I see visions of us geographically gathering together post-apocalypse and being the only functioning society on the planet ...

You saw the woman on the porch too? Colorado meetup!
posted to MetaTalk by carsonb at 8:47 AM on September 5, 2008

Just a few words on ads ...

When I buy magazines I expect to do a lot of reading with (e.g. Wired, Sports Illustrated), before reading, I take the time to rip out every ad printed on card stock, because they annoy the hell out of me. Then, I rip out all the single-page ads, so the only thing left is pages with content (even if it's only on one side of the page). I call this process "deboning the magazine."

The magazine has won, because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Cool Papa Bell at 12:26 PM on September 2, 2008

My favorite example of the nonintuitive nature of statistics:

A nuclear power plant goes into operation in Anytown, USA, providing most of the town's power. Ten years later, a rigorous statistical study finds a significant increase in cancer deaths that can be traced back to the same time and continues to this day. The margin of error is small, and all imaginable factors (health, wealth, etc.) have been controlled for in this study. The increase is most dramatic in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mapes at 12:32 PM on September 3, 2008

A graphic designer and I were looking at an ad the other day, and I had some statistics for the product in question that showed an improvement from 3% to 9%.

"Great," he said, "I'll can make a graph that shows a 6% increase."

"No," I replied, "you can create a graph that shows a 300% improvement."

And I cackled madly as a cloud of pure evil coalesced over my... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 1:39 PM on September 3, 2008

I can verify that this has been added to the shortlist of our current priorities with a general readiness level of yellow, elevated.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 9:28 AM on September 3, 2008

OPERATION 'FLATULANT MOOSE' IS GO I REPEAT GO
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 9:40 AM on September 3, 2008

Actually, tromping through the city with her and feeding the homeless isn't a bad idea. Children are going to imagine things within their own experience; if you talk about people being hungry she's going to imagine people being the hungriest she's ever been, which is not that hungry.
But if you sign the two of you up for some sort of volunteer program that allows her to really see poverty, it will make much more of an impact.

Reading is another way to gain... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by smoakes at 4:27 PM on September 2, 2008

Oh my god, really?

Really?

Look, to be fair, I was halfway through a post last night on my own site about how ridiculous I though all the hard-right Freepers/Cornerites/etc. were harping about Palin. She was basically their new Fred Thompson. But I am seriously dumbfounded that they would have been this stupid.

Don’t get me wrong, on a PR level this is masterful for McCain. He’s killed all the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 8:10 AM on August 29, 2008

Angrybeaver? Hell, I'd hit it

You know those magnets they feed to the cow, and it swallows them and so all the metal it eats otherwise gets stuck to that magnet and doesn't hurt the rest of the cow? I feel like that magnet sometimes.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 3:16 PM on August 27, 2008

I want to do something.

Please stop. Think first. Long and hard, if possible.

Because the standard next to steps after I want to do something are "this looks like something" and "therefore we must do it".

Which is more or less one of the causes of the current mess.

In the mean time, I'm missing a wedding coming weekend because I'm not going to fly to the US.
posted to MetaFilter by DreamerFi at 8:28 AM on August 20, 2008

Invisible bike, invisible sportsmanship, and invisible outside world.
posted to MetaFilter by Monochrome at 9:11 AM on August 25, 2008

Biden is a fantastic choice, and ironically for a lot of the reasons people see as a negative.

In simplest terms, Joe Biden is an enormous asshole. And frankly, I love him for it. He's the type of asshole who's an asshole because he knows, right out of the gate, that he's smarter than you, that he knows more about a subject, and that he actually has the right idea about something. And damn it people it's time to finally try having someone who's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 4:03 AM on August 23, 2008

If I had to guess, it's because his daughter is a gold medalist in the Olympics! I'd kiss my kid all over their face too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by The Light Fantastic at 11:02 AM on August 15, 2008

That's actually pretty much the standard excuse for rectal foreign bodies, although the dog-washing is kind of an original touch. Many of these things are really not that unusual to those who work in operating rooms.

Oh, God -- flashback to someone who once told me they SWORE they heard this "true tale from an ER" once. It was on the late shift of some big-city ER, when suddenly a man came running in through the door screaming -- he was... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 11:26 AM on August 21, 2008

It is true that no one was forced to participate in the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency and that both McCain and Obama are free agents. Warren has a right to invite whomever he wishes to his church and to ask them whatever they're willing to answer.

And that should be the long and the short of it, period.

I just liked the fact that each candidate was asked similar questions, and given time to answer them thoughtfully... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by konolia at 7:21 PM on August 20, 2008

MrGuilt : (He got known for those months as the "practice baby," mostly for stuff like that. Or, if he could get into something, we took a closer look at baby-proofing it.)

A good idea, because I can imagine that there is nothing worse than coming home and finding your infant child on the top of the fridge, looking at you like "What? It's warm up here."

Picture of them, while they were still... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by quin at 2:51 PM on August 20, 2008

Also, your boss may not appreciate this as much as mine does, but if somebody is obviously calling on a sales call (IE the first thing they ask is, "can I be transfered to the person in charge of your web site marketing?") I fuck with them. Really, really hard.

