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Would you like to learn how to play the board game Go? This website is visually appealing, simple to use, and easy to understand. You will start with explanations of the fundamental rules of the game and progress through basic beginner play using interactive puzzles.
posted by bq to MetaFilter on Jul 23 at 2:22 PM
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Kenneth Roth writes for the Guardian: The ICJ has demolished Israel’s claims that it is not occupying Palestinian territories - "the court held that for legal purposes, occupation is the product of a military takeover of land, regardless of its status. Even Gaza has long been occupied, the court found, despite Israel’s 2005 disengagement, because Israel maintained authority over various aspects of life in Gaza that could be exercised when it wished." || Al-Jazeera: Can Palestinians expect changes after ICJ ruling on Israel’s occupation? & ‘Impunity must end’: World reacts to ICJ ruling against Israeli occupation || Haaretz: Israel to Give [Its] Top Court Supplementary Arguments on How ICJ Ruling Will Affect Gaza Aid || Marko Milanovic in European Journal of International Law's blog: The bottom line of the AO is that the Court found that Israel’s continued occupation of the OPT violates various rules of international law, and that Israel has to withdraw from the OPT as rapidly as possible – but there are many other findings of the Court, including with regard to the obligations of third states, that merit discussion.
posted by cendawanita to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 9:19 PM
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My family and other Nazis.
posted by rory to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 7:18 AM
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St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley have produced an end of year video featuring their headmaster - a faithful shot by shot remake of Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice. There's even a side-by side comparison.
posted by jontyjago to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 12:06 AM
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In a surprising move, the staff of Bethesda Game Studios - creators of the first person based Fallout games, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls - have moved to collectively unionize under the Communication Workers of America (CWA). (SLIGN)
posted by NoxAeternum to MetaFilter on Jul 20 at 2:48 AM
43 users marked this as a favorite

Do you need to make some dovetails joints but aren't sure how many dovetails to use or what angle would look best? Do you want to make a stick chair but want to visualize your design first? layout.computer has what you need!
posted by jedicus to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 9:46 AM
40 users marked this as a favorite

Just because the weather is unbearbly hot (in the Northern Hemisphere) doesn't mean you should go without dessert. Let's look at the magic of the "Icebox Cake" introduced to the US in the 1920's and a staple of summer time for decades to come. Skip the oven and eat your cake too.
posted by drewbage1847 to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 10:59 AM
36 users marked this as a favorite

The Fictional Brands Archive's searchable index—clickable through to any entry. Some research behind it. And finally the info page: where you can/will submit those fictional brands you know are not yet represented in the archive.
posted by not_on_display to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 9:54 PM
34 users marked this as a favorite

Jim Smith of the YouTube channel Midwest Magic Cleaning talks about the words "lazy" and "motivation" [SLYT 20 min], while also dealing with the burnout of producing internet content and moderating comments: In that video I explained what depression was how it can lead to a house looking like this, and explained that the occupants of the house had gone through extensive periods of depression. There were two overwhelming comments on that that I have deleted by the literal thousands: "You can be poor but still be clean" even though they're literally watching a cleaning channel that's called Midwest Magic Cleaning. [...] The other one was [...] saying things like "Yeah they're poor but they still have a fancy PC, two video game consoles, a big flat screen TV, a name brand fancy couch." They're literally making up stories because I bought 100% of that as gifts for Christmas [or] handed down when I upgraded my own...
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Jul 19 at 2:56 PM
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I love science fiction stories in which it turns out that everything we know is wrong. A big discovery, a big secret, or a big truth is revealed...
posted by Sing Or Swim to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 21 at 11:38 AM
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In an interview with noted right wing figure and transphobe Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk attacked his estranged transgender daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, proceeding to deadname her while calling her "dead" because she transitioned, and saying he was "tricked" into signing off on her gender affirming care. In response, Wilson has given an interview with NBC News in which she details how Musk was both an abusive and absentee father while she was growing up, and how he lied about her interests growing up as well as his signing off on her care.
posted by NoxAeternum to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 8:27 AM
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The Sentinel project is completed. The French artist Marine, aka moonovermarine, has recently completed a beautiful series of 14 embroideries inspired by the video game "The Sentinel" (1986), previously mentioned in MetaFilter. This work of over two years looks fantastic, with a luminous atmosphere and a magnificent rendering of pixels. The color palette is faithful to the game's chromatic range of the ZX Spectrum version.
posted by verylazyminer to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 11:55 AM
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Inside the race to track down our galaxy’s hidden, untethered worlds. "Not only do rogue planets outnumber visible stars, they probably also outnumber conventional planets like Earth, the ones that orbit their own suns and bask happily in their warmth. If anything, worlds like ours are the outliers. The tremendous abundance of the rogues implies that the process of planet formation is extremely messy, with many worlds getting kicked into the void almost as soon as they take shape. Lots of potentially habitable planets probably end up cold and desolate as a result. Then again, some exobiologists, who search for life outside Earth, speculate that certain types of rogue planets could become roving ambassadors, ferrying life across interstellar space."
posted by brambleboy to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 10:25 PM
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I am looking for engaging sci-fi, fantasy, romance (especially if combined with one of the others), or similar books that are generally positive in tone/ending. Some bad things can happen, but I want to feel much more happy than sad or mad once I'm finished. Some example authors are T. Kingfisher, Ilona Andrews, Malka Ann Older, and Martha Wells.
posted by unus sum to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 19 at 5:02 PM
28 users marked this as a favorite

