MetaFilter

Holy shit. David was tweeting a bespoke burn every two minutes for over an hour. Usually you only see that kind of burn efficiency in long-haul space probes.
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 1:16 PM on November 25, 2015

I use mine (Raspberry Pi 1) as an aircraft tracking station, using piaware. With it I've tracked U-2 spy planes, Air Force One, E-6 "Doomsday" planes, defense contractors dropping sterile fruit flies, and Dept. of Homeland Security surveillance planes. It also helped me discover a secret FBI aerial surveillance program, and map LA airspace use.

I'm planning on setting up more stations around southern California, which is only something I'd consider because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jjwiseman at 8:58 AM on November 26, 2015

I like gin and tonic but mainly because it's the only drink I can think of that actively wards off malaria. Does your favourite drink stop you from getting malaria? No? Well, enjoy your malaria then, sucker!
posted to MetaFilter by turbid dahlia at 6:29 PM on November 22, 2015

Just because I'm drinking a Double IPA doesn't mean I'm a monster.

The fact I'm using a pilsner glass does.
posted to MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 5:36 PM on November 22, 2015

Bulbous Salutations! is the new way I start every corporate email from now on.
posted to MetaFilter by clvrmnky at 7:26 PM on November 21, 2015

"Bulbous salutation"? That's right: Fast 'n bulbous! The mascara snake, bulbous also tapered.
posted to MetaFilter by informavore at 7:31 PM on November 21, 2015

2015 is the year that "My computer is whispering my secrets to my smartphone, no seriously, listen, there it is again" transitioned abruptly from ridiculously unbelievable to ridiculously predictable, with absolutely nothing in between.
posted to MetaFilter by Phyltre at 11:04 AM on November 17, 2015

if this works, the only reason it works is because there are no mechanisms by which the possession of shares can become the chief criterion determining whether or not you get more shares. the problem with market pricing isn't market pricing, not exactly, but instead the feedback loop that's produced when possession of the money commodity becomes the thing determining whether or not you get more of the money commodity.

I'm not one to cite Marx chapter and verse (oh, who... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:39 PM on November 4, 2015

But nothing's "happened next" yet. He's been sued by his brother, been profiled on a lot of talk shows, lost a few customers and employees (but not many of either), and made a profit. There's nothing cataclysmic or important there, nothing on which to judge the success or failure of his idea.

It's like Kennedy announcing the moon mission, and the follow-up is, the next day he had bacon and eggs for breakfast. Has something actually changed?
posted to MetaFilter by GhostintheMachine at 4:41 AM on October 28, 2015

The fact that Limbaugh wants this man to fail (a business owner, doing what he wants with his own money without any government intervention) goes to show that the right wing don't really care about personal freedom, they only care that the poor stay poor.
posted to MetaFilter by Ned G at 4:01 AM on October 28, 2015

The order caps per-minute fees at 11¢ in state or federal prisons, and up to 22¢ a minute in local jails, depending on the size of the facility, while also capping the various fees that have been common on inmate calls to this point. This is fundamentally cheaper than many current rates, which were as high as 89¢ a minute in 2013, even before factoring in fees.

So who is loosing the Federal contract to overcharge inmates and why did their lobbying... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by three blind mice at 6:38 AM on October 23, 2015

Wow, yes, yes DEAR GOD, YES!! You want them to sign waivers, and you probably should consult with an attorney in your jurisdiction to determine whether there's anything special to add to the waiver.

You also probably want to talk to your insurance agent, or an insurance broker, to see what kind of insurance you need for such a thing, and whether what you currently have covers this activity (which, it probably doesn't).

You are wagering the farm... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by China Grover at 8:41 AM on October 21, 2015

I feel really, really old after reading this thread.

Because I'm not sure why anyone would need any emojis for sexual organs. I've never sent or received a text that made reference to P or V so on. I'm not sure why I would want to.

But then . . . I only learned what emojis were about a month ago, after Googling it.

So, yeah, I'm 41, and I'm old, and I admit it.
posted to MetaFilter by Annabelle74 at 6:26 AM on October 16, 2015

I once toured an open house that had this prom queen photo on their mantelpiece. I was thrilled! I wonder how many people were in the know.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Elly Vortex at 10:19 AM on October 13, 2015 marked best answer

One time I put a snow globe in the microwave and pushed "Hot Dog."
posted to MetaFilter by Wolfdog at 7:07 PM on October 11, 2015

They have a ghost writer who they can only afford half-time
posted to MetaFilter by threeants at 11:09 AM on October 9, 2015

"Articulate" has an unfortunate history of being a dog whistle, so it's hard for me not to read that into Harvard's statement although in my heart I don't think that was intentional.