For example, I'll listen to their scripted sales pitch, and then ask them if they like bunnies.
Me: That sounds really cool, do you like bunnies?
Them: What?
M: You... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by baphomet at 11:19 AM on August 20, 2008

These are great. My personal favorite master of the witty retort is F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead. He was a legendary barrister who fired off amazing retorts in open court.

Examples:

Judge: What do you suppose that I am on the bench for, Mr. Smith?
Smith: It is not for me to fathom the inscrutable workings of Providence.
__________

Judge: Are you trying to show contempt for this court, Mr... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dios at 12:10 PM on March 3, 2008

The fools. When will they learn that the only permissible answer to any behavioral issue is harsher punishments?
posted to MetaFilter by tyllwin at 6:31 AM on August 19, 2008

I'm torn about MADD.

1) There was a very real problem with drunk drivers repeatedly killing people and walking away. When it's your child that's killed, I can certainly understand the anger.

2) There are still too many drunk drivers -- because the one place I agree with MADD is that the correct number of intoxicated drivers on the road at any given time is zero.

3) I'm possibly not rational about this, given that I've... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by eriko at 7:17 AM on August 19, 2008

Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.

Man, that one takes me back. Who doesn't remember just where they were and just what they were doing the moment they learned Wayne Newton had shaved off his moustache?

I recall seeing him on Jackie Gleason, and then skedaddling out to Vegas in my Ford Fairlane to see that hep cat in his Vegas revue. Those were indeed the days. And then I was cryogenically frozen for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by gompa at 2:26 PM on August 19, 2008

So, in seven more years we can add "The Beloit College Mindset List has always sucked" to the list??
posted to MetaFilter by never used baby shoes at 3:12 PM on August 19, 2008

This is probably on MeFi every year too, but here's the 1918 list.
posted to MetaFilter by lukemeister at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2008

Best of the web?
posted by rough ashlar at 12:34 PM on August 18 [+] [!]

I usually try to not comment in my own FPPs, but dude, are you fucking kidding me? Jesus.
posted to MetaFilter by dobbs at 9:58 AM on August 18, 2008

ardgedee: "That the essential text is banal ("I made tea") is the point. If you're not into tea making or interested in the complexities and ramifications of how some other dude makes tea, you stop there and move on -- you don't have to click. Otherwise you can delve to the extent that you're interested."

That's sort of my department, as I'm majoring in computational linguistics right now, so let me throw in a few remarks.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by PontifexPrimus at 1:49 PM on August 18, 2008

Not long ago I scoffed and mocked at the volunteers that volunteered to travel to strange, foreign countries, meet new, interesting people and kill them.

Now I have a rather large amount of pity and sympathy for the poor sons (and daughters) of bitches (and fine, upstanding mothers and fathers) who ended up in some dark alley of their life that left them with the option that signing up voluntarily for military duty left them in.

Some chose. Some... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 7:38 PM on August 5, 2008

Crossfire's Tucker Carlson was essentially fired from the show. CNN opted not to renew Carlson's contract. Crossfire itself was dismantled on January of 2005, after having been a staple of CNN since 1982.

It's more direct than that: Joe Klein cited Stewart's critique repeatedly in the press when he announced the show's cancellation. (Here's the WaPo version; Entertainment Weekly uses my favourite quote from Klein: "I guess I come down more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by gompa at 12:05 PM on August 16, 2008

Find me one person whose political views have been CHANGED by the Daily Show and I'll have a lot more respect for what Stewart does.

Meet my parents. Who will be voting Democratic in this election and voted that way in the Primaries after a lifetime of voting Republican.

Did Jon Stewart bring this about directly? I don't know. I DO know that we have never been able to discuss politics (my parents and I) without my dad... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jeanmari at 7:17 PM on August 16, 2008

Hooray pending appeal.
posted to MetaFilter by Clave at 10:33 PM on August 15, 2008

How, exactly, do we all know this? (NB: honest question)
posted by MarshallPoe at 11:54 AM on August 8

Because at this stage in history, all conflicts are over scarce resources. The ascendance of China and India more than doubles the number of people competing for the resources that 15 years ago were consumed primarily by North Americans, Europeans, and the Japanese.

Oil and energy are not the only resources.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 9:39 AM on August 8, 2008

I've been following this situation pretty closely, because my sweetheart has a Georgian foster brother (let's call him Z.) This thread has been an excellent source of links to a wide variety of perspectives on the history and context of this conflict, and I am grateful to all contributors.

So, my foster-brother-out-law Z came here in his mid-teens to avoid conscription during the previous South Ossetia war, in '91-'92, which Z calls the Georgian Civil War. Z now has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by slappy_pinchbottom at 10:14 PM on August 14, 2008

EMI == Electromagnetic Interference. All wires are antenna. If a transmitter is too close to certain kinds of equipment, it can induce currents in wires in that equipment. It's highly unlikely to destroy the equipment but it could cause it to malfunction.

