MetaFilter

Fear Can Turn Us All Into 'Good Germans.' Harley Sorensen takes on the culture of fear and bigotry that's rising in the US and Israel (and other places as well), where people are willing to give up their own freedom in the name of unity, and are happy to plug their ears when an alternative opinion is expressed. Includes an amazing letter from someone who's "decided not to be Jewish" because of the attitude of his religion.
posted by Jimbob at 11:01 PM PST - 32 comments

Jeez, is Gordon Clune a big jerk or what? After weeks of anticipation (okay, several reminders from my wife), I sat down tonight to watch the first two hours of PBS's Frontier House. I thought it was much better than I expected, but I can't keep the doubts away - is this really just an 1883 Survivor?
posted by yhbc at 8:47 PM PST - 28 comments

All coach seats are not created equal Every inch counts. Airplane coach seats with extra inches of stretching room. Print out and keep handy for when you fly.
posted by Voyageman at 8:25 PM PST - 29 comments

"The reality, or substance, of professional wrestling is the ability to perpetuate a fantasy... I can look back and credit my tremendous success to what some would term insanity. I never distinguished between fantasy and reality. I made my fantasy reality for over 60 years." Lou Thesz, perhaps the greatest pro wrestler of the 20th century, died yesterday. His autobiography, Hooker, is one of the best books about pro wrestling ever written.
posted by tranquileye at 7:44 PM PST - 6 comments

Growl Karaoke! Everyone needs a good growl now and then. It's Monday too - that's always a good excuse.
posted by Melinika at 7:01 PM PST - 1 comments

Three Dead From Southern Maryland Tornado. This is the kind of news story you skip because it doesn't happen in your state. It didn't even register to me until I realized that one of my daily reads - Moire - lives in La Plata. The twister went through her front yard. Her account of the storm and its aftermath is pretty powerful. Were any other bloggers involved? (It's my first post; be gentle.)
posted by web-goddess at 6:42 PM PST - 16 comments

Unlikely Allies Bound by a Common Hatred. "Herr von Laden is an example for our children." The bridge between radical Muslims and the neo Nazis in Europe and the United States. In 1991, German neo-Nazis tried to form a "Condor Legion" to fight alongside Iraqis against the U.S.-led international coalition. More recently, members of the European far right have journeyed to Baghdad to express solidarity with Saddam Hussein.
posted by semmi at 5:47 PM PST - 15 comments

Lieutentant colonel? Let's hire him, no questions asked. Last year, Fox News hired Joseph A. Cafasso as consultant on Afghanistan and the military. He said he was a retired lieutenant colonel with an exemplary service record, including tours in Vietnam, and rescuing hostages in Iran. The truth, however, was an entirely different matter. (nyt link: mefi/mefi)
posted by patrickje at 5:46 PM PST - 11 comments

Did any other Metafilter parents (or other grown-up fans of children's television) catch Joe's introduction on Blue's Clues tonight? I've always made an effort to watch whatever my son's watching, so I'm a little sad to see Steve go, but my four-year-old approves of the new host. I am very happy to see that Steve Burns has already moved on to new, exciting things (including an upcoming album that features several members of the Flaming Lips). The whole ordeal reminds me too much of the last time a beloved host was replaced.
posted by Eamon at 5:27 PM PST - 22 comments

Creed cancles all remaining shows for the remainder of this tour... This is the fourth time a Sacramento show has been cancelled for one reason or another... I think the accident is just a coverup... they just hate us here!
posted by darian at 3:17 PM PST - 50 comments

Christians are burning. News.com has a story on the latest plan by Liquid Audio & EMI to allow users to burn CDs of Christian music from net downloads. Are Christians less likely to re-rip the CDs and post them for P2P sharing?
posted by Argyle at 2:35 PM PST - 18 comments

Keep your CEO out of grad school. I found this article to be provocative. Can the performance of a CEO be judged by just one number (i.e., return to shareholders)? Shouldn't the study be controlling for size of firm, industry characteristics, economic cycle etc.? What do you think?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 2:35 PM PST - 2 comments

"Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots.... Any time you skip a commercial.....you're actually stealing the programming" According to Jamie Kellner, CEO of the Turner Broadcasting system, you're committing a crime if you don't watch every commercial during a broadcast. Even going to the bathroom doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse to him for missing a commercial. While I sympathize with those who are trying to create and maintain business models for content and programming in these days of advanced technology, arguing that the use of this technology is some kind of moral lapse is both laughable and insulting.
posted by gspira at 2:26 PM PST - 38 comments

Time for a change of business strategy focus? Nokia and VolksWagen are the examples given,
'the heart of productivity growth is what happens inside the firm, and firms are first and foremost organisations of human beings'
positive role models to lead us from downturn alley?
posted by asok at 2:23 PM PST - 2 comments

50 greatest shows of all time. TV Guide has listed their top 50 greatest television shows of all time. What shows do you think they are missing?
posted by dcgartn at 1:51 PM PST - 125 comments

It's Webby time. You may now commence (or, in some cases, continue) mocking Tiffany Shlain.
posted by jjg at 1:02 PM PST - 37 comments

Things to do with Bubble Wrap. Bubble Wrap party decor and BubbleBodyWear (put it on, pop it off) also provide some unique uses for this handy resource, but the most fun with bubble wrap is of course the popping. If you are out of bubble wrap feel free to pop away at SnapBubbles.com. or the most popular stress relief on the net, Virtual Bubble Wrap or virtuabubblewrap.com. diagnostics, etiquette, Method and Style at The Worlds Best Bubblewrap Homepage.
posted by Mack Twain at 12:37 PM PST - 3 comments

What happened to sportsmanlike behaviour in hockey? Islander fans booed the Canadian national anthem hours after a memorial service for the Canuck soldiers who died at American hands. Fine, whatever, that type of behaviour is expected. They also harrassed Toronto fans in the parking lot outside the rink, including stealing their flags and setting the Maple Leaf ablaze. Now if this was Canadians burning the American flag...
posted by drgonzo at 11:48 AM PST - 52 comments

I have a bad feeling about this. The UK government has urged employers to be leniant to staff who want to watch the World Cup when they should be working. Isn't this instantly discriminating against people who happen to like football (Soccer) all that much? For example, I'm sure I know what would happen if I broached the idea of turning up for work late on May 16th after I've been to the first showing of this thing.
posted by feelinglistless at 11:35 AM PST - 15 comments

Alexa, the internet depository that lead to things like the wayback machine was acquired by Amazon some time ago. A new service, Alexa Web Search joins the power of Alexa's archive with Amazon's proven interface and feature set with Google's killer-app level searching power. The results are fairly impressive, adding a related sites layer that may actually help folks browsing the web (as opposed to direct searching). [via anil]
posted by mathowie at 11:10 AM PST - 28 comments

Buried in debt, wallowing in multiple bankruptcies, with a trail of ill will across three states: this is the state of Anita Bryant twenty five years after her anti-gay campaign in Florida. Perhaps these right-wing Christian groups who have recently been attacking gay and S&M events should take a lesson from this.
posted by dnash at 9:43 AM PST - 44 comments

In re: the middle-east conflicts, you can't believe everything you read, if only because so much that is rather obviously important and relevant seems to be never-the-less falling off the map, so-to-speak. Want proof? Perhaps someone can give me a rationale explanation as to why this story is not to be found in any major news outlet.
posted by BentPenguin at 8:40 AM PST - 25 comments

Introducing eMac, a new version of the iMac aimed solely at the education market. Rather than getting all slashdotty, let's discuss the looks of it, rather than the guts, and debate the wiseness of this new strategy. Oh, Apple also released a new 800MHz TiBook.
posted by me3dia at 8:32 AM PST - 59 comments

Putting free, unencrypted copies on the web increases book sales, according to science fiction writer Eric Flint.
posted by myl at 7:29 AM PST - 6 comments

Barbie creator, Mattel founder Handler dies More than one billion Barbies have been sold in 150 countries and has inspired love from girls everywhere and pure hatred from feminists everywhere. "The impossibly well-endowed doll -- her original figure would be about 39-18-33 if she were human -- has infuriated feminists, inspired artists and intrigued academics around the world. Barbie even was placed in the official "America's Time Capsule" buried in 1976." Can you think of any other toy who has brought about as much ferver as Barbie???
posted by gloege at 7:15 AM PST - 30 comments