Not only is it highly unlikely to have been an intentional slight, being articulate is directly related to debating success. Debaters call each other articulate all the time.
posted to MetaFilter by jb at 10:50 AM on October 7, 2015

Most people think that the internet cannot live without this massive influx of advertising money, but I am perfectly happy to go back to when you could only connect to Universities and technically minded people on the web.
posted to MetaFilter by kanemano at 10:06 AM on September 30, 2015

Congress faces an imminent government shutdown, the first since 2013.

This is actually not very long ago.
posted to MetaFilter by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:04 AM on September 25, 2015

That pigtail repair is crazy.

I would consider $265 reasonable to properly fix the issue.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by LoveHam at 11:46 AM on September 24, 2015

The theoretical pedagogical concerns seem secondary to the fact that it's sending apparently unencrypted recordings of your child over over wifi via a mic that's always on. Also that it's conditioning them to provide personal information in response to the questions that whoever on the other end is asking.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ryanshepard at 10:40 AM on September 23, 2015

Look. I have NEEDS. Sometimes a human woman can't fulfill those needs the same way. Like, sure, a woman might have sex with me but can she look up Rik Ocasek's birthday at the same time?
posted to MetaFilter by delfin at 9:55 AM on September 18, 2015

Her in the streets, Ex Machina in the sheets.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 9:22 AM on September 18, 2015

This seems all very strange. I never craved a toaster or a color t.v.
posted to MetaFilter by three blind mice at 8:25 AM on September 18, 2015

First, while I do copyright clearance for a non-profit on a volunteer basis, I am not a lawyer and I can't give you legal advice, etc. That being said, both the director of the documentary and the first reply in this thread seem to be conflating copyright and trademark, which while both forms of intellectual property, are very distinct forms of protection. It is possible for a logo to be protected by both copyright law and trademark law, or just copyright law, or just trademark law, or neither.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by RichardP at 7:08 PM on September 3, 2015 marked best answer

So, when politicians come out of jail, they often clamor for prison reform?

Sounds like the only solution to our prison problem is to send all the politicians to jail. (then, when they eventually get out, they'll enact some real reform)
posted to MetaFilter by el io at 2:27 PM on September 3, 2015

Was it this one with the barista badges?
posted to MetaFilter by Slackermagee at 10:41 AM on August 31, 2015

This is a funny article, since it seems to spend a lot of time saying "well, paid vacation, regular hours and employer contribution to social security aren't actually that great because...." and then listing some weird unsatisfactory thing like "your paid vacation days are actually escrow on your wages". I mean, yes, paid vacation is part of my wages. However, if I were a temp - and I have been, for long periods - I wouldn't be getting more money because my employer figures... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 10:26 AM on August 31, 2015

Occasionally interesting things happen in Times Square you might want to see

even if they burned donald trump in a giant wicker man i would just watch it 2 minutes later on youtube
posted to MetaFilter by poffin boffin at 6:22 PM on August 26, 2015

This is Google astroturfing to get me to turn off my adblocker.
posted to MetaFilter by gwint at 3:05 PM on August 26, 2015

Now that I have the snark out of my system:

This article is self-aggrandizing horseshit because it conflates all of activist actions under the rubric of ends justifying means, makes some pretty specious assertions (which wars did conscientious objectors end?), and uses that conflation to wrap every wobbly paper mache head in the aegis of The Third of May.

"How can climbing a flagpole or hanging from a bridge reform society or improve our... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by klangklangston at 11:58 PM on August 21, 2015

"Why don't all those law school graduates who can't get jobs just form "Bob's discount law firm" and do a ton of routine stuff for a bunch less then $brandname firm? "

In addition to all the other reasons identified by others: how is Bob's Discount Law Firm supposed to get clients? In-person solicitation is ethically prohibited in most cases. Advertising is ethically regulated, expensive, and largely useless.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jedicus at 2:06 PM on August 20, 2015

Conservation of angular momentum means that there is basically no way to steal energy from the Earth's rotation without ejecting stuff into space or permanently redistributing the Earth's mass. As the elevator goes up the Earth will slow down a bit, but when the elevator goes back down the Earth will regain that speed.

Fun fact: unless its exhaust escapes the gravitational pull of the Earth, a rocket-powered vehicle launched from the ground has the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Tensor at 11:47 AM on August 18, 2015

I feel like this guy is starting his cat down the road to capitalism: Instead of hunting for food, the cat has been trained to gather an arbitrary symbolic object, and then exchange _that_ for food.

Not quite--this is but the first step. A truly capitalistic kitty will coerce a smaller kitty into bringing him the food in exchange for a token taste, but not quite enough to feed himself properly. The more bits of food the smaller kitty brings, the more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mule98J at 8:15 AM on August 7, 2015

So the way most locals do it is to just blast down I-5, stopping once for lunch. It takes 6-ish hours. The drive is fast, flat, and boring.

