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Doctor Who: Into The Dalek
In the midst of a warzone, the soldiers occupying Aristotle, a secret human outpost, have captured a lone Dalek. This Dalek is so damaged that it has come to view its own kind as evil, and claims it wants to help the humans exterminate the Dalek legions. When the Doctor and Clara arrive on Aristotle, they are miniaturised and sent into the body of the Dalek itself, in the hope of understanding what has happened to it. As the Doctor confronts the question of whether there can ever be such a thing as a good Dalek, he must also confront the hatred in his own heart.
50 Female-Directed Movies You Should Watch
"DISCLAIMER TIME! 50 is a very small number. I make no claims to any of these lists being either comprehensive or some sort of objective analysis of the 'best' films directed by women. I make selections based on on what I've seen, what I like, and the position of the stars. One film per director. Ready? Let's go."
Where are you on Tumblr?
With cortex's permission, I am opening a MetaTalk thread to find fellow MeFites on Tumblr.
I'm a boring person and I want boring music to go with my life.
I want boring music to listen to. Not even elevator music: hallway music. Dull, faceless corridor music. Cheesy, soothing, soft. Commercial music, the kind of music that men in the 1970s thought would induce people to feel groovy and buy stuff. The music that plays in Animal Crossing while you get your haircut. Ceefax music. Music you'd hear in an old Mad Men episode. Music that just sits there and doopey-doops while I concentrate and get important stuff done.
Doctor Who: Deep Breath
In Victorian London, the Paternoster Gang, comprising of Silurian Madame Vastra, her human maid and wife Jenny, and Sontaran butler Strax, are summoned by the police force when a dinosaur suddenly materialises outside the Houses of Parliament. Vastra observes that the dinosaur has something stuck in its throat, and moments later it spits out the TARDIS onto the banks of the Thames.
relative Pitch
Pitchfork recently released a list of what they consider the 200 best tracks of the decade so far (2010-14).
Good non-addictive arty videogame recommendations?
What are some good videogames for the PC that have the fewest grindy, behavioral "Skinner Box"-y qualities?
What are your most memorable or favorite train rides?
Which train ride(s) have you particularly enjoyed? Of any distance and length, anywhere in the world.
808state:psychoecstatictranceenducinggrooveridingtechnofunkalogicalsound
808 State is an English electronic group that formed in 1987, and take their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their shared state of mind. As a trio, they produced their iconic track, Pacific, which fused influences of house music, jazz fusion and exotica. The group changed membership a bit over the years, but one way or another 808 State have released six albums* to date, and a number of singles, EPs, and promotional discs. 808state.com has a ton of information, including an extensive visual discography, a list of other productions and remixes, and over a gig of demos, live tracks, and other non-album audio to download. Given the group's 27 year-long history, there's a lot more to see and hear.
The Best Beer in Baseball
The Washington Post compares beers available
at various ballparks, based on locality, quality and uniqueness.
MeFi State of the Update
After a couple months of fundraising and general money belt-tightening and Google up and downing, I wanted to give an update.
What if there was a Robot cheering for those fans?
The Hanwha Eagles, a much beleaguered South Korean major league baseball team have introduced Fanbots, jersey-clad robots who lead cheers, display messages (and selfies where the robot would otherwise have a blank screen) sent in from fans at home, and generally stand in for fans who aren't there.
Export the full text of Metafilter favorites
I'd like to export the "wisdom of Metafilter" that I've favorited over the years, but I'd like to do it with the least amount of effort and risk of error. The two methods I've found so far will require quite a bit of copy/pasting. Am I missing a special killer-combo-move, or will I just have to roll up my sleeves and get my ctrl+ C/P fingers warmed up?
Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth
Lou Gehrig's farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on its 75th anniversary.
It was immortalized by Gary Cooper in the 1942 film Pride of the Yankees, although the speech as delivered in the movie differed a little bit from the actual speech.