I am now pre-diabetic (I was expecting this) and advised by my doctor to try and reverse it with ‘lifestyle changes.’ Looking for authoritative non-faddish advice on what that might be.
posted by ficbot to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 23 at 6:57 PM
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This short gen fic from a cat's point of view amused me: If Comfy, Warm, and My Size, Why No Sit: A Meta-analysis of Research into the Warm Flat Rectangle by Dr Fluffy Jones
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 6:56 AM
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A recent paper on The Importance of Continents, Oceans, and Plate Tectonics for the Evolution of Complex Life (pdf) by Stern and Gerya, published in Nature, suggests that the rarity of planets with continents and plate tectonics might resolve the Fermi Paradox -- the problem of explaining why we haven't found intelligent, communicative, extraterrestrial life given that plausible models say such life should be abundant.
posted by Jonathan Livengood to MetaFilter on Jul 20 at 4:46 PM
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My cousin (22 years old, nonbinary) is getting started with independent living. They are very smart, but have been delayed in achieving independence because of chronic health issues. They are also not neurotypical (ADHD and on the autism spectrum). They LOVE lists. I want to make them a list of the tasks they need to think about now that they are living in their own apartment and are responsible for their own car. The tasks I’m most concerned about including are the things that are both PERIODIC and REQUIRED, like changing the oil in your car.
posted by ocherdraco to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 9:13 AM
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Readers with an intimate experience of oppression and cruelty have often responded sympathetically to Fanon’s insistence on the psychological value of violence for the colonized. In a 1969 essay, the philosopher Jean Améry, a veteran of the Belgian anti-fascist resistance and a Holocaust survivor, wrote that Fanon described a world that he knew very well from his time in Auschwitz. What Fanon understood, Améry argued, was that the violence of the oppressed is “an affirmation of dignity,” opening onto a “historical and human future.” That Fanon, who never belonged anywhere in his lifetime, has been claimed by so many as a revolutionary brother—indeed, as a universal prophet of liberation—is an achievement he might have savored. from The revolutionary lives of Frantz Fanon by Adam Schatz [Coda.]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 12:12 AM
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I have basically no hobbies at the moment and don't even really know what I enjoy doing. I'd like to try a bunch of things in order to find out. What are some hobbies or activities or interests I should try, that don't require big startup investments or equipment?
posted by specialagentwebb to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 25 at 1:47 PM
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my dad is 72 years old. he wasn't a great father. he wasn't even a good father. but when i came out as trans, the first thing he did was listen to me explain why. the next thing he did was start reading. he still deadnames and misgenders me, but immediately corrects himself, and is genuinely trying he's not perfect by any means. but he... [more]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 9:41 AM
103 users marked this as a favorite

Folks, this isn't a failure of the system or evidence that the Hugos are terminally corrupt; rather the opposite. Someone outside of the Worldcon organizational structure tried to fuck with the voting; the fuckery was identified, confirmed and removed. Then the Hugo administrators promptly and, as fully as they could under the constraints of law... [more]
posted by jscalzi to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 6:30 PM
96 users marked this as a favorite

So, hey. I fuckin' hate Elon, and his whole toxic vibe. I also wish, as a divorced man, that we hadn't settled societally on emphasizing the level of "divorced"-ness he has as a proxy for how desperate, pathetic, and empty he is. You know? [view]
posted by bluemilker to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 8:56 AM
69 users marked this as a favorite

Ok, well, time to dust off the ol' MeFi account I guess. Holy shit this account is old enough to drink. Anyways, hi. I wrote the article, and buttplug.io is my project. Happy to answer any questions anyone has. [view]
posted by qDot to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 2:53 PM
68 users marked this as a favorite