Those rules were put in place during the early years of cell phones, back when AMPS phones were permitted to transmit at a power level of 2 watts. Nowadays, the FCC rule is that the max is 200 milliwatts... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Class Goat at 10:47 AM on August 13, 2008

You would know what the words are if you fucking read them, you ignorant slobs!

If I red them, or reed them?
posted to MetaFilter by fixedgear at 3:13 PM on August 12, 2008

> In reality it is a bunch of hackers that like to break security and let the world know how they did it. It is part theft, part misplaced heroism, and loaded with as much ego as brainpower.

Are you serious? Do you work with security in any way, shape, or form, or are you just blowing hot air?

These guys, the ones willing to go to DefCon and Black Hat conferences and speak publically, are the *good guys*. These are the guys... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mrzarquon at 4:08 PM on August 11, 2008

Muddler thinks talking about it is the same as doing it.
posted to MetaFilter by event at 4:12 PM on August 11, 2008

you may just have to resign yourself to having extremely cool children.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Oktober at 2:01 PM on August 6, 2008

I know I'm a bit late on this, but...

My friend Jeff explained to his children that there is a point system. As you go through life, certain events happen that give you points. More points for more traumatic events. And the number of points you have acquired determines which words you are allowed to say. Since he has lived through a bank robbery, been struck by lightning, and had three children, he now gets somewhere around one million points just for waking up every... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by thejanna at 8:09 AM on August 7, 2008 marked best answer

And I thought I was just being clever. Turns out that I was in fact being annoying.

Hard to tell the difference, sometimes.
posted to MetaTalk by vernondalhart at 9:41 AM on August 10, 2008

"Median age may be too high?"

That's exactly why I like MeFi so much. It feels like this place is full of grown-ups.
posted to MetaTalk by JDHarper at 12:11 PM on August 9, 2008

there are ways to create drama and tension in sci-fi without using technology that resembles a house of cards, and you need look no further than Star Wars

Other than being primarily what we used to call media SF (remember when that distinction mattered, old time SF fans?) and being popular on a mythic level, the two don't bear comparison. They're operating under different rules.

Star Trek is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Herodios at 9:22 PM on August 8, 2008

herodios: No one will ever write a book called The Physics of Star Wars, any more than they'd write a Physics of Lord of the Rings

Actually, it is one of my favorite books.
posted to MetaFilter by olinerd at 5:21 AM on August 9, 2008

Get out a quarter, a six-sided die, and a thoroughly shuffled deck of cards. On a piece of paper, write down heads or tails, a number between 1 and 6 and a card. Then flip the coin, roll the die, and randomly pluck a card out of the deck. The probability that you wrote down the correct outcomes for all three of those is 1 in 624, substantially greater than 1 in 1000.

When my dad had bypass surgery, I used calculations like that to calm myself down. My dad had a much... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jacobm at 7:32 PM on August 8, 2008 marked best answer

Oh, it wasn't all that difficult...
posted to MetaFilter by porn in the woods at 1:12 PM on August 8, 2008

Awesome.

I just sent the flute to my sister in law the middle school music teacher, with the comment "Not sure if this will fit into your curriculum."
posted to MetaFilter by Lou Stuells at 4:48 PM on August 8, 2008

Debunking of Bates and 'Vision Therapy' here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by damn dirty ape at 10:15 PM on August 7, 2008

Someone's going to get a vacation-with-pay over this.
posted to MetaFilter by TheOnlyCoolTim at 6:25 PM on August 7, 2008

Incidentally, if you ever catch the A&E "Biography" of Sesame Street, there's a curious fact: there's only one episode they never aired, the episode they filmed about divorce. These shows were (and, one presumes, still are) tested before child audiences before they aired to be sure they covered all the major questions kids would have about the subjects discussed on the show that day.

Evidently their focus group for that particular show was so distraught... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by middleclasstool at 10:01 PM on August 6, 2008

Heh, I know what you mean about research libraries. I remember an anecdote about a researcher who went into an old little-used research library and checked out a book that had been published in the early 1900's. The pages had not yet been slit open as no one had ever used it. When he commented to the librarian that it seemed a waste of money that the library purchased an unused book the librarian replied, "ah, but we bought it for you".
posted to Ask Metafilter by saucysault at 2:06 PM on August 7, 2008

optimistic (though generally accurate) life advice:

01. The universe exists, even though you didn't ask for one.
02. Learning how to make the most of the finite time and space granted to you is a satisfying lesson.
03. Everything is made of magic.
04. Your body is an amazingly versatile instrument and a surprisingly durable vessel.
05. It is a testament to the power of human bonding that even though individual humans... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:23 AM on August 7, 2008

I'm sorry, I disagree with your equating this with peeing Calvin stickers. This is done with respect and fidelity to the source material, those stickers are just obnoxious appropriations that don't care about anything except Calvin's character design, and which display a great misunderstanding of Calvin's personality.

The deciding factor, for me, is that the artist behind these strips is obviously familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, while the sticker makers seem to neither... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 11:36 AM on August 7, 2008