The new Abercrombie Quarterly is another publicity stunt and boy is it working. The new one is entitled "XXX" and has less than "Playboy-core" pictures of models in various states of undress. Apparently our children are being so corrupted by a shrink wrapped magazine that you need an ID proving your adult status to purchase that Lt. Governor's are spending tax dollars building campaigns against an organization conducting legal business. What's next? More (work unsafe) publications showing naked people with items to advertise?
posted by McBain at 5:12 AM PST - 62 comments

What does MX stand for? It doesn't say, but Macromedia, launched a huge new strategy today to integrate all of its software properties. Very smart, and perhaps too late?
posted by boardman at 4:34 AM PST - 18 comments

The bone trade
posted by magullo at 4:26 AM PST - 9 comments

Every sport is an extreme sport in Afghanistan.
Sorry couldn't help posting this surreal news tidbit: "A friendly basketball game between U.S. and Afghan teams turned violent, with one American player kicked in the head and two Afghan spectators shot in the leg, peacekeepers and witnesses said Friday."
posted by talos at 4:25 AM PST - 9 comments

Paper money in many countries is really beautiful and often employs great use of typography and color. The designs are sometimes used to showcase an indigenous resource, to pay homage to a cultural icon or national leader, or occasionally as a political weapon. Anyone looking for currency scans on the web usually ends up at Ron Wise's site - thousands of quality, free for the download scans from every country in the world (I have not verified this), including a 1991 500 Afghanis note from Afghanistan, which portrays the national sport of Butskashi (polo played with a goat carcass). Like the proverbial cake that's too pretty to eat, some of this currency seems almost too beautiful to spend.

There's also some speculation that as a deterrent to counterfeiting, American currency just might be getting some color.
posted by iconomy at 3:54 AM PST - 28 comments

Of the 9 Windows XP updates I needed, this was one of them. I've updated once before. And mind you, nor do I use my XP partition, but to grab photos off my camera and the rare must-see Quicktime experience. This is what an "update" entails in Microsoft territory apparently.
posted by crasspastor at 3:02 AM PST - 11 comments

Diane Petty, suffering from motor neurone disease, refused right to euthanasia by European Court. "Mrs Pretty, from Luton, who is paralysed from the neck down, had claimed the refusal breached the Human Rights Convention, which outlaws "inhuman or degrading treatment"."
posted by stuporJIX at 2:44 AM PST - 4 comments

May 1st Day of Silence Hundreds of Internet radio stations and channels across America are shutting off their music streams on Wednesday, May 1st, in a "Day of Silence" to highlight their concern over the upcoming U.S. Copyright Office ruling on royalty rates that may shut down or bankrupt the vast majority of the nascent Internet radio industry. Write your senators and congressmen and women--Here's how--the Copyright office (info here) and the press. Please note: Letters to the editor (which must be entirely original and not contain any pasted material) can also be sent to your local daily & weekly papers. In both cases we recommend that you send a copy of your message to all of your congressional representatives. See congress.org for email addresses. A copy via fax is also recommended, since faxes often carry more weight than email. Snail mail to Congress these days is very slow, due to the anthrax screening. Please write, this is important. And thank you, Su, for reminding me.
posted by y2karl at 2:31 AM PST - 2 comments

Medical Compassion from our friends at Yahoo. Is this a classic case of overstretching one's ability to adequately provide information and services? Shouldn't companies like AOL & Yahoo be old enough now to be able to focus on core competencies and stop trying to be masters of everything?
posted by Frasermoo at 2:18 AM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

May 1st Reboot. On April 25, participating sites shut down and post a Reboot Holder, until May 1st, at which time they relaunch. Why?
Upon review of all of this year's participating sites, a good number of them are not using the required Reboot Holder. Most have simply continued with normal operations and even made updates as recently as this afternoon.
posted by Su at 1:50 AM PST - 15 comments