MetaFilter posts by Steven Den Beste.
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Is it too late for "Flash Friday"? How about Psycho Bondage Bunnies, and the sequel? (NSFW, obviously)
posted on Dec-4-05 at 10:17 AM
This is the single best entry I have ever read, written by anyone, anywhere, on any blog.
posted on Jan-25-02 at 12:50 PM
Did you know about the "African-American Slavery Reparations" tax credit? (Neither did I.)
posted on Jan-24-02 at 12:47 PM
6 degrees of email. A project is going on to test the 6 degrees theory. And it occured to me that something like this could be done on the web. Is it possible to go from any web site to any other in 6 links? (More inside)
posted on Jan-23-02 at 7:29 AM
"Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Apparently we've reached that point in the US.
posted on Jan-19-02 at 7:29 AM
FDNY backs down on plans to build a multi-ethnic representation of the WTC flag raising. They "will consider new options."
posted on Jan-18-02 at 7:16 AM
This is what the Segway should have been. (It's still in prototype but it works.)
posted on Jan-16-02 at 6:22 AM
If Steve Jobs designed automobiles, then this is what they'd be like: Unique. Innovative. Unprecedented.
posted on Jan-14-02 at 10:53 PM
The new TV show, The Chamber "involves contestants who vie for a chance to enter a torture chamber. The winner is strapped into a chair in the chamber and must answer game show questions while enduring such torments as 100 mph winds, earthquake simulations and extreme heat, Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman told reporters today."
Is there any depth to which Fox won't stoop? It premieres tomorrow night.
posted on Jan-12-02 at 4:26 PM
Is historical revisionism acceptable in the name of "inclusiveness" (or "political correctness" to be less polite)? (More inside)
posted on Jan-11-02 at 1:17 PM
B4 d t+ k s++ u-- f++ i o++ x e l- c--
posted on Jan-10-02 at 10:32 AM
From the "No good deed goes unpunished" file: What's in your pet food? (And is your first reaction upon finding out really the right one, in the long run?)
posted on Jan-6-02 at 4:02 AM
We may grow old because we don't get cancer. Researchers have identified a gene called p53 whose function is to minimize tumors, but it may also cause aging as a side effect.
posted on Jan-2-02 at 11:30 PM
What is AWCA? "It’s an illness that can strike at any time, that can affect even the most sensible and rational blogger. It strikes slowly at first — a glance at The Nation or Village Voice, a quick peek at what the Berkeley City Council is up to this week — but can develop into a full-bore obsession. Minutes trolling on Indymedia turn into hours, ridiculed websites make their way to the Windows Favorites list, until finally one cannot bear to turn off the computer before seeing the words quagmire, proportionality, Arab street, root causes, and “terrorists” (in quotation marks only)." My name is Steve, and I suffer from AWCA.
posted on Dec-25-01 at 7:42 AM
The most popular board game in Argentina now is called "Deuda Eterna", Eternal Debt. It's been flying off the shelves. It has the players trying to operate South American countries which are rich in natural resources while trying to outfox the IMF. (The name is a play on "Deuda Externa", Foreign Debt, on which Argentina just stopped paying interest.)
posted on Dec-24-01 at 1:05 AM
Noam Chomsky's Jihad against America
posted on Dec-19-01 at 2:25 PM
Deconstructing Deconstructionism: "It is based on the proposition that the apparently real world is in fact a vast social construct and that the way to knowledge lies in taking apart in one’s mind this thing society has built." (via Reductio ad Absurdum)
posted on Nov-29-01 at 6:22 AM
The Burka and the Bikini "Our war against the Taliban, a regime that does not allow a woman to go to school, walk alone on a city street, or show her face in public, highlights the need to more fully understand the ways in which our own cultural ''uncovering'' of the female body impacts the lives of girls and women everywhere. ... Whether it's the dark, sad eyes of a woman in purdah or the anxious darkly circled eyes of a girl with anorexia nervosa, the woman trapped inside needs to be liberated from cultural confines in whatever form they take. The burka and the bikini represent opposite ends of the political spectrum but each can exert a noose-like grip on the psyche and physical health of girls and women."
