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Podcast: Reply All: #120 INVCEL
How a shy, queer Canadian woman accidentally invented one of the internet's most toxic male communities.
"Why? Because baseball makes zero sense."
SB Nation editor and fan favorite Jon Bois and friends field up another episode of Dorktown. This time, the discussion is about Adam Dunn, being a "four true outcome" hitter, and how he created nearly $7M of pointless labor. (SLYT)
Re-Blog
Remember personal blogs? So does Dan Cohen: "There has been a recent movement to “re-decentralize” the web, returning our activities to sites like this one... However, I’m also a pragmatist, and I feel the re-decentralizers have underestimated what they are up against, which is partially about technology but mostly about human nature." He reflects on inertia, ambient humanity, and the challenges to a resurgence in personal blogging in this post, Back to the Blog. Via kottke.org.
Bringing back gopher was just the start.
Tired of increasingly bloated, over-designed web interfaces? Looking for a way to enjoy your content without all the dozens of JavaScript trackers and endless needless geegaws? Give the new MetaFilter Reader interface a shot! Clean, classic design; mobile friendly; it even comes with its own games!
Shohei Ohtani, The Bambino, and Bullet Joe
Shohei Ohtani has been tearing it up as both a pitcher and a hitter for the L.A. Angels this season, inviting comparisons to the most famous two-way player in baseball, Babe Ruth. But as Jay Jaffe notes, two-way players have a long history in the sport. This is especially true if you include the Negro Leagues, where some of the greatest players of all time plied their trade. Mike Duncan (previously) discusses some of the great two-way players from that era.
He knows his death as a baseball player is getting closer.
Ichiro Suzuki is 44 years old but he is not ready to quit playing baseball for a living.
There is more going on here than just baseball. We have parental abuse, parental estrangement, OCD, and very strong dedication to his craft.
You're outta here
Meg Rowley at Fangraphs reviewed all the baseball ejections of 2017, and
breaks them down for us. (My favorite is the Uncle Frank Face in post I.)
Indians abandon "Chief Wahoo"
The Cleveland Indians have agreed to remove Chief Wahoo from their uniforms, starting in the 2019 season. They'll continue to sell merchandise with the image, to help maintain their trademark.
"Finnish baseball" doesn't quite cover it.
Pesäpallo (aka pesis) is a bat-and-ball sport that was invented in Finland in the 1920s. It's sort of like baseball, except the pitcher stands a couple feet from the batter and then gets the hell out of the way after tossing the ball into the air. And there are other differences. You can learn the rules and see demonstrations in this video, or watch this entertaining and informative video about the history of the sport.
Favrd's down
Dean Allen
made Textism and Textile and Textpattern and Favrd and other things and posted daily photos of his dogs and they made the web better. RIP.
Resetting expectations about U.S. political discussion on MetaFilter
Hey folks, big discussion time. We're going to be making some changes on how U.S. political discussion plays out on MetaFilter, to try and make sure it remains available as a useful resource in a way that isn't as unsustainable as the current approach has been. I’ll lay out some concrete steps we’re taking, and some general thoughts, below. This is detailed but important and I appreciate you taking the time to read through it.
Nonfiction describing learning/daily experience in profession/skill/etc?
I just finished Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, a book about working in a crematorium, and I am craving more nonfiction books describing what it is like to work in a particular field/profession, or just what it is like to learn or do a particular skill/hobby. Does not have to be sole focus of book, just occupy big chunks of it.
Roy Halladay dies plane crash
Roy Halladay, former pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, has died in a plane crash off the Gulf coast of Florida. Halladay is one six pitchers to win a Cy Young award in both the American and National Leagues, and only the second person to throw a no-hitter in the post-season. He was 40.
mathowie transfers ownership of MetaFilter to cortex
Big news: a few days ago Matt Haughey and I signed paperwork to transfer ownership of MetaFilter from him to me. This is sorta huge and sorta not a big deal at the same time: things are fine and basically nothing is changing on the site as a result, we’re just keeping on as before. I’ll talk about the whole thing below the fold.
"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."
The recent Netflix House of Cards series starring Kevin Spacey was a remake of a very popular British political thriller of the same name that aired during the 90's. The show begins by tracking the dark political machinations and skullduggery of an urbane Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, who is conspiring to become Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher's resignation.
What could go wrong?
The Atlanta Braves have a between-innings promotion called "Beat the Freeze", where one lucky fan gets to race a costumed superhero called The Freeze around the outfield. The fan gets a 200 ft head start.
I firmly believe that picking a team is sacrosanct
A father sends a letter to all 30 MLB teams, asking them to make their pitch to be his infant son's favorite team.
