MetaFilter

I’ve known since I was 11 who these people, this Eyebrows McGee and this languagehat, are. After graduating from college, I still thought of Metafilter as a rarified club of experts that I’d somehow snuck into. I also thought of Metafilter as a perfect window onto the world. I was sure I could better understand different life experiences because I read strangers’ thoughts, freed by anonymity to be honest. I knew I lived in a tiny bubble, and Metafilter seemed my best defense against that insularity.
comment posted at 9:41 PM on Oct-21-23

In the mid-1930s, Harry Beck, of London Underground 'Tube' Map fame (previously), created a similar map showing air routes from London, England, to destinations across the globe.
comment posted at 2:27 AM on Oct-5-23

Unity has changed its pricing model, and game developers are pissed off [The Verge]

“We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user,” the company shared on its blog. “We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.”

Popular video game engine Unity is making big changes to its pricing structure that’s causing confusion and anger among developers. On Tuesday, Unity announced that on January 1st, 2024, it would be implementing a pay-per-download pricing scheme that would charge developers a flat fee any time a game using Unity software is installed.
comment posted at 1:40 AM on Sep-14-23
comment posted at 1:42 AM on Sep-14-23

The Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander has successfully touched down near the moon's south pole. This video of the ISRO control center during Vikram's descent and soft landing from earlier today is tense and joyous.
comment posted at 3:21 AM on Aug-24-23

Wonders of Street View
comment posted at 12:37 AM on Feb-4-23

One of the world's best leaders, Jacinda Ardern, who helped set the bar for other world leaders, is resigning as New Zealand prime minister. "I no longer have enough in the tank": Jacinda Ardern resigns as New Zealand prime minister
comment posted at 12:05 AM on Jan-19-23

"But, as the mods explained, ChatGPT simply makes it too easy for users to generate responses and flood the site with answers that seem correct at first glance but are often wrong on close examination." The Verge has an article about the new Stack Overflow policy banning AI-generated answers. Users of the site are rewarded with points for contributing upvoted content to the site, which can be used as clout for job-finding prospects.
comment posted at 10:21 PM on Dec-5-22
comment posted at 10:23 PM on Dec-5-22

Like the Back of Your Hand? (Requires location services to be turned on.)
comment posted at 2:43 AM on Apr-19-22

"Leaving my photo project behind was one of the hardest parts of fleeing. It was everything I worked on for over three years. And what will happen to those pictures? What will happen to the women in the pictures?"

Photographer Fatimah Hossaini spent three years trying to upend Western narratives about women in her country. She didn't get to finish her work: The Unseen Women of Afghanistan.
comment posted at 1:10 AM on Sep-8-21

Australians woke up this morning to find that Facebook has commenced restricting publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content. The announcement comes in response to proposed new laws in Australia that would force tech companies to negotiate with media companies over how much to pay them for news content. The ban hammer appears to have inflicted a lot of collateral damage, including blocking government agencies, unions and satirical sites.
comment posted at 7:34 PM on Feb-18-21

The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Hall has opened, expanding New York's Penn Station into the former General Post Office building. It's been been praised (New Yorker, NYT) for its art-filled spaciousness, and plans have been announced to connect it to the High Line. Sadly, project manager Michael Evans didn't live to see its completion (NYT/Archive.is), having taken his own life in early 2020 amid the stress of the works.
comment posted at 12:09 AM on Jan-18-21

After telling his followers to storm the Capitol, President Trump releases a video seemingly admitting to losing, and then tells his base he won't be attending President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
comment posted at 3:19 AM on Jan-9-21

Fan Wennan’s digital illustrations have caught fire on Chinese social media, depicting the world of 2098 where China is a high-tech superpower, with a humbled US that’s embraced communism; Wall Street is draped with hammer-and-sickle flags celebrating the “30th anniversary of the People’s Union of America”. The illustrations come amid China’s Communist Party claiming the pandemic has shown the superiority of its authoritarian model (NYT/Archive.is)
comment posted at 1:46 AM on Dec-20-20

Wildlife bridges — AKA animal crossings, animal passings, ecoducts, etc. — can be pricey (costing US$2-4 million each, but one crossing can save thousands of animals lives every year. Common in Europe since the 1950s, they have become much widespread around the world.
comment posted at 12:22 AM on Dec-1-20

The G.S.A. Administrator Has Told Biden the Administration Is Ready to Begin the Transition. Read the letter.
comment posted at 6:11 PM on Nov-23-20
comment posted at 12:16 AM on Nov-24-20
comment posted at 4:16 AM on Nov-24-20

