MetaFilter

I'm a guy. I used to carry a pink cellphone. And take it out of my pocket and put it on the table just like all the other dudes displaying their gadgets at the engineering meetings. The way people reacted said a lot about them.
posted to MetaFilter by Nelson at 11:09 AM on April 30, 2009

It's the Swinal Countdown.
posted to MetaFilter by kldickson at 6:48 AM on April 30, 2009

Anéantir, if you're using "wipe out" as a transitive verb, but dérapage if a noun in the "crashed while surfing" sense.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 1:22 PM on April 29, 2009

You're looking for Language Removal Services.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by neroli at 7:54 PM on April 28, 2009 marked best answer

Makes sense to me - smooshed rice is powder, smooshed string is just a mess.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by flabdablet at 7:52 AM on April 29, 2009

I find it frustrating the way so many commenters on Metafilter seem unable to cope with, or perhaps are just largely unfamiliar with, the real world. I could tell you about this area of South Carolina. About the schools, the kids and their parents. About the poverty and the lack of opportunity and the just fucking disgusting conditions that kids in this state go to school in. I've volunteered in schools in this area and have worked with some of the kids. Smart. Kind. Bright. Funny. Just spending... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ND¢ at 6:41 PM on April 28, 2009

My favorite thought-piece about Ferris Bueller is the "Fight Club" theory, in which Ferris Bueller, the person, is just a figment of Cameron's imagination, like Tyler Durden, and Sloane is the girl Cameron secretly loves.

One day while he's lying sick in bed, Cameron lets "Ferris" steal his father's car and take the day off, and as Cameron wanders around the city, all of his interactions with Ferris and Sloane, and all the impossible hijinks, are all... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Cool Papa Bell at 5:06 PM on April 28, 2009

A useful "longer URL" service: longr.us provides a descriptive URL that contains the domain name and title of the target page. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/27/MN0O17A8Q5.DTL&tsp=1 becomes http://longr.us/sfgate.com/sacramento.has.2.more.swine.flu.cases.california.s.count.rises.to.13 . And it has an API!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lasagnaboy at 4:37 AM on April 28, 2009

tinyurl / gianturl infinite loop
posted to MetaFilter by ryanrs at 1:07 AM on April 28, 2009

LOL BRB
posted to MetaFilter by Ratio at 1:53 PM on April 28, 2009

I was stationed at Ft. Wainwright, which is in Fairbanks for 1 1/2 years, just a couple of years ago. I absolutely hated it. Others think it is heaven on earth. I think they're crazy.

Your mother is right; it is the ends of the earth.

The negatives:

It is extremely cold. I'm from MN so I thought I knew cold. I didn't. Cold bitch slapped me the minute I arrived. And, it is cold most of the year. Everyone and I mean... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Juicylicious at 10:04 AM on April 28, 2009

Also, there is a direct Chicago-Anchorage flight on NWA/Delta, takes about 5 hours as I recall. So they're 6 hours by air from you, which is not much more that it would take them to fly to visit you in Santa Barbara or anywhere else involving a connecting flight.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by fourcheesemac at 9:27 AM on April 28, 2009

Also you say you rarely feel rested on 10 hours of sleep? You might have sleep apnea. I suggest getting a sleep study done ASAP. Sleep apnea puts a huge strain on your body and studies have shown that it makes it difficult to lose weight. Which makes the apnea worse. Which makes it difficult to lose weight. Obesity and sleep apena is a miserable cycle - and both can kill you.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by elsietheeel at 6:05 AM on April 28, 2009

My new favorite alternative to saying "Gesundheit" when someone sneezes in the office is to point and yell, "Swine flu! Destroy the incubator!"
posted to MetaFilter by steef at 5:58 AM on April 28, 2009

Nthing that this sounds more related to diet and/or a medical condition than exercise, but if you do decide to try tackling this issue with more exercise, I would recommend deep core work over situps/crunches. It's true about the fat sitting on top of (and in between) your abs, covering them. So, since crunches work the "6 pack" muscles in the very front, increasing their mass may actually accentuate the pooch by pushing out the fat. Instead focus more on plank variations and lower... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by and hosted from Uranus at 12:43 PM on April 24, 2009

He steadfastly refuses to agree to a name change.

