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Reality has a surprising amount of detail

Surprising detail is a near universal property of getting up close and personal with reality. You can see this everywhere if you look. For example, you’ve probably had the experience of doing something for the first time, maybe growing vegetables or using a Haskell package for the first time, and being frustrated by how many annoying snags there were. Then you got more practice and then you told yourself ‘man, it was so simple all along, I don’t know why I had so much trouble’. We run into a fundamental property of the universe and mistake it for a personal failing.
Blogger John Salvatier talks stair carpentry, boiling water, the difference between invisible and transparent detail, and how paying closer attention to the beguiling complexity of everyday life can help you open your mind and break out of mental ruts and blind spots.
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Mar 18 at 1:28 PM
66 users marked this as a favorite

Stand In Pride

"A while ago my wife introduced me to Stand In Pride, where queer people can find stand-in family members for support and indeed often for big life events — when their biological families don’t show up. And so it came to pass that a couple of weeks ago I had the singular honour of walking Taylor down the aisle to marry Ruth. Family is what you make it. Love endures." (via @chrisphin on Mastodon, with their permission and featuring lovely pictures of the wedding.)
posted by chococat to MetaFilter on Mar 15 at 2:48 PM
62 users marked this as a favorite

A Native Solution To Vancouver's Housing Woes

Vancouver, BC has been dealing with a major housing crunch for years due to a number of factors. But the Squamish First Nation has an answer - Sen̓áḵw, a major urban mixed use development on Squamish land in the Vancouver metro area - which means that it can be developed bigger and denser than Vancouver regulations would allow...and without NIMBY interference. (SLMacLean's)
posted by NoxAeternum to MetaFilter on Mar 13 at 10:23 AM
55 users marked this as a favorite

"try to analogise these great matters of state to your daily life"

Daniel Davies is a finance expert, journalist, and former investment banker whose writing I've been reading for over 20 years on Crooked Timber and on his own blog as well as elsewhere. Sometimes he writes analogies, games, or flights of fancy to help readers think about complex issues more clearly.
posted by brainwane to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 12:58 PM
51 users marked this as a favorite

Free Mixed Media Art Supplies Compatibility Chart

Free Mixed Media Art Supplies Compatibility Chart by Artist, Designer and Educator Nela Dunato: "Behold: the most detailed free art mediums compatibility reference! The chart shows how different art mediums interact together and whether they can be safely layered on top of each other."
posted by Faintdreams to MetaFilter on Mar 16 at 9:43 AM
51 users marked this as a favorite

Is Super Mario Maker Beaten Yet?

Is Super Mario Marker beaten yet? Back in 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker for the Wii U, which allowed users to create their own Mario levels and upload them for others to play. Over 8 million levels were created for the game. On March 31, 2021 Nintendo "discontinued" the game, which meant no new levels could be uploaded. Then the second shoe dropped: Nintendo announced the Wii U servers would be turned off forever on April 8, 2024, effectively removing all of these user levels from existence. Upon hearing this news, the Super Mario Maker community began to rally around a single goal: clear every single level uploaded to the servers before the shutdown date.
posted by lubujackson to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 10:55 AM
47 users marked this as a favorite

They don't make them like they used to

I was on the phone, asking for a theoretical quote to reupholster a five-year-old or so midrange sofa, which cost more than $1,000 when new. That task, the upholsterer told me, would run me several times more than the couch was originally worth, and, owing to its construction, it was now worth nowhere near its sale price. The upholsterer proceeded to lecture me, in a helpful, passionate, and sometimes kindly manner, about how sofas made in the past 15 years or so are absolute garbage, constructed of sawdust compressed and bonded with cheap glue, simple brackets in place of proper joinery, substandard spring design, flimsy foam, and a lot of staples. Until recently, people had no reason to suspect that a $1,200 sofa would be anything less than high quality; the vast majority of the stuff in stores was fairly well made, and you could sit on it to test it. Today, not so much. [...] A combination of factors, including world-altering shifts in labor, manufacturing, transportation logistics, and middle-class American aesthetics, has created a grim scene: a two-year-old, $1,200 Instagram sofa—busted, on the curb, waiting for the large-item trash pickup or an enterprising scavenger who doesn’t realize just how shitty this thing is.
Dwell.com asks: Why Are (Most) Sofas So Bad?
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 8:15 PM
45 users marked this as a favorite

Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced the finalists for the Nebula Awards.
posted by Wobbuffet to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 9:19 PM
42 users marked this as a favorite

Neither of them really need any introduction....