posted on Nov-24-01 at 9:12 PM
"Universities have a serious problem. The type of liberalism so heavily favored by the intellectual elite has crossed the line. Professors throughout the educational world are supporting murderers and terrorists; they are justifying despicable actions because of the political philosophies of the actors. Murder, slaughter, and terrorism are OK, they say, as long as they are directed at law-enforcement officials or civilian Westerners. It's fine as long as the murderer is anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or anti-conservative." -- Written by a UCLA student
posted on Nov-23-01 at 4:26 PM
The Red Cross has a decade-long pattern of using local crises to raise funds, and then to spend those funds on other things. The donors had thought their money would go to help specific victims, and sometimes up to 80% would be diverted to other causes. I think this is wrong.
posted on Nov-19-01 at 11:32 AM
The World Food Program announces that it has been able to ship in more food to Afghanistan than it needs: 52,000 metric tons this month. Distribution problems still remain (and are being solved), but it could be a whole lot worse, and it looks like there will be no mass starvation.
posted on Nov-16-01 at 7:22 PM
Heather Havrilesky ("Polly Esther") has a web log. (But you have to look at the source to prove it.)
posted on Nov-15-01 at 12:27 PM
Buy your own election! Complete with hanging chad!
posted on Nov-9-01 at 7:17 AM
New Zealand's Green Party agrees to work to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. (Via Fredrik K.R. Norman)
posted on Oct-25-01 at 12:56 PM
A pickup bar for geeks. 60 TV cameras on the ceiling can be controlled by bar patrons from stations all over the bar, to snoop on other people. See someone you like? Send 'em an email; and maybe if you hit it off you can walk across the bar and actually talk to them.
posted on Oct-21-01 at 6:53 PM
A couple from the UK have a beloved son who has leukemia, and who may need a marrow transplant to save his life. They are using in-vitro fertilization to select a fertilized egg which will be genetically similar enough to their son so that the resulting baby could be a marrow donor. Is it ethical to design a baby as a transplant donor, even to save the life of another child?
posted on Oct-15-01 at 6:20 AM
The Tourist of Death -- a new Internet meme. Apparently he's come to be called "Waldo" by afficianados. (Good Heavens!!)
posted on Oct-13-01 at 7:42 AM
"Tears don't flow the same in space." Frank Culbertson provides the most unusual eye-witness account of the attack I've heard of. He's the only American on the International Space Station right now, and saw the aftermath of both attacks from orbit.
posted on Oct-11-01 at 4:48 PM
Mullah Omar speaks to the people of Afghanistan and Muslims around the world. But Voice of Shariat was destroyed in the bombing. So a tape of his speech was delivered to Voice of America and the BBC World Service, and they both broadcast it.
posted on Oct-10-01 at 2:35 PM
Spotting the Losers: Seven Signs of Non-Competitive States: Nations and groups that will not be successful economically or diplomatically all share at least some of the following characteristics:
Restrictions on the free flow of information
Subjugation of women
Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure
The extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization
Domination by a restrictive religion
A low valuation of education
Low prestige assigned to work
posted on Oct-10-01 at 9:24 AM
High speed hoax: Taking advantage of a bug in CNN's "mail this story" mechanism, a guy created a hoax page looking like a CNN news story which claimed that Britney Spears had died in a car crash. (She's fine.) He seeded the story by giving it to just three people in a chat room -- and within 12 hours it had been downloaded 150,000 times. The Internet appears to permit extremely efficient distribution of disinformation.
posted on Oct-10-01 at 5:16 AM
Cyberdildonics describes a technology which permits someone to remotely control a dildo over the internet. Reach out and touch someone! (I bet they're working on that next.)