“I must tell you I don’t take this lightly. I firmly believe that picking a team is sacrosanct,” wrote Pete, an Ashland resident who works as a senior digital video content manager for PBS. “Friends may come and go, political affiliations and beliefs in higher powers may change, but one’s team is one’s team. Forever.
Baseball acrobatics
Did you see this outstanding baseball play last week, when Chris Coghlan of the Blue Jays found an impressive way to reach home, getting past Yadier Molina of the Cardinals? The link collects a bunch of other great sliding leaping circus plays from baseball history, too.
Take Meow to the Ball Game
An athletic purrformance at Marlins Park
Play is pawsed at Marlins Park in Miami while a cat runs through the outfield and up the scoreboard.
Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber
Susan Fowler, a former site reliability engineer at Uber, recounts her year of employment at the company
, including stories of sexual harassment, retaliation by managers, and a pattern of inaction or coverups by the human resources department.
"We should put this on a website or whatever"—A Homestar Runner History
Having revived their signature Flash-driven cartoon, Homestar Runner, creators the Brothers Chaps recount its seventeen-year history in a winding tale of snark, underground popularity, no real business plan, creative burnout, and unlikely success. "A few weeks ago we got to spend all day 3D printing a fake action figure and filling it with beef stroganoff for the Walt Disney company. Once you hit that point, I don’t think you’re allowed to complain ever again." (previously)
A transit planner looks at Mini Metro
Mini Metro (previously) is a transit planning game, simplified to the point of abstraction. On Waypoint, Robert Rath speaks to the developers and a real transit planner about how the game has been received in the transit planning community.
🔘
On Saturday photographer Kaylyn Messer found a giant, near-perfect circle of ice [looped] spinning in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River near North Bend, Washington.
"We need to talk about pockets."
"I wore men's clothes for a month and it changed my life": Motivated by Octieber and determined to combat the world of gendered clothing, Lucy Rycroft-Smith tries menswear for a month and documents her findings.
"LiveJournal represents social media without borders."
As of a few days ago, the IP addresses for blogging service LiveJournal have moved to 81.19.74.*, a block that lookup services locate in Moscow, Russia. Now users -- especially those who do not trust the Russian government -- are leaving the platform and advising others to leave.
Practical philosophers
The Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog discusses the history and etymology of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ nickname in The Grim Reality of the “Trolley Dodgers”. Don't miss the link to Jeff B's A Trip Down Market Street 1906 With Street Sounds with its first-person view from a trolley in San Francisco, filmed days before the famous earthquake of 1906.
Putonghua or bust
In China: Chinese dialects fight for survival. Outside China: Meet the Hong Kong academics fighting to safeguard the Cantonese language (Hong Kong); Taiwanese: a doomed language? (Taiwan); Do you speak Singlish? || The Death of Dialects in Singapore (Singapore); Penang Hokkien will be ‘dead’ in 40 years if people stop using it (Malaysia)
Podcasts by women
I am in need of a few additional podcasts and as nearly all of the podcasts I listen to are hosted by guys, I would like some recommendations of podcasts by women. See below the fold for my interests and my current podcasts.
Milk's in bag, bag's in jug
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ recently caused a small kerfuffle on Canadian Twitter when, during an interview, he said, "You guys sell milk in bags and I don’t really get why, or what you do then with the bags." This isn't the only time bagged milk has been a source of confusion and controversy - the dairy producer Saputo recently apologized to customers for reducing the amount of milk sold in their bags. So what's the deal with milk bags anyway?
The ... white baseball player has always been a study in negative space
He does not flip his bat after home runs. He does not insult the hard-working fans with talk about politics. He never takes more than one day at a time. As a result, he cannot exist without a foil to embody all those “flashy” or “hotheaded” or “provocative” things he is not. The foils, of course, have generally been black. But as the demographics of the sport have changed, so, too, has this dynamic.- Jay Caspian Kang on The Unbearable Whiteness of Baseball , and the decline of the sport's cultural relevance
Substitute "baseball" with any sport, really
When the sport you love doesn't love you back.
If Gibbons’ “dresses” comment was just one isolated incident, it wouldn’t deserve a second thought, but that’s not the situation we face. We are not talking about one off-color remark or even a handful of off-color remarks. We are talking about a sport-wide culture which permits casual sexism and reinforces over and over and over again to its female fans that their involvement in the sport is not as valid as that of their male counterparts.
Direct your gopher client to gopher://gopher.metafilter.com
You (well, jessamyn) asked for it, and we (well, pb) delivered: after fifteen years of downtime, the MetaFilter gopher server is back.
