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If you prefer old-school forums, I recommend my other daily read, ResetEra. It was originally a popular and influential video game forum called NeoGAF, but after the founder got #MeToo'd most of the userbase abandoned it for a custom-built replacement using the latest forum software. It's divided into a Gaming board and an Etcetera board for more general discussion, each with an associated "Hangout" section for dedicated community threads on various interests (i.e., individual games… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:48 AM on December 23, 2020

picaresque
Peter Pan
puffy shirt

plod
putter
pererrate
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:31 PM on December 6, 2020

There's going to be another big total solar eclipse across North America in April 2024. If you missed seeing the one a few years ago, this is going to be your last chance in the US until 2045.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:52 PM on November 27, 2020

Wouldn't the more obvious sign of disturbing sociopathy be somebody who is absolutely enthralled by violence and wants to revel in watching it as intensely as possible? Not that there's anything wrong with that -- just that somebody who is so uninterested in violence that it puts them to sleep doesn't scream "secret axe murderer" to me.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:22 PM on November 15, 2020

At least 200 /r/TheGoodPlace users seem convinced it's from this video: Huge Iguana Invades House
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:05 PM on October 21, 2020 marked best answer

Vine is dead but its spirit lives on in an endless assortment of compilation videos on YouTube.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:27 PM on October 20, 2020

Alabama Shakes - Hold On
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:51 PM on October 7, 2020

Mask + distancing is like airbag + seatbelt. They both help on their own but you really don't want to go without either. Also, masking is the more important of the two since the six feet thing is more of a rule of thumb that people are likely to follow. Real-world aerosols carry farther and linger longer, even outdoors; six feet of distancing reduces the risk but hardly eliminates it, especially without a mask. (Also consider that trying to converse with somebody a dozen+ feet away requires… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:49 PM on October 6, 2020

k8lin's comment reminds me: you mentioned traveling. It's possible you're going somewhere that has a mask mandate for people in public. Not every jurisdiction enforces this actively, but even in those that don't you'll get death glares from plenty of people (including me!) for flouting the law. It's also pretty highly correlated with "Trump supporter" to a lot of folks. Something to keep in mind since you're traveling for business.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:30 AM on October 7, 2020

Country Calendar is a long-running series about rural New Zealand living -- it's documentary format, but not a nature documentary per se. There are over 100 full episodes on the NZTV YouTube channel.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2020

Dr. Louise Banks from Arrival

Dr. Iris Hineman from Minority Report

Dr. Halsey from the Halo series

Doc Ock from Into the Spider-verse
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:10 AM on October 1, 2020

Read your question and instantly thought of Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body.

Good grief! There are tiny workers crawling around in our bodies! Or at least there are in Stephen Biesty's incredibly detailed anatomical cross sections of everything from the circulatory system to the human brain. The little people are there to show you how things work: the tiny tunnelers represent blood, hormones, the immune system, nerves, muscles, and organ "home… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:14 PM on September 25, 2020 marked best answer

To repost an older comment:

The best resource I haven't seen mentioned are the geography quizzes on PurposeGames.com, specifically the ones by user David. There are continent-level quizzes for all the countries in the world along with US states, Canadian provinces, cities, rivers, deserts, etc. The best feature is that it color-codes your answers: right on first try = green, two tries = yellow, three = orange. After four tries it highlights the right answer in purple and… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 8:16 PM on September 24, 2020

I really enjoyed Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America. It basically takes the story of Julian the Apostate -- the last pagan emperor of Rome, who struggled against the rise of Christianity -- and sets it in America a century after the collapse of modern civilization. It's not grimdark -- the world muddles along at a roughly 19th-century level of technology, and society has become weirdly baroque, with hereditary government, an overbearing… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 8:05 PM on September 24, 2020

You may enjoy this question.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:09 AM on September 24, 2020

Alec Baldwin's "Always Be Closing" speech in Glengarry Glen Ross

Willem Dafoe's incredible rant from The Lighthouse

Clark's breakdown in Christmas Vacation

Ellen Burstyn's heartbreaking red dress monologue from Requiem for a Dream

Anne Hathaway's one-take rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream"
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:43 AM on September 18, 2020 marked best answer

Willy Wonka: "You get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!"

Breaking Bad: I am the one who knocks and How much is enough?