posted on Oct-5-01 at 7:14 AM
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry says that the evidence against Al Qaeda is convincing. The Taliban say that even if they were given convincing evidence, they still wouldn't give up bin Laden.
posted on Oct-4-01 at 5:40 AM
A lot of people have been asking for "proof." Here is your proof. And it makes for chilling reading.
posted on Oct-1-01 at 2:31 PM
An FSU coed wandered around topless at Mardi Gras, and was videotaped without her knowledge. She was included in a commercial tape called "Girls Gone Wild" and is now suing. Do you think she has a case?
posted on Sep-30-01 at 11:33 AM
Terrorists should be tried in front of military tribunals instead in civilian courts in front of juries.
posted on Sep-29-01 at 11:26 AM
The Liberty Alliance Project has been formed. What a marvelously patriotic name. I bet you can't guess what it's about without reading the link. Come on, I betcha can't. Just try.
posted on Sep-27-01 at 8:03 AM
Jesse Jackson invited to visit the Taliban. They've asked him to lead a peace delegation to come talk to them; he's thinking it over. My question is this: How far does he have to go before he's providing "aid and comfort" to our enemies (i.e. before he's committing treason)? I hope he'll do the right thing (stay home and shut up) but I doubt it.
posted on Sep-26-01 at 10:00 PM
On the art of Propaganda Propaganda is a vital part of warfare and we're about to see a lot of it. This site analyzes the techniques of propaganda and discusses specific examples from history.
posted on Sep-25-01 at 6:43 AM
"What has America done wrong? In the days since September 11, its president and people have done nothing but demonstrate dignity and restraint. Bush will lash out, the chatterers said. But he hasn't yet. Bush is a bumbling hick, they sneered. But he isn't."
posted on Sep-23-01 at 11:02 AM
Used (unwashed) lingerie auction, proceeds to the Red Cross! Come on, now; let's get some bidding going here! (I want the Martian Dildo or the stars-and-stripes thong bikini! [No, I ain't gonna model it for you.])
posted on Sep-23-01 at 9:50 AM
Who wants to be a Princess? Remember "Who wants to marry a Multimillionaire?" Remember how it turned into a big scandal? Remember how Fox promised they wouldn't do it again? Well, they're doing it again this coming Monday.
posted on Sep-22-01 at 3:14 PM
The Al-Qaeda manual on "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants," including especially instructions on how to infiltrate "godless areas" and not stand out. There's also an "assassinations" section with instructions on how to kill with a knife.
posted on Sep-21-01 at 2:51 PM
"Islam must rule the world and until Islam does rule the world we will continue to sacrifice our lives." There isn't any way to compromise with that; no way to "live and let live".
posted on Sep-20-01 at 6:31 AM
What is art? A German composer describes the WTC bombings as "the greatest work of art one can imagine." (Then he apologized after four concerts were cancelled.) Perhaps he should have lunch with Jerry Falwell -- they'll have a lot to talk about.
posted on Sep-19-01 at 9:16 AM
Why White Guilt is wrong and harmful. (Written by Shelby Steele.)
posted on Sep-17-01 at 11:52 AM
A coalition of 13 nations declares war on those nations who are implicated in this attack. (There's nothing more dangerous than 300 angry teenagers.)
posted on Sep-14-01 at 4:32 PM
How low can we go? Spammers are soliciting funds for bogus charities to help the victims of the disaster.
posted on Sep-13-01 at 9:44 AM
Animations of the flight paths of the two planes that hit NYC and of the one plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
posted on Sep-12-01 at 9:11 AM
DC Government at work. (Warning, this is a hard story to read.) The government of the District of Columbia may be among the most incompetent and badly run in the US. Here's another example of its efficiency. DC does not have a constitutional right to home rule; that was granted to it by Congress. Is it time for Congress to revoke its charter and replace the entire governmental structure from the top to the bottom? (In the mean time, I'd like to see some criminal prosecutions of the people involved in this tragedy. No little girl should be treated this way. And I want to know what they're going to do to make sure this isn't still happening to other kids.)
