MetaFilter

The USENIX Association have published a Report (PDF) Analysing Cookie Notice Compliance. We show that 56.7% of cookie notices do not include an option to opt out of consent, that more than 65.4% of websites with an opt-out option collect users’ data despite explicit negative consent, and that 73.4% of websites do so even when users do not interact with the cookie notice.
posted by Lanark on Apr 8 at 12:50 PM - 28 comments

This is a particularly interesting find -- a full television special from 1978 focussed on Olivia Newton -John called Olivia [50m]. The guest starts are Andy Gibb and ABBA! The first 33 minutes are high-quality standard fare Seventies variety show material, but the last bit of the show has six people sitting stage having a little hootenanny, improvising sing-a-longs, and we eve get to hear Frida sing in her opera voice a bit! It's entirely charming that turns transcendent at the end.
posted by hippybear on Apr 8 at 10:36 AM - 15 comments

The MacAdam Shield Shovel, also known as the Hughes Shovel, was designed and patented by Sam Hughes, the Canadian minister for the Department of Militia and Defence in 1913, to be staked in the ground for alternate use as cover. It was thicker and heavier than normal spades but failed to stop even small caliber bullets. It also had a large sight hole in the shovel blade for a rifle to poke through, making it a poor shovel. In 1914, 25,000 shield-shovels were ordered and shipped to Europe for use by the 1st Canadian Division, and then later scrapped. Sam Hughes had a string of failed inventions: "Hughes equated masculinity with toughness, and argued that militia service would toughen up Canadian men who might otherwise go soft living in an urban environment full of labor-saving devices."
posted by AlSweigart on Apr 8 at 10:29 AM - 19 comments

Excerpts from Lyn Hejinian's My Life: "A name trimmed with colored ribbons"; "Reason looks for two, then arranges it from there"; "As for we who 'love to be astonished'"; "Yet we insist that life is full of happy chance"; "One begins as a student but becomes a friend of clouds." Lisa Samuels, "Eight justifications for canonizing Lyn Hejinian's My Life." "The Rejection of Closure," "Continuing Against Closure," and other work online. Obits: NYT (ungated / archived), Jacket2, and The Nation. Remembrances: Berkeley English, LARB, and The Paris Review. Colin Vanderburg (n+1, Apr. 5), "Tree, Chair, Cone, Dog, Bishop, Piano, Vineyard, Door, or Penny: On Lyn Hejinian": "There is no better way to end, or to begin, or to continue. The facts are finished, but the life is still open."
posted by Wobbuffet on Apr 8 at 10:26 AM - 8 comments

One of the Internet’s first and only “linguistics influencers,” Adam Aleksic, who works under the handle @etymologynerd, [Instagram / TikTok / YouTube] spends his time post-graduation traveling the world and creating videos about etymology for an audience of over 1.3 million across TikTok and Instagram. [more inside]
posted by ellieBOA on Apr 8 at 9:13 AM - 6 comments

Imagine a planet in a system with six suns where total darkness, in the form of a solar eclipse, comes only once every 2,049 years. This is the setting of "Nightfall," a short story that appeared in the September 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. An immediate sensation, it sealed the reputation of its author, a little-known 21-year-old graduate student at Columbia University named Isaac Asimov. [more inside]
posted by How the runs scored on Apr 8 at 7:32 AM - 34 comments

Once thought locally extinct, rare central rock rat found on remote desert cattle station. The habitat of the critically endangered central rock rat was thought to have shrunk to a speck on the map but now it's been found at two new Northern Territory sites — and researchers say there may be more populations out there.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Apr 8 at 7:29 AM - 3 comments

Come rock out with The Angry Astronaut as they discuss the three possible lunar rover designs for the Artemis missions, while going completely metal.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Apr 8 at 5:46 AM - 6 comments