The Historic Films Stock Footage Archive has this video of the speech on Youtube.
Today, Major League Baseball pays tribute to Gehrig by putting together a video in which contemporary players recite the speech. (Video of this is embedded in the first link).
Ideas can be dangerous, especially the good ones
Four years ago, a group of punk anarchists with no political experience led by Icelandic comedian Jón Gnarr formed a joke political party, the Best Party, to campaign for Reykjavik's mayoral and city council positions, hoping to lighten up local politics in the wake of the catastrophic Icelandic financial meltdown. To everyone's surprise, they won.
A stellar explosion
Between 2002 and 2006, the Hubble telescope took photos of an explosion coming from a red variable star in the constellation Monoceros, about 20,000 light years from the Sun. This is a time-lapse video of those photos.
Vin Scully Retrospective
Vin Scully: voice of the Dodgers for 64 years
"My idea is that I'm sitting next to the listener in the ballpark, and we're just watching the game," Scully says. "Sometimes, our conversation leaves the game. It might be a little bit about the weather we're enduring or enjoying. It might be personal relationships, which would involve a player. The game is just one long conversation and I'm anticipating that, and I will say things like ‘Did you know that?' or ‘You're probably wondering why.' I'm really just conversing rather than just doing play-by-play. I never thought of myself as having a style. I don't use key words. And the best thing I do? I shut up."
Dear Marc Andreessen
"Hi, Marc... You seem to think everyone's worried about robots. But what everyone's worried about is you, Marc. Not just you, but people like you. Robots aren't at the levers of financial and political influence today, but folks like you sure are. People are scared of so much wealth and control being in so few hands... Unless we collectively choose to pay for a safety net, technology alone isn't going to make it happen."
High Maintenance returns
After a hiatus, the smart, sweet, sharp, and often surprising webseries High Maintenance returned in past months with three new episodes.
How about you tell me how to use a password manager?
I'm getting tired of the constant hacks, and I pretty much use the same passwords across multiple sites. Thing is, I can't keep up with eight dozen passwords. Seems like the answer is one of the password manager programs/apps out there.
So which one is the one to use? How do I use it with multiple locations and computers (work/home/mobile)? I'm willing to pay upfront, but not a subscription. No one needs another monthly expense.
Bonus points if you can explain it like I'm five.
Changing Me
What's up guys,
This is a new track that I produced and wrote. The singer on the track is Sean Michael Murray, who starred in the American Idiot musical. We're releasing it on June 10. Just in time, as I think this one feels like summer. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for listening,
Bobby Green
underwater
minimal midnight
"I wish girls were attracted to me. I don’t know why they aren’t."
California drive-by shooting: 'Son of Hunger Games assistant director' Elliot Rodger suspected of killing six in attack. Rodger embarked on his shooting spree hours after posting an online video detailing his plans for "retribution" for rejection by women.
*The New York Yankees were removed to make this map possible.
Up Close on Baseball's Borders
is a detailed, zoomable interactive map which uses data from Facebook to present the team preferences of baseball fandom in the United States. Around the end of March, Facebook had released a map using the same data which despite being touted as most accurate ever, had significant problems. The most notable of these issues was a colorshift introduced as the main graphic went viral, rendering the map illegible.
Oh God, we don't have to build a football field now, do we?
That's right folks, Field of Dreams is 25 years old. W.P. Kinsella reflects on how his novel "Shoeless Joe" was adapted into the timeless baseball/father-son movie, including how he made peace with the studio changing the name of J.D. Salinger's character.
New subsite beta (alpha?): FanFare
On the heels of the previous MeFiTV thread as well as internal discussions about how we could someday do a site around entertainment in general, we're ready to open up a small beta test of what discussions around episodic TV might look like at FanFare.
Who cleans the toilets in Galt’s Gulch?