posted on Sep-10-01 at 6:34 PM
posted on Dec-4-05 at 10:17 AM
This is the single best entry I have ever read, written by anyone, anywhere, on any blog.
posted on Jan-25-02 at 12:50 PM
Did you know about the "African-American Slavery Reparations" tax credit? (Neither did I.)
posted on Jan-24-02 at 12:47 PM
6 degrees of email. A project is going on to test the 6 degrees theory. And it occured to me that something like this could be done on the web. Is it possible to go from any web site to any other in 6 links? (More inside)
posted on Jan-23-02 at 7:29 AM
"Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Apparently we've reached that point in the US.
posted on Jan-19-02 at 7:29 AM
FDNY backs down on plans to build a multi-ethnic representation of the WTC flag raising. They "will consider new options."
posted on Jan-18-02 at 7:16 AM
This is what the Segway should have been. (It's still in prototype but it works.)
posted on Jan-16-02 at 6:22 AM
If Steve Jobs designed automobiles, then this is what they'd be like: Unique. Innovative. Unprecedented.
posted on Jan-14-02 at 10:53 PM
The new TV show, The Chamber "involves contestants who vie for a chance to enter a torture chamber. The winner is strapped into a chair in the chamber and must answer game show questions while enduring such torments as 100 mph winds, earthquake simulations and extreme heat, Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman told reporters today."
Is there any depth to which Fox won't stoop? It premieres tomorrow night.
posted on Jan-12-02 at 4:26 PM
Is historical revisionism acceptable in the name of "inclusiveness" (or "political correctness" to be less polite)? (More inside)
posted on Jan-11-02 at 1:17 PM
B4 d t+ k s++ u-- f++ i o++ x e l- c--
posted on Jan-10-02 at 10:32 AM
From the "No good deed goes unpunished" file: What's in your pet food? (And is your first reaction upon finding out really the right one, in the long run?)
posted on Jan-6-02 at 4:02 AM
We may grow old because we don't get cancer. Researchers have identified a gene called p53 whose function is to minimize tumors, but it may also cause aging as a side effect.
posted on Jan-2-02 at 11:30 PM
What is AWCA? "It’s an illness that can strike at any time, that can affect even the most sensible and rational blogger. It strikes slowly at first — a glance at The Nation or Village Voice, a quick peek at what the Berkeley City Council is up to this week — but can develop into a full-bore obsession. Minutes trolling on Indymedia turn into hours, ridiculed websites make their way to the Windows Favorites list, until finally one cannot bear to turn off the computer before seeing the words quagmire, proportionality, Arab street, root causes, and “terrorists” (in quotation marks only)." My name is Steve, and I suffer from AWCA.
posted on Dec-25-01 at 7:42 AM
The most popular board game in Argentina now is called "Deuda Eterna", Eternal Debt. It's been flying off the shelves. It has the players trying to operate South American countries which are rich in natural resources while trying to outfox the IMF. (The name is a play on "Deuda Externa", Foreign Debt, on which Argentina just stopped paying interest.)
posted on Dec-24-01 at 1:05 AM
Noam Chomsky's Jihad against America
posted on Dec-19-01 at 2:25 PM
Deconstructing Deconstructionism: "It is based on the proposition that the apparently real world is in fact a vast social construct and that the way to knowledge lies in taking apart in one’s mind this thing society has built." (via Reductio ad Absurdum)
posted on Nov-29-01 at 6:22 AM
The Burka and the Bikini "Our war against the Taliban, a regime that does not allow a woman to go to school, walk alone on a city street, or show her face in public, highlights the need to more fully understand the ways in which our own cultural ''uncovering'' of the female body impacts the lives of girls and women everywhere. ... Whether it's the dark, sad eyes of a woman in purdah or the anxious darkly circled eyes of a girl with anorexia nervosa, the woman trapped inside needs to be liberated from cultural confines in whatever form they take. The burka and the bikini represent opposite ends of the political spectrum but each can exert a noose-like grip on the psyche and physical health of girls and women."
