MetaFilter

Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight
Radiohead - Creep
The Beatles - Hey Jude
Alabama Shakes - Hold On
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:46 PM on August 3, 2018

Oh, and the Amazon listing has now shot up to $720, so it's now or never on this particular deal.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:44 AM on July 30, 2018

Looking more thoroughly through their seller ratings, I am seeing occasional complaints that they were listing refurbished items as new. Hmmm.

How's this sound:

Hello again,

At first I thought I had misread the product listing, but on review it was in fact listed as New. I assume you have new models in stock, since the listing is currently over $700. Given that the error was not on my end and I made my purchase in good… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:50 AM on July 30, 2018

Final update:

Found even more suspect things in the HawkDeals feedback page, including other refurbs listed as "new" and even refurbs described as "like new" arriving with noticeable damage and worn-out batteries (with them claiming the latter was considered "like new" if it lasted longer than 45 minutes).

After their BS blame-shifting email, I contacted Amazon customer support. The rep put me on hold a few times to… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 8:23 PM on August 2, 2018

So I followed up with an accurate two-star seller review (they were proactive and polite-ish), and... they contacted me back! This is rich:

I understand you are upset, I would be too. As a small business and fairly new to Amazon our feedback is very important to us. While I do understand that you are upset, I was glad that we caught the error before shipping you an incorrect item. Unfortunately, we don't carry this item in a new… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:43 PM on August 3, 2018

po-wum
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:43 PM on July 24, 2018

Bo Burnham - We Think We Know You. First half lays the groundwork, but really starts turning into something wonderful around the 3:00 mark.

Stephen Colbert - The Word: Truthiness, from the premiere of the Report, perfectly summed up both his character and the burgeoning "post-truth" era.

Do skits count? If so: Key and Peele - Pizza Order

Louis CK - Everything is Amazing and Nobody's Happy
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:54 AM on July 23, 2018

Nancy Reagan and Mr. T (backstory)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:13 PM on July 13, 2018

While putting together my own personal e-library last year, I was shocked at the depth of scanned material available via the Internet Archive and Open Library. Not just the usual public-domain Project Gutenberg fare, but obscure children's books, game guides, textbooks, graphic novels, all available as full-color scanned pages. The associated OCR is very spotty, but if you don't mind maintaining separate e-reader software for comics -- I recommend CDisplayEx (PC) and Marvin 3 (iOS) -- you can… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:16 PM on July 4, 2018

My bad, I missed your tags!

If it helps any, a lot of the books in Open Library are also available as DAISY audiobooks, which include a text component. I can't speak to the quality of the OCR there since access is limited to verified patrons with government-issued decryption keys, but the breadth of material covered is pretty amazing, including many e-books that are only available in DAISY format.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:49 PM on July 4, 2018

/r/PoliticalDiscussion is pretty decent and active, and not limited to US politics.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:37 PM on July 1, 2018

You may also want to consider getting an old electronic Pokedex toy. I had the original 90s edition (based off the one in the anime) and LOVED it. It's always cool to have a prop version of the "real" thing.

Only problem is I don't think there's one available that has all the modern Pokemon in it. Best bet there probably is the original Tiger model, which had stats, animation, and sound of all 150 of the generation I Pokemon (except Mew). eBay has some available for around $20.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:02 PM on June 16, 2018

Crossly is an iOS app that's designed for multiplayer solving. Just add each other as friends in Game Center and you can play collaboratively.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:29 PM on June 2, 2018

I vote ambiguous.

"What's NewThing? It's what people used to call OldThing (a long time ago)."

"What's OldThing? It's what people used to call (what we now know as) NewThing."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 3:18 PM on June 2, 2018

You could take a cue from the Swedes and dub it "mumblelard's [age of bottle]-year hot sauce".
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 5:56 PM on June 1, 2018

Note that it looks like a keycard from a Hilton property, not necessarily a Hilton proper. Hopefully somebody can recognize the carpet/decor/signage? Or knows who to contact at corporate to find out? Corporate Twitter loves playing the hero in stuff like this.

mccxxiii: "I think the way he did it, making a cut in the tape with a room key, it would be obvious that it was damaged from the outside and not from the inside.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:36 AM on May 30, 2018

It's definitely a Hampton Inn, just not sure which one. The downtown/convention center location has the same decor and signs, but looks like a different floor plan. Tweeted the active corporate account about it and have heard nothing back so far. A signal boost from anybody who actually uses Twitter on the regular might help. Here's hoping.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:33 PM on May 30, 2018

I was feeling down about this, but decided to take one last look at the local Hampton Inns on Google Maps. Turns out there's one just outside of the District that's a perfect match for the hallway shot from the video! I gave them a call and they confirmed they had been hosting a school group Tuesday. Sent them an email with everything I knew (including the dude's name, from self-promotion of his crappy stand-up elsewhere on Reddit), and they'll let me know how it goes. I'll keep ya'll posted.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:11 PM on May 30, 2018

There were many, many dismayed and angry comments from students and teachers in the original post citing times when broken curfews resulted in kids getting grounded for the rest of the trip, sent home early at parents expense (even across the country), suspended from school or from their team, barred from future outings, and verbally or even physically abused by furious chaperones and parents. And even if they weren't punished, being unfairly suspected and mistrusted is a shitty, demoralizing,… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:43 PM on May 30, 2018

Follow-up: the guy's remorseful, and set things straight with the staff.

