MetaFilter

Fucking troll the GOP. And don't let up. While they're trying to explain why we shouldn't support young people, announce a clean drinking water plan. While they're scrambling into formation to oppose that, propose an initiative to sponsor gender transitions. Declare an all-out war to save Florida's native fauna from environmental degradation. Post a bounty for corporate tax cheats. Smoke weed on live television and tote its healthful properties. Drag the fuckers all around the court. Let them... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 4:25 PM on January 8, 2015

No, I don't think participating in an open source project is a good idea. Don't think volunteering is a good one either.

There is a huge gap between "programming enthusiast" which is where your acquaintance is and "productive programmer" and trying to wedge yourself into the latter too early is likely to be frustrating.

When you start to program, you should feel free to do all kinds of dumb shit that you wouldn't want to do... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by RustyBrooks at 7:56 PM on December 30, 2014 marked best answer

A better example is the pond that doubles in lily pads every day. If it's completely full of lily pads on the 30th day, when is it half full?

The 29th day obviously, but holy fuck that's either an enormous pond or those are super tiny lily pads.
posted to MetaFilter by kmz at 3:03 PM on December 30, 2014

"Serve in the military and get a ticket to the middle class" is being sold just as cynically as "go to college and get a ticket the the middle class", just to an even more disadvantaged constituency. It's made even shittier because upon mustering out, many who chose the military will be told "hey, not quite there yet...but you can take those GI Bill education dollars and go to a for-profit diploma mill and *then* you can have a ticket to the middle class". And... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kjs3 at 8:49 PM on December 29, 2014

Personally, I think she lets Aaronson off way too easily.

Personally, I think Laurie Penny's essay needs to be transmitted as far and wide as possible, for this reason: she doesn't deny or pathologize Scott's experiences. She properly contextualizes them as additional manifestations of the damage patriarchy does to men AND women.

She doesn't demean him for a lack of self-awareness, she right of the bat strikes a parallel to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by chimaera at 2:33 PM on December 29, 2014

I think any system of universal service would by necessity incorporate some civil service options. For one reason you would need to offer options to individuals that by choice or nature would be excluded from military service. For another reason we are a very populous nation and would never have a need for that large of a standing army. Plus 24 months of civil service could build a ton of infrastructure.
posted to MetaFilter by vuron at 6:41 PM on December 29, 2014

Actual service members aside, it's not about honor or service. It's not about mom, the flag or apple pie. It's not about protecting the homeland or the American way. It's simply about profits. And that's exactly why it's immune to reform or change. Like much of the federal apparatus, the military is a profit center vigorously defended with lobbying, polemics and campaign contributions. And it pays off handsomely...
posted to MetaFilter by jim in austin at 4:11 PM on December 29, 2014

If you want the experience of building an out-of-print set, but don't want to pay out-of-print prices, you can use a technique I coined "EPIC" building: Existing Pieces, Ignoring Color.

If you have a large collection, you can easily get the instructions, use pieces you already have (contrary to most comment sections, the number of "special" pieces is pretty low) and maybe augment with a Bricklink order. It'll be "ugly", sure, but you get to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Legomancer at 10:43 AM on December 29, 2014

First they came for the neckbeards... and I was not a neckbeard so I did not object.
Then they came for the hipsters... and I was not a hipster so I did not object.
Then they came for all the white males... and I am a white male, but it doesn't bother me either, we totally deserve it, I surrender.
posted to MetaTalk by oneswellfoop at 1:35 PM on December 23, 2014

This year 46 policemen were shot dead; last year 52,000 were assaulted.

I'd hazard that assaulting a police office is probably one of the most often fabricated charges that police bring against innocent people.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 9:35 AM on December 21, 2014

But the fact that America is just more violent because of the 300 million guns on the streets is something I'd never really put together.

Except it's not. Nearly every violent crime statistic out there has plummeted. America has never been safer for the person on the street. Your kid is safer than never before, but can't play outside or walk to school without the DHS being called.

The increase is more attributable to the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cjorgensen at 9:24 AM on December 21, 2014

One way to provide identity confirmation: demand that the alleged celebrity provide a photo of themselves holding today's newspaper and a banana. Then, start a separate Tumblr that is all photos of celebrities with newspapers and bananas and charge $5 to let the people see it. PROFIT!
posted to MetaTalk by zeusianfog at 4:58 PM on December 19, 2014

Obviously she should answer, in public and in full, for her misdoings, but I am a little wary of these articles; they could so easily be used to support the "few bad apples" narrative. The scapegoating of one person is no substitute for the necessary reform of an entire institution.
posted to MetaFilter by Pallas Athena at 7:35 AM on December 20, 2014