Classicist Mary Beard [Wikipedia] is apparently well known for studying Ancient Rome. Comedian David Mitchell has read a lot about the British monarchy. Between them they can cover Julius Caesar to Elizabeth I, and they sat down together for a conversation for How To Academy in Rulers and Power | Mary Beard and David Mitchell [1h13m].
posted by hippybear to MetaFilter on Mar 17 at 6:26 PM
40 users marked this as a favorite

"When will I lose all of this?"

In Gaza, death seems to be closer than water - Maha Hussaini: 'During one of the relatively ‘safe’ times in Gaza, around the summer of 2022, I sat on a comfy couch, soft music playing in the background, a cup of cold fresh orange juice in my hand, and I thought: "When will I lose all of this?"' || Gaza as Twilight of Israel Exceptionalism (by Raz Segal & Luigi Daniele) - The very different ways in which Holocaust scholars, on the one hand, and those working in Genocide Studies, on the other, have responded to the unfolding mass violence in Israel and Palestine after 7 October point to an unprecedented crisis in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. We argue that the crisis stems from the significant evidence for genocide in Israel’s attack on Gaza, which has exposed the exceptional status accorded to Israel as a foundational element in the field, that is, the idea that Israel, the state of Holocaust survivors, can never perpetrate genocide || Killed in Gaza database (you can search either in English or in Arabic) || CNN visual presentation of dead children
posted by cendawanita to MetaFilter on Mar 13 at 7:28 AM
39 users marked this as a favorite

Where's Kate? There she is! Oh, wait....

Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge/Princess of Wales, hasn't been seen since Christmas. Kate was announced as having "planned" abdominal surgery in January, with a two week period of time in the hospital and resuming her royal duties has so far been postponed to at least Easter (a notice saying she'd be at an event in June was forcibly recalled). Kate has not wanted her medical issues disclosed (fair, since the most likely medical issues that take that long might be TMI), but after over two months of her not being seen in public, people started to get concerned. Kensington Palace refused to say much of anything on the topic and nobody seems to know anything. Finally, "proof of life" photographs were produced, BUT....
posted by jenfullmoon to MetaFilter on Mar 11 at 8:31 PM
36 users marked this as a favorite

Toward a New Ameri-canon

This list includes 45 debut novels, nine winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and three children’s books. Twelve were published before the introduction of the mass-market paperback to America, and 24 after the release of the Kindle. At least 60 have been banned by schools or libraries. Together, they represent the best of what novels can do: challenge us, delight us, pull us in and then release us, a little smarter and a little more alive than we were before. from The Great American Novels [The Atlantic; ungated] [CW: a list which almost by definition lacks your favorite American author or novel]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Mar 16 at 2:19 AM
36 users marked this as a favorite

Voyager 1 sends readable message to Earth

After 4 nail-biting months of gibberish, Voyager 1 is making sense again. Since November 2023, the almost-50-year-old spacecraft has been experiencing trouble with its onboard computers. Although Voyager 1, one of NASA's longest-lived space missions, has been sending a steady radio signal to Earth, it hasn't contained any usable data. Now, there may be hope for recovery.
posted by signsofrain to MetaFilter on Mar 17 at 9:05 AM
34 users marked this as a favorite

Russian Disinformation: Anti-Semitism, Hamas, Ukraine, the Border

Disinformation has one goal: To change the perception of reality of every American....[F]ake news ... [is] actually an old term used by the Soviet Union as a reference to disinformation campaigns that the Soviets and now the Russians have long used to destabilize the West.... The Kremlin’s messaging has an extraordinary reach: In the first year of the Ukraine war alone, posts by Kremlin-linked accounts were viewed at least 16 billion times by Westerners."Bots, trolls, targeted ad campaigns, fake news organizations, and doppelganger accounts of real Western politicians and pundits spread stories concocted in Moscow." The purpose of the propaganda is to further Putin's policy goals: to recolonize Ukraine, to destabilize the West and to power the rise of fascist-friendly governments. How does Putin expect to achieve that? Through conventional warfare, indoctrination, and covert anti-semitic and anti-migrant propaganda.

