MetaFilter posts tagged with groups

Smaller Wallets, Larger Households?

The Whelk — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:54:43 -0800

A dozen ultraleft voluntarists arguing about shower schedules is a noise complaint; 120,000 downwardly mobile yuppies doing it out of necessity is a substratum. The material realities of declining wages, ballooning debt, and skyrocketing rents at the core of the neoliberal city have conspired to herd young people into unprecedentedly dense, poor, and precarious kinds of living arrangements. - Andrew Fogle on how the economic crisis is changing how people live together.

Shared (bullshit) Sacrifice

mannequito — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:20:54 -0800

"When global warming was recast as "climate change," that was Frank Luntz. When the estate tax became a "death tax," that was Frank Luntz. When the Affordable Health Care for America Act was held up as "a government takeover," that was Frank Luntz, too." How A Top GOP Strategist Is Helping Hockey Owners Craft Their Lockout Propaganda Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski offers his reaction.

The continuing gamification of life

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:03:38 -0800

Fitocracy is a social game that harnesses the power of feedback loops to promote fitness. Founded by two RPG-loving gamers, Brian Wang and Richard Talens, as a way to track their own progress. Slate's Farhad Manjoo does a video review, and Daniel Spelzmann at Ppen Salon has a profile as well. The tracking site has also appeared in XKCD and Penny Arcade Previously, on MeTa

Japanimation in a very large nutshell

oneswellfoop — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:48:43 -0800

Every Anime Opening Ever Made (an admittedly exaggerated title) is a SLYT romp through the repeating themes in 93 different opening sequences, compiled by Derek Lieu (via Neatorama) Almost 4-and-a-half minutes of birds, quick upward pans, trees, eye close-ups, running (mostly right-to-left), heads turning, flashes of pseudo-nudity, pensive poses, wow! expressions, groups gathering, swords clashing, (some miscellaneous not-so-repetitive quick cuts), vertical stripes, walking, silhouettes, two-shots at odd angles, flying (mostly into the camera), crying, magical orbs, hands reaching out, more birds and more two-shots (mirror effects). Bonus barely-related content: Every Pee Wee's Playhouse Word of the Day Ever (don't forget to scream, via Urlesque)

Adding voices and viewpoints to the blogosphere

amberglow — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:19:08 -0800

rsspect and AfroSpear -- both bringing more Black voices of the blogosphere to our attention. Rsspect is a growing collection of feeds, and AfroSpear a group blog. The loss of Steve Gilliard of the NewsBlog this week has caused many to rightly question why more minority voices aren't as visible or prominent online.

...at the end of the day, we're specimens to be dissected, examined and studied so that you may teach a "lesson" that you view as important. ...

amberglow — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:01:12 -0800

We Are Not Freaks --from Silber's Power of Narrative--and applicable to all who fall outside the norms.

I just want to belong.

Robot Johnny — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 12:51:06 -0800

People are strange when you're a stranger.

The decay of groupthink

c:\awesome — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:35:55 -0800

The effectiveness of groups, teamwork, collaboration, and consensus is largely a myth. So why then do we put so much stock in the opinions of many, and so little in the opinion of one?

Music

semmi — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:24:36 -0800

The Fillmore St. Jazz Festival and the Mitch Marcus Quintet Live. via BayTaper.com

If your gonna make a post related to Katrina...

Smedleyman — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:11:05 -0800

***The following statements are graphic, truthful, and discuss UNRATIONAL behavior*** The people on T.V., (99% being Black) were DEMANDING help. They were not asking nicely but demanding as if society owed these people something. Well the honest truth is WE DON'T.... We are inviting the lowest of the low to Houston. And like idiots we are serving the people who will soon steal our cars, rape, murder, and destroy our city while stealing from our pockets on a daily basis through the welfare checks they take. I would call them NIGGERS, but the actual definition of a nigger is one who is ignorant, these people were not ignorant... I got one of the variations of this in my e-mail from someone I know who is fairly reasonable and fairly pro-Bush. And I started thinking about the "NOLA folks spending their aid money on lap dances" (or what have you) type stories and I started wondering where the racism goes from blur to clarity (the respective blogs taken as whole). The halfwit dupes like Jillian Bandes who absorb or regurgitate these ideas (unconsciously or otherwise) vs. the overt sort of racism and the monsters that spread it. They can appear strangely wholesome in a bizzaro Olsen twin sort of way. But they are serious in a way that makes the "Bush doesn't like black people" thing seem quaint (in the old-fashioned but not necessarily authentic, sense of the word). But I can't tell which is more insidious, which is more dangerous.