Sorry it took so long to respond. I’ve gotten a million messages about it. I wouldn’t have let anyone get in trouble and they didn’t. [...] If o had gotten to your message sooner I could have saved you from your countless hours of sleuthing. I’m not mad that you did. You were concerned for the kids. No Harm in that! And why I came clean about it. It was all in good fun. As you can imagine, it’s hard… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:02 PM on June 1, 2018

You will probably love Unique Media's hand-illustrated bird's-eye-view maps. I had the Florida, NYC, USA, and world versions as a kid and they really helped me visualize geography better than standard maps.

quick edit: Here's a hi-res scan of their USA map for context.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:18 PM on May 31, 2018

WikiArt (formerly WikiPaintings) has a great interface and high diversity of content, from ancient to modern.

Google Arts & Culture has scads of themed and curated collections in high resolution, including virtual tours of some real-world museums.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:55 AM on May 30, 2018

brook horse: "(New MeFi question: what are the top 45 first gen Pokemon?)"

Most-recalled Gen 1 Pokemon, according to this Sporcle quiz with 5 million+ plays.

Bonus points if you name your biggest tuba Snorlax.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:51 AM on May 30, 2018

I'm assuming you're talking about those 40-something question corporate ethics tests. If you keep in mind that these things are designed by and for faceless corporate bureaucracies who love zero-tolerance policies, the strategy becomes clear: You are a perfect drone. You have never had an impure thought. No you have never stolen anything, not even a passing glance. No, you have never ever harbored a single negative emotion about a customer or boss. Of course you would immediately and gladly… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:34 PM on May 25, 2018

See also Ghostride the Whip's comment from a 2014 post:

So my wife worked retail for about a decade but was legendarily incapable of passing the psychological screening to make sure you're not a thief because she was too honest. Like she'd say she "sometimes" thought about not showing up for work because who doesn't think like that every now and then? So then the manager would call her up and tell her they REALLY WANTED to hire her but she must've CLICKED THE… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:38 PM on May 25, 2018

Tumblr seems like the home for passion projects like this, and sure nuff a quick Google turns up gameui.tumblr.com. MobyGames is also a great source for all kinds of game minutiae; image searching "menu screen", "options screen", "options menu," etc. in that domain turns up a lot of interesting stuff. It's not curated but Google's algorithm does seem to home in on the most relevant and/or interesting titles.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:40 PM on May 9, 2018 marked best answer

Pen pals!

Getting people to vote for you, anywhere from student council and HOA boards to national office.

In science and academia, having a paper of yours cited by others.

Earning high scores in arcade games, especially in front of an audience.

Merit badges in scouting.

Successfully calling into a live radio or TV show.

Seeing somebody's responded to your bathroom graffiti.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:36 PM on April 14, 2018

After a little searching, it sounds like The Gandalara Cycle ("...with the help of a giant warcat named Keeshah, with whom he shares a telepathic bond")

(Another dry-Mediterranean possibility: The Saga of Pliocene Exile)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 7:28 PM on March 31, 2018 marked best answer

FWIW, I just googled "mediterranean flood sf fantasy book", found the Wiki article for the Messinian salinity crisis, and came across the book in the obligatory "In Popular Culture" section. It's a more popular concept than you'd think!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:21 PM on March 31, 2018

Tabletop RPGs and their combination of rule systems, scripted encounters, player initiative, random chance, and DM interpretation

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books and interactive fiction games. More recently, open-world, multiplayer, and/or procedurally-generated game worlds that let players act out their own stories individually or collaboratively.

My Magical Skiing Adventure, Problem Sleuth, 17776, and other multimedia web projects loosely based… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:18 AM on March 31, 2018 marked best answer

My high school econ class used the Hollywod Stock Exchange, which trades virtual shares in actors and box office returns. Might be more interesting/fun than a generic business stock market sim.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:47 PM on March 16, 2018

I am unsurprised to hear Digg us screwing its users again. At least you got a heads-up this time.