In what may be one of the most Italian things that has ever happened, the Italian State Police rushed a donor kidney from Padua to Rome for a transplant in a Lamborghini Huracan. Last week’s journey is around 300 miles, but with the help of a specially-outfitted supercar, the police made it happen in just about two hours at an average speed of 143 mph—and that’s a journey that normally takes around six.

comment posted at 7:51 PM on Nov-20-20

Flanders holds 1666 charter in reserve to fish in English waters Fishing rights in UK waters remain a stumbling block, but Flemish trawler men can look forward to the ‘sunlit uplands of Brexit’ with more confidence than most thanks to the charter that grants them eternal rights to fish in English waters.
comment posted at 6:46 PM on Oct-13-20

You can just parachute anywhere. You can be on one side of the world and then two seconds later be on the other side, and never have to worry about flying, borders, any of that. – Jacque Kelly has been traveling the world for the past 4 years using Google Street View. [previously]
comment posted at 3:39 AM on Jun-23-20

Drive and Listen is a mashup of YouTube city driving videos with the same city's local radio stations. Pick a location, sit back and relax.
comment posted at 3:23 AM on Jun-15-20

When Charles Barkley's mother, Charcey Glenn, passed away in June 2015, Barkley's hometown of Leeds, Alabama, came to the funeral to pay respects. But there was also an unexpected guest. Barkley’s friends couldn’t quite place him. He wasn’t a basketball player, he wasn’t a sports figure and he wasn’t from Barkley’s hometown. Here’s what I can tell you about him: he wore striped, red polo shirts tucked into khaki shorts and got really excited about two-for-one deals. He was a commuter. He worked as a cat litter scientist in Muscatine, Iowa. In short, he was everyone’s suburban dad. More specifically, he was my dad. "You know, it was obviously a very difficult time," Barkley told me recently. "And the next thing I know, he shows up. Everybody’s, like, 'Who’s the Asian dude over there?' I just started laughing. I said, 'That’s my boy, Lin.' They’re, like, 'How do you know him?' I said, 'It’s a long story.'"
comment posted at 10:56 PM on Dec-15-18

The yeoman warder charged with caring for the ravens of the Tower of London hikes along the Hudson. [slNewYorker]
comment posted at 7:07 PM on Oct-27-18

Why we should bulldoze the business school
comment posted at 3:48 AM on May-24-18

The Crazy Rich Asians movie trailer has dropped, and it's glorious. Crazy Rich Asians is a 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan that follows Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor, to Singapore to attend a wedding with her boyfriend, Nick. She soon discovers that Nick is "the Prince William of Asia," that his family is crazy rich, and that half the women in Singapore are now out for her blood. The film will be the first major Hollywood release (besides the occasional period piece) to feature an all-Asian cast in 25 years, since 1993's The Joy Luck Club.
comment posted at 5:21 AM on Apr-24-18
comment posted at 9:18 AM on Apr-24-18

Lou Engle: An American Threatens a Christian-Muslim Divide in Singapore Benjamin Lim investigates the inroads political American evangelicalism have made in his country as he attended the sixth annual Kingdom Invasion.
comment posted at 7:53 AM on Mar-27-18
comment posted at 8:09 AM on Mar-27-18
comment posted at 8:11 AM on Mar-27-18

Google Maps is Different in Different Countries - especially when it comes to disputed territories.
comment posted at 12:06 AM on Mar-11-18

Wallaby in custody after bouncing over Sydney Harbour Bridge (smh.com.au)
comment posted at 4:25 AM on Jan-16-18

The Untold Story Of America's Southern Chinese "There's a rather unknown community of Chinese-Americans who've lived in the Mississippi Delta for more than a hundred years. They played an important role in the segregated South in the middle of the 20th century. Join us as we get a taste of Southern Chinese food and learn about the unique history of the Delta Chinese."
comment posted at 7:38 AM on Oct-14-17

Native or Invasive "Like India, lantana as it is today in the Indian wild did not exist back in the seventeenth century. The plant has hybridized, many times. From its hybridity comes a kind of strength—the ability to thrive in a wide range of harsh environments. In Hindi there is a word corresponding to that kind of adaptability: jugaad, roughly translated as “making do.” Take the resources that you have and transform them into whatever it is you need. Improvise, adapt, and grow. In its capacity for jugaad, if nothing else, lantana is actually very Indian." [via]
comment posted at 7:35 PM on Oct-9-17