Spacewrench has it. A leisure sheet is just a little cute or pretty flat thing that can be easily cleaned that you can set food out on for a picnic or sit down on so your pants stay clean, or whatever you like. I think it's mostly for sitting on but I've seen them used in photography of fancy bento or as big placemats. I think the roof of a pillow fort is an excellent idea for one of these!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mizu at 9:02 PM on December 19, 2014 marked best answer

Well, I probably shouldn't get in to defending their speech, because I'm pretty sure I think these guys are shit as much as you do. The thing that makes me uncomfortable here is the idea the college is supposed to police the private speech of their students.
posted to MetaFilter by Mitrovarr at 9:04 PM on December 18, 2014

I'll save a few people a click and say The Incredibles is NOT reviewed.
posted to MetaFilter by FJT at 2:57 PM on December 18, 2014

However, there are no consequences scripted out in this document.

You've answered your own question.

A "binding legal signature" does not inherently "bind" or "commit" you to do anything. It means you agree to whatever you are being asked to agree to. If there's nothing in that agreement that prevents you from/penalizes you for later declining the job offer, then you didn't agree to anything of... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by saeculorum at 4:39 PM on December 17, 2014 marked best answer

Destruction of the white power system should have a markedly positive impact on many white people, since black people currently aren't contributing nearly as much as they could be to the economy.
posted to MetaFilter by jpe at 3:45 PM on December 17, 2014

Ideas ain't worth shit. Even patented ideas aren't worth much. You can't even get an injunction to stop someone selling your patented idea unless you yourself are working on selling it, too (you just get to fuck around in court until you run out of money).

You need to do the engineering and manufacturing before your idea is worth money. I say this as someone with dozens of patents, some of which did eventually sell for a lot of money (but only after years of engineering).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ryanrs at 8:44 PM on December 15, 2014

Harrison.
posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 3:30 PM on December 15, 2014

I have a theory about the hops thing.

Back when California vineyards were making the transition from awful jug wine and industrial alcohol to drinkable wine, a couple of vineyards started producing whizz-bang chardonnays stuffed with butter and oak and fruit and holy shit they weren't all particularly good but damn if they didn't express their differences in such a blatantly obvious way that non-oenophiles could really taste the difference between a stony, austere,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BitterOldPunk at 4:10 PM on December 14, 2014

Also, its nice to see that ABVs are coming back down. I'm not 17 anymore - it's not cool to get wasted off a beer and half.

Whatever you say, Father Square.
posted to MetaFilter by turbid dahlia at 4:03 PM on December 14, 2014

Stone Brewing Company is a California craft brewer that's going to open a brewery in Germany in the next couple of years.

This is gonna do more for US-German relations than the Berlin Airlift did.
posted to MetaFilter by neckro23 at 2:45 PM on December 14, 2014

We are not.

Good. I'm glad I asked, then, before I did something foolish.
posted to MetaFilter by bondcliff at 2:02 PM on December 14, 2014

Quoting a friend. "The world may be going to shit in a billion ways, but the beer just keeps getting better."
posted to MetaFilter by philip-random at 1:16 PM on December 14, 2014

I've got no problems with throwing Obama under the bus if it means getting convictions for the Bush regime. Sauce for the goose, etc.
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 10:15 AM on December 9, 2014

We are too prone to ignore these reports as things we have always suspected but have never known for certain. The line of reasoning goes that if it's nothing new then there is nothing to be done. Torture, however, is not the new development.

What's new is the arrival of information. We can no longer claim ignorance or that the facts aren't in yet. Our suspicion has become awareness, and that awareness carries with it a duty to act.

Whether it's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The White Hat at 9:44 AM on December 9, 2014

At what point do people lose their will to live?

Well, in 2009 one guy I knew killed himself in the house he bought from his mother since she couldn't afford it, and it was foreclosed when he lost his job.

In 2011 a woman I knew died from lack of treatment for chronic illness because the bills from medical care had made her homeless, so she just gave up and let her illness take her.

In 2013 an elderly... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dglynn at 8:35 PM on December 8, 2014

Also, people who own businesses only hand out equity to people who have money to invest, or people who make a central contribution to the work of the business. If they're paying part time employees with equity, it basically means they're too broke to afford to pay people, don't have enough revenue, can't find investors, and can't get a bank loan or credit.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by empath at 5:28 PM on December 7, 2014

Oh, and those coding bootcamps are primarily useful if you already know how to program and just need to get up to speed on a particular specialty. You're not going to go from zero to a six figure salary with one of those classes alone. In fact, you'll probably be completely lost if you don't know how to program before you get there, for any bootcamp program that's worth a damn.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by empath at 1:40 PM on December 8, 2014

If you learn to code just to get a job, you're not going to have a really great time doing it for a living. You're likely to get a shit job doing relatively rote work in an uninteresting field. Especially if you're starting later in life. You should learn to code if you like to code, and if you happen to get a job from it, then that's a bonus.