posted by Violet Blue to MetaFilter on Mar 18 at 3:20 PM
33 users marked this as a favorite

The Gender Refugees


Time travel movies ranked by scientific logic and entertainment value

The Ars guide to time travel in the movies: a non-comprehensive list and ranking of 20 time travel movies, exploring the plausibility of their time travel mechanics, and also, how entertaining they are.
posted by toastyk to MetaFilter on Mar 15 at 9:25 AM
31 users marked this as a favorite

Live Long And Syndicate

Rare Footage Of Leonard Nimoy Hosting 1975 Special Presentation Of Star Trek’s “The Menagerie” In 1975, Paramount produced a special movie presentation for syndication of the two-part Star Trek episode “The Menagerie,” hosted by TOS star Leonard Nimoy. The original Spock recorded introductions for each part of the episode as well as closing remarks for the special presentation. In the special, Nimoy explains how “The Menagerie” uses footage from the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage” and more. Originally recorded February 6, 1983 from KAUT in Oklahoma City.
posted by Servo5678 to MetaFilter on Mar 15 at 12:15 PM
29 users marked this as a favorite

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett found dead in US

Reported by the BBC. "The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday. It said the 62-year-old had died from a "self-inflicted" wound on 9 March and police were investigating. [...] At the time of his death, Mr Barnett had been in Charleston for legal interviews linked to that case. Last week, he gave a formal deposition in which he was questioned by Boeing's lawyers, before being cross-examined by his own counsel. He had been due to undergo further questioning on Saturday. When he did not appear, enquiries were made at his hotel. He was subsequently found dead in his truck in the hotel car park."
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 4:45 PM
28 users marked this as a favorite

Netanyahu has 'lost his way'

In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the U.S.’s highest ranking politician of Jewish descent, offered the greatest departure from support of Israel’s Netanyahu government to date. Full speech (DoubleLYT).
posted by rubatan to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 4:33 PM
28 users marked this as a favorite

Solidarity and strategy

In 1977 in San Francisco, about 150 disabled radicals occupied the fourth floor of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare for 25 days. “Blind people, deaf people, wheelchair users, disabled veterans, people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities and many others, all came together,” leader Judith Heumann later recalled. “We overcame years of parochialism.” A long read published in The Guardian, adapted from Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea by Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix.
posted by Bella Donna to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 2:58 AM
27 users marked this as a favorite

Posts

Popular Comments

Am I the only one who thinks constant surveillance is horrifying? [view]
posted by joannemerriam to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 6:43 AM
122 users marked this as a favorite

"The Princess of Wales is missing and the spare Prince is in exile and the King is treating his cancer with herbs. If this were the 1300s France would be looking to invade." from also "The King of England lies dying and one of his sons has been exiled. A princess has vanished. Plague stalks the land and the Treasury has been... [more]
posted by mbo to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 2:57 AM
100 users marked this as a favorite

working as a waitress in a cocktail bar that much is true [view]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 8:45 AM
95 users marked this as a favorite

I have see only two solutions for this mess. Option 1- Doctor Who the monarch. Admit this whole Charles series has been poorly written and not popular with the younger fans. They need to dump the cast and do a Doctor Who regeneration on the monarch — I suggest Olivia Colman as the new “Queen.” The advantage of this plan is it sets the stage... [more]
posted by interogative mood to MetaFilter on Mar 11 at 11:50 PM
93 users marked this as a favorite

So, we sent it to the depths of space, it went mad for a while, and now it's apparently okay again? Don't trust it. Don't listen to it. If it sends us the plans for anything, do not build it. [view]
posted by MrVisible to MetaFilter on Mar 17 at 9:25 AM
89 users marked this as a favorite

windbox - genuine question: does israel have the right to respond to hamas over oct 7? if so, what would you consider to be a proportionate response? People who speak in support of Palestine and Palestinians are tired of getting this question ad nauseum. Hardly anybody (I won't say nobody, that's never true) has ever said Israel has no... [more]
posted by Method Man to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 7:51 PM
84 users marked this as a favorite

I saw this comment on Mastodon and it feels like it is worth sharing in its entirety. "The Boeing whistleblower's death is tragedy but i think its easy to slip into conspiracy-mindedness ("omg Boeing knocked him off like one of their doors") and miss the likelier and honestly more horrible reality. being a whistleblower is a... [more]
posted by vac2003 to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 9:52 PM
82 users marked this as a favorite