Animal Collectives. Ann Rynd beware

sotonohito — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 17:42:35 -0800

English names for groups various creatures are often bizarre. Many of the stranger collective nouns came from the Boke of St. Albans. Most lists don't include a "parliament of rooks" any longer. Lists of collective animal names are available for children and adults. Though, oddly there doesn't seem to be a collective name for humans as a species, numerous names (mostly silly) exist for types of human groups. Dispute does exist in the world of collective nouns. Officially monkeys are grouped in "troops", but most people would agree that the proper term for a group of monkeys is barrel . However debate seems to have been closed on the subject of the proper term for a group of tentacle monsters (NSFW). Of course, you have to know how the proper grammar when using collective nouns.

Greatest Week in Rock History

madamjujujive — Sat, 20 Dec 2003 06:31:58 -0800

The Greatest Week in Rock History (Salon link) - 34 years ago today, Billboard Charts had a outstanding album lineup - perhaps not the best albums ever, but for a single point in time, arguably unmatched for quality, originality, and longevity. Take a look back at the roster: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Stones, Santana, the Temptations, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Easy Rider.

The Abilene Paradox

effugas — Mon, 21 Jul 2003 03:15:35 -0800

The Abilene Paradox: A sunny afternoon, a family playing cards on a terrace. One of them thinks they should move - not that he cares, on the contrary, but he thinks the others want to - so he proposes a trip to Abilene. No fun, hot, bad food. Back home one of them admits that he had preferred to stay home. Everybody would have liked that, only they did not admit to it when it was still time to enjoy the afternoon.
Everyone talks about free speech, but it's surprising how few people (even its most vociferous defenders!) realize why it's so important. The Abilene Paradox -- which describes in familiar terms how entire groups can be motivated to act contrary to their own wishes -- can only occur when communication breaks down...or is broken down. Just a bit of pragmatism to start your day.

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky and the neuronaut's guide to the science of consciousness

y2karl — Fri, 11 Jul 2003 07:57:32 -0800

We are because of others. We are born into this world with minds as naked as our bodies and we have to rely on others to feed, clothe us, and to teach us to think of ourselves as selves. The key is language -- grammatical speech and human culture build upon the brain's biological capacities to create a mind that is something different again than that with which we are born. We are conscious because we can speak to others and ourselves, because we can speak of ourselves to others and ourselves. Language gives us as individuals, memory, and as groups, culture, the social memory. Or so thought Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, among others. Welcome to the the neuronaut's guide to the science of consciousness.

High school Satanism club prompts parental outrage

falameufilho — Wed, 02 Oct 2002 12:53:14 -0800

High school Satanism club prompts parental outrage some kids in a high school start a club called Satanist Thought Society. As expected, everybody gets offended, especially the Christian Society. It can be argued, though, that the the Satanist Society has as much right to exist as the Christian Society. Is this just a 1st ammendment issue or is there a moral question to be thought out? (via Camworld)

charlesv — Fri, 07 Jun 2002 15:33:21 -0800

Clubs and fraternal organizations to join today: Kiwanis, Scottish Rite, Rotary, and maybe Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.

Yahoo-Groups!

rich — Wed, 28 Jun 2000 07:09:36 -0800

Yahoo-Groups! Yahoo! seems to be building itself into a virtual AOL. I suppose they are going to grab a cable company or entertainment company next. Hey - maybe Paramount's new owners will put it on the block.