Old comment of mine about my own family's experiences with this. Chiefly: minimum survivable compliance, and, afterwards, teaching their kids and grandkids to passionately hate fascism and racism. Which is probably the reason that the rest of my family - as they all remain deeply religious evangelical fundamentalists stuck on abortion - are among... [more]
posted by Ryvar to MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 9:07 AM
63 users marked this as a favorite

"If everyone Travis cared about was in the wedding party, there would be 200 people standing up at the front of the church and no one sitting down in the pews" [view]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 11:53 AM
62 users marked this as a favorite

I am a VFX artist, and I've had to remove breathing and eye twitches a lot! I think I know just what scene in triangle of sadness you mean because when I was watching it I was thinking about how I could have fixed the breathing. Most of the time they do try to cut around obvious movement, but a lot of the time there will also be fixes in post.... [more]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 1:54 PM
61 users marked this as a favorite

(cw: death of a child) This morning I learned that a friend’s daughter drowned last week. She was nine and was by all accounts a delight. I have kids around the same age and this news cast me into a deep sorrow. So as someone who spent time just now contemplating what it might be like to have an actually dead child, Musk’s remarks are... [more]
posted by gauche to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 10:36 AM
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You know your family, but I think in most families, the odds of you being asked this question are very low. Very low. But if it happens, you can always say, “oh, you’d have to ask him! It can be so hard to find the right balance of groomsmen for bridesmaids,” which I think would end the conversation by making it clear you don’t know... [more]
posted by moosetracks to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 11:57 AM
57 users marked this as a favorite

With one exception, her brothers have not spoken to her since she appeared in Congress. Later, she found out that her father, a severe and conservative military type, had written an e-mail to Brett Kavanaugh’s father—the men are members of the same golf club—expressing his gratitude that Kavanaugh had been confirmed to the Supreme Court.... [more]
posted by Kitteh to MetaFilter on Jul 25 at 6:24 AM
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"Oh, I think he made a great choice with his wedding party!" Smile breezily. Let the awkwardness sit. You didn't make it awkward. [view]
posted by disconnect to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 12:22 PM
52 users marked this as a favorite

One of the comments on this video was genius: "They say, when you lose one sense your other senses are enhanced. That’s why those with no sense of humor have a heightened sense of self importance." [view]
posted by EmpressCallipygos to MetaFilter on Jul 19 at 4:00 PM
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Imagine seriously using the phrase "woke mind virus" and being unaware that you have become a parody. [view]
posted by Sing Or Swim to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 8:37 AM
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(Though I'm still confused on why anyone was using "Jenna." I just read "Extremely Hardcore" and Zoe Schiffer refers to her as Jenna there too.) Her full name is Vivian Jenna Wilson. Also, a commenter in one of the Reddit posts about this point out that with Vivian saying her twin brother went through a Hamilton... [more]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 9:40 AM
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This seems like the opposite of scandal to me. Someone tried to subvert the voting, but the people running the vote found out about it and took out the fraudulent ballots. This is the system working as it should be. [view]
posted by Kattullus to MetaFilter on Jul 22 at 4:10 PM
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Its notable how the advent of plausible looking AI generated content - which should nominally be able to replace human created content with something cheaper and less work intensive to produce -has had the effect of making human generated content more valuable than before. [view]
posted by rongorongo to MetaFilter on Jul 25 at 2:57 AM
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Starting from my own experience here. My summer camp (in a land before email) only allowed contact by mail with parents, except for camper emergencies. It was very much deliberately a place apart. So much so that when my parents and brother got into a pretty bad car accident while I was at camp when I was 10, I didn't even have phone contact... [more]
posted by jocelmeow to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 24 at 10:59 AM
44 users marked this as a favorite

OMG RonButNotStupid you are a GENIUS! I just put the stupid app on my tablet and it worked and I am in and I am so happy! I cant believe I didnt think of this! Thank you thank you thank you :) [view]
posted by silverstatue to Ask MetaFilter on Jul 25 at 7:33 AM
44 users marked this as a favorite

what would make me look cool to 15-19 year old boys on social media Keep in mind, Musk doesn't know what teenage boys today like. He's dipping into his own teenage years, which is why the Cybertruck looks like a roided out DeLorean: he was an 80s teen. Same with Zuckerberg just flat out copying Metaverse (didn't even change... [more]
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Jul 26 at 10:29 AM
43 users marked this as a favorite

Re: "read the fine print" I did. I actually queried and changed things. Nothing in the contracts I've signed is there anything about the use of digital models, LLMs, AI, training platforms, or selling the data to third parties other than in the context of acquisitions, mergers or translated publishing deals. In fact, at least two... [more]
posted by AFII to MetaFilter on Jul 21 at 8:06 AM
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