Hardly anyone takes the slow scenic route, which is on Highway 1 along the coast. It takes 8+ hours, but it's much prettier and has actual towns and a couple of cities along the way. Other posters can suggest specifics, but this is probably the way to go if you want the drive to be in any way interesting.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ryanrs at 9:46 AM on August 5, 2015

Corrections Corporation of America has 4% of US prisoners on it's own, and is not the only private prison company, so the above claim is definitely false. And beyond that, the above claim ignores the many other for-profit players in the prison-industrial complex.

I got my numbers wrong, a little. The number is 5% for the total for-profit prison population. (CCA has most of the market share.) I got my numbers for private prison beds from Pro Publica,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by anotherpanacea at 6:26 AM on August 4, 2015

Can't we solve this disagreement by agreeing to define the U.S. Government as a For-Profit Public Prison Corporation?
posted to MetaFilter by I-Write-Essays at 4:47 AM on August 4, 2015

All I want is for you to repeat your name slowly and then spell it slowly. You have an accent denser than tungsten, are speaking at a rate of approximately twelve thousand words per second, and are calling from a cell phone that I suspect is inside a garbage can which is in turn inside the Lincoln Tunnel. I'm just trying to write your name down accurately! Is that too much to ask?
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 12:58 PM on August 3, 2015

The Catholic Church says the essential data point is the age 33. We will be resurrected as we were, or would have been, at 33 because that’s how old Jesus was.

Holy shit! I only have 6 months left! Going to need at least 20,000 steps a day.
posted to MetaFilter by blairsyprofane at 6:54 AM on July 29, 2015

Thumbing through these posed pictures of war criminals, conspirators and profiteers, I feel about as sick as I did seeing the buildings come down.
posted to MetaFilter by a lungful of dragon at 10:23 AM on July 25, 2015

25. When I go to put bourbon in the coffee, they'll ask me for some.
posted to MetaFilter by Cool Papa Bell at 7:45 AM on July 22, 2015

I would consider, aside from all the good advice above, getting a new accountant, because one who doesn't want to deal with a very simple task, despite the fact that you are paying them to do so, is not a good accountant for someone whose finances have just become more complicated, no matter what management path you choose.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by poffin boffin at 10:17 AM on July 8, 2015

As you are anonymous, it is hard to tell your jurisdiction, but assuming you are in the US, you definitely want to be in an LLC (or other appropriate entity for your state). In addition to shielding you from liability mentioned above, it protects you in different ways.

First, with the bank, anyone with their name on an account can wipe out the account. Or worse, that person's creditors can do it. If the bank account is in a company name, then they have to be authorized... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by China Grover at 8:58 AM on July 8, 2015

Big corporations aren't obliged to refrain from crashing the economy, undermining democracy, or destroying the biosphere. And governments aren't obliged to provide their citizens with health care or employment. But if I don't watch shitty advertisements I'm doing something unethical. I tell ya it stabs at my conscience day and night 'til I can't eat nor sleep.
posted to MetaFilter by Sing Or Swim at 4:20 AM on July 4, 2015

President Obama, blogging at the Huffington Post, as reported by Buzzfeed.

This weird new future is scarier every day.

Also, it's ironic that he's talking about this new rule to increase pay on a platform famous for compensating bloggers with exposure (something you can die from) instead of money (something you can live on).
posted to MetaFilter by Aizkolari at 9:39 AM on July 1, 2015

President Obama, blogging at the Huffington Post, as reported by Buzzfeed.

This weird new future is scarier every day.
posted to MetaFilter by the man of twists and turns at 8:43 AM on July 1, 2015

If this does work, something is missing from the story.

2 H2O plus electricity = 2 H2 and O2

Which gives you the H2 which you burn with O2 to release energy and make water.

There's no way that's going to net you energy in a closed system. Now if you got something like sunlight or bacteria to the work on the first part, then you can win. Otherwise, no.
posted to MetaFilter by dances_with_sneetches at 6:36 PM on June 28, 2015

So sad how home taping killed off the music industry in the 80's. It had such potential.
posted to MetaFilter by Poldo at 8:50 PM on June 27, 2015

Uh-huh.

Thanks for your considered and erudite rebuttal.

Look: obesity is a health problem, and causes others. Identity politics may be ascendant on the left right now, but medical professionals viewing a health problem that can cause breathing issues as something that should be addressed when a young person presents with breathing issues is common sense.

The advice to exercise might have been... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sonic meat machine at 5:07 PM on June 27, 2015

MANDATORY SAME SEX MARRIAGES FOR EVERYONE!
posted to MetaFilter by zombieflanders at 7:06 AM on June 26, 2015