I've recently gotten a job that involves a lot of coding, but I've been doing it off and on since I was a kid in the 80s. I... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by empath at 1:37 PM on December 8, 2014

You really, really need a lawyer for this. Remember "The Social Network" that's how a deal between friends turns out.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by saradarlin at 3:24 PM on December 7, 2014

How to make a Real Sharing Economy:

Everyone puts in a fiver for BBQ materials, then we eat a 'sharing economy' start-up owner.
posted to MetaFilter by biffa at 10:49 AM on December 4, 2014

I used to read DC and I don't anymore. They can throw a bone for a while when people get openly grumpy, but then slide back to their old ways. Why would a system change their ways when it keeps the status quo employed?

I do my own work with my own studio on my own and do not sink money into something that keeps me back. If you want something done, you do it yourself and don't support the things that work against you by giving it power or prestige...
posted to MetaFilter by Alexandra Kitty at 7:17 AM on November 30, 2014

Mix in carrots or another vegetable that's a little sweet to begin with.

also am I the only one who goggled at the idea of baby meat? it took me a bit to go, oh, meat for babies, not meat out of babies...
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Hermione Granger at 9:05 AM on November 29, 2014 marked best answer

rtha, if they are two steps forward eight steps back, the best strategy is to take no steps.
posted to MetaFilter by LoopyG at 8:10 PM on November 29, 2014

A specific set of symptoms that are pretty much textbook fetal radiation?...]This ain't garden-variety "pollution". It's radiation poisoning from tailings ponds.

Umm. It really doesn't sound like that to me. The radium numbers given in the post (~5x regulations) seem too low to cause deterministic effects like this on their own. The symptoms start showing up well after birth (13 months) and are progressive in nature in a way not at all likely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pseudonick at 12:54 PM on November 16, 2014

terrible paintings

Every trichrom's a critic.
posted to MetaFilter by a lungful of dragon at 1:26 AM on November 12, 2014

Interesting subject. But terrible paintings.
posted to MetaFilter by mumimor at 1:08 AM on November 12, 2014

roomthreeseventeen: But veterans who serve and come home don't deserve to be treated the way they are treated, which is horribly, quite often.

And the cult of the soldier serves the paradoxical purpose of preventing us from looking closely at that cost.
posted to MetaFilter by lodurr at 12:31 PM on November 10, 2014

Was it David Cross who said that if someone sends a kindergarten class into a burning building, we have to be allowed more choices than calling them tiny heroes and "not supporting kindergartners"?
posted to MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 11:40 AM on November 10, 2014

American and British (and Dutch) troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq may have acted heroically on an individual level, but of course since they were fighting illegal and immoral wars they were still servicing evil. The glorification of soldiers in modern life is a way to avoid looking too closely at the idea that our countries may actually be the baddies.
posted to MetaFilter by MartinWisse at 11:38 AM on November 10, 2014

Another story of regulators not properly regulating. If they actually tracked complaints and fined (or whatever) for problems and obliged them to let customers who had 911 problems leave their contract with not only no penalties but a significant "sorry we risked your life" cheque, the companies would suddenly fix all these problems. But since there are absolutely no consequences for them, they don't spend the money.
posted to MetaFilter by jeather at 4:23 AM on November 5, 2014

The stars look very different today.
posted to MetaFilter by maxsparber at 11:52 AM on October 31, 2014

it's sure great that we no longer use expectations about how women should dress to harass them.

I'm guessing Crush-onastick's Big Law firm is equally unlikely to hire a man in a dress.
posted to MetaFilter by IndigoJones at 11:06 AM on October 23, 2014

Jesus, Canada, don't follow America's example.
posted to MetaFilter by marienbad at 8:49 AM on October 22, 2014

This has turned what would ordinarily have been a quiet Thursday at work recovering from last nights birthday party to a neverending hell of trying to figure out what is at risk, how much, and what are we going to do about it.

Sometimes, I wish I could be like the security team at Home Depot and just not ever give a fuck.
posted to MetaFilter by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:34 PM on October 16, 2014

Because it will only be about the economy so long as the economy is geysering money upward to the lucky few and not washing it outward to the masses.
posted to MetaFilter by Slackermagee at 9:44 AM on October 16, 2014

The reason I don't use a password manager is because it, itself, is software, and thus vulnerable to being hacked.
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 3:27 AM on October 14, 2014

2nding the recommendation for couples' therapy, alms is very correct. If you don't fix the underlying communication issues, it won't help that you've talked to a professional and resolved the specific issue of who to invite to social events, you'll just find something else to have conflict over, and you'll have wasted your time and money.

When you're looking for a therapist, you call them ahead of time and ask them a few questions before setting up an appointment to... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by treehorn+bunny at 7:50 PM on October 10, 2014