantization" section. That image is what made me "get" how JPEG worked: the DCT "figures out" how each block can be expressed by adding up each of those blocks in varying amounts. If you're familiar with JPEG artifacts, you'll definitely recognize those patterns.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zsazsa at 6:45 PM on September 11, 2007

Also the study shows the basic tendancy to extrapolate from a single study on a narrow range of human behavior the belief in an inherent biological superior basis for whatever social conceptualization one happens to agree with.

I am curious what criteria were used to differentiate the “liberals” from the “conservatives.” Did a given conservative student need to be a pro-gun, anti-abortion business major? Were non-Birkenstock wearing ‘liberal’ students excluded? Was... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Smedleyman at 10:10 AM on September 11, 2007

The infamous DVD Author lets you reauthor a DVD that's already in DVD / VOB format. I think it will do what you are describing. Another option that might work is ripping your own DVD and then rerendering it as source material. It won't be the best possible quality, but it won't be terrible.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by fvox13 at 4:45 AM on August 31, 2007

The question really isn't whether you could spend the space program's money "better" somewhere else. The question is why the space program gets singled out for this.

Almost every dollar that's spent in the economy could be better spent somewhere else. Every dollar that's spent on movie tickets could be put to medical research. Every dollar that's spent on individually-owned cars could be put towards education. Every... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:03 PM on August 10, 2007

Just keep reloading until you get one
Good advice for getting kids off the lawn, also.
posted to MetaTalk by dg at 11:17 PM on August 5, 2007

Confessor, are you a Dowsing Thomas?
posted to MetaTalk by isopraxis at 12:45 PM on July 28, 2007

Then they discovered that he was as white-bread as I am,

Maybe he's a member of the Wanabi tribe.
posted to MetaFilter by jonmc at 6:12 PM on July 25, 2007

And skepticism without irony is totally unfun. It leads to folk songs.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by kelseyq at 6:00 PM on July 6, 2007 marked best answer

Loquacious, missing from your list: Buy guns and ammunition.

That was intentional. My list may or may not include guns and ammunition. I certainly don't want your list to have it.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 2:20 PM on June 26, 2007

Definitely sounds like DNS isn't working; you could try switching to OpenDNS (there are guides on the site) to see if that solves it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by malevolent at 3:49 AM on May 24, 2007 marked best answer

I think she's deciphering the unique scent-tag associated with each dog and matching it to her mental library of known canines. "Hmm, pleasingly acrid with strong ammonia overtones and an impudent vinegary tang...must be Bloodfang the Destroyer." Then she has to decide whether or not the accumulation of urinary leavings requires her addition to either announce to her friends that "Kilroy was here" or to warn unknown pee-ers that this is her turf and suckas best respect.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Midnight Creeper at 3:23 PM on May 3, 2007

"Are there things we could do to make the Blue a little bluer? The Green a little greener? The Gray a little… sunnier?"

Yes. Acid is a good start.
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 12:23 PM on May 3, 2007

You really shouldn't post the key on metafilter--matt might get in trouble.
posted to MetaFilter by 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 at 8:46 PM on May 1, 2007

What you have is known as a human body. It requires a regular dosage of solid nutrient in order to function correctly.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by synaesthetichaze at 11:57 AM on April 29, 2007

*smacks head on table*
posted to MetaTalk by Firas at 11:15 AM on April 23, 2007

Klang, why are you blaming me for things other people said?

steve, you disagreed with him ... that makes you a moron along with everyone else who disagrees with him and he has trouble telling one moron from another because they all look like tea bag holders to him
posted to MetaFilter by pyramid termite at 7:21 PM on April 11, 2007

There's a lot of money motivating accurate geo IP lookup. For instance, local ad sales. It's not the old days where they would look up your DNS in whois, and use that address (which put all AOL users in Virginia.)

This one gets me to about 20 miles.

MLB doesn't have to be perfect either. They can deal with "misses" on boundaries by having you call in and provide serious proof of address (like a bill with your name).... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by smackfu at 4:56 PM on April 6, 2007

This was bound to happen eventually. Gays are naturally drawn to lawn parties, decorative handcrafts, and pastels.
posted to MetaFilter by Atom Eyes at 1:15 PM on April 5, 2007

At this point no car-maker in the world has yet publicly committed to building a car powered by Li-ion batteries in any significant quantities.

Because no car maker in the world is stupid enough. Not even GM.

Li-Ion batteries....

1) Cannot tolerate overcharge.

2) Cannot tolerate complete discharge.

3) Cannot tolerate temps over 75C, and really dislike... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by eriko at 8:52 PM on January 7, 2007

Do "I Saw U" ads in The Stranger really work?

Help me prepare for my hot date tonight!

What are the actual odds of getting a girl pregnant from a one night stand if a condom wasn't used? I thought she might be on the pill, and she's never had a boyfriend before.

There seems to be a rash on my privates. Is this invariably VD or could it just be an allergy to nylon?

Is there any real harm... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by maxwelton at 9:22 PM on April 1, 2007

One word: cheetsheetTwo words: cheetcheat sheet.

