MetaFilter

"I've Got Chills": Dream acceleration a week out from top surgery is an essay written by Daniel Mallory Ortberg a week out from having top surgery.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:43 PM PST - 27 comments

During the first phase of most romantic relationships, we try to look as desirable as possible, even if that means ignoring some of our bodily urges. Like, letting out a fart, for example. Sooner or later, however, most couples realize that there’s no need to blow against the wind and deny their biology, sharing their first fart. [more inside]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:27 PM PST - 26 comments

The Pulitzer Center is pleased to announce the launch of the Rainforest Journalism Fund, a five-year, $5.5 million initiative focused on raising public awareness of the urgent environmental issues facing the world’s tropical forests. [more inside]
posted by adamvasco at 2:12 PM PST - 7 comments

Over the weekend, a Facebook group dedicated to one of the most innocuous hobbies possible—houseplants—briefly turned contentious after a user posted a photo of himself holding an orchid while shirtless. But just as quickly, the drama became an “I am Spartacus” moment for trou-dropping plant owners, with other group members posting plant pics in a state of undress in solidarity against body-shaming. [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:07 PM PST - 26 comments

A 17 year old solo student pilot loses part of her landing gear at takeoff. ATC audio/radar SLYT. Some days you're the geese. Some days, though, you're Sully.
posted by Devonian at 1:05 PM PST - 94 comments

The decentralised web, or DWeb, could be a chance to take control of our data back from the big tech firms....a group of 800 web builders and others – among them Tim Berners-Lee, who created the world wide web – were meeting in San Francisco to discuss a grand idea to circumvent internet gatekeepers like Google and Facebook. The event they had gathered for was the Decentralised Web Summit, held from 31 July to 2 August, and hosted by the Internet Archive. The proponents of the so-called decentralised web – or DWeb – want a new, better web where the entire planet’s population can communicate without having to rely on big companies that amass our data for profit and make it easier for governments to conduct surveillance.
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:37 PM PST - 43 comments

We’ve all been steeping in a culture lousy with entertainment that regularly presents female complaining as an expected baseline — as natural and annoying as a swarm of mosquitoes.
posted by trillian at 11:59 AM PST - 41 comments

Colorado Sports Fan's Plan To Rob Vape Store Falls Apart After He Drops Gun And Pants

This guy here, by appearances an avid Broncos and Rockies fan, spectacularly failed to rob an E-Cig of Denver store in Colorado on Sept. 2. Fumbling his gun over the counter was a bad start, and failing to secure his pants was a bad follow-up, although he did redeem himself somewhat with a super cool karate kick to spur his getaway.

SLDeadspin/video
posted by kirkaracha at 11:34 AM PST - 14 comments

Stella Bowles was 11 years old when she first donned her rubber boots to test for water contamination in the LaHave River, which runs beside her home on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. With her mentor, Dr. David Maxwell, she found unsafe levels of fecal contamination. She posted warning signs, started a Facebook page, and entered a science fair, and helped convince the federal, provincial, and municipal governments to spend $15 million (Canadian) to install septic systems. Now she's using her award money and donations to create an army of activist kids to test local waters. Stella is one of 25 Top Canadian Environmentalists under 25.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:25 AM PST - 4 comments

The jarring spectacle of an Apple Keynote in 2018. (Live stream link)
posted by gwint at 9:27 AM PST - 190 comments

Humanity has left a world-wide mark on the planet, in trees, rocks, coral, and lifeforms. We can call this era the Anthropocene, a period of time distinguished by our presence and effects. And one of most terrific results is our head-long plunge into the Sixth Mass Extinction. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:59 AM PST - 37 comments

Morphology of the Folktale - "Propp set out to identify the basic elements of the plots of Russian fairy tales, working at a level of abstraction where "it does not matter whether a dragon kidnaps a princess or whether a devil makes off with either a priest's or a peasant's daughter". He came up with 31 such "functions". Just listing them (chapter 3) has a certain folkloric quality..." (via)
posted by kliuless at 6:32 AM PST - 16 comments

This post is intended to keep a record of the airports from/to which I have walked, as well as some reviews, in case anybody reading this wants to give it a shot! I will try to keep this list up to date as I collect more airports. There is some low-hanging-fruit out there (looking at you, Burbank, Las Vegas, and San Diego).
posted by curious nu at 6:24 AM PST - 86 comments

The cookbook was made in 1945 by Hungarian-Jew Edith Peer (nee Gombos) when she was an inmate at Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, located in northern Germany. The cookbook is the only object of its kind in Australia and one of six known 'fantasy cookbooks' written by Holocaust concentration camp prisoners in the world. [more inside]
posted by freethefeet at 5:23 AM PST - 7 comments

YouTube’s top creators are burning out and breaking down en masse [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:20 AM PST - 109 comments