Two new profile pages options available
We’re rolling out a couple of new profile preferences options today: the ability to make the “Contributions” and “Social” segments of your profile page visible only to logged-in members, and the ability to enter your geographic coordinates but have them not be visible to anyone else. Come on in for some details!
Good comparison sites like The Sweethome/Wirecutter?
I was just wondering if anyone knew of other good comparison sites (the best, runner-up, budget choice, etc) for items in the vein of The Sweethome (house stuff), The Wirecutter (gadget & gizmos), The Nightlight (baby stuff), Ken Rockwell (camera stuff), etc? I'm specifically looking for a tool-centric site, but I'm curious what else is out there as well.
Remembering and having the confidence to reach out to people
It is a longstanding habit of mine to assume I am "bothering" people if I reach out to them by, say, wanting to spend time with them or talk to them (how terrible!) unless we are already interacting for a reason that was not my doing (an activity, work, them coming to me). I am also in the habit of just not reaching out even with the few people I am confident I am not bothering.
If I didn't need food to live, I probably wouldn't eat
I do not like to cook or prepare food. It's a character flaw, I realize, but for whatever reason I don't like to spend time on food. This leads to me eating out a lot, just because it's simple. I'm looking for foods that are healthy, filling, but also have the lowest prep time possible. Non-perishables would be a plus. I'm also fairly active, so high energy foods would be good as well. Am I asking too much, or are there foods that fit the bill?
Brother, can you spare an hour for a CEO down on her luck?
The Beggar CEO and Sucker Culture
castigates employers who think their employees should do extra work for free.
Eavesdropping on the Hidden World
In March of 2010, programmer Eric Fry discovered a cheap digital tuner from Realtek could be modified to receive more than mere TV and FM Radio. Much more.
Endless Sky
Endless Sky is a space trading and exploration game, dubbed as a spiritual successor to Escape Velocity. It's free to play, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, completely open-source (GPLv3), and available on Steam.
Becoming okay with the slow pace of change
In my quest for instant gratification, I lose patience with the fact that projects, goals, and behavioral changes often take a long time and require boring, repetitive actions. Positive change can seem imperceptible in the moment.
The 6 Awkward Conversations You’re Dreading, And How To Deal With Them
This time of year, many of us will make a pilgrimage to see our families. Halls will be decked, candles will be lit, and ancient stories will be told. Hopefully everything for you will be hugs, warmth, light, and reconnection with the people you love. But if you are dreading dealing with that one jerk relative or bracing yourself for an onslaught of intrusive questions and and awkward topics, here’s a guide to keeping your cool and choosing your battles when everyone around you is making it weird.
“Where’s My Cut?”: On Unpaid Emotional Labor
Housework is not work. Sex work is not work. Emotional work is not work. Why? Because they don’t take effort? No, because women are supposed to provide them uncompensated, out of the goodness of our hearts.
Yes, Vogue, Coloring Books Are a Thing. A Zen Thing
I’ve never once felt moved to pick up a coloring book and go to town. Nor did I imagine that people in my social sphere were doing so. Were those Instagram-famous coloring parties a total anomaly? Or were my other friends also secretly brandishing markers in their spare time? Vogue writer Julia Felsenthal wonders if coloring books are actually a thing after reading Julie Beck's piece in The Atlantic.
Metafilter makes it to cable news
23 months after Metafilter solved my grandma's coded messages, and we briefly went viral, the HLN network has produced a short video segment about the true hero of this story: Metafilter's own harperpitt, her code-breaking skills, and the power of the hive mind in tackling web mysteries. Article & YT Video.
What do I do with collar stays?
Ok, so I now know they're called Collar Stays but what do I do with them?
Josh Marshall Builds a Sailboat
Josh Marshall built a sailboat.
Josh Marshall, the editor and proprietor of now-venerable political blog Talking Points Memo, had a fascinating post today. After his son wanted to collect driftwood, Marshall thought of making a model boat for his son. Then he asked himself why he could not build an actual boat. So he did.
Spoiler: There’s a lot of Mo’ Wax
Writing for FACT, Laurent Fintoni and John Twells have compiled a list of the fifty best trip-hop albums. (Before you freak out, realize that particularly big artists all only get one entry, and the list is confined to the 1990s.) The list is reproduced inside, with links to entry pages, artist info, and (when available) Youtube streams.
When Microsoft's "Family Safety" is unsafe
Microsoft accounts have a feature called family accounts. And with Windows 10, Microsoft automatically emails parents a weekly activity report that includes all websites visited by the child, time spent in apps, etc. if they have a family account set up.