Better Call Saul: Chuck blows up at Jimmy, and Kim unloads on Howard and Lalo

Veep: Amy quits and Selina eviscerates a congresswoman

The Fifth Element: Ruby Rhod's radio monologue

Lost: What about me?

School of Rock: "The Man" and The Legend of the Rent

The Simpsons: Flanders explodes
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:50 AM on September 20, 2020 marked best answer

According to various Sporcle quizzes I sought out, there are nine...

- billiard ball colors
- poker hands
- women named in "Mambo No. 5"
- essential amino acids
- "Power Nine" cards in Magic: the Gathering
- types of angels in Christianity (also Fruits of the Spirit)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:54 PM on September 17, 2020 marked best answer

There's a whole industry of "educational" indoor parks with miniature cities that let kids play-act as grown-ups, with the various businesses sponsored by real companies. My elementary school class went to Enterprise Village, and there was a similar place called Wannado City, but the most popular incarnation nowadays is Kidzania, which has locations all over the world. (My heart lies with the dearly departed Safety Village).

If you like Epcot's World Showcase,… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:06 AM on September 17, 2020 marked best answer

The earliest example cited by TVTropes is Frankenstein (1818), which placed the narrative in "17—". Some other early uses are Vanity Fair (1847) and Treasure Island (1881).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:28 PM on September 16, 2020

The African Renaissance Monument in Dakar?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:29 PM on September 9, 2020

It's the <summary> tag, first discussed here I think. Here's an explanation of how to use it. And don't miss jedicus's awesome Choose-Your-Own Adventure.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 5:22 PM on September 6, 2020 marked best answer

The "space" stage in Spore disappointed me -- too much harassment from Space Disasters, not enough variety in colonizing. But oddly enough, the original Space prototype scratches that itch really well for me. It's super stripped-down -- more of a software toy than a full-fledged game -- but the systems it does have are really satisfying.

You start with your one home planet, which already has life. You use your shipboard scanner to ID the various flora and fauna… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:24 AM on August 17, 2020

"You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop: the [name of whatever your report is]."

"Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three. Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of [whatever your data is]."

"MY NAME IS [your name], KING OF KINGS QUEEN OF QUEENS. LOOK ON MY DATA, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:25 PM on August 16, 2020

I always thought of it as being short for "...and your point is?" Meaning whatever you said was either 1) totally uninteresting, or 2) suggesting something they don't like so they're challenging you to say it plainly.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:13 PM on August 15, 2020

Bookbound
The BookBag
The Backlist
Matchbook
Totally Booked
Book-It (List!)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:26 PM on August 8, 2020

In ESL courses these are often described as "indirect questions," mostly used in order to be formal or polite.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:09 PM on August 8, 2020

If it's critical data you can send it in to Gillware for repair. I used them a few years back and they did good work. They do no-cost evaluations and send you a free listing of all the files they were able to recover, only charging you if you choose to accept the data. It's not cheap, generally in the range of several hundred dollars for a physical HDD depending on the size, type of damage, etc. But it's a good, low-risk option if you don't want to fiddle with the drive yourself and risk further… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 5:40 PM on August 6, 2020

"If you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath"
Romans 13:4

"The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked."
Psalm 58:10

"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"
Matthew… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:34 PM on August 2, 2020

Are you sure they're real vents? My primary cloth mask (like this, also with a replaceable PM2.5 filter) has one of these on one side, but after reading about the dangers of vents I examined it more closely with a flashlight and found it was purely decorative -- the inside is flat plastic and doesn't vent anything.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:17 PM on July 30, 2020

Seconding LeGuin, especially her anthology Changing Planes, which involves exploring a variety of other worlds with an anthropologist's eye.