Um, hate to tell your husband this, but it's YOUR name. You can do whatever you want with it. Change it and let him sulk. It's your identity. YOURS.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by meerkatty at 8:01 AM on April 27, 2009

One thing that I pointed out on my site, but not in this post because I just wanted to give the information and not comment too much on it, is that Matt Smith only talks about sites where the woman is the bottom. He makes it seem like all BDSM sites are about women being tied up. But Kink.com also runs Men In Pain, where women dominate men, and TS Seduction, where transexuals dominate men.
posted to MetaFilter by Stephen Elliott at 5:29 PM on April 25, 2009

darkstar: I don't think the question is worth dropping just yet.

First answer:
Just because someone has received Dharma Transmission doesn't mean that they have all your answers. It is a sign, not the thing itself. If one person's advice or method doesn't work for you, don't bother with it. Nothing here is sacred, especially the notion of enlightenment.

Second answer:
I see enlightenment not as an end to suffering or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kaibutsu at 5:28 PM on April 26, 2009

And while we're at it, here's one of my favorite koans:

One afternoon a student said "Roshi, I don't really understand what's going on. I mean, we sit in zazen and we gassho to each other and everything, and Felicia got enlightened when the bottom fell out of her water-bucket, and Todd got enlightened when you popped him one with your staff, and people work on koans and get enlightened, but I've been doing this for two years now, and the koans don't make any sense,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by darkstar at 3:20 PM on April 26, 2009

I have to join the pileon and say that I'm uncomfortable with the way you present your case as well. You do seem a bit controlling.

My wife and I have this problem, with the same dynamics you describe - I've told white lies, and she's caught me in some of them.

Recently, though, I've kind of decided to "turn the tables". In my vindictive moments I've realized that I can jump on her about innocuous things she does that bug ME.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by saysthis at 9:42 AM on April 25, 2009

Oh boy, some of you guys are a bit harsh on the OP, because some of those examples are exactly what we do in our relationship, and we do them to avoid the "guess" culture thing that is discussed often enough in Metafilter. How was your day? It was fine (it wasn't really, but I don't trust you to respond in a way that I will be comfortable with.) We just don't do that anymore and sure, a lot of it is (what we used to do, lie or control) about our families of origin where he was beaten... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by b33j at 1:32 AM on April 25, 2009

Then you need to engrave a butt plug with Karl Marx, add a temperature probe, tell him he needs to write some monitoring software and that you expect at least an hour's worth of data.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:34 PM on April 24, 2009

My copies of You're a Good Yogi, Milarepa and Good Grief, More Milarepa: A Milarepa Treasury are autographed.

Take that, you pretentious gasbags.
posted to MetaTalk by Alvy Ampersand at 8:29 AM on April 22, 2009

Speaking as a fellow avoidant., the following is what works for me when I need to check my email but I'm completey freaking out over it. The key is break into very small steps and after each step Stop and do not move on to next until your anxiety is at a manageable level. Not gone, but low enough that you can push your way through it. You only committ to doing one step. If you do more that's great. If not, try again later.

1) Go to the login page into for the email... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nooneyouknow at 1:14 PM on April 22, 2009

As we said, consuming images, goods or buying your identity at Old Navy or a retro clothing shop takes no real effort or thought. Just money. Text messaging your whereabouts at the mall may be a technological wonder, but you're still absolutely nowhere if you are just one more oral grooved organism in the food court at the mall moving in a swarm toward Quiznos.

I find these kinds of statements to be condescending and simplistic. Yes, improvements in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by burnmp3s at 9:15 AM on April 23, 2009

I've been going back and forth about whether I wanted to jump into this conversation. But I feel like I can kind of appreciate both sides. Like werkzeuger, I too, have had an all to intimate experience with losing a child to prenatal hydrocephaly. The twist, however, is that I was pregnant with fraternal twins when I found out that my son had this problem. His sister, Sophie (who've I've posted about in the past), was perfectly healthy.

