1231 MetaFilter comments by DenOfSizer (displaying 51 through 100)

Before They Were UFOs, back when the only flying objects were arrows, birds, and clouds, how did people describe them?
comment posted at 12:46 PM on Oct-21-08


A Brief History of English, with Chronology by Suzanne Kemmer is one of many articles at Words in English, a website designed as "a resource for those who want to learn more about this fascinating language – its history as a language, the origins of its words, and its current modern characteristics."
comment posted at 1:29 AM on Oct-5-08


Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. Is he in favour of a withdrawal only when he gets credit?
comment posted at 2:44 PM on Sep-15-08

This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth. It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in: the head. They shoot the terrible master. And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger. And I submit that this is what the real, no bullshit value of your liberal arts education is supposed to be about: how to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone day in and day out. That may sound like hyperbole, or abstract nonsense. Let's get concrete. The plain fact is that you graduating seniors do not yet have any clue what "day in day out" really means. There happen to be whole, large parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches. One such part involves boredom, routine, and petty frustration. The parents and older folks here will know all too well what I'm talking about. First reported by an anonymous tip to a blog, the Los Angeles Times has confirmed that David Foster Wallace has hung himself.
comment posted at 4:22 AM on Sep-14-08

Long before people called themselves Muslims or Hindus, long before they fought and died over these or any labels... water dripped and froze inside the Amarnath Cave at the heart of Kashmir. Amarnath Cave official site. Amarnath Cave pilgrimage. Amarnath virtual tour. Wikipedia's page on the Amarnath land transfer.
comment posted at 9:08 AM on Aug-16-08

Staining the nails, skin and hair with henna is the favorite way of enhancing beauty amongst women in the Middle East. It is used as a hair treatment as well as a dye to make decorative designs on the skin. The art is known as mehndi. Henna markings remain on the skin for about twenty or thirty days.
comment posted at 7:34 PM on Aug-13-08

Cross another item off of President Bush's to-do list before he leaves the White House: hobbling the Endangered Species Act and allowing federal agencies to gauge the environmental impact of their projects for themselves. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the changes were needed to ensure that the ESA would not be used as a "back door" to regulate greenhouse gases.
comment posted at 7:00 AM on Aug-12-08

The Perpetual Traveller wields Five Flags in the quest for personal freedom.
comment posted at 10:45 AM on Aug-10-08

Yang Wei, the 2006 and 2007 mens gymnastics world champion, and number 13 on Time Magazine's 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch in Beijing 2008, is a symbol of absolute power and coordination. He stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 121 pounds.
comment posted at 3:06 AM on Aug-10-08



The žižkov television tower in Prague was pretty weird looking to begin with, since 2000 it's gotten much stranger...
comment posted at 11:44 AM on Jul-19-08

1 2 3 4: Feist visits Sesame Street, the latest artist to send up her work for an adoring audience of (what else?) furry happy monsters.
comment posted at 6:27 PM on Jul-16-08

"In humans, the categories of gay and straight are socially constructed.” Researchers are now revealing that animals may engage in same-sex couplings to diffuse social tensions, to better protect their young or to maintain fecundity when opposite-sex partners are unavailable—or simply because it is fun. These observations suggest to some that bisexuality is a natural state among animals, perhaps Homo sapiens included, despite the sexual-orientation boundaries most people take for granted
comment posted at 4:49 PM on Jul-13-08

Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki, founder of Benihana restaurants and father of Devon Aoki, died from cancer complications on Friday. He was also an olympic wrestler, balloonist, backgammon player, and more.
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Jul-13-08

The Art Institute of Chicago's website has been revamped. [T]he goal of this project was to integrate the site with their backend asset management system to allow users to browse the Museum's entire collection online. The changes are pleasing and highly functional. via
comment posted at 11:51 AM on Jul-13-08

A Philippe Starck designed Wind Turbine?
comment posted at 6:11 PM on Jul-2-08

The Solar Bra really doesn't make sense if your undergarments are going to stay under. Adrienne So examines the kinetic angle. Or, maybe this is as simple as breathing.
comment posted at 6:20 PM on Jul-2-08

The 25 Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century. From the instrument that was created by Leon Theremin, to the Moog Guitar that's been named after the legendary Bob Moog (the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer), Electronic music has come a long way since its early days. YouTube [a, b, (extreme caution advised: graphic images of death, destruction and 9/11 c), d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y] (Previously mentioned here, here, here, here, here and here)
comment posted at 10:53 AM on Jun-29-08


Anthony Powell is a photographer based in Antarctica. In addition to his photography, he's shot some excellent time-lapse video of the Southern Lights and a Day in the Life of Antarctica.
comment posted at 10:04 AM on Jun-29-08