Anyway, as a longtime Google Reader superfan I was gutted when it closed, but Feedly has proven to be a capable alternative. It gets regular major feature updates, like a recent mute function for keywords and an inactive feed finder, and their tech support is highly responsive. The one downside is that some advanced features require a paid subscription, but that just helps… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:35 AM on March 16, 2018

Kory Stamper's Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries was pretty great.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:39 PM on March 2, 2018

I'm surprised no one's mentioned The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. The words aren't real, but the feelings totally are. (And not all of them are sorrowful). Probably most famous for the term sonder:

n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 9:04 PM on February 26, 2018

NYTimes app news and politics push alerts are the only thing I allow to actively intrude on my attention. They're pretty good about sticking to major developments, though they will slip in a feature story or op-ed a few times a week.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Axios. Good insidery political reporting that gives concise capsule coverage of major events throughout the day. They sticky top news for drive-by browsing, but I've got an RSS subscription for catching up at… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:34 PM on February 23, 2018

You may want to consider a Pebble Time instead. While the company itself got gobbled up by Fitbit, the Pebble watches are designed to work independently of their servers. They can track sleep and daily steps, sync notifications and texts, work with Spotify, have a week-long battery life, and are a lot cheaper now than at launch ( I've seen some on clearance online for $50-75).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 2:53 PM on February 9, 2018

No joke: I'd skim through TVTropes listing of UsefulNotes pages. It gives thorough, informal overviews of hundreds of topics, from history to language to geography to politics, all in the site's funny, conversational style. Not exactly a college course, but still genuinely informative, and much more interesting than reading Wikipedia.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:29 PM on January 4, 2018

Since you already like X-Files, you'll probably enjoy the "lost" script for the unmade episode "Crampton" that turned up last year. Here's a direct link; it's plain text but formatted like a script with stage directions and blockquoted dialog, so hopefully it should prove fairly readable. This MetaFilter post on the script is also worthwhile; it includes this PDF link to another unproduced script that later became the basis for the movie "Final Destination.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:48 PM on January 1, 2018

I'm surprised no one's mentioned The Last Guardian. Think Shadow of the Colossus except there's just one colossus and he's your loyal pet/best friend. Lots of atmospheric platforming, puzzle solving, light combat, and ear scritches.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:27 AM on November 29, 2017

FallowKing: "Shivers. I read a few, but Goosebumps was much better."

Yup! Here's a nice fan site for the series. One fun easter egg I remember: every book cover illustration had a skull hidden somewhere in it. (Also I will never forget the post-epilogue ad for mail-ordering more books: Let, let, let the mailman give you cold, clammy, SHIVERS SHIVERS SHIVERS!" I don't know how text can be an earworm, but it totally is.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:37 PM on November 7, 2017 marked best answer

Looks like in addition to the regular soundtrack album with licensed songs and talking over the instrumentals (why??), there's a separate 2003 album just for the David Holmes score. It's not immediately clear to me if it's available anywhere now -- this page just says"CD - Warner Music #1464", which doesn't turn up much -- but you can hear dialogue-free samples on this AllMusic page, so it definitely exists.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:33 PM on November 2, 2017

It's just an epilogue, not the whole film, but: WALL-E
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 4:04 PM on October 28, 2017 marked best answer

Sodbuster!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:31 AM on October 15, 2017

UK insults come to mind -- bollocks, knob, bellend...
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 10:10 PM on October 12, 2017

The 3.5mm headphone jack, apparently. Ubiquitous, rotatable, infinitely backwards-compatible and cross-platform, no need to charge... and now the major smartphone manufacturers are racing to splinter the standard with Bluetooth, proprietary ports, and shitty DRM.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:58 PM on October 5, 2017

Fik-Shun rocks a World of Dance event with a brain-melting routine

Thom Yorke's medley of eccentric moves in the music video for "Lotus Flower", plus a spiritual sequel with interpretive dance partner Fukiko Takase in the video for "Ingenue"

Nonstop's incredibly liquid dancing (previously)

Electroswing dancing peppered with throwback vaudevillian gestures
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:33 PM on October 3, 2017

Baba Yetu - A Swahili rendition of the Lord's Prayer, popularized by the score for Civilization IV

Hoppipolla - From Sigur Ros, mainly Icelandic with a little nonsense language sprinkled in

Cherry Tree Times - A Japanese children's choral from the brilliant soundtrack for the game Katamari Damacy. This comment from justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow and this follow-up I found in a forum does a great job translating the lyrics and explaining the… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 1:37 AM on October 2, 2017

Here's a one-page list of all movies in their database. Unfortunately the grades themselves are images rather than searchable text, and there's no sort mechanism, but you can pull the data pretty easily from the source code. Here are all 83 D/D+/D- titles:

ALEXANDER (2004) D+
BABYLON A.D. (2008) D+
BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000) D+
BLACK AND WHITE (2000) D+
BLACK DAHLIA, THE (2006) D+
BLAIR WITCH (2016)… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 5:26 PM on September 21, 2017 marked best answer

OK, here's a pastebin of the titles+years+scores, cleaned up and tab-separated. Should work fine for dropping into Excel or whatnot for further filtering.

On preview: No problem! It was a neat exercise.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 5:57 PM on September 21, 2017

(That pastebin has all 3,778 titles, just to clarify, not just the D-level ones.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 6:09 PM on September 21, 2017