Freakishly fast dog runs around 2000 feet in Mexico city traffic, with a biker trying to catch up. They cross at least 5 big intersections. Amazingly, the dog gets caught and no one gets run over. (Warning: dog goes under a car at the beginning but seems to not get hit. ) (SLTwitter)
comment posted at 7:03 AM on Jun-22-17

After every season of play, the players of online trivia site Learned League vote on various awards: best rookie, Best defensive performance, and Best Wrong Answer (mouseover for answers)
comment posted at 4:27 AM on Jun-10-17

It’s the flip-side to the “retail apocalypse:” A siege of delivery trucks is threatening to choke cities with traffic. But not everyone agrees on what to do about it. "While truck traffic currently represents about 7 percent of urban traffic in American cities, it bears a disproportionate congestion cost of $28 billion, or about 17 percent of the total U.S. congestion costs, in wasted hours and gas. Cities, struggling to keep up with the deluge of delivery drivers, are seeing their curb space and streets overtaken by double-parked vehicles, to say nothing of the bonus pollution and roadwear produced thanks to a surfeit of Amazon Prime orders."
comment posted at 8:04 AM on Apr-25-17

The MRT Circle Line was hit by a spate of mysterious disruptions in recent months, causing much confusion and distress to thousands of commuters. Like most of my colleagues, I take a train on the Circle Line to my office at one-north every morning. So on November 5, when my team was given the chance to investigate the cause, I volunteered without hesitation.

comment posted at 10:58 PM on Dec-4-16

Hillary Clinton forgoes makeup following the election
comment posted at 6:08 AM on Dec-1-16

The End of the Anglo-American Order
comment posted at 6:38 AM on Dec-1-16

Fifteen months ago, Donald declared and we commented; two months earlier, Hillary did likewise. And now, here we are near the end of an divisive and damaging election. As Donald's campaign struggles under many allegations [BBC] [NBC News] [Guardian] [New York Times] and increased conversation on abuse, Hillary pulls out a 7 point lead in a Fox poll, a gap in the Real Clear Politics poll average and a large victory chance in 538 (though, cautionary words about poll bounces). Michelle Obama spoke about the language of this election (FPP title from her speech) [BBC] [New Yorker] [Washington Post] and in The Guardian: "She lent her extraordinary ability to say what people are feeling to every English-speaking woman in the world". Elsewhere, Trump-stooge Chris Christie is facing a criminal summons and Utah could be a three-way race which leads to a small possibility of President Evan.
comment posted at 8:45 AM on Oct-15-16
comment posted at 11:55 PM on Oct-15-16
comment posted at 11:59 PM on Oct-16-16

With just a month to go until the election (and after a Trumpian pre-debate shitshow) Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off again in the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis at 9PM Eastern Time. Print out your Bingo cards and tune into any major network (Channel 4 in the UK) or listen on NPR. Alternately, watch on one of YouTube's channels (NBC, PBS, Fox News, the Washington Post). Twitter will stream Bloomberg. Facebook has ABC and PBS. C-SPAN has its own feed (C-SPAN Radio is also streaming.) You can even watch in virtual reality (Gear, Rift, or Vive) via AltspaceVR.
comment posted at 5:57 AM on Oct-10-16

Tales from India's First War of Independence Eyewitness accounts of survivors of the Mughal family who fled from Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) after the Revolt of 1857.
comment posted at 7:36 AM on Oct-8-16

In the wake of the first presidential debate Monday night, which was widely recognized as a Clinton win even by the Republicans, polls in swing states have begun to swing back toward Clinton and even Nate Silver is calming down a bit.
comment posted at 4:50 AM on Oct-2-16

Donny is flopping about on immigration and his "deportation force," and the view of Donald as a bigot are solidifying, as Hillary's camp keeps up the race-themed attack on Donnie. Meanwhile, Donny bought $10 million in ads for this week, his biggest buy yet, focusing on the economy. Ads will air in battleground states, including Colorado and Virginia, where Clinton’s top aides — citing the growth in minority communities and college-educated white voters — feel confident enough to pull local ads. And to keep things lively, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton trade jabs over their health. With a bit more than 70 days to go, it's too soon for Hillary to run out the clock, so let's go, get back on your feet!
comment posted at 7:44 AM on Sep-1-16
comment posted at 8:28 AM on Sep-1-16
comment posted at 8:53 AM on Sep-2-16