From an editor.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by YamwotIam at 7:25 PM on March 20, 2007

Try the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
posted to Ask MetaFilter by sanko at 6:45 PM on February 27, 2007

I've had a problem like this before with cvshost.exe making my computer lagged terribly.

The problem with svchost.exe is that it is a legitimate Windows process that has lots of "child processes" that are not listed in task manager.

It is likely that only of these "child processes", which is an EXE or a DLL file, is sucking up your CPU resources while the rest are fine.

If you press ctrl-alt-delete... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by gregb1007 at 2:10 AM on February 19, 2007

It was a popular anti-Vietnam war slogan as "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

It is from a poem usually attributed to German poet Bertolt Brecht criticizing French pacifists (but also attributed to others):

What if they gave a war and nobody came?
Why then the war will come to you!
He who stays home when the fight begins
And lets another fight for his cause
Should take... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by justkevin at 8:53 PM on February 13, 2007 marked best answer

Customers who bought this item also bought:

• Muffler bearings
• Blinker fluid
• Sky hooks

posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:01 PM on January 24, 2007

It looks like we've reached a consensus here but I found this neat video of a cannonball shattering the side of a wooden ship and creating a hail of splinters. I haven't seen the Mythbusters episode in question, but it sounds like they were trying to do something like what is shown above. You'll find the video half way down the page I linked to.

Also, a book named For Fear of Pain: British Surgery, 1790-1850 describes an encounter between the HMS Shannon and the USS... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GalaxieFiveHundred at 8:12 AM on January 18, 2007

I'll bet you it's your virus or spyware checker. I've had this occur with the Trend security product and with the Microsoft anti-spyware product. Both were running in the background and taking more and more CPU time til the computer was running at a crawl.

First diagnostic step - start up in Safe Mode (press F8 while your booting up). If your machine is nice and zippy then, it's basically QED - some process is hogging the CPU. If that's so, use Process Explorer... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jasper411 at 1:58 PM on December 22, 2006

If that doesnt help, make sure you have mod_rewrite installed correctly. if THAT doesnt work, toss your rewrite rules right into your httpd.conf file.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by SirStan at 6:07 PM on December 21, 2006

Here's the DVD, courtesy of Amazon Japan.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by armage at 2:16 PM on December 17, 2006

Okay, just to be absolutely clear here...

Let's say one of the movies you have saved to your hard drive is 90 minutes long. When you're finished, you want to have two DVD discs; on the first disc, you'll have the first forty five minutes of the movie and on the second disc, you'll have the last forty five minutes of the movie. And both of these discs you'd like to be able to play in a standard DVD player attached to a TV, correct?

If that's what... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Clay201 at 6:49 PM on December 13, 2006 marked best answer

MedolphFitler: You Know Who Else Had A Hippie Peace Group Blog?
posted to MetaTalk by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:35 AM on December 4, 2006

Actual Window Guard
WinSize
WinControl
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhomboid at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2006 marked best answer

If you want to disable autorun for other removable media you may add in the future, I found this page through Google.

If you are lazy (like me) cut and paste the following text into notepad, save it with a filename ending in .reg, and double-click that file. The resulting registry change should turn off autorun for all removable drives. (restart may be required.) To reverse this, simply change the ending 95 to a 91.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by JigSawMan at 12:13 PM on November 29, 2006

Just in case you didn't already find this: if you right-click the toolbar and select Customize, you'll find a User Agent Switcher button in amongst the others that you can drag to the toolbar. This is normally a monochrome globe, but will turn colored if you've changed the user agent, and it also acts as a shortcut to the Tools->User Agent Switcher menu.

Also: now that you have UAS, add "Googlebot/2.1" as one of the available user agents. You'll be amazed... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by flabdablet at 10:17 PM on November 27, 2006 marked best answer

fine, fixed.

(What bingo sees from now on)
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 2:13 PM on October 31, 2006

posted to MetaFilter by MarkO at 7:42 AM on October 22, 2006

There used to be popular T-shirt: "Life is too short to drink cheap beer." This is wrong. Life is exactly long enough to drink cheap beer, to savor it even. Life is too short to be a pretentious ass.

Cheap beer is great in its place. When you come in from running or mowing the lawn, a really cold Keystone Light is a thing of beauty. Regional cheapies are also worth exploring. Even something so foul as Black Label can be rendered palatable if you put it on... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by LarryC at 6:15 PM on September 25, 2006

How could I have possibly known that it would be your byline at the end of that image comment, Steven, after only scrolling through the first 10px?

Some men really are boring and predictable…
posted to MetaTalk by blasdelf at 6:44 AM on August 31, 2006

Turning his attention once more to the flickering computer monitor currently illuminating his darkened room, Agent Howie saw once more that all too familiar alarm. But somehow, this time, he felt a sense of urgency about it.

Clicking on the 'Accept' button, Agent Howie (or 'How' as he was sometimes lovingly referred to by his friends at the Agency) found his suspicions concerned. It was Operative R himself, contacting him via video link up. "Fuck!... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Effigy2000 at 11:08 PM on August 11, 2006