Apple's Album Art screensaver, recreated for Windows. I saw this on someone's Powerbook today and got jealous. Luckily, some developer decided to make this, for all the Windows users feeling left out.
comment posted at 7:51 PM on Jun-24-08

Capitol Words allows you to see what the most often used word was on any given day in the U.S Congress. [via mefi projects]
comment posted at 10:33 AM on Jun-22-08


Zoomii. An interesting interface for Amazon.
comment posted at 7:45 PM on Jun-19-08


WAAALT! For fans of ABC's show LOST: Keeping track of Michael's annoyingness since....
comment posted at 10:32 AM on Jun-14-08

The Cosmic Womb: Recently published findings from researchers with the Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering seem to bolster the case for extra-terrestrial sources for the origins of life on Earth. (A PDF of the published results can be downloaded here, if you want the technical specifics.)
comment posted at 11:15 AM on Jun-14-08

Designers spend about 90% of their waking life in front of a computer, so the most appealing genre for a wallpaper would be one that has beautiful design mixed with the all important aspect of being outdoors. At their best, desktop wallpapers bring animation to often lifeless computer screens, reflecting the personality of the user and acting as a calling card for creative talent. The Desktopography Project first arrived in 2005 as a place to download nature / topological themed wallpapers with edits from selected designers. They have just released their 2008 library.
comment posted at 5:19 PM on Jun-7-08

NURSE CHILD WANTED, OR TO ADOPT -- The Advertiser, a Widow with a little family of her own, and moderate allowance from her late husband's friends, would be glad to accept the charge of a young child. Age no object. If sickly would receive a parent's care. Terms, Fifteen Shillings a month; or would adopt entirely if under two months for the small sum of Twelve pounds. This kindly nineteenth-century advertisement had a hidden meaning. If a woman paid her adoption fee to a baby farmer and handed over her infant, no one ever had to worry about that baby, ever again.
comment posted at 5:30 PM on Jun-7-08


The Morgan Museum currently have an exhibition featuring the 1517 Prayer Book of Claude de France, a gorgeous miniature (2.75 x 2 inches) illuminated manuscript, together with the Prayerbook of Claude's mother, Anne de Bretagne. [via]
comment posted at 10:20 AM on Jun-7-08

Perhaps more widely known as the New York Times' "The Minimalist", Mark Bittman implores us to change the way we think about and consume food during his December 2007 talk at TED. The related NYTimes article. His NYTimes blog, "Bitten".
comment posted at 9:22 AM on Jun-1-08

Tights Are Not Pants. It's time to stop the madness.
comment posted at 9:42 AM on Jun-1-08

The most important essay about music I've ever read. (And part 2.) Make sure to listen to the examples.
comment posted at 6:15 PM on May-26-08

Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled. "A staggering number of students died as schools collapsed in the May 12 earthquake, and grieving parents are speaking out about shoddy construction."
comment posted at 8:52 AM on May-25-08

After a comprehensive study of 400 oil fields, the International Energy Agency has concluded that, barring a substantial decrease in demand, the world faces an oil supply shortfall of 12.5 million barrels a day by 2015--15% of current production. [via]
comment posted at 10:53 AM on May-24-08

Xenophobic violence breaks out in Johannesburg and around South Africa. The victims of these attacks have been primarily poor foreigners living in townships and shack settlements. Durban-based shack dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo (previously) have posted an incisive and informative response. More coverage of the events here and here. Photo galleries here and here.
comment posted at 2:53 PM on May-21-08





Is Michelle Obama sinking Barack's campaign?
"Even if he pulls off a mathematical nomination victory, he has completely lost the first, fine, careless rapture of a post-racial and post-resentment political movement and mired us again in all the old rubbish that predates Dr. King. What a sad thing to behold. And how come?"

"I direct your attention to Mrs. Obama's 1985 thesis at Princeton University. Its title is "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community." At quite an early stage in the text, Michelle Obama announces that she's much influenced by the definition of black "separationism" offered by Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton in their 1967 screed Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America."
comment posted at 9:56 AM on May-5-08

Barbie vs Bratz: Mattel sues MGA, claiming the Bratz designs were created by a Mattel employee and smuggled to its rival.
comment posted at 9:28 AM on May-5-08
comment posted at 10:28 AM on May-5-08

Virtual Age and Life Expectancy Calculator "Your Virtual Age is a reflection of your health and vitality. The lower your Virtual Age the better shape you are in. It is used to calculate the Life Expectancy of someone of your current physical age."
comment posted at 10:16 AM on May-4-08

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