"I’m just trying to color a sketch of how hard a problem practical logistics are. Supply chains are really, really tricky, and it would be quite a trick to sign up for them without entraining a bunch of stuff to do with credit supply, labor and safety laws, and so on. That bureaucracy is sometimes bad, sometimes unnecessary and corrupt, but it’s also what makes it work. The real world is not a packet network – physical objects come with complex and inseparable contexts, and they are produced by a huuuge machine full of flywheels with unfathomable inertia." -- Charlie Lloyd writes about living on a small island, seasteading and how independent you can really be in the modern world.
The world has changed in fifteen years. Except where it hasn't
It has been nearly fifteen years since a young sportswriter named Jeff Pearlman was given an assignment by Dick Friedman, the baseball editor at Sports Illustrated: write a piece about a soon-to-be 25-year-old Braves closer with a sinking 95 mph fastball and a wicked slider. The man's name was John Rocker. A sportswriter reflects upon the story that may have defined his career, if not the career of the man he covered.
Call me Ishmael/ I got that mass appeal
Mental Floss makes couplets from literary first lines and hip hop hits
using the "generate line" feature from rappad.co.
Twitter's Biggest Pedant
MeFi's Own™ brownpau gets to wear his 8-bit tie while being interviewed on BBC World News' 'Global' programme to discuss being a "punctilious killjoy" as PicPedant on Twitter.
MeFi Radio pre 1.0 beta testers needed
Want to beta test out MeFi Radio, a new iOS 7.x app?
Bespectacled ballplayer trolls baseball
Major league baseball is doing something dumb.
They asked fans to nominate a player from their team to be THE FACE OF MLB, whatever that means. Yankees fans picked Derek Jeter. Angels fans picked Mike Trout. Oakland A's fans picked a 4-eyed utility infielder named Eric Sogard. And he's winning.
Turns out, celebrities are bullies too.
Comedians are using their fans for co-ordinated safety in numbers bullying.
Simon Pegg, Ricky Gervais and Noel Fielding [...] have used their combined follower count of just under 6 million to bully people – Gervais in particular does so repeatedly – and I’m sick of the fact that they’re not called to account for it. You will have heard plenty about “trolls and haters” in the wider media, but very little about celebrities endorsing and directing this behaviour.
J Dilla: don't know what you got 'til it's gone
Since 2006 (if not before), February has been Dilla month for some music fans. Sadly, it's mostly due to the fact James Dewitt Yancey, better known as J Dilla, was both born and died in February (Feb. 7, 1974 to Feb. 10, 2006). Looking at the mere timespan of his musical career, from his first release in 1992 [YouTube sample] to his death 14 years later, you might think the story and impact wouldn't be too large or lasting, but you'd be mistaken. For example, Giovanni Russonello wrote a piece for NPR last year, titled "Why J Dilla may be jazz's latest great innovator," and in their recently released long-time-coming mixtape, Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip included a couple nods to "one of the godfathers of this boom-bap shit". Where did Dilla come from, where did he go, and why is his legacy still so strong?
The New Debunkonomy
@PicPedant
(mefi's own) has attracted a loyal following in doing the Sisyphean work of calling out Twitter photo spammers and scraper accounts by tracking down, correcting and debunking images and giving attribution to the source. Twitter is awash in "interesting photo" accounts particularly since images started appearing in timelines -- some of the most successful of which may be the wildly popular @HistoryInPics and @EarthPix founded by 2 teenagers who allegedly earn $40,000+ a month. PicPedant's debunking can be vastly amusing. Here are a few greatest hits: no, not a baby panda but an Etsy doll; no, not Japanese cherry trees but an infrared scene from Stockholm; no, not a real moon, but a photo manipulation. He's even called out Madonna for lack of attribution on an image that went viral after her tweet. Keep on keepin' on, you crazy pedant.
MLB + API = ?
