Borrowed Call of Duty 4, for the XBox 360, from a friend, and each time I try to play a message appears informing me that I need to insert the disc into an XBox 360, which is where it is. The message is static, and when trying to do anything with the controller, the DVD control overlay appears. What's going on here? Google searches point to some similar experiences, but not much in the way of solutions. The disc has been cleaned several times and while not in perfect shape is certainly not damaged beyond playability.
posted to Ask Metafilter by boombot at 9:41 AM on June 25, 2008 (13 comments)

Snail mail isn't that slow, unless you use real snails.... As part of a "slow art" project, Vicki Isley and Paul Smith of Bournemouth University have attached radio frequency identification chips (RFID's) to three gastropods, Austin, Cecil and Muriel. The RFID's will pick up your mail as the carriers amble past an electronic reader and deliver it when (in just a few days! ...or weeks ...or months....) they slip past a second reader.... RealSnailMail!
posted to MetaFilter by Kronos_to_Earth at 10:37 AM on June 21, 2008 (15 comments)

Yet another "What's my mutt?" question if you'll bear with me. He's a cutie, but what breeds is he likely to be?
posted to Ask Metafilter by JMOZ at 2:37 PM on June 20, 2008 (17 comments)

Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium - "Underneath their sober lab coats and flannel shirts, scientists hide images of their scientific passions. Here they are revealed to all." From the science journalist and writer responsible for The Loom and numerous other published works.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:06 AM on April 8, 2008 (33 comments)

The partially decomposed sea monster has 4 paws, a tail, and long fur. Is that you, Dagon?
Other famous sea-monster bodies (known as "globsters") include
The St. Augustine Monster ^
The New Zealand globster
Several more recent blobs
And here's how to tell a blob from a sea monster
posted to MetaFilter by BlackLeotardFront at 4:33 PM on March 24, 2008 (14 comments)

I need to find this shirt.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MaryDellamorte at 6:52 PM on March 8, 2008 (7 comments)

SPECIFIC, SPOILER FILLED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MOVIE "Cloverfield". If you haven't seen it and don't want to know details, ignore this thread.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Brandon Blatcher at 11:09 AM on January 21, 2008 (40 comments)

I'm unable to come to terms with my mortality.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 1:19 PM on November 2, 2005 (44 comments)

Vampira, RIP. Maila Nurmi, movie star and horror movie host, friend to James Dean, and documentary subject, has passed away.
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 7:38 PM on January 11, 2008 (34 comments)

What should I do in Chicago this Monday from 3 pm until bedtime?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CiaoMela at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2008 (10 comments)

Where are the music/mp3 blogs for music spanning the 1920s-1960s?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Robot Johnny at 2:21 PM on January 8, 2008 (9 comments)

JazzMe. I want to like jazz more but feel quickly overwhelmed by the genre so I'd like your recommendations, particularly for the albums you come back to time and again, the ones you listen to because you love, not because you feel you ought to. So far Kind of Blue is the only thing that's really stuck, not that I'm trying to find another KoB, just your favorites.
posted to Ask Metafilter by 6550 at 3:02 PM on January 1, 2008 (55 comments)

Proceeding Otis by two years and 364 days, Sam Cooke was shot and killed on this day in 1964. Much controversy still surrounds his death, but his legacy is untouchable and influence sweeping. From gospel to pop, he did it all. You Send Me, Ain't That Good News, Cupid, Chain Gang, and Bring it on Home to Me were some of his biggest hits and (along with Ray's work) the early foundations of soul; but it was one song, inspired by a white boy's passion, that gave a posthumous voice to a broken nation. Today and forever, Sam Cooke is yours, he'll never grow old.
posted to MetaFilter by Roman Graves at 2:59 AM on December 11, 2007 (31 comments)

Can anyone figure out what this website is all about? It's called "WeMakeContact.com" and it purports to show UFOs flying above my town of Great Falls, Montana last week...
posted to Ask Metafilter by davidmsc at 10:55 PM on January 1, 2008 (12 comments)

