MetaFilter posts tagged with REAL

The 'G' Word.

joechip — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:53:19 -0800

MTV's Jersey Shore, a Real World-style reality program centered around eight young Italian-Americans living together in a beach house, is garnering charges of racism following their use of the allegedly pejorative terms guido and the feminine counterpart guidette in advertisements. But what exactly is a guido? The most popular definition on urbandictionary.com lists the Italian-American ancestry of a guido as "likely" but focuses more on the supposed fashion (blowback hairstyle, tan jobs) and personality deficiencies (loud, obnoxious, self-centered) of the subculture. Andrew DiMino, president of Italian-American community group Unico International claims that the word is very derogatory towards Italian Americans, and further claims that MTV promotes the stereotype of the guido within the reality show, saying that, "You would not believe how much anger there is about this... Normally, the negative stereotypes exist in fiction. (In Jersey Shore), they're being presented as reality." Sociology professor Donald Tricaro takes a more Marxian approach, claiming "(Guidism) is a cultural movement, but it's about consumption, not ethnicity." FWIW, cast member Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is a-ok with the term.

Maher and Feather

Christ, what an asshole — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:57:43 -0800

Bill Maher's criticism of Obama? Be more like Bush. ...And just like Lindsey [Lohan], we see your name in the paper a lot, but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something. Follow up of his statements with Keith Olbermann. ...But where's the beef? And it's easy to make speeches; what's hard to do is stand up against corporations. Corporations and their incredible strength are what have ruined this country so far, and this president -- we thought -- might be the one to stand up to them. I'm losing hope. I still have audacity, but my hope is fading.

How Lehman Brothers Got Its Real Estate Fix

SeizeTheDay — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:15:21 -0800

How Lehman Brothers Got Its Real Estate Fix. A great article in the NYTimes describes some of the details of commercial real estate lending in its heyday, with a focus on one of Lehman's biggest dealmakers.

It's a bird, it's a plane... its su... wait, nope not him.

flipyourwig — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:57:52 -0800

Here's Razorhawk a superhero who also wrestles and makes suits for other superheroes. This is Master Legend who recently had an article published in Rolling Stone about him. Meet Superhero who patrols the streets of Clearwater, Florida in his custom Corvette. They call themselves real-life superheroes. A documentary film featuring them has the first 10 minutes free online at google video. More clips of real-life superheroes here. Happy New Years everyone and stay safe.

Animata

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:46:02 -0800

Animata is an open source real-time animation software, designed to create animations, interactive background projections for concerts, theatre and dance performances.

Major selling point: Trash can lids

Astro Zombie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:23:52 -0800

It's lovely! I'll take it! Sometimes, you just wonder what people were thinking when they posted photos in their real estate listings.

They removed floor joists??

metasonix — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:07:59 -0800

Kip Macy is a well-known developer and mentor in the community focused on the FreeBSD operating system. He is also having some major legal problems. "Prosecutors said the Macys broke into the tenants' apartment last June and stole $2,000 in cash, a Gucci watch and a cell phone. The tenants, Erik Hernandez and Jason Lopez, later filed a lawsuit accusing the Macys of first changing the locks on the apartment, then illegally entering their unit and dismantling some of their furniture. When Hernandez came home and confronted Kip Macy as the landlord was ransacking his apartment, Macy kicked him in the chest, the suit says. Threatening notes then started appearing at the tenants' door, and the water was shut off after the Macys stopped paying the bill, the suit says. In October, Nicole Macy broke into the apartment and poured ammonia on clothes, bedding and home electronics, prosecutors said. "

"After looking at this pad, Hugh Hefner is a square"

dersins — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:45:57 -0800

Ursa Major, the former home of deceased basketball great (and cocksman extraordinaire) Wilt Chamberlain is for sale. History. Slide shows.

Either Make an Offer or Geeeeeettttt Ouuuuuuttt

thanotopsis — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:25:49 -0800

If a seller told me his house was haunted, would I be obligated to disclose this information? You think disclosure of ghosts is funny? The fact is, a Haunted House falls into the characteristic of "stigmatized" housing. Disclosure of this information, and the laws surrounding it, are typically up to the state. Some Agents have written columns on how to tame your ghosts so that the house sells. Of course, some ghosts can be very helpful and promote the property value for you. Would you live in a haunted house? Federal Law has seven protected classes that limit the types and kinds of disclosure, like how you can't tell people your ghost has AIDS. Here in Wisconsin [pdf], we have 5 additional protected classes, and haunted houses are still a concern. Finally, Madison tacks on an additional 7 classes (I'm pretty sure the ghosts in question won't be able to disclose their SSN when asked, so they're obviously protected). Besides, Halloween cost Madison nearly 3/4ths of a million dollars last year. If you're not into living with ghosts, be careful when you visit such a house: They may follow you home.