I'm looking for an API that'll give me near-real-time access to the day's baseball scores, including individual player lines. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
Decoding cancer-addled ramblings
In my grandmother's final days battling brain cancer, she became unable to speak and she filled dozens of index cards with random letters of the alphabet. I'm beginning to think that they are the first letters in the words of song lyrics, and would love to know what song this was. This is a crazy long shot, but I've seen Mefites pull off some pretty impressive code-breaking before!
If willpower is a muscle, how to you train it?
I suffer from a deficit of willpower. I set goals, make promises, assure myself that I will follow them... and then end up feeling terrible when I impulsively break them. I'd appreciate advice and tactics from people who have suffered from and overcome a similar lack of control on how to train this 'willpower muscle.'
Conversational podcasts?
Looking for podcasts that could best be described as "really smart people shooting the breeze." Favorite examples would the various Slate podcasts that feature three writers discussing a range of topics, as well as NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. The subject matter can be about anything, though looking for something a bit more conversational and wide-ranging than, say, a panel of experts discussing their fields. Any suggestions?
Announcing MeFi Labs
Today I wanted to unveil a new subsite featuring some experiments with our data called MeFi Labs.
RIP Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela has died peacefully at home at age 95. The Globe and Mail has a good roundup of information and resources about his life. The PBS Newshour already has a show online about his life and moments after the news broke even The Onion chimed in. Rest in peace, Madiba.
What are some gender stereotypes that used to be reversed?
I am interested in gender stereotypes that used to be reversed or are the other way around in another culture. For example, pink used to be considered a vigorous masculine color and blue was a softer color associated with girls. Similarly, high heel used to be worn by men (as riding boots), but were introduced into women's fashion at a time when women were dressing to emulate men
What have you been wrong about, realized it, and it changed your life?
What have you been wrong about, realized it, and it changed your life?
I remember reading Albert Ellis' wonderful self-help book A Guide to Rational Living where he gives a great list of irrational and self-defeating beliefs that people have. Among these beliefs was the importance people placed on other's opinion of them as well the emphasis people placed on being perfectionistic in their own lives. Much of this underlies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but the effect is even more prevalent than that. We all have had beliefs that have held us back, and I'm curious as to what things you once believed that were holding you back in your personal or professional life. Anything will do. It can be anything from knowing the importance of making good first impressions to the need for keeping oneself physically fit even when one doesn't want to. I'm looking to see whether I share of any of these traits or not. So what are the beliefs that have held you back or others that you know?
A bail out of the people by the people.
Rolling Jubilee have spent just $400,000 to purchase $15 million of Americans' personal debt from banks before 'abolishing' it, freeing individuals from their bills.
Apart from The Guardian, HuffPo and Business Insider no one else seems very interested. Rolling Jubilee is a project of Strike Debt - slogan You are not a Loan. Previously - just on a year ago.
Apart from The Guardian, HuffPo and Business Insider no one else seems very interested. Rolling Jubilee is a project of Strike Debt - slogan You are not a Loan. Previously - just on a year ago.
... but perhaps not the one you were expecting.
Doctor Who is turning 50.
There is a minisode. It goes there.
If you are a fan, watch it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Cobb County Braves
The Atlanta Braves have announced plan to move out of Atlanta to nearby Cobb County by 2017. The Marietta Daily Journal reports that a new $672 million stadium will be built just to the northwest of Atlanta. The announcement has left everyone "kind of stunned."
"Fake it till you make it," but how, exactly?
I am mentoring two new employees in my organization, both of whom could benefit from more confidence and "presence." They have both asked me for specific tips on how to appear more confident, even if they don't feel it. The problem is that beyond stating the obvious, such as standing up straight, looking people in the eye, etc., I am having trouble getting down to details in behaviour and appearance.
What do you do to appear more confident? And what signals do you look for when assessing the confidence level of another person? How does someone "own the room"? (One of my mentees is a twenty-something man, just out of school, and a bit geeky. The other is a female in her early forties, recently returned to the work force after maternity leave followed by a divorce, and clearly lacking in body confidence, despite being "normal" weight and quite pretty.)