Also: Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino. A summary from TVTropes:

As indicated by its title, Cosmicomics is a book that is at once cosmic and comic, the sublime and the ridiculous coexisting on the same plane. Each chapter opens with a scientific fact and a following… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:17 PM on July 29, 2020

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Best of the series, IMHO, and one of the best action movies ever. The entire first two-thirds is an unbroken chain of highly entertaining and rewatchable scenes linking together some truly spectacular set pieces. It slows down only slightly in the last act, to the level of merely Very Good, and caps it off with one of the most dynamic and inventive fight scenes I've ever seen. And because it's directed by Brad Bird of Pixar fame (his first… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 8:29 PM on July 13, 2020

My perennial favorite for eerie horror is The Mothman Prophecies (2002). After the death of his wife, a DC journalist (Richard Gere) finds himself investigating a small West Virginia town that's being stalked by a mysterious being locals call the Mothman. Not a ghost or an alien or an angel, but something else -- a terrifying, incomprehensible, godlike presence that warns of imminent disasters with cryptic messages and warps time, space, and reality to creepy effect. You… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:22 AM on July 13, 2020

Final update (better late than never):

The doctor's office couldn't recode it, and insurance wouldn't reconsider it. I called the hospital about possibly waiving the bill given the circumstances. At first they tried to talk me into a one-time discount ($100 off IIRC), but I persisted and finally got the whole thing cancelled after submitting some financial information. YMMV.

Frustratingly, this whole process took so long that I went in for the… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:09 PM on July 11, 2020

Still my all-time favorite moment on the site. Tragically the forum seems to have lapsed again after already being relocated not once but twice.

(Also, you might be mingling memories of that with this xkcd comic.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:10 PM on July 11, 2020

Wiktionary has some translations, though no guarantees on how common they are.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:23 PM on June 16, 2020 marked best answer

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:27 PM on June 11, 2020

Pen name?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:04 PM on June 10, 2020

It's not always available, but if there's a little arrow next to the URL on the results page, click it and open the "Cache" link for that result. For PDF links this opens Google's searchable HTML text copy of the file with minimal formatting.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:20 AM on June 7, 2020

Ionia
Icarus
Ignatius
Iris/Irene
Isidore/Isidora
Juvenal
Jupiter
June
Jude
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:24 PM on May 13, 2020

The Potion Seller! With each side using the appropriate warp filter. It's three minutes, but has a lot of redundant dialogue that could be cut.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:30 PM on May 6, 2020

The page says the source/artist is "Milet." Some googling shows there's an ancient ruin called Didyma that was in the vicinity of an ancient city of that name (Miletus) in modern-day Turkey. Didyma was home to a Temple of Apollo, and this old book shows a column capital from it that is identical to the one in the photo. So I can't speak to the provenance of the image -- it certainly looks more recent than 1875 -- but it appears to be an artist's impression of what the temple originally… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:38 PM on May 3, 2020 marked best answer

What's orange and sounds like a parrot?

A carrot!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:58 PM on May 3, 2020

Hard to think of a single favorite, but looking through my Flickchart this would have been my top ten laugh-out-loud, quote-it-annoyingly faves from ~1995-2001:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Airplane!
Spaceballs
Christmas Vacation
Billy Madison
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Meet the Parents
Shrek
Rat Race
Zoolander
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:46 PM on May 3, 2020

The biggest silver lining I've seen is that while the basic death rate is about what we feared, the hospitalization rate is much lower, around 5% or less vs. the 15-20% most models anticipated. Even the hardest-hit areas in NYC had slack in the system. If it holds this will greatly reduce excess mortality from people dying for lack of care because the hospitals are over capacity.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 8:03 AM on May 3, 2020

I've long been fascinated by the storied (and sordid) history behind Pitcairn Island -- sailors from the Mutiny on the Bounty shipwrecked there, and their descendants remain in one of the most isolated communities in the world. So I was happy to come across a mini documentary about the long sojourn to visit the island.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:07 PM on April 26, 2020

Not quite as frantic, but my first thought was shutting down HAL in 2001.

Also, there's EVE fixing WALL-E at the end of the movie.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:34 PM on April 26, 2020 marked best answer

As far as TVTropes goes, I think this is more a combination of tropes than one in its own right. Specifically:

Big Guy, Little Guy
Fat and Skinny

Janitor Impersonation Infiltration
Almighty Janitor
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:27 PM on April 13, 2020 marked best answer

It's pretty incredible what Street View has expanded to in recent years. It's not just footage from Google's cars -- pretty much anybody can upload linked 360-degree imagery now. I've got a first-gen headset for VR and have spent dozens of hours exploring places around the world in Google Earth.

For starters, Google has a page of curated tours of various places

As for standard Street View stuff, some highlights from my… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:46 PM on April 5, 2020 marked best answer

Could you give more details? What exactly pops up?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:28 AM on March 29, 2020