Hot Properties

Cool Papa Bell — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 17:55:44 -0800

Hot Properties: Want to feel inadequate? Want to visit InsaneWorld? Check out the L.A. Times real estate column Hot Properties, which covers the world of high-end celebrity real estate moves. It's like rock candy for masochists. Scarlett Johansson recently picked up a $7 million pad from a family friend. Courteney Cox wanted more privacy, so she and David Arquette flipped their $33.5 million shack for a $17 million compound. John Cleese is selling his ranch for $28 million. Tom Cruise shows them the money for a $35 million upgrade from his rental. Even the D-list celebs get ink. Double you. Tee. Eff.

You're living in your own private island-o

dersins — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:37:59 -0800

Would you like to buy an island? Some are small and affordable. Others, not so much.

Countrywide Empties Out on Widowmaker

Adamchik — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:46:07 -0800

Countrywide Empties Out on Widowmaker gives a vivid idea of the turmoil in the mortgage market, and the difficult American real estate environment. "You sold your unlimited subway card after the 5th race, plunged full-bore on a filthy hot dog, a beer and a 9-1 shot that finished next-to-last. You are Countrywide."

Won't get not-fooled again

maudlin — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:41:30 -0800

Garbage + illumination = art? Various artists carefully pile rubbish on a gallery floor, or meticulously assemble a collection of ordinary items, plug in a light source, and create incredibly detailed and surprising shadows on the wall. Meanwhile, blog commenters cry "Fake!" and "Photoshop!". I guess they didn't see any of the Quicktime movies of Shigeo Fukuda linked here.

Finally

moift — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 09:49:58 -0800

Running late at work? Need to get dinner on the table? It is easy to warm up the George Foreman USB iGrill from any internet connection. With a little advance planning, your meal can be ready when you get home! (via b3ta newsletter)

Those Cats Were Fast As Lightning

fandango_matt — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 14:34:47 -0800

Real-Life Tekken.

Too good to be true...

H. Roark — Wed, 31 May 2006 19:31:54 -0800

How to Buy a $450K Home for $750K - Yes, its true. Low and behold, all the conditions have been met, and it is indeed possible to buy houses for 50% above their market value.

Makin' copies!

dobbs — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 23:34:35 -0800

I first saw Chel White's Photocopy Cha Cha (mpg excerpt - can't find whole thing online) in 1996 and I thought it was fantastic. In 2002 I saw Virgil Widrich's Copy Shop, which impressed me even more. Yesterday, thanks to Kottke, I saw Wildrich's phenomenal Fast Film. Wow. From Channel 4's page on the film: "Director Virgil Widrich captured stills from ... 300 movies, and made over 65,000 photocopies of these, then folded them into a variety of shapes and animated them." {the two VW films are unfortunately in Real format but definitely worth putting up with the format for}

Operators are standing by?

nobody — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 07:42:10 -0800

Hitman.us is certainly a parody, offering, for a reasonable $20,000 fee, to remove the unwanted from your life. One of the rotating ads on the site, however, points to bustoutdealer.com (registered under the same name), which, with a fee under $4,000, looks like it may be serious.

Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You

mwhybark — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 17:10:58 -0800

Edison's New Media. American Memory (natch) offers this sprawling archive of audio files and filmic material. Uncovered while seeking an archive of piano roll recordings, unsuccessfully. Also noted: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier and recordings from the American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920.

Way Too Free

rtimmel — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:20:32 -0800

FreedomOfChoice's Apple petition was shut down yesterday by Real Networks after a single day. Why? Seems that allowing comment backfired. Instead of lambasting Apple, everyone used the forum to vent their ire at Real. Only so much freedom at a time, thank you very much.

I always wanted to be a Barbarian

dobbs — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 08:55:50 -0800

For nearly a quarter of a century Thor the Barbarian waged a lonely crusade against tyrannical bureaucracies and disempowering systems. Undaunted, he faced the monstrous social evils of our day head on, as an unsung organizational change agent... as a professional inside New York's vast mental health network. Real interview here (about a minute in) - scroll down to the Thor - LIVE link.

It's the real thing

Mwongozi — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:33:59 -0800

RealOne without the spyware The BBC, being a public service broadcaster, are forbidden from advertising. However, their internet streams are in Real format - the player of which is not known for being ad-free. The BBC have done a deal with Real to provide a "clean" version of RealOne (Windows only) - only available from the above link.

WeirdScience

srboisvert — Tue, 07 Oct 2003 07:05:35 -0800

IgNobel 2003 Prize Ceremony. [Real Player Video 1:35:43] Waste your morning listening to the Ignitaries giving their nano lectures.

mkultra — Tue, 29 Oct 2002 10:36:03 -0800

RealNetworks opens up. RealNetworks today launched the Helix Community which provides the source code to its RealPlayer client (the server and encoding components are coming later). This will present the first end-to-end open source media delivery system- Apple has open sourced its streaming server, but not its clients or codecs; Microsoft's Windows Media platform is totally closed. Marketing ploy or real step forward for the software industry?

owillis — Tue, 15 Aug 2000 15:19:19 -0800

Real goes subscription. A decent business model, IMHO. But with two lacking elements: 1) Too expensive ($3-5/month is better), 2) More compelling content (needs more name brands). I think a flat rate type content model could work well for video/multimedia content (the porn industry does well with it).