MetaFilter posts tagged with secrets

IOKIYO

Joe Beese — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:18:20 -0800

Beyond even the outrageously broad "state secrets" privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned. - Glenn Greenwald. In other news... The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 would, for example, give the President unfettered power to shut down Internet traffic in emergencies or disconnect any critical infrastructure system or network on national security grounds. - Center for Democracy and Technology

Playing 20 questions with the world.

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:23:39 -0800

We ask the world 20 Questions and publish our favorites every weekday.

Setec Astronomy

blahblahblah — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:23:21 -0800

Trevor Paglen, the "underground geographer," documents the Black World, offering brief glimpses into the most secret programs and installations of the US military. He has uncovered the ominous and geeky patches used by classified projects, taken long-range photos of secret military installations, traced the mysterious Janet flights of unmarked aircraft that shuttle workers to hidden bases, as well as documenting many other fascinating and hidden things such as the secret rendition programs of the CIA, as discussed previously.

lolsecretz--memes collide

amberglow — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:43:06 -0800

lolsecretz --The meeting of two of the internet's most famous memes– the touching postsecret and the sublimely stupid LOLcats

“I can’t afford my wife.”

LadyBonita — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:16:58 -0800

25 Anonymous Money Confessions A photo essay courtesy of the Personal Finance Advice blog.

Internet as Confessional

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:22:17 -0800

Something heavy weighing on your heart? Confess. Mom Confessions. Dad Confessions. Office Confessions. Bride Confessions.

Secrets of Shuriken

hama7 — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:44:45 -0800

Secrets of Shuriken.

Underground Bases

Postroad — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 04:49:36 -0800

Underground bases [you decide] This is a list of known or suspected U.S. Underground Bases, the purpose of each (hey, I'm just passing on the reports...), how they're set up and any other info known about them. Although most of these are supposed to be a secret, this list is culled from publicly available records (is that good or bad?) and of course people who worked in them, live by them or those who have retired and offer info. Some wish to remain anonymous. Some have written to me with stories that have been terrifying - just to tell me things - not meaning for me to put them up.

Perfect for your own personal batcave.

crunchland — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:55:13 -0800

Creative Home Engineering is a registered contracting company that adds value to homes by integrating silent, automated, hidden passageways. [note: flash]

Turns out it was all just a dream of Frankie's

soyjoy — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 10:41:05 -0800

SPOILER ALERT: There's a movie out now that, like The Crying Game, depends for much of its impact on a plot twist. Are critics honor-bound not to blab that development to readers? (More Inside, including, duh, spoilers)

Shhh, it's a secret

mathowie — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 16:44:54 -0800

Post Secret is a group confessional, where the site admin solicits deep, dark secrets from anyone that sends theirs in via postcard, then scans them in, and hijinks/hilarity/psychosis ensues. Kinda like grouphug, but more visual and has a bit of a barrier to entry.

false selves, real selves, and other selves

amberglow — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 04:25:40 -0800

Once, i had a secret ~~love~~life.... The urge to act out an entirely different persona is widely shared across cultures as well, social scientists say, and may be motivated by curiosity, mischief or earnest soul-searching. Certainly, it is a familiar tug in the breast of almost anyone who has stepped out of his or her daily life for a time, whether for vacation, for business or to live in another country. On secret lives, for good and bad. We're in this too: "I think what people are doing on the Internet now," she said, "has deep psychological meaning in terms of how they're using identities to express problems and potentially solve them in what is a relatively consequence-free zone." Yet out in the world, a consequence-rich zone, studies find that most people find it mentally exhausting to hold onto inflammatory secrets - much less lives - for long. (NYT, reg.req.)

Come Clean

bluedaniel — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:43:37 -0800

Confess yourself, come clean.

Who's a worse threat than terrorism?

amberglow — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 16:32:36 -0800

Outing Closeted Republicans, part 1,574 --Ken Mehlman, the leading contender to become the head of the RNC, and one of the architects of Bush's anti-gay election campaign, has some secrets, it appears. And it was supposed to come out during the convention: Two New York newspapers received calls from the Bush-Cheney campaign during the Republican National Convention urging them not to run a story suggesting that the campaign manager and public face of the campaign was gay, RAW STORY has learned.

Act like a drunk acting sober

planetkyoto — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 08:21:36 -0800

Tricks of the Trade . In an article in The Morning News, Defective Yeti asked readers to reveal the secrets of their profession:

Attorney: Do whatever it takes to fit your contracts onto a single page. Even sophisticated negotiators can be charmed by the lack of a staple.

Auto Mechanic: Always put copper grease on the battery terminals after servicing a car. The performance benefit is negligible, but when customers look under the hood they will immediately see that something’s changed and thus feel happy to pay you.

Handyman: If you have to change a light bulb where the glass is broken, you can press a potato into the metal base to unscrew the remains of the bulb from the fixture. Got any secrets to success or even just survival in your racket?

Operation Info-Scrub

Niahmas — Thu, 03 Apr 2003 11:43:24 -0800

Operation Info-Scrub In another example of the administration's predilection for secrecy, President Bush recently signed an executive order to "delay the release of millions of historical documents for more than three years and make it easier to reclassify information considered damaging to national security," the Associated Press reported. The 25-page executive order was signed three weeks prior to an April 17 deadline which would have lifted the veil off millions of documents 25 years old or older.

Top Secret Recipes

konolia — Tue, 01 Apr 2003 14:24:15 -0800

Top Secret Recipes In the continuing effort to make this less of a boyzone...

y2karl — Tue, 06 Aug 2002 04:49:35 -0800

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Charismatic and controversial, infamous for introducing the enneagram, claimed by the Sufis, linked to the little known Yezidis, (More here), Gurdjieff--and his school--have their detractors, whether religious or skeptic. His ideas can be difficult , abstruse and are ultimately beside the point. His thesis can be reduced to this: We are asleep, mere machines, acting from habit rather than volition. The goal then is to wake up and stay awake. And that is where the Work comes in. ( A bit more within)

milnak — Thu, 19 Jul 2001 12:12:00 -0800

Low Brow is really fun. Sit there and hit the reload button to hear people's tales of woe, misery and wild times. Some pretty funny tales there.