North America is just hours away from its second major total solar eclipse in seven years, with the path of totality tracing a long arc from Mexico and Texas northeast through Ohio, New England, and Canada. Eager eclipse watchers have snapped up hotels and rentals and embarked on epic road trips, scrutinizing cloud forecasting models and taking an anti-stormchaser attitude to avoid a late-breaking spate of bad weather. How many MeFites are among the madding crowd? Where are you based, and what's your plan for seeing the spectacle? Have you witnessed any eclipses in the past, or do you have plans to see more in the future? What are your tips and fun facts for making the most of the experience? You're welcome too discuss these topics and more in your Monday Free Thread!
posted by Rhaomi on Apr 8 at 5:43 AM - 253 comments

Not wanting to be overshadowed by other events, Trump says abortion law should be left to the states (NYT gift, WaPo gift, Reuters, NPR, NBC, Politico, Axios)
posted by box on Apr 8 at 5:30 AM - 41 comments

Three years in the making, the exhibition was scheduled to open in early July 2024. Kahng and her team had secured a total of sixty-two loans. A catalogue containing an introduction and four essays was about to go into print, distributed by Yale University Press. As Kahng was putting the final touches on the show, however, the sbma brought in a new director: Amada Cruz, who had previously served as the director of the Seattle Art Museum (2019–23) and the director of the Phoenix Art Museum (2015–19). Within a month of her assuming the position in Santa Barbara, Cruz instructed Kahng to halt work on the show because, according to the Hyperallergic article, “it was under consideration for its lack of diversity.” In mid-January, Cruz fired Kahng, terminating her for “redundancy,” before promptly stepping into the role herself. from Cruz control [The New Criterion] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Apr 8 at 1:35 AM - 55 comments

Help preserve SpotPass content by uploading your database dump of your 2DS, 3DS and Wii U! All online communication services for the Nintendo 3DS, 2DS and Wii U, including the distribution of SpotPass data will be discontinued on April 8th, 2024, at 4pm PDT. After this date, features using SpotPass in games will stop working once this change has taken effect. [more inside]
posted by QueenHawkeye on Apr 7 at 7:36 PM - 2 comments

Bird-loving professors instrumental in $390,000 (US $255,994) purchase of cattle property to protect endangered native species. A Nature Foundation fundraising campaign that received two donations of $100,000 (US $65,639) from generous professors enables it to buy a 200-hectare (494-acre) property home to malleefowl and other rare species in south-east South Australia.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Apr 7 at 6:57 PM - 2 comments

xkcd #2916: Machine [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Apr 7 at 2:37 PM - 24 comments

Thirty-eight minutes in for the impatient. yet another best kind of fusion.
posted by wmo on Apr 7 at 9:29 AM - 4 comments

As art, as practical application, as metaphor, the delicate and profound craft of beautifully repairing beloved items resonates both aesthetically and emotionally. In a different sort of celebration and honoring of the broken thing, artist Helena Hafemann captures the moment of its would-be demise and spins it into a moment of beauty. [more inside]
posted by taz on Apr 7 at 9:28 AM - 6 comments

The folks at Corridor Crew recently reached back sixty years to recreate a truly wonderous piece of special effects technology that was thought to be long lost.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI on Apr 7 at 9:22 AM - 28 comments

The BBC profiles comic artist and writer Bryan Talbot, following the recent announcement that he will be inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame. [more inside]
posted by Major Clanger on Apr 7 at 8:41 AM - 7 comments

Excitement as rare, golden-furred, marsupial mole sighted in Australian desert region rich with wildlife. The animals — known locally as kakarratul — are only seen about five to ten times in a decade, due to their tendency to burrow underground and the minimal human presence in their desert habitat. The moles are small and covered in silky golden hair. They do not have eyes, but boast large, strong forearms and claws that allow them to quickly dive under the sand and "swim" deep into the sand dunes.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Apr 7 at 7:51 AM - 10 comments

Some realize it’s time to turn on auto-capitalization when they begin texting with bosses and colleagues for work, given lowercase letters can be susceptible to misinterpretation. This is especially the case when communicating with older generations who didn’t grow up DMing their BFFs. But shunning the Shift key helps others cling to their youth. To them, a lowercase letter isn’t just a lowercase letter. Instead, it’s a way to forever remain cool and casual in texts. Even some CEOs do it. from time to start typing like a grownup [WSJ; ungated]
posted by chavenet on Apr 7 at 1:48 AM - 169 comments