Harry suffered from severe... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by dancinglamb at 11:05 AM on April 22, 2009

I only just got a few minutes to sit and look at Myah's blog and it is nowhere near as horrible as I expected. She writes with love about her daughter, the photos I saw were tasteful with clothes and hat (admittedly, I have not read all the blog so perhaps I am missing some horrific earlier posts and photos that are bringing out the hate in others).

Have you ever driven a car and started to hydroplane and pumped the brakes only to continue going forward? And you get... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by saucysault at 7:17 AM on April 22, 2009

As a mother of an anencephalic baby, thanks to all of you who expressed empathy to a woman in such a horrible, tragic time. The rest of you, I honestly wonder what personal hells you must have lived through to be so mean-spirted when compassion would have cost you so little.
posted to MetaFilter by saucysault at 6:57 PM on April 21, 2009

Why does she make a blog?

Because offering the world your experience somehow gives it validity. There are millions of people out there, maintaining personal blogs, many of which hold no interest to the average reader, some of which are offensive, and some of which are somehow deeply compelling despite being intensely personal. It is absolutely pointless to criticize this woman for writing about her experience and putting it on the internet. It's like saying that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Cygnet at 6:26 PM on April 21, 2009

I'll say it again, a little less politely this time.

I know it's in vogue to hate on Twitter but you don't have to fucking try to eradicate anything that might even slightly resemble a twitter message. What's next, making sure every comment you leave is over 140 characters?

Yes, people that are so narcissistic that they assume others are interested in their every waking thought are annoying as fuck. This is the same for... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by flatluigi at 8:13 AM on April 22, 2009

Hmmm...I don't know. This new ecard seems oddly specific.
posted to MetaTalk by ColdChef at 7:22 AM on April 22, 2009

Why do so many Christian people get off on contemplating endless shrieking agony for people who might disagree with them or who say unkind things about them?

I think this is....understandable.

Look. This is a young woman (she's only 23), who's just had a baby (and had the resultant hormonal cock-up to end all cock-ups) after hearing her baby may not ever be the kind of "normal" baby she expected, and every day for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 4:07 PM on April 21, 2009

What are "Internet Blockades"?

Do you by any chance have the Union Navy or the Spanish Armada installed on your computer?
posted to MetaTalk by dersins at 10:02 PM on April 20, 2009

That thread made me incredibly thankful to be an only child....
posted to MetaTalk by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 3:10 PM on April 19, 2009

Keep your eyes peeled on the train into the city from Charles de Gaulle airport. I'm not a big graffiti fan, but I can definitely recognize an impressive use of color and type when I see it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by aquafortis at 2:28 PM on April 16, 2009

There are times I'd actually back off going for the direct approach right away. She might feel uncomfortable, literally, in her own skin. If you bring this up like, "I want to see you, that's sexy," and she feels the complete opposite about her body being exposed to your eyes, then her being naked is just going to feel totally unsexy and uncomfortable. Imagine you convince her that you're right, and your expectations are fair in a 6-month relationship. So, imagine she complies and... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by barnone at 4:03 AM on April 16, 2009

This makes no sense, but its true. If you confidently and without degrading yourself seek to always make the lives of others better, you are the alpha.

It's a bit of a paradox. A lot of "alpha" behavior mirrors "submissive" behavior, IMO, but the intent is opposite -- selfless vs. selfish. For the submissive, you're bettering people's lives because you want them to like you. For the alpha, you're bettering peoples' lives because you... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by LordSludge at 2:27 PM on April 14, 2009

First of all, if he isn't on Cosequin, he should be, it can help with decreasing inflammation and improving mucus production in the bladder.

Second, he really HAS to be on a prescription food (and most are fine for all cats to eat, whether they have a problem or not, it's only stone-dissolving diets like s/d which are a problem for the non-affected cat). Hill's c/d has been reformulated, you might want to try it again. Purina and Royal Canin both also make appropriate... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by biscotti at 12:33 PM on April 14, 2009 marked best answer

Orange Pamplemousse: So, what snippets of scientific information would be good additions to this list? Anything that would improve the ancient society or the traveler's place in it is fair game, provided it can be applied with the tools on hand, or is readily available from simpler knowledge (nuclear fission is out of reach and e=mc^2 useless).