The other day, I overheard someone marveling at this story: Impatient jack-ass in Starbucks drive-thru (no, not always synonymous) honks and shouts repeatedly at driver in front of him, a tai-chi master who decides to "change the consciousness" of the jerk by paying for his coffee. The jerk is so moved, that he pays for the coffee of the person behind him, and this "chain of kindness" winds up lasting all day, with everyone paying for the drink behind him. Nice story, right? How odd that the same thing (minus the Jewish zen-master) ccurred almost simultaneously in another part of the country. In this version, the "cheer chain," as the Starbucks employee calls it, was a near-perfect (except for this guy) example of holiday cheer. I guess pre-caffeinated Starbucks customers must possess a surprisingly high amount of holiday spirit. Or maybe it's just the red cups.
posted to MetaFilter by ericbop at 7:34 AM on December 17, 2007 (207 comments)

Yeti footprints found near Everest by Joshua Gates (SciFi Channel TV presenter) and his nine-member paranormal investigation team. They discovered three anthropomorphic prints on the bank of Manju near Mt. Everest, after spending one week in the Khumbu region. Stopping short of declaring a belief in the Yeti, Gates doubts the prints were man-made or that they came from a known creature. (See also: AP/Yahoo , IMDB, TV.com, Fortean Times Message Forum, SciFi Channel Destination Truth forum)
posted to MetaFilter by christopherious at 12:34 PM on December 3, 2007 (121 comments)

Scientists find a 'mummified' Hadrosaur in North Dakota "He looks like a blow-up dinosaur in some parts," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England who is leading the inquiry. "When you actually look at the detail of the skin, the scales themselves are three dimensional. . . . The arm is breathtaking. It's a three-dimensional arm, you can shake the dinosaur by the hand. It just defies logic that such a remarkable specimen could preserve."
posted to MetaFilter by Uther Bentrazor at 9:54 AM on December 3, 2007 (52 comments)

Astronomers find a giant hole a billion light years across & located 8 billion light years away from us. They believe it could be evidence of another Universe at the edge of ours.
posted to MetaFilter by scalefree at 7:16 AM on November 27, 2007 (53 comments)

As part of my Halloween preparations, I'm looking for mp3 files of (preferably) real or alleged exorcisms. Can you help?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Neilopolis at 9:18 AM on October 25, 2007 (10 comments)

What 500Gb+ external HDD should I buy? Quietness, coolness, and reliability are a priority.
posted to Ask Metafilter by lemonfridge at 3:32 AM on October 24, 2007 (20 comments)

A box of 25 - 30 used diaries, journals, and sketchbooks has shown up on the stoop of my apartment. What should I do with them?
posted to Ask Metafilter by jk252b at 7:02 AM on October 24, 2007 (23 comments)

Have Optimus Prime phone your friends.
posted to MetaFilter by patr1ck at 9:02 AM on October 14, 2007 (32 comments)

Sigur Rós have been doing publicity for a documentary about the band called Heima (trailer). They went on NPR's The Bryant Park Project and did an interview which went achingly wrong. On the show's website, interviewer Luke Burbank describes it as "possibly the worst interview in the history of electronic media."
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 7:43 PM on October 11, 2007 (184 comments)

The Top Ten Rap Songs White People Love
posted to MetaFilter by Stynxno at 6:43 AM on October 10, 2007 (140 comments)

What are the minimal possessions with which the average person could reasonably live?
posted to Ask Metafilter by hypervenom at 9:13 AM on October 1, 2007 (39 comments)

Bibliophiles: I want to read a book on every US president for my summer reading project. Recommendations?
posted to Ask Metafilter by state fxn at 10:11 AM on May 24, 2006 (17 comments)

Basra Diary (Google Video)
"Last year, I completed my first tour of duty, in Basra, southern Iraq. I kept a video diary. This is the film I made, which details the experiences of both myself, and my colleagues, told in my own words."
posted to MetaFilter by Mwongozi at 5:37 AM on September 29, 2007 (25 comments)

Through a Lens Darkly - on September 4, 1957, when 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford tried to enter Little Rock Central High, she was blocked by the National Guard and surrounded by a screaming mob of 250: "Lynch her! Lynch her!" "No nigger bitch is going to get in our school! Get out of here!" "Go back to where you came from!" Looking for a friendly face, she turned to an old woman, who spat on her. Photos. Dramatic news footage. Ernest Green, another of the Little Rock 9 recalls the first day of school.
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 10:03 PM on September 25, 2007 (49 comments)

How many planets do you need? NPR has a game to assess your impact on the Earth.
posted to MetaFilter by Kirth Gerson at 11:34 AM on September 26, 2007 (89 comments)