Every conservative governor in America is reading this story like, "Can we tell when her car gets near Planned Parenthood?" [view]
posted by mittens to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 7:08 AM
80 users marked this as a favorite

The fundamental problem here is that rich people have been conditioned to expect money to fix all their problems, but that this adaptive survival behavior does not work absent a society in which to spend the money. [view]
posted by rhymedirective to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 8:14 AM
77 users marked this as a favorite

a company that would bestride Candyland like a squishy colossus. "I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood, something that could never, ever possibly destroy us." [view]
posted by Halloween Jack to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 4:30 AM
71 users marked this as a favorite

In theory, if you set up a relatively self-sustaining base, and welcome the support staff to living there, you can build loyalty pre-apocolypse. Dolly Parton is an example of someone who is seeming to do this on a state-wide basis: if the world ended and Dolly Parton showed up anywhere in her entire state, she'd probably be welcome. [view]
posted by NotAYakk to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 7:48 AM
69 users marked this as a favorite

10 years ago, my wife used to run a West Elm up in Palo Alto, and the worst, worst, worst customers were those who thought spending ~$2.5k on a couch made them big spenders as far as furniture goes. $2.5k on a couch ten years ago, though--that's massive for many/most middle-class families. Why wouldn't they expect a decent of service... [more]
posted by knotty knots to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 11:34 PM
65 users marked this as a favorite

assuming the EU was willing to welcome the UK back. that's a pretty big assumption to make. and even if they were willing, the terms would be draconian. for sure the UK would have to join the single currency, and would no longer have the opt-outs Brexit traded the UK's leadership position in a major trade bloc, defined on its... [more]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Mar 18 at 6:35 AM
65 users marked this as a favorite

Because the article never spells it out, and because it's important context to understand the issue, the big concern with raw milk is listeriosis, and the big concern with that is especially in pregnant people and infants, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, groups that people may think will be "healthier" from drinking... [more]
posted by hydropsyche to MetaFilter on Mar 13 at 4:25 AM
65 users marked this as a favorite

it's a prank on the same level as James O'Keefe's schtick Absolutely not. James O'Keefe abuses people's goodwill and priorities in order to intentionally falsify and doctor the "evidence" he gathers from them, which is then used by the far-right media machine to push lies and by far-right politicians to justify horrendous... [more]
posted by Saxon Kane to MetaFilter on Mar 16 at 3:29 PM
64 users marked this as a favorite

Buy your furniture from corporate providers; my sofa is built to accept a couple hundred people per day and as a consequence after five years it’s basically brand new. Built out of steel and high density foam with slipcovers that can be removed and laundered. Modern American royalty are corporations, so buy from their suppliers. Anything aimed... [more]
posted by aramaic to MetaFilter on Mar 14 at 9:12 PM
64 users marked this as a favorite

On my way out of a shitty job once, I suggested that six or eight weeks of severance would be enough for me to sign an agreement prohibiting me from writing a Glassdoor review. They thought about it and offered me eight. [view]
posted by DirtyOldTown to MetaFilter on Mar 18 at 7:39 AM
63 users marked this as a favorite

The new conservative ideology is purely oppositional, enraged by the idea that someone might suggest, hey, don’t do this if don’t want to die. If you want a picture of the future, imagine an angry teenager shouting “YOU CANT TELL ME WHAT TO DO, YOURE NOT MY REAL DAD” forever. [view]
posted by Horace Rumpole to MetaFilter on Mar 13 at 4:38 AM
63 users marked this as a favorite

I can barely believe it was a hit -- barely -- but for me it honestly strains credulity. You wanna know what doesn't? "Hi, Mr. Barnett. Boeing here. Here are all our high-priced lawyers. They're going to use every trick in the book to make sure you're stuck in court (and resulting legal debt) for the rest of your natural life.... [more]
posted by humbug to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 5:45 PM
59 users marked this as a favorite

I knew absolutely zero about this until now, and am now completely fascinated. If I'm writing the story, Kate used "surgery" as an excuse to duck out a window and flee her captors and is now working as a waitress in a cocktail bar somewhere in small-town USA, kind of missing the kids but not enough to want to go back to that eleventh... [more]
posted by outgrown_hobnail to MetaFilter on Mar 12 at 8:19 AM
57 users marked this as a favorite