For the purposes of this question, assume the traveler arrives sometime around 200BC in the Mediterranean, with no... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by koeselitz at 11:45 AM on April 14, 2009

eaving a party when you feel overwhelmed without anyone doing anything to you (everyone's running around but no one is making you the center of attention) is rude.

No, it really isn't. If you're having a panic attack, you're not feeling well (physically as well as emotionally).

Leaving a party when you don't feel well is not "rude". It just isn't.

If it were a migraine or an ulcer or... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Sidhedevil at 1:56 PM on April 13, 2009

Mile-long names are awesome! Wouldn't we all rather have names that minutely describe our sociocultural background in great detail? I could be winnarelatedtothemcwinnersons worshipperofthegreatgodgorgonzolatechsupportperson.

:-) In fact, my Vedic name does just that; you have my (what in the West is called as) first name, the village from which my family originally came from (that doubles as a surname), the sage to whom the family turns to, and the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 11:16 AM on April 11, 2009

Wait until the Sri Lankans move into her district.
posted to MetaFilter by GuyZero at 2:44 PM on April 9, 2009

If you believe using these animals is wrong, and you don't want to be guilty of such wrongdoing, then you should stop participating in it. You can't just trade away your sins. "Karma" is not like that.

I suggest realising that the animal testing you do is not wrong at all.

The amount of suffering and death in the animal world is appalling, but we are rightfully unconcerned about the way coyotes use rabbits for their own personal means .... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by General Tonic at 9:52 AM on April 9, 2009

From a Buddhist perspective, karma "balancing" is not favored. You want to escape karma by becoming enlightened. You don't escape it, it is inevitable.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ironmouth at 10:00 AM on April 9, 2009

There was a young man, a Tibetan living in the US as a citizen, that was drafted into the army to fight in Vietnam. While there, he was pretty certain, though not positive, that he had killed another human being. When he returned, he asked a lama, "What I should do?" They were living near a farm at the time and the lama told him to adopt a few of the young sheep and take care of them. Of course, sheep live a pretty long time. So, the young man ended up taking care of these sheep for... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by milarepa at 9:58 AM on April 9, 2009 marked best answer

I'm speechless. Not to get all outragey, but does anybody else think this is absolutely appalling? It is just bad, wrong on so many levels. Including what it inspires here. I just don't see how, ugh, just ick.
posted to MetaFilter by iamkimiam at 9:02 PM on April 8, 2009

This thing, unfortunately, read like propaganda against taxes. I'd love to see a pro-taxes version to counterbalance this:

$XXX goes to Interstates ----> It takes 4 hours to drive from Boston to New York ---> It took 2 days by horse and carriage

$XXX goes to scientific/military research ---> GPS, the Internet, and nuclear power were developed via military research ---> Civilian GPS sales generated $XX million in taxes last year, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by explosion at 12:47 PM on April 8, 2009

Really, how hard could this be?

CHASE: House, we need to cure this patient. He is very sick.
HOUSE: Did you try the medicine drug?
CHASE: I did try the medicine drug.
HOUSE: Only stupid people try the medicine drug. You are stupid.
PATIENT: I would rather not be sick.
HOUSE: You are stupid too. Did you take stupid drug?
FOREMAN: I gave patient stupid drug.
HOUSE: You are a black man.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by robocop is bleeding at 7:24 AM on November 2, 2007

Hi anon,

I swear this isn't meant to be flippant, but perhaps it would help if you framed the question as: How do I assess my role and responsibility for taking care of myself when I am surrounded by people who have needs.

Because it seems like you are assessing and prioritizing "what is best" based on prioritizing someone else's well being. Perhaps because they seem more vulnerable than you. Perhaps because you value helping others.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by anitanita at 9:03 PM on April 7, 2009

"If you can't enjoy it without the raw shock of a plot twist, it probably isn't the show for you."

Um. That's the thing. I *do* enjoy the show and its plot twists. I prefer enjoying them without them being spoiled, as do many, many others, which is why there is a courtesy standard for them here at mefi.

I just tend to believe that people should be reminded of such courtesy standards in the text they see before they... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by markkraft at 3:20 PM on April 7, 2009