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Soros: Financial crisis as bad as the Great Depression
The Financial Crisis: An Interview with George Soros. "We are in the midst of a financial crisis the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Depression." (video, April 4)
Finding Fun On The Freighter
I have booked room on a freighter from Pusan to Long Beach. I'm now looking for some tips advice on what to pack and or things I need to prepare myself for during my ten days at sea. Anyone taken the slow boat home before?
I hate needles. Please help me avoid them a while longer.
So I've been diagnosed as prediabetic. What now?
Real men drive these
Once upon a time in the postwar, before the advent of EPA and OSHA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission and weenies in bike helmets and multilingual warning stickers on stepladders, crazy people walked this earth. Good, fun-loving Americans who knew that "instructions" were something you threw in the trash along with the empty Falstaff bottles. A halcyon era filled with manly men who savored the wholesome virtues of a rugged game of un-seatbelted automotive chicken. One of these men was Gene Middlebrooks, who founded Turbonique.>
Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell Debate Canada as Nation or Notion
Canadian-born New Yorkers Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell have an eloquent conversation (MP3) about the nature of our eternally under-confident country. Gladwell quips early on that "those of you who are familiar with my writing will know that this practice of talking about X by discussing Y is my only rhetorical move." Text (though not an exact transcript) is also available, as is a report.
User comment dumps
Many of us have spent quite a bit of time writing our various comments and posts on MetaFilter. In the spirit of "All posts are © their original authors," I would like to request the ability for a user to be able to download all of their own contributions as a simple data dump.
Is Cory Doctorow Worth a damn?
Who to read besides Coupland, Stephenson, Gibson, and Sterling?
An island to ourselves
The Philippines — We want to get away for a while. I mean really get away.
Is an Infoviz of MetaFilter copying, stealing, or remixing?
I wanted to take one of AskMeFi's most awesome threads (the one about life-altering experiences) and turn it into an art project. This project is already done, except that nobody knows about it. Here is the link. I am using copies of almost every single post in that thread. This is potentially problematic. I'm asking the MetaFilter Community here, what do you think?
An hour with "the happiest man alive"
Henry Miller Bathroom Monologues, part 2, part 3, and follow on - Miller takes us on a tour of the art in his bathroom. And a few years later, we have Dinner with Henry, 1979
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Brijit, best of the web
Brijit is sort of like a MeFi for magazine articles, but each post is 100-words and you get $5-$8 for each post (if you can write a good summary of the article). It is part of a "new" wave in non-algorithmic human-powered filtering of the net.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and... one pot?
Basil, parsley, mint, sage, rosemary: which combinations will work best when potted together in a balcony herb garden?
What are the world's most useful dead-tree catalogs?
What is the iconic (or just "your favorite") dead-tree product catalog (listing of merchandise for mail-order sale) for your hobby, industry, or trade?
Those who appear to be a little too happy will be asked to leave.
How I Want To Be Remembered by Jack Handey. He was fabulously wealthy, but he would pretend to be broke, and often tried to borrow cigarettes and money from people. Little did they know that those who gave him stuff would later be rewarded in his will, with jewels and antigravity helmets. You may know Jack Handey from his Deep Thoughts which first gained fame on as filler between sketches on Saturday Night Live. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker (scroll down this page for his other essays).
i like fun things.
The lady & I want to watch some whales in Victoria BC around Memorial day. We'd like to avoid cookie-cutter-corporate hotels. We want a funky mid-price (think $100/night or so) place to stay. When we travel around Washington/Oregon, we like to stay at McMenamins. Is there anything close to that in Victoria?
How to make vodka bacon-flavored?
How can I infuse bacon flavor into vodka? The product doesn't need to be vegan or kosher or anything special---just want to go into a kitchen and whip up some bacon-flavored vodka.
Does an SEO redesign have to suck?
Does a website that has had the full SEO treatment have to suck?
Unofficial Wiretap Podcast
CBC's Wiretap has an unoffical podcast. In the latest episode, Gregor Samsa gets help from Dr. Seuss.
Non-Indo-European language families
LinguisticsFilter: Why are the many Indo-European languages considered to have a common ancestor, whereas Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and other gramatically and lexically similar languages are grouped into separate language families? How did so many different language families arise in the Americas and Australia given that they were populated by the same groups of people? Much more inside.
The Cowboy Junkies revist their most popular album
Back in 1987, the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies recorded The Trinity Session (which featured their one big hit, Sweet Jane), ). To celebrate the album's 20th anniversary they brought a few fellow musicians to the church where the album was originally recorded to see what 20 years experience would do to the same set of songs. Here's a video from the session, with Natalie Merchant on backing vocals.
Λ
How is the universe 156 billion light years across if it is only 13.7 billion years old?
Should we buy?
Buying a house during a boom. Wife says right away. I say wait. Help convince us either way.
Hear and Compare Accents of English from Around the World
Sound Comparisons
is a database of different accents in English from all over the world. It provides soundfiles and IPA transcriptions of 110 words in 110 separate dialects and Germanic languages closely related to English. Most dialects and languages are current but there are also reconstructions of older stages of English, Scots and Germanic. That makes for 12100 soundfiles that load directly into your browser. The site can be navigated either by dialect or individual word and there's also a handy Google map of all the different dialects and languages. If you've ever wondered what the difference was between a Somerset and a Norwich accent, New Zealand and Australian, Canadian and American or Indian and Glaswegian, Sound Comparisons is the site to go to.
Help us with a syntax question (buffalo buffalo buffalo.)
Do fish fish fish fish fish fish fish?
help-me-register-my-domain.kr
How do I register a .kr domain?
More than just tomato sauce?
What are your favorite things to put on pasta (besides tomato sauce)?
Cool/Interesting videos (similar to TED.com) on the Internet?
I have pretty much watched all of the videos on TED.com and I am looking for another source to waste time online - but at least feel smarter at the end.;) I am not looking so much for online classes/courses (MIT and other), but more "bit size" hour long or so talks/lectures. Thanks for your help!
Metafilter Infodump: more stats than you can shake a stick at.
Nerds, start your engines: it's the new Metafilter Infodump.
TF2 music
I really like the music used in the game Team Fortress 2 (TF2). I describe it as 60's secret agent music (think early James Bond). Where can I find more music like this? Is there a sub-genre style of music that this belongs to?
If you don't know what TF2 is, check out the trailers.
Cheap but bombproof
I'm looking for examples of insanely overbuilt, reasonably-priced consumer goods: "Cheap, bombproof...XXXXX"
Is there any place in the Caribbean that has a backpacker vibe?
Is there any place in the Caribbean that has a backpacker vibe? Or do you have to go to Central America / Mexico to get that?
Blood Test: Legal in Canada?
In Canada is it legal to require a blood test for (A) employment; (B) group insurance eligibility?
Great books about China?
Please recommend books about China and the Chinese.
Forgotten?
The shadowy back alleys of MetaFilter...
Talking to the dying
A good friend just received a brain cancer diagnosis with an estimated one year survival time. She wants to talk about death and time. She thinks I have something to teach or tell her worth hearing. I'd like to be helpful, but have no confidence in my ability to say or do anything meaningful. What I've said so far she appreciates.
What can I read that might help me frame discussions. I don't need pop psychology stuff, or advice dealing with the health care system or funeral arrangements. I like the idea of Zen notions of letting go but am too ignorant to know what to say.
Advice, experience, suggestions for gathering information please.
Best book publication methods?
I have a web site. I want to write a book based on the topic. I have publishers/agents asking to talk to me, but I don't know if I'm ready. For one thing, I'm not convinced traditional publication is best — I'm intrigued by self-publishing and e-books. I'm looking for general advice: What are the pros and cons of each method? It seems that unless I'm lucky, traditional publishing offers the lowest dollar return. But are there other, intangible benefits I'm missing? Exposure? Having somebody who knows what they're doing guide me along? And how do I approach a discussion with agents/publishers so as to get the best deal?
Best Freeware Games of '07
Many freeware games were released in 2007. How to seperate the crap from the good stuff? It can be a little hard admittedly but this thread on the Tigsource forums might help you. With around 30 categories (and a winner announced for each) ranging from 'Best Shooter' to 'Best Bosses,' there's probably something there to please just about anyone.
Who sounds like a recent Tom Waits?
All right, so, I love Tom Waits. A lot. Like most people love their grandmothers, I guess, except I've never made a turkey out of my handprint in some finger paint for Tom. What are some bands/artists who sound like that? Particularly latter-day Waits: Bone Machine, Mule Variations, Real Gone, etc. I've never been that big on the ballads, I confess (there goes my hipster cred).
Older, Married, and Childless? May we hear your story?
Looking for stories of satisfaction or regret from older married couples who decided not to have children.
'Best' napoli sauce recipe?
What's you favourite napoli sauce recipe?
10 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube
Open Culture's "10 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube"
features "intellectually redeemable" channels from UC Berkeley, @GoogleTalks, TheNobelPrize, TED Talks, FORA.tv, the European Graduate School, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, BBC Worldwide, National Geographic, PBS, UChannel, MIT, Vanderbilt, and USC.
How can I prepare myself for being a daddy?
I don't feel ready to have kids, ever. How can I shorten that to around 2-3 years?
Eight Bars of Soul
Proceeding Otis by two years and 364 days, Sam Cooke was shot and killed on this day in 1964. Much controversy still surrounds his death, but his legacy is untouchable and influence sweeping. From gospel to pop, he did it all. You Send Me, Ain't That Good News, Cupid, Chain Gang, and Bring it on Home to Me were some of his biggest hits and (along with Ray's work) the early foundations of soul; but it was one song, inspired by a white boy's passion, that gave a posthumous voice to a broken nation. Today and forever, Sam Cooke is yours, he'll never grow old.
The Bible According to Google Earth
The Bible According to Google Earth
A new artwork imagines four scenes from the Bible as if captured by Google Earth
What does copywriting pay?
What does copywriting pay?
A computer consulting firm wants to hire me to write founder bios, customer service email templates, redo the copy on their website, etc. Also maybe some light technical writing.
As far as experience, I've done all that (unpaid) for a startup of my own, which was very successful. I'm also a very experienced popular writer (articles and books). But never did this sort of copywriting for pay. What's typical renumeration?
Pre-Friday Flash Fun
Paul and Dave, creators of the extremely popular Desktop Tower Defense flash game, have just opened up their new flash games site to the public!