posted on Nov-24-01 at 9:12 PM
"Universities have a serious problem. The type of liberalism so heavily favored by the intellectual elite has crossed the line. Professors throughout the educational world are supporting murderers and terrorists; they are justifying despicable actions because of the political philosophies of the actors. Murder, slaughter, and terrorism are OK, they say, as long as they are directed at law-enforcement officials or civilian Westerners. It's fine as long as the murderer is anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or anti-conservative." -- Written by a UCLA student
posted on Nov-23-01 at 4:26 PM
The Red Cross has a decade-long pattern of using local crises to raise funds, and then to spend those funds on other things. The donors had thought their money would go to help specific victims, and sometimes up to 80% would be diverted to other causes. I think this is wrong.
posted on Nov-19-01 at 11:32 AM
The World Food Program announces that it has been able to ship in more food to Afghanistan than it needs: 52,000 metric tons this month. Distribution problems still remain (and are being solved), but it could be a whole lot worse, and it looks like there will be no mass starvation.
posted on Nov-16-01 at 7:22 PM
Heather Havrilesky ("Polly Esther") has a web log. (But you have to look at the source to prove it.)
posted on Nov-15-01 at 12:27 PM
Buy your own election! Complete with hanging chad!
posted on Nov-9-01 at 7:17 AM
New Zealand's Green Party agrees to work to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. (Via Fredrik K.R. Norman)
posted on Oct-25-01 at 12:56 PM
A pickup bar for geeks. 60 TV cameras on the ceiling can be controlled by bar patrons from stations all over the bar, to snoop on other people. See someone you like? Send 'em an email; and maybe if you hit it off you can walk across the bar and actually talk to them.
posted on Oct-21-01 at 6:53 PM
A couple from the UK have a beloved son who has leukemia, and who may need a marrow transplant to save his life. They are using in-vitro fertilization to select a fertilized egg which will be genetically similar enough to their son so that the resulting baby could be a marrow donor. Is it ethical to design a baby as a transplant donor, even to save the life of another child?
posted on Oct-15-01 at 6:20 AM
The Tourist of Death -- a new Internet meme. Apparently he's come to be called "Waldo" by afficianados. (Good Heavens!!)
posted on Oct-13-01 at 7:42 AM
"Tears don't flow the same in space." Frank Culbertson provides the most unusual eye-witness account of the attack I've heard of. He's the only American on the International Space Station right now, and saw the aftermath of both attacks from orbit.
posted on Oct-11-01 at 4:48 PM
Mullah Omar speaks to the people of Afghanistan and Muslims around the world. But Voice of Shariat was destroyed in the bombing. So a tape of his speech was delivered to Voice of America and the BBC World Service, and they both broadcast it.
posted on Oct-10-01 at 2:35 PM
Spotting the Losers: Seven Signs of Non-Competitive States: Nations and groups that will not be successful economically or diplomatically all share at least some of the following characteristics:
Restrictions on the free flow of information
Subjugation of women
Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure
The extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization
Domination by a restrictive religion
A low valuation of education
Low prestige assigned to work
posted on Oct-10-01 at 9:24 AM
High speed hoax: Taking advantage of a bug in CNN's "mail this story" mechanism, a guy created a hoax page looking like a CNN news story which claimed that Britney Spears had died in a car crash. (She's fine.) He seeded the story by giving it to just three people in a chat room -- and within 12 hours it had been downloaded 150,000 times. The Internet appears to permit extremely efficient distribution of disinformation.
posted on Oct-10-01 at 5:16 AM
Cyberdildonics describes a technology which permits someone to remotely control a dildo over the internet. Reach out and touch someone! (I bet they're working on that next.)
posted on Oct-5-01 at 7:14 AM
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry says that the evidence against Al Qaeda is convincing. The Taliban say that even if they were given convincing evidence, they still wouldn't give up bin Laden.
posted on Oct-4-01 at 5:40 AM
A lot of people have been asking for "proof." Here is your proof. And it makes for chilling reading.
posted on Oct-1-01 at 2:31 PM
An FSU coed wandered around topless at Mardi Gras, and was videotaped without her knowledge. She was included in a commercial tape called "Girls Gone Wild" and is now suing. Do you think she has a case?
posted on Sep-30-01 at 11:33 AM
Terrorists should be tried in front of military tribunals instead in civilian courts in front of juries.
posted on Sep-29-01 at 11:26 AM
The Liberty Alliance Project has been formed. What a marvelously patriotic name. I bet you can't guess what it's about without reading the link. Come on, I betcha can't. Just try.
posted on Sep-27-01 at 8:03 AM
Jesse Jackson invited to visit the Taliban. They've asked him to lead a peace delegation to come talk to them; he's thinking it over. My question is this: How far does he have to go before he's providing "aid and comfort" to our enemies (i.e. before he's committing treason)? I hope he'll do the right thing (stay home and shut up) but I doubt it.
posted on Sep-26-01 at 10:00 PM
On the art of Propaganda Propaganda is a vital part of warfare and we're about to see a lot of it. This site analyzes the techniques of propaganda and discusses specific examples from history.
posted on Sep-25-01 at 6:43 AM
"What has America done wrong? In the days since September 11, its president and people have done nothing but demonstrate dignity and restraint. Bush will lash out, the chatterers said. But he hasn't yet. Bush is a bumbling hick, they sneered. But he isn't."
posted on Sep-23-01 at 11:02 AM
Used (unwashed) lingerie auction, proceeds to the Red Cross! Come on, now; let's get some bidding going here! (I want the Martian Dildo or the stars-and-stripes thong bikini! [No, I ain't gonna model it for you.])
posted on Sep-23-01 at 9:50 AM
Who wants to be a Princess? Remember "Who wants to marry a Multimillionaire?" Remember how it turned into a big scandal? Remember how Fox promised they wouldn't do it again? Well, they're doing it again this coming Monday.
posted on Sep-22-01 at 3:14 PM
The Al-Qaeda manual on "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants," including especially instructions on how to infiltrate "godless areas" and not stand out. There's also an "assassinations" section with instructions on how to kill with a knife.
posted on Sep-21-01 at 2:51 PM
"Islam must rule the world and until Islam does rule the world we will continue to sacrifice our lives." There isn't any way to compromise with that; no way to "live and let live".
posted on Sep-20-01 at 6:31 AM
What is art? A German composer describes the WTC bombings as "the greatest work of art one can imagine." (Then he apologized after four concerts were cancelled.) Perhaps he should have lunch with Jerry Falwell -- they'll have a lot to talk about.
posted on Sep-19-01 at 9:16 AM
Why White Guilt is wrong and harmful. (Written by Shelby Steele.)
posted on Sep-17-01 at 11:52 AM
A coalition of 13 nations declares war on those nations who are implicated in this attack. (There's nothing more dangerous than 300 angry teenagers.)
posted on Sep-14-01 at 4:32 PM
How low can we go? Spammers are soliciting funds for bogus charities to help the victims of the disaster.
posted on Sep-13-01 at 9:44 AM
Animations of the flight paths of the two planes that hit NYC and of the one plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
posted on Sep-12-01 at 9:11 AM
DC Government at work. (Warning, this is a hard story to read.) The government of the District of Columbia may be among the most incompetent and badly run in the US. Here's another example of its efficiency. DC does not have a constitutional right to home rule; that was granted to it by Congress. Is it time for Congress to revoke its charter and replace the entire governmental structure from the top to the bottom? (In the mean time, I'd like to see some criminal prosecutions of the people involved in this tragedy. No little girl should be treated this way. And I want to know what they're going to do to make sure this isn't still happening to other kids.)
posted